Opinions needed please regarding the service history

[NSXnR6]

Hello everyone,

I had a debate with a fellow NSXer today on whether or not a potential buyer would buy say a 2001 NSX with 65000 miles without any SERVICE record history. The reason for not having the service history is let's say the car had 4 owners and the current owner did NOT ask for previous records when he purchased the car.

Question posed would be: Would you buy the car without having the complete service record history (unable to go back due to the fact you did not know which dealership the previous owners took the car to)?

Now if you said, "YES...i still would" what would be some criterias that must be met in order for you to feel secure in buying this vehicle? Would you have a PPI done as well as a compression test and a leak down test? What else would you do to set your mind at ease?

Now if you said "NO way in hell :biggrin: " what if 2 years down the road, the owner that bought this car instead of you put another 70,000 miles on it to bring it to a total of 140,000 miles and has all maitenance record from 70,000 miles to 140,000 miles. Would you consider buying it two years later with complete history service records from 70,000 miles onward if you were interested in the car at that time? If you answered "yes" now but "no" before, what eased your mind this time that didnt the first time around?

Thanks in advance to all that will putting in their $0.02 :smile:

 

[Hugh]

A Carfax should tell you where the car was previously registered. With that information it wouldn't be too hard to track down the local Acura dealers and see if the car's VIN is in their service databases.

Not having the previous service history should be reflected in the car's price.

A thorough PPI should be sufficient to tell you the current condition of the car.

As a side note, I bought my '93 2 1/2 years ago from the third owner with 70,000 miles on the clock. He had the entire service history of the car as well, including receipts from Wal Mart for oil and just about every other receipt associated with the car. At 80,000 miles I took her in for timing belt/water pump/coolant hose/valve/tuneup service. My tech told the valve covers were never removed from the car before he did them and the fuel filter was still the original one. I have receipts from previous owners showing that they paid for valve adjustments, fuel filter etc... These were from Acura dealerships! So the moral of the story is even though you have a documented service history, it's still not a guarantee that the work was done. hence the importance of a thorough evaluation of the car's current condition from a trusted source.

My car is now approaching 160,000 miles and has had no major service related issues. The original clutch lasted until 130K miles for example. It was obvious when I bought her that she very well cared for by her previous owners. As long as your car wasn't abused or in a major accident you should be fine. It is an NSX after all. Without question the finest automobile in terms of quality and reliability that the world has ever seen.