NSX, a reliable supercar.

gheba_nsx

gheba_nsx

Legendary Member
Joined
23 October 2001
Messages
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Location
Zürich, Switzerland
Hello all,
I do not want to start a controversial topic but I am curious to know if I am the only one with this feeling... I was Saturday afternoon at a gas station with two friends driving another NSX and a brand new Lotus Esprit '02. We go out of the cars and I cannot open the door... why? My door handle, plastic part, broke in my hands
frown.gif


I am on my second NSX and I think I experienced all the possible "known/normal" problems on them:

snap ring
audio amplifier
central speaker dead
AC blowing cold air only on one side
02 sensor failed
windshield weather strip "becoming small"
door handle
squeaking dash
not-retracting antenna

I think I only miss the window regulator (and I will install the fix-it thingies when the panel are out to fix the door handle). I have to say that both cars were very well serviced (service book is complete) and were/are very well taken care of. Not abused, tracked, sleep in heated garage, ...

So, is the NSX the reliable supercar we all think of? On a side note, the new Lotus owner was a previous NSX owner that experienced a lot more problem on his NSX (snap ring, ...) than on his father old 911TT or actual Modena. Also my work colleague with a Modena experienced only a small problem on it in the last two years (and the car is driven, 10000 km per year).
Let's wait for the Lotus behaviour in the next year...

I still love my NSX a lot though!
biggrin.gif
 
Gheba,
I think the Lotus is just a few months old, the Modena you mention is two years old and your NSX is about 10 years old (I think).
Have driven 20000km with my own NSX in the last 6 monthd with zero problems.
 
MvM has a point about the age of the NSX; hence more inherent problems.

Also it takes time to tell if a model of car has built-in flaws. Wait a couple more years and the lotus owners will probably complain about certain probz (like "Why didn't i buy the NSX afterall?"
smile.gif
 
I know, the NSX is a lot older than those Ferrari/Porsche. But many of us buy the "bulletproof" NSX already 8-10 years old believing that almost no problem will occur. We joke about Ferrari living in the shop, ... and this is not 100% true. Also very good maintained NSX will have their share of problems.

NeoNSX: the Lotus owner had a NSX for two years and money is really no ojbect for him (he paid for the new Lotus as much as the cost of a new '02 NSX or even more) but even after having owned one for two year could not justify the price for a new one...
 
Ciao Gheba

You told about ferrari porsche and lotus.

Check these cars after ten years and 180.000 KM. and after let me know wil be good and ready for my iron cutter remember right my work.
smile.gif


Andrea
 
In my opinion, the NSX's excellent reliability has been a double-edged sword. People buy the car, 10, even 12 years old and expect reliability on par with a new car.

Materials continue to wear and become brittle even when the car is not driven, so low miles on a 12 year old car is not necessarily indicative of a car that will not need maintenance.

The car definitely does have a few examples of design or manufacturing problems (snap ring and window regulators come to mind), however, in the big picture, when you consider the age of the vehicles being made an example of, the NSX continues to be unusually reliable for a high performance sports car. NSX set a new standard for reliability from this class of vehicle, and only now are other manufactures catching up.

-- Chris

------------------
Revolutionize your NSX with ScienceofSpeed
www.ScienceofSpeed.com | [email protected] | 877-863-4520
 
Originally posted by ScienceofSpeed:
In my opinion, the NSX's excellent reliability has been a double-edged sword. People buy the car, 10, even 12 years old and expect reliability on par with a new car.

Materials continue to wear and become brittle even when the car is not driven, so low miles on a 12 year old car is not necessarily indicative of a car that will not need maintenance.

The car definitely does have a few examples of design or manufacturing problems (snap ring and window regulators come to mind), however, in the big picture, when you consider the age of the vehicles being made an example of, the NSX continues to be unusually reliable for a high performance sports car. NSX set a new standard for reliability from this class of vehicle, and only now are other manufactures catching up.

-- Chris
Click to expand...

Well stated, Chris.

Gheba, check out this and this. (I don't know anything about the part or the seller.)
 
"low miles on a 12 year old car is not necessarily indicative of a car that will not need maintenance."

Chris, as I said above, I know we are speaking about 2-3 years old cars vs 8-12 years old ones. But my list of problem had nothing to do with the normal routine maintenance. All teh things I listed are really design flaws that we tend to forgive because of our love for this (awesome) car. And when people asks about the reliability of the car we (me too) have this dogma that the nsx is RELIABLE not like the other exotic... and the more problem I encounter with my nsx (with my two nsx!) the more I see that we are not 100%.
 
The other day I took a peak at the new 350Z. I circled the car and sat inside. I admired the overall design, although from some angles it did look like an Audi TT-- not that there's anything wrong with that. The price, with dealer gouging, was around $35k.
Brochure in hand, I left the dealership. I glanced back at the 350 and thought to myself, "Nice car." In the dealer's parking lot was my '91 black/black NSX with its slow rising windows, cracking dash trim, spider scratched black finish, road scars, and BOSE system that leaves much to be desired. Yet despite all that, seeing my car in the dealer's lot brought a smile to my face. After seeing Nissan's latest iteration of the Z, I couldn't wait to climb into my 11 year old car and drive away. I felt like one of those married guys who goes to a singles bar, flirts with a young cutie but still returns to the comfort and familiar pleasures of home, or in this case my NSX, foibles, age lines and all.

Larry T
 
very nice 'auto-exotic' poetry there, baby.
wink.gif
I agree with your sentiments.

Just my .02. The nsx is hardly an accord in terms of reliability. There ARE some issues here. as mentioned, snapring(BIG one), window reg, and that *%**#n boses stereo. hadnt heard about the door handles before.

I think the perspective, the amazing thing, is the reliability compared to other exotics, especially considering that this is not from an exotic car company, and their first attempt on top of it all.

I think Honda only screwed up in not recalling and making right the snapring thing.

This project by Honda is amazing when you consider everything, and compare the durability and reliability of the nsx to other exotic cars. I think the older 91/92 nsx's, which had the initial snapring/window probs, are only continuing to demonstrate how well Honda really did in creating an ultimate reliable, durable super exotic. As these older highmileage cars continue to age in years and miles i think we'll only gain additional appreciation of how successful Honda really was with the nsx.

I cant wait to see what we're saying when we have 15yr old nsx's with 100-150kmiles. I suspect we'll only become more impressed with our beautiful lil Hondas that dared to challenge ferraris, porsches, and other exotics...
 
hey gheba, another observation. the things you mentioned ac/retractable attenae are pretty common on all cars at the higher mileage OR 5plus year mark.

regarding the lotus you mentioned. really nice cars. the 98(i think) 8k mile lotus esprit i drove recently had a HORRIBLE transmission. This is on a car design that is what/ thirty years old?? You'd think theyd have it more reliable than that by now.

my whole point is, that im not blindly in love with my nsx, and i'll probably own other exotics someday. the nsx are NOT without fault, as you have mentioned. But i think you'll find none more reliable, or inexpensive to maintain, than the nsx. Sure id rather have the other exotics performance with todays numbers, but not at the 'expense' of the reliability i get with the nsx. There is NOTHING i hate more than wondering is an engine/drivetrain is gonna break and leave me stranded. That is stress to me, and i want what the nsx gives me, stress reduction.

dont know why i felt to compared to write a novel about this, but i guess ive felt like we dont really acknowledge the nsx's few reliability problems, which you appropriately did IMO, and I think that allows us to do an honest comparison and put it all in perspective.
 
Exactely "AC/antenna/... are pretty common on all cars at the higher mileage OR 5 plus year mark", also even the NSX is no special exception to this unlike most of us "want to believe"... as said I am not criticizing the NSX, only the (sometime) blind support we give to this car's reliability. All without polemic/sarcasm...
 
Originally posted by huckster:
I think the older 91/92 nsx's, which had the initial snapring/window probs, are only continuing to demonstrate how well Honda really did in creating an ultimate reliable, durable super exotic.
Click to expand...

Remember, 80 percent of the '91 cars were not affected by the snap ring problem. And the window problem is preventable with the installation of the fix-it thingies.

I agree with the point that the cars aren't 100 percent perfect, but the number of problems I've had in twelve years of constant track use is amazingly low.
 

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