Hope to be joining the NSX community very soon.

[flipflops]

Greetings everyone.

I have been lurking around the NSXPrime forums for quite some time now waiting for the right moment to pursue my original dreams and purchase a NSX to keep for a (very) long time. After months and months of searching, a NSXPrime member finally reached out to me and offered to sell me his beloved NSX. Needless to say, I am very excited and the search is about to come to a close. At this point, the flight has been booked and the paperwork finalized.

The person I have been working with is a great guy who has been very helpful in making this transaction simple. After speaking with him numerous times, I feel very comfortable with the car and him as a seller. I think I am one of the more difficult people to work with because I am very meticulous with my car and always want to check every single little detail. Ironically, an old friend of mine did point out something and I felt compelled to ask my fellow board members for their opinion.

I have read countless buyer's guides and forum posts about what to look for and one of the pieces of advice was "Panel fit should be absolutely perfect from the factory at every angle." Upon closer inspection, my friend pointed out that the front bumper is slightly higher than the hood-line. Now, I am pretty sure this is just a simple adjustment issue or maybe the hood stoppers need to be adjusted to meet flushly (not a real word) with the bumper, but any feedback from NSXPrimers would be very helpful. Thanks!

Update:

The angles and pictures were playing tricks on my eyes.

 

[PAnsxer]

Could be a couple different things....first thing that comes to mind is that since these cars are so low...a couple bumps to the bumper CAN offset the alignment (if the bumper is higher than the hood). Could literally be a hundred different things. Check for obvious front end damage UNDER the hood. If you find nothing obvious, check for scrapes under the bumper, if you find SEVERE scraping, more than likely it's just from constantly bumping things. Or, ask the current owner.

 

[flipflops]

Thank you for the reply. The current owner takes EXCELLENT care of the car and the condition definitely shows. He has disclosed that the owner before him has bumped the curb a couple of times here and there from parking, but I did not think that would be enough to offset the bumper that much. Supposedly the (black) lip of the car has been scraped here and there.

Just wondering what the possibilities are, but I suppose there isn't much I can do until I see the car in person.

 

[4cruizn]

I suppose there isn't much I can do until I see the car in person.

That'd be my recommendation. The lighting / angle the pics can play tricks with your eyes endlessly. Just assess it when you're there in person. Car overall looks to be in excellent shape and and it sounds like the owner has cared for it. Let us know how it checks out! And, early congrats on the acquisition.

 

[rbilder]

Tough to say. It looks like it lines up okay on the sides from the picture, but low where the hood lines up with the nose. I don't remember if their is an adustement for how low the hood sets. I'm not near my car at the moment to look.
It does look like a very nice NSX.
Shawn would be one who might know, since he has quite a bit of experience taking the nose off and aligning them back up.

Good luck and hope to be welcoming you soon...

 

[docjohn]

bottom line if the hood does not line up perfectly(naked eye) then somewhere along its life something or someone has messed with it....If it were me I would be having an experienced eye look around the front end.

 

[flipflops]

Hi Everyone,

Sorry it took me so long to respond to this thread. After purchasing the car, it basically got parked into the garage never to be seen again for a few months while I was at work and travelling.

I recall making one of my most painful flights over to Florida in January via an overnight (red eye) flight to FLL. I had a long layover at LAX and all I could think about was picking up the car and finally seeing it in person. That kind of happens when you spend over 6 months searching for “the one”. Because I am probably the most meticulous person when it comes to my cars (plenty of bad experiences in the past), I was very nervous about seeing the car. However, George (georednsx) was VERY easy to talk to and was very open about the car. This gave me a little peace of mind while sitting on the flight. My in-flight reading consisted mostly of my handy NSX book, NSX prime PPI checklists, and NSX threads by Shawn and other owners who recently purchased their cars.

Random thought: The scenery in FLL was beautiful. A completely difference experience than what I'm used to in the city, but I don’t think they have any mountains in Florida, do they? Kind of a shame people don’t get the experience the same kind of mountainous back roads we have around in California.

The next thing I remember was George pulling the car cover off the NSX. It was absolutely stunning in red. I looked around and began taking notes all around the car. All the paint was original. (After spending weeks and weeks in the past studying for signs of paintwork, you get quite good at it, I suppose.) I planned on leaving the rest to Dwight (my PPI shop). When we arrived at the shop, Dwight already confidently told me that a PPI was meaningless as he has worked on the car plenty of times and there are no problems. However, I insisted that I get a good look at the car on a lift so I could get a good look.



I recall hearing that you can tell a lot about a car's history by looking underneath the car. I remember I went over every single nut and bolt to detail which ones have had a wrench on it and which ones were left untouched. The only really big issue was that the car's OEM lip was banged up a bit. It definitely needed a new one, but that was for when I get back to California.

Now I realized I had to make a decision. The shipping company was doing me a big favor and coordinated to have the car picked up the same day, (I wanted to be there to make sure they load it correctly), and I needed to give them the green light. A lot of thoughts ran through my head... "Am I ready to move on from the S2000? Am I making the right choice in picking a NSX over a C6Z06? Am I sure I want to pass up the golden opportunity to own one of the rarest S2000's on the market? (a few hours earlier, someone offered to sell me their GPW delete CR)." I recall being very quiet when finalizing the transaction. I realized that I was having second thoughts… but I was also missing one more thing…

The Test Drive:

To put it shortly, all my second thoughts and hesitations went away when I finally test drove the car. The roar of the engine when the throttle was pressed, the stability at high speeds, the targa experience; I don’t think there are any cars out there short of another exotic that can offer this experience. I was instantly in love and realized that THIS was the car I’ve been waiting for.

I’m going to be honest—I was originally a big doubter of the NSX before my ownership. 290 horsepower does not seem like much these days considering many standard cars can push past the 300hp mark as standard. When driving the car, it all makes sense. All the NSX enthusiasts’ comments about the driving experience began to make sense.
After finishing the paperwork and transaction, Intercity Lines showed up right on schedule. The car was loaded up and ready to go. They were very professional, careful, and detailed when loading up the car. If anyone needs a car shipped… I recommend these guys. They also offered the best price to boot. It was almost too good to be true.



Today, the car is sitting in the capable hands of our resident NSX mechanic, Jim Russell, as he performs all the necessary maintenance to bring my car up to date (TB, WP, hoses, etc.)

The whole experience was great. I am now a very happy owner of a ’98 Formula Red NSX.



Thanks NSXPrime.

 

[docjohn]

fantastic story,thanks for the follow up.Many happy miles.

 

[blue_myriddn]

fantastic story,thanks for the follow up.Many happy miles.

Agreed, great to hear a positive conclusion.