Hello, possible buyer... primer thoughts welcome

Joined
23 March 2009
Messages
63
hi everyone,
I've been a member of prime for about 5 years and this is my first post. I'd like to tell you a little about myself and the car i found today.

I've been into cars since i can remember. My very first car was a 70 Plymouth roadrunner, and since then I've owned various muscle/collector/sports cars. The last time i owned anything even slightly respectable was a couple of Integra type-r's, one stock the other a turbo track car, that i built myself. I procured a huge soft spot for Japanese sports cars from then on. Suffice it to say, I'm very mechanically inclined but unfortunately haven't had time for cars for awhile (getting married, buying a house, life.....). The wife has been bugging me to get a real car again, she knows how much i love em, so I was thinking of just getting a GT-R and being done with it. Although i love GT-R's I think i like classics and building cars more. I love making a car fast rather than just spending alot of money on a fast car, i feel like anyone can do that... Ya know? anyway enough about me.

Today me and my wife just happened to randomly come across an NSX sitting in a driveway with a for sale sign in the window. My wife egged me on to knock on the door, so what the hell, i did. An eighty year old man that can barely walk comes to the door. I asked him about the NSX in his driveway.... 2 hours later we're drinking beer in his backyard talking about his wife's old GMC Cyclone my wife's SRT8. I don't think you could possibly meet two nicer people. He tells me that he's had the car since 94 (it's a 91) and he's the second owner. He took the car everywhere before his knee surgery, he drove it all the time. It has 215,000 miles on it and is all stock cosmetically other than some old school BBS's. It has lots of Comptech goodies (exhaust/4.55/chassis bars, etc...) and said he's had it serviced when needed by Shad at Driving Ambition (we're in Nor Cal). The car is pretty sun baked, dirty, needs paint, but it's straight and the seats and interior are in surprisingly good shape, also clean title. It hasn't ran since October last year and has a dead battery. He say's when it ran it had a CEL but ran great. Everything else looks decently clean for sitting and not a drop of oil underneath. I'm gonna head over there tomorrow with a battery. given what I've told you, what is this project worth????

P.S. unfortunately the only picture i took of the car was of the vin#jh4na1154mt002632
but the picture is kinda sweet, so I'll post it.
***EDIT: I guess my wife took some photos too. I've added them
 
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Sounds like a diamond in the rough although it could also be a hunk of coal. Just from your brief description it sounds like you'll have to spend a good amount of money to get it cosmetically up to speed unless you just want to have a driver car that looks good from 20 feet away. I guess most of all it depends on how the test drive goes and how much he's asking for it. I'd offer somewhere in the 15-20k range if it's all you say it is. Good luck and make sure to post more pics.
 
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Did the owner give you a price he had in mind? It is a good find for sure. As long as all the maintenance is up to date. TB/WP, valve adjustment, fluids chenged etc. is looks to g a good project. Paint is another pricey factor as well. And it was sitting outside for that year I persume? Be careful no rodents got into it. Other then that I would love to see some pics. Good luck if you do purchase it. As for the price, I havent been around long enough to give my advice as to what its worth. I will leave that to the experts.
 
Due to miles I say 15000 but give him 17000 since he's such a nice old man. Another 5000 and you'll have it running and looking like a million bucks. Please post more pics if you can.
 
Go in with a lowball offer, something like $12k. Just because he is nice doesn't mean you should give him extra money. I just bought a car and got a good price because the widow of the owner has been trying to sell it for over a year. She turned down what I paid for the car three months ago. You have to be in the right place at the right time with a check/cash in hand.
 
Couple of things going for you. First, with those kinds of miles on an 'exotic sports car', he's not going to get a lot of interest .. and only low-ball offers, even though we all know that 215k isn't a big deal if the maintenance has been done. Second, if he's had Shad doing the maintenance, you can count on it being done correctly .. although you still need to ask about how many timing belt changes there have been. He's had it almost 20 years and TBs are supposed to be done every 7 years .. so should have had one done in '98, '05, and '12. Even if he didn't have all 3 done, you need to know when the next one is due.

Re: CEL - there are tons of things that this could be. Read this to get familiar with how OBD1 codes can be read out without going to a dealer. http://nsxprime.com/wiki/Trouble_Codes Just bring a paper clip with you when you go back. Could easily be bad O2 sensors or something worse. You might want to have a dealer inspect it anyway .. if it has a list of issues, you're be wiser and also have a good bargaining tool.

To be honest, from the pictures, the paint doesn't look that bad, so if you're looking for a driver, new paint may not be needed. Hey, it's 23 years old with 215k miles.. it's not going to be show class .. says a guy with a '91 and 190k miles.
However, with those kinds of miles, you also want to be asking about when the clutch was last done; if the air con is blowing cold; has it been converted to freon-free; is the ABS system cycling; does the stereo work; do the windows go up and down smoothly; have the main coolant hoses ever been replaced; etc. These are all weaknesses with this kind of mileage and can cause you to spend $$. Biggest cost is likely if the air condenser in the dash is leaking and needs fixing. Clutch/TB is probably second; ABS could be third; the rest are just things that you'd like to know about.

Good luck
 
bought it.

well took the battery over there and after a bit of a long crank it fired up. there was a decent amount of chatter at first, but warmed up nicely, then quieted down. I was surprised everything worked, a/c, heater, stereo etc... the car drove extremely well and fast, no CEL. there were only 2 things of concern 1st the driver window moves a bit slow (not a real big deal i suppose). And 2nd of which he already told me about was the ABS motor was making some noise. he said if you hit the breaks hard it would quiet it, but unfortunately i didn't have the means to properly secure my battery, so any hard stops were out of the question. He said he'd been offered 14k and 16.5k, I offered 15k and after a pitcher of iced tea and a couple of NSX story's later i was driving it home.
thanks for everyone's input :)

P.S. It came with a genuine 91 service manual plus the electrical supplement. owners manual with the cell phone supplement. 3 keys, valet, titanium and a regular. Most all new window rubbers and extra trunk and engine hatch shocks.

Pics
 
Wow, that was quick. Way to just get on er. Is that the cell phone located directly infront of the arm rest? After a good detail you might just love this car a bit more. Welcome to the BB club, and ever more so welcome to NSX ownership.
 
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Congrats and welcome to the club. The issues that you described are fairly common and are discussed here on Prime. You'll be able to get that car in tip top shape in no time. Just my .02 cents but those wheels need to go. Your car would look 1000x better with a set of newer oem wheels or different aftermarket.
 
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Wow - good story and good ending! Nice to have made the bond with the owner - hope I still have mine at 80! Great looking car for the year and mileage - actually I think you got a bargain - great price even if you have to do some of the maintenance discussed - and get to enjoy the fantastic NSX driving and ownership experience. Glad it worked out - congrats and enjoy! Jay
 
Thanks

Thanks everyone, I belong to a lot of car forums and i believe Prime is the most friendly and welcoming. I'm really happy to be part of the community and i can't wait to share more. I also believe i got a great deal and promised Bill (previous owner) I'd take him for a ride when I get the car where i want it. Doing all the work myself, I'd like to stay under 10k but who knows.... Thanks again everyone... P.s. @06_typeS, ya thats the cell i guess?!?! had no idea. has some kinda box in the back too. Just slightly antiquated, haha, but i wonder if i can get it working again. @Aluminsx, Not a fan either... ah, i mean... wait! those wheels are awesome, but unfortunately for me, I'll be selling them to a lucky buyer :) but seriously once the car passes smog and is insured those wheels will be the first things to go... might do BBS lm's as an homage to them and how Bill had it. But i suppose that's for another topic.
 
HA. I was right when I said $15000. now for all of us here on prime please get rid of those wheels LOL
 
Where are you located exactly? Lmk if you need second pair of hands working on anything.
Thanks solidol, very much appreciated. I'll buy the beers :) I'm in Fair Oaks which is just outside of Sacramento.

Dynamic-uzed-auto said:
HA. I was right when I said $15000. now for all of us here on prime please get rid of those wheels LOL
Spot on. I probably could have got him to go lower, but i would have also paid more, so i think we were both quite happy. The wheels are real BBS rs's and expensive. Really popular on older euro cars but not my cup of tea.
 
the chatter at startup could be the lma's valves ect...lets hope it isn't on the bottom end.
 
well i was a bit naive to think i could just smog it without a tune up.... after the first shop (NSX enthusiasts) told me they wouldn't pass me with my headers(old pre 97 Comptechs), I thought i might as well take it to someone who wouldn't know the difference. So after a thorough examination of under the hood and trunk i managed to guide the second smog technician to the proper engine location. And well, suffice it to say it came back a gross polluter. well that was dumb... so i got a bead on a NA2 header, changed plugs, changed oil(stripped drain bold), cleaned air temp sensor, cleaned EGR, replacing catalytic converters(one sounded like a bag of rocks when shaken)... etc. But the biggest I'm dumb moment came when i checked the air filter...
View attachment 111987
... Not all of it got sucked through but I'm sure a lot did. I hope it tasted good.
 
Wow! This post made me wonder about my K&N filter which has not been used for 10 years sitting in a bag. See attached, I think I'll throw it out. :eek:

20140422-DSC00123.jpg
 
WOW! Greeat Story & Great Deal! Congrats on your find ... 15K for an NSX with a Clean Title!
 
thanks Mike, i was just at niello to buy some filters too lol...

pan bolt was stripped so i added a baffle during the fix.
View attachment 112766
black and white? putting it back together after paint... some old some new...
IMG_0602[1].jpg
 
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