In the market again...

S

Sgt. Pepper

Contributing Member
Joined
14 December 2007
Messages
104
Hello!

its been a VERY long time since I have been here...

I joined this site originally because I was ready to buy an NA1 NSX back in 07...

However a friend of mine ended up convincing me to get a new car instead, and I went with a 2007 S2000. NO regrets at all, as I loved that car more than any other I have driven.

However times have changed.

I live in Japan now of all places! And to get here originally I had to sell my beloved S2000. Soon however, thanks to new employment I will be in the market again for a new car, and my choices are vast here, but relatively hard to sift through.

I remember these forums being the most helpful place I've ever been for car info and help, so I thought I would visit once more to ask if this site or the members on here have any affiliation with NSX clubs or vendors here. If I had a choice in the matter I'd still have my S2000, but fate it would seem is giving me another chance to choose here, and curiosity is getting the better of me rather than just running straight back to the S.

Cars here are all in remarkably good condition, enough to warrant relatively high asking prices. But if the price is right I would love to own an actual Honda NSX, where I am surrounded by race tracks and reputable tuning shops.

If anyone has any information or connections here in Japan ( Preferably the Tokyo area ) please let me know!!!

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks! :smile:
 
Hirofumi Tomiyoshi is the president of the NSX Club of Japan. He is a great guy and has connection to many NSX owners in Tokyo. I believe his SN is NSXJAPAN.

Good Luck and post pix of your new toy once you get it :wink:
 
I would love to... but the prices...

The are practically still selling for what they did when they were brand new, if not more in some cases ( Type Rs )
 
Only drive cars you couldn't here:

R34 Skyline V-Spec
Nissan S15 etc....
 
Funny you should mention that, because I have a friend here working in the car exporting biz, who has access to most of the auctions in Japan.

Late model RX7s and R34s are very tempting...

The main reason I am looking at an NSX here is because if i can grab one here, ALL of them are incredibly low mileage and in fantastic condition compared to the NA1s Ive seen in the US. I plan on staying for a number of years in Japan, and I will also be bringing whatever I buy home with me
 
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I agree with the above post to get a NSXR even if the prices are way high. It would be worth a bunch more if you managed to get it to the States. Although I would research what you may have to do to the car to get it in to the States (it may not be worth the price).
 
Sgt. Pepper said:
I plan on staying for a number of years in Japan, and I will also be bringing whatever I buy home with me
Click to expand...

You are only going to find RHD in Japan and I don't think you are going to get one of those into the States.

PM Hirofumi for access to more local info. He organized our groups from the States, Europe and Australia to attend NSX Fiesta 2010:

1096635862_JhNui-XL.jpg


1111077047_oYype-XL.jpg


1111088242_9bi2J-XL.jpg


1155858606_M6bC6-XL.jpg
 
Unless your car is 25 years old there will be NO WAY it will be admissible once you return to the US. If you plan to DD a car and import it back, I'd suggest you go for the rarity jugular and look for a KPGC10 "Hakosuka" Skyline GT-R :).


Posted from my iPhone
 
I have recently made contact with the head of the NSX Club of Japan here!

He is remarkably helpful and we are keeping tabs on each other through email.

About the posts mentioned above with regards to the cars importation.

One is that above mentioned 25 year limit on imports into the United States.

the Oldest NA1's here are already about 21 years old... meaning I wouldn't have to wait a decade before the original Type R's become eligible.
 
Still looking and shopping around, biding my time and waiting for "The One"

I don't want to compromise on getting an NSX though. There are tons of cool JDM specials here for much much cheaper... but I am sure as many of you can personally sympathize with, if I did not get one while I was here, especially in a place with so many relatively pristine examples ( when compared to the US ) it would probably haunt me till the end of time.

That said, I see tons of comments on these boards where people are able to call out whether a car is cheap, reasonably priced, and overpriced.

Seeing as these cars are becoming somewhat of a rarity in the US, and the tight nature of the community here I would suppose that much of that has to do with everyone's intimate knowledge of the cars.

But does anyone on the board here, other than the member from the NSX Club of Japan have any ideas on how to appraise the values of JDM NSX's? Are there charts you guys have somewhere or something that would indicate values?

I know Kelly Blue Book is not entirely appropriate given that the values on there are not really reflective of how rare the cars are, but there isnt anything like that here to my knowledge.

So I am seeing values of NA1s ALL over the place. And their listed prices don't really seem to have any correlation with the mileage or overall shape they are in ( sans the very high mileage examples of course )


ALSO

I am almost sure the debate has been done before, but Ill just post it on here really quick as an afterthought while I sift through the archives for a response and see which is quicker.

What would be better to buy??

An expensive but hardly used ( less than 12,000 miles or 20,000KM ) NA1 (1990 - 1991) [there are quite a few here]

Or a higher mileage example, one in particular comes to mind: a 1997 Type S 3.2L with about 75,000KM on the clock (roughly 46,000 miles)
 
Current market values in Japan cannot be determined by someone living here in the USA. As far as deciding between the different models....only you can make that decision for yourself. At the end of the day I would say to get the best car for the least amount of money......remember whatever car you decide on you will be selling it when you return to the USA.
 
arfnsx said:
Hirofumi Tomiyoshi is the president of the NSX Club of Japan. He is a great guy and has connection to many NSX owners in Tokyo. I believe his SN is NSXJAPAN.

Good Luck and post pix of your new toy once you get it :wink:
Click to expand...

I have a video on my Go Pro HD of him losing control and driving on the japanese side of the road, facing on coming traffic on a blind turn in public roads with the NSXCA secretary's Purple NSX.

I really do.:biggrin:
 
Sgt. Pepper said:
I live in Japan now of all places! And to get here originally I had to sell my beloved S2000. Soon however, thanks to new employment I will be in the market again for a new car, and my choices are vast here, but relatively hard to sift through.

I remember these forums being the most helpful place I've ever been for car info and help, so I thought I would visit once more to ask if this site or the members on here have any affiliation with NSX clubs or vendors here. If I had a choice in the matter I'd still have my S2000, but fate it would seem is giving me another chance to choose here, and curiosity is getting the better of me rather than just running straight back to the S.

Cars here are all in remarkably good condition, enough to warrant relatively high asking prices. But if the price is right I would love to own an actual Honda NSX, where I am surrounded by race tracks and reputable tuning shops.

If anyone has any information or connections here in Japan ( Preferably the Tokyo area ) please let me know!!!

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks! :smile:
Click to expand...

Hey Sgt Pepper, I'm in the same boat as you. I'll be in Japan in November, Yokota AB.

I'll be watching this thread for updates for sure.

Oyagi said:
Unless your car is 25 years old there will be NO WAY it will be admissible once you return to the US. If you plan to DD a car and import it back, I'd suggest you go for the rarity jugular and look for a KPGC10 "Hakosuka" Skyline GT-R :).

Posted from my iPhone
Click to expand...


I'd hate to DD a hakosuka and they're expensive.

Sgt. Pepper said:
Still looking and shopping around, biding my time and waiting for "The One"

I don't want to compromise on getting an NSX though. There are tons of cool JDM specials here for much much cheaper... but I am sure as many of you can personally sympathize with, if I did not get one while I was here, especially in a place with so many relatively pristine examples ( when compared to the US ) it would probably haunt me till the end of time.

That said, I see tons of comments on these boards where people are able to call out whether a car is cheap, reasonably priced, and overpriced.

Seeing as these cars are becoming somewhat of a rarity in the US, and the tight nature of the community here I would suppose that much of that has to do with everyone's intimate knowledge of the cars.

But does anyone on the board here, other than the member from the NSX Club of Japan have any ideas on how to appraise the values of JDM NSX's? Are there charts you guys have somewhere or something that would indicate values?

I know Kelly Blue Book is not entirely appropriate given that the values on there are not really reflective of how rare the cars are, but there isnt anything like that here to my knowledge.

So I am seeing values of NA1s ALL over the place. And their listed prices don't really seem to have any correlation with the mileage or overall shape they are in ( sans the very high mileage examples of course )


ALSO

I am almost sure the debate has been done before, but Ill just post it on here really quick as an afterthought while I sift through the archives for a response and see which is quicker.

What would be better to buy??

An expensive but hardly used ( less than 12,000 miles or 20,000KM ) NA1 (1990 - 1991) [there are quite a few here]

Or a higher mileage example, one in particular comes to mind: a 1997 Type S 3.2L with about 75,000KM on the clock (roughly 46,000 miles)
Click to expand...

I'm seeing a trend of about $10K more for NA1 NSXs with fairly lower mileage (~60km). They can go higher as well.

What you should get is highly dependent on when you'll be coming back if you intend to bring it back. In that case, a Type S may be extremely expensive by the time you're able to bring it back...in 2022.

I'm gunning for a 1990-1992 NSX as I'll probably be coming back in 2017. They have much more color options than we had back in 1991-1993 also. I've seen a 1991 Shallot/Charlotte? Green w/ black top and ivory interior.
I've also thought about the same years of Skyline GTR R32 which would be much cheaper and more accessible.

GhettoRacer said:
Few weeks ago I saw a pristine NSX-R in Japanese wholesale auction for like $75,000 (if I remember right)...
Click to expand...

It probably wasn't very pristine in that case. Probably "R" inspected (repaired...salvaged). Most are easily $100K+.
 
That makes more sense and I think I remember seeing that car. Was it like a 94 or 95 indy yellow?

I wish they were cheaper. I'd bring back a 1992 Type R if they were cheaper and I could actually find one.
 
I recently have spent a couple days with the very friendly folks over at the NSX Specialty store MAC`s in Tokyo.

And after hours and hours of talking about NSX's and gushing over how incredibly clean all their examples where ( a total of 6 Type Rs on hand 3 of each ) I hit a snag. Since I have no credit history in Japan, I am unable to finance outright for anything; be it an old tattered AZ-1 or their cheapest Type R on the showroom floor, which was also going for 7,500,000 Yen with a fully restored authentic interior and 80,000km on the clock.

I am in the process NOW of trying to find out the quickest way to build a tangible credit history in the country now. In the mean time I am saving for the fat down payment one of these will require.
 
i vaguely remember Honda used to offer full factory restoration service for the NSX. do they still do that??

there are two nsx for bidding in a local auction soon. i'm going to try to bid a 3 liter one to do development work. :-) hopefully we'll score it!

6 NSX-R?! wow! how much are they going for?? man, that would be really a cool car to get hold of in USA. maybe we'll try to get one... that would be the most epic type-r. i would love to drive it to see why so many jp drivers just raves and raves about it... has the NSX-R ever been tested at Nurburgring?? or Top Gear test track?
 
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nürburgring_lap_times

To answer your lap time questions there you can see that the NA1 Type R went around in about 8:03

And the NA2 variant in a pretty impressive 7:56.

I know Top Gear, way back in the day also had Hammond test out the NA2 Type R. However he didn't like it at all cause lets be honest, it was just too sensible for his tastes.

I am not sure if Honda still offers the refresh program. I suppose I could ask that to the folks over at MACs on my next visit to the shop. But if you look around I have seen a couple cars that have the official tag from Honda that they have been refreshed. Those cars Ive only seen up through private channels and not through auctions though.

http://ucar.autos.yahoo.co.jp/model/honda/nsx/CU0876820330/

Thats the only example I could dig up for the moment, just in case you are REALLY interested in one.

As for those Type Rs nestled away at MACs... well I already stated that the cheapest one was going for 7,500,000 Yen, which is almost a cool $100,000 with the exchange rate. However, the NA2 Type Rs in their possession were even more amazing, with prices to match...

They let me sit inside a Suzuka built NA2 Type R with only 10,000km on the clock. It had a price tag of about 15,000,000 Yen. And sitting right next to that one with a sign on the window which I could only assume read " Do Not Touch " was a Suzuka built NA2 Type R which was one of the 5 last NSXs to be produced. Price, about 28,000,000 Yen if I remember correctly. You can punch those in a currency converter if you'd like. Personally I dont have the heart to do so myself.
 
Those are some crazy prices on the NSX-R's. Does the NSX have iconic status in Japan--and I mean not just car folks, but does the common man know?

I had the company of some Japanese men the last few days who visited for some work-related stuff and I mentioned I had an NSX. They seemed to know what it was but I don't know if they were just being polite.
 

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