NSX shopping experiences

[Q]

Greetings to the Prime community!

I’m a recent patron, only registering a few months ago after lurking around this site for almost a year. Now I’m serious about purchasing an NSX, albeit an older one. It’s a vehicle I’ve wanted since its debut (when I was making about $5.25/hr) and always thought it was a pipe-dream. The time has come now in my life where I’m financially secure, mature enough, and ready to make the big purchase. I’m currently scouring the AutoTrader, Cars.com, Dupont Registry, and of course here on Prime for an example that I can call my own.

Now, I feel I’m a fairly astute individual. I do my research. I read. I write and talk to people. I try to carry myself in conversations as polite and professional. I’ve always been a car guy, and I could sit around all day reading the specs and reviews on various marks. I figure a vehicle such as an NSX would attract a die-hard bunch of folks who are enthusiastic, and really know their cars. I believe those on Prime represent these types of people. As with anything, there are those that seem to completely fall out of this category. With that said, I’m setting you up for some of my experiences so far in my quest to obtain an NSX. I’d like to share with you some funny, yet true phone conversations I’ve had with various people trying to sell their car:

When queried about the A/C:
ME: Does the A/C function properly?
SELLER: Yeah, the belt turns OK.
ME: I mean, does it work?
SELLER: All’s I know is that it’s back there.
ME: Click.

When asked about the timing belt / water pump service:
ME: Has the 90K service been performed on it?
SELLER: Yep, oil’s been all changed.
ME: But has the belt, been changed per the 90K recommended service?
SELLER: Those Jap engineers don’t really mean that stuff they put in the manual.
ME: Thanks for your time.

When questioned about the clutch:
ME: Has the clutch ever been replaced?
SELLER: Nope
ME: Is it still engaging properly?
SELLER: Yeah, it’ll still do pretty good burnouts.
ME: Thanks for your time.

And my favorite so far:
When asked about the snap-ring:
ME: Does the car fall within the snap-ring range?
SELLER: Yeah, but I had the guys replace it with my last oil change.
ME: (silence)

Can’t you just imagine this guy going into Jiffy Lube, and the employee approaches him saying that along with a dirty air filter, he also needs his snap-ring replaced? And behold, along the wall of stacked air filters is a whole row of NSX transmissions. It really plays out some great theatre of the mind.

To give comfort, NONE of the aforementioned situations have occurred when contacting a Prime member. I think that is why I’ll probably buy a car listed here. The moral of my long-winded essay is that this site and its members have been EXTREMELY helpful with me in navigating the pitfalls associated with purchasing this vehicle. I’m still learning and ramping up for my ownership soon, and I appreciate all the insightful conversations I’ve had with those on the forums. I’m hoping I’ll be driving my NSX soon, and looking forward to meeting everyone at the NSX events!!

Regards,
Sean

 

[kgb_agent]

That's funny as heck....I like the burnout comment.

In my quest for the right NSX I came across one that I was interested in looking at located in MD. The autotrader ad stated--and I hate ads like this--something condescending like "no dreamers...if you don't have the money please don't waste my time." Already irked, but interested in the car, I left message after message at various times/days. This went on for about 2 weeks; the ad remained.

Finally, I left a message with the elusive "seller" stating that the one who may dreaming may be him. Maybe he didn't even own an NSX! Got a call back a couple of hours later

I told him that the wording of the ad was irksome and arrogant and he explained a list of excuses why he could never return calls. Of course I never made the trip to see the car. His ad remained in autotrader (less the dreamer content) for weeks after.

And I bought one about 3 weeks later.

 

[docjohn]

Statisticly speaking you are much more likely to be dealing with a non prime member in random searching for nsx's.I'd say there are probably 50-100 reliable prime members-whose cars rarely come up for sale.Weigh that against the say 5000 other owners in the US.We have some very respectable and reliable nsxca members who will list from time to time on our owners mail lists.Be careful though in primes' market section as you will notice many are first time users looking to capitalize on the cache of prime,and Lud can make no assurances that these cars are fairly represented,thats why you are doing what you need to do which is gain knowledge to weed out the crap.

 

[Q]

I would agree with you. Even though you'd hope the Prime marketplace has more reputable cars for sale, you'll always have some yahoo trying to pull a scam or a fast one. I'm one for drilling people for details, and I can usually spot one of these jokers within the first few minutes. I propose that if you ask intelligent questions, you should receive intelligent answers. If not, look elsewhere.

What I like to do is if somebody has a listing on Prime, I'll look up that person's profile. How long have they been a member? How many posts? What were the posting topics? Actually read their posts. You sometimes can get a history of the vehicle before you even contact them. Maybe even get a feel for the person themselves.

 

[Biaggi]

KGB_Agent

Sean,

I remember helping KGB Agent out with a local (Raleigh) 95 NSX. This is the one he owns today! I'm glad he's having a great experience with his new car and with NSXPrime!

Don't worry Sean, you'll find the right one! Good luck again!

Steve

 

[Cairo94507]

I searched high and low for almost one year. I checked all of the regular sites, including E-Bay (yeah I know) but I would not bid on the car; I would e-mail the owner and then engage in a dialogue to weed out the trash.

I found mine on AutoTrader.com at an Acura dealer. I was greatly relieved it was at an Acura Dealer. I believe if an NSX is trashed Acura would just let it go to auction or a non-Acura dealership. I truly believe they would not sell an abused NSX.

I was conformted by the Acura Certified Car certification. But I know to get one of these you have to buy a newer NSX and that may not be what some people are shopping for. Fortunately for me, I knew I wanted a 2001 and no other. The comfort of having the extended Acura warranty until February of 2009 is nice.

Aside from that, I would not touch an NSX that was not pre-purchase inspected by an Acura NSX certified technician. The car had also better have a complete history. I wanted (and got) all the warranty and service paperwork on the car so that I would have a complete history of the car for my file.

I am one of those guys, (and I suspect there are quite a few on NSX Prime) that have an organized folder of the car going all the way back to the original window sticker, new car delivery check form, service slips, warranty items, etc. up to an including all of the paperwork that I went through in buying this car.

I have photos of the car being delivered by Horseless Carriage (great people by the way), then as soon as I got the car, even though it had only 13K miles, I took it to my local Acura dealership and had a 30K service with valve adjustment, coolant, brake fluid, transmission, and every other fluid changed and flushed. Then I had the car aligned. At that point, I was comfortable driving the car.

I hope that most Prime members treat their cars the same way and maintain files the same way too. At some point, maybe after the new NSX (I am an optomist) has been out for a few years and the prices are reasonable, I will sell the '01 to my brother if he is interested, (he would have to sell his '03 Cobra) and buy the new NSX.

Did I mention I love this car? Wanted one the day I saw my fist one back they were first released.

 

[skyguy]

Auto-fader dot com

Hummmm.... Seems like a lot of my experiences parallel the first post, it seems some people react upon emotion without the benefit of intellect. (Just a little fabrication to the stories below.)
example:

ringggg..ringggg....

"hellooooooo."

me: "hello, I'm calling about the NSX for sale?"

"Yeah, he's not here right now and if he dose not sell that damn money pit soon, I'm gonna brain him."

me: "Ok, so do you know when he gets back?"

"No, and if you see him, tell him he's in big trouble and furthermore, blah,blah blah..."

me: Click.

ring.ring.ring........

'lo

me: "hello, I'm calling about the NSX for sale?"

"cough, sputter wheez, cough, cough---yeah hold on a sec, "(insert sound of primitive gutteral sound.)

Me: "uh..I could call back later?"

"No,no, uhhhhhh, (sputter) Yeah wadda ya wanna know 'bout the Honda?"

me: "Well your ad said it was in great shape."

"Yeah, I kin tell ya me n da misses really like going to the home town country buffet n parkin' er in the handicapped zone. lemme tell ya sonny, (cough,sputter,wheez) folks in these parts think it's a gol-dang maserrari er sumthin."

me: "Is it in snap ring range?"

"'bout as snappy as can be!"

me:click.

ringgggg...ring....

me: "hello, I'm calling about the NSX for sale?"

*answering machine recording: "yauhave reached-cleatis-mcbiffs-answeringmachine-ifyour callingboutthe nsxitsrealniceandfast-changedthe8sparkplugsyesterday----only5milloin-ez-salvationarmy-drivinmiles-betterhurry-lastnsxfersale---------BEEP!

me:click

ring.......ring......

DOOOOO DAAAAAAA-DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

"YOU HAVE REACHED A NUMBER THAT IS NO LONGER IN SERVICE..etc.

me: click


ringgggggg....rinnnnnng

me: "hello, I'm calling about the NSX for sale?"


*insert accent of person of hong kong accent

"hero, yas de ka is steal fo sale."

me: "good, can you tell me if it has the service records?"

"Ooooooh, so you want de CD player too no problem."

me: "No, forget that where is the car located?"

"et iz in my gaarage ri now."

me: "oh never mind, can you tell me if the paint is in good condition?"

"Ooooooo can you say again?"

me: (louder now because we all know comprehension goes up proportional the an increase in shouting)

"IS THE PAINT IN GOOD CONDITION?"

"Ooooooso yu wan to know if da faint is gud?"

mescreaming now) "ISTHE*@#$%@PAINT GOOD--PAINT-PAINT-PAINT!"

silence-------------"Oooooooo, so solly to here you ah goning to faint, so solly."

me:click


ring....ring....ring.....ring.....ring....."If you wish to make a call please hang up and dial again......"

me: click


ring...ring....


"Hello"

me: "Hello, I'm calling about the NSX for sale?"

"yes it is"

me: "thank god"

"wud you say?"

me: "er...uh nuthin'...why does the NSX have so little miles?"

"Well, it's been in storage for ten years."

me: "OK....so why so long?"

"well I just got out of prision and she's been in my ex wife's garage fer a spell."

me: "OK...So is it in good shape?"

"Of course, my ex took real good care, the only company was her 25 cats living in the same garage. She kept the windows rolled down so the car could breath."

me: "What color is the interior and exterior. it didn't mention that in your ad?"

"Well she usta be red-n-black, now as best as I can figure she's kinda grey."

me: "you mean like..ummm... cat hair grey?"

"Exatomundo brother!"

me: click

ring......ring..

"Uh hello der sport." (insert accent of Goofy the disney dawg)

me: y"ou have an NSX for sale?"

"Garsh, uh yuk yuk, well purty good guess sport...garsh!"

me: click

Last one I promise

ring...(softly)

"helloooooooo." (voice like lonely housewife)

me:" Do you have an NSX for sale?"

"Oooooh you mean my husband's p---y wagon?"

me: "er, uh yeah, that's must be it."

"How old are you sonny?"

me: "I'm not sure it's relevent."

"I tell you what, he isn't going to be home till 5, why don't you come over for a test drive."

me: "Hummmm...maybe. Is the car there?"

"Of course not silly!"

me: click!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[NoggZ]

This thread is too funny. Thanks for the laughs (and sorry for all the time you guys wasted having to find your cars!)

 

[dippy9]

More, more please

this is so funny i cant believe these people actually have the privilege to own an NSX.