prospective nsx owner

[supramari0]

Hey guys,

my name is Minh and i currently drive a 94 supra. I really love my car but right nwo im digging the nsx look. My brother is gong to graduate from high school soon so i'm thinking of giving him my supra to drive (it's just an NA) and maybe purchasing a used nsx preferrably a 95. I was thinking what would be the price range for one with less to no problems. Reason is that when i bought my supra(mkiv), the previous owner totally trashed the car and i unfortunately found out after buying it and driving it approximatly 2000 miles. I'm located in socal and still in college so if any of you guys can help me, much is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[argon_nsx]

I would worry less about model year with the NSX. Remember you are buying the previous owner (as you have learned before) and not so much the car. There are plenty of NSXes out there to buy... so focus on the owner. If someone owned a newer NSX and dogged the mess out of it... didn't change the oil... didn't know how to drive it and damaged the clutch etc. didn't follow break in etc. you might have a newer and mroe expensive mess on your hands than if you bought a 91 that has been cared for by it's previous owner with oil changes/garaged etc. So worry less about year since the NSX is so reliable and more about the shape/condition. Read up on how to inspect a car and an NSX in particuler in the FAQ here at prime. Some obstacles...

There will be a huge price difference you'll notice among year... For example I've seen 91s sell for 19-40 k recently. That's a 20k gap. NSX parts can be expensive. The engine alone can cost more than 20k. So if you go buy a cheap NSX thinking you can do some engine work... redo the interior a bit etc... you'll have more money in the car than if you just step up to the plate and spend 30-35k or so on a premium 91 NSX. I mean the center console alone is $900 from Acura.

Don't fall for the extreme low miles thing either. I've seen an NSXers pay a premium for a 91 with 2k miles on it only to find out it has all sorts of major mechanical issues b/c it has been sitting around for so long. Find one that has average miles on it... or at least 3k or so a year IMHO. Otherwise you end up with an incredible paint job and interior then you end up spending almost what you ahvee in the car to take care of the mechanical issues it has from sitting.

Additionally you'll notice that you'll have to ignore book on the NSX which can be an issue if you plan to finance. I sold two of my 91 NSXes about a year ago... at the time book was 14... loan was like 17 or so. I sold one for 35 and the other for about 30. The banks might not lend what you need to buy the car so plan on having cash in hand or something worked out to make up the difference in some cases it could be that the bank will only pay half of what the car will really sell for.

This also can cause insurance issues. If you use, say for example state farm, call them up... tell them you are looking at buying an NSX. Tell them the year... ask them to tell you what actualy cash value is for it... in other words if the car were totaled or stolen... what would they pay you?... You might find that you paid 35k and the insurance company will only pay you 14 for the car. Depending on the laws of your state... you might struggle to find an insurance company that will give you an agreed value policy and you'll end up spending more to make sure you are covered as you really don't want something to happen only to find out you are 20k in the hole for a car that doesn't exist.

Having said all that I think one interesting thing with NSX prices right now is that the 91s prices have been hovering at a certain range for a while. It doesn't really seem to drop after a certain point. Once the 91 NSX prices bottom out at a certain range... well eventually the newer model years are getting close to that price range too. So right now it might be easier to buy a newer model NSX for about the same price as an older model. There use to be a huge gap between say a 91 and a 97nsxt... now it is minimal.

Make sure you look at alot of cars and be really selective. If t looks too good to be true... it is!

Good luck! Hope that helps!

 

[supramari0]

thank you argon nsx,

the information you provided was very thorough and indeed extremely helpful. I will be sure to search this forum for ways to check an nsx for abuse (if any). Looking forward to buying one. Thank you again

regards,

Minh

 

[Batmobl]

pm sent! notice my i trader feed back :wink: