Question about buying SC'd NSX

[944turbo]

There is a SC'd NSX that has been for sale for a long time now (I remember seeing the ad quite some time ago). It's the black one with a CTSC and a nitrous kit.

Assuming that the car has good compression/leak-down, what's to stop someone from buying this car, removing nitrous kit, and doing an engine refresh? It seems like a decent deal, unless there is something else wrong with the car. This is the one: LINK. Hypothetically, as long as the engine passes the tests, I'd be inclined to pick up the car and spend a few thousand on refreshing the motor and doing any needed maintenance. Seems like a good way to to CTSC on the cheap. Thoughts?

Is there some other reason why this car is so cheap? Is it the nitrous that is scaring everyone off?

- Ryan

 

[sca037]

Assuming it passed the compression / leakdown tests then it might be a decent buy.
Personally, nitrous does raise some concern but if you're already budgeting for an engine refresh then Bob's your Uncle.

Brian

 

[944turbo]

At that price I would have plenty of money to tear it down when I got it home. Drop engine, replace clutch and all wearables (assuming there is no record of last change), pull head and inspect +replace HG, reseal everything and button it back up. I'm guessing the parts would run about $3500 for clutch/wp/rollers/seals/coolant hoses/etc?

I tried to call the dealer today but no luck getting an answer. Is there anyone that knows the place? Is it shady?

 

[Steven Allen]

On first blush it looks promising. A solid PPI would be a prudent first step and give me reason for moving forward.

 

[itrsteve]

Ugh, Nitrous.

Dead giveaway that the previous owner was an idiot. You don't need a PPI to tell you that.

 

[NSX2398]

According to the Wiki, it was last seen about 2 years ago in NY for about $6k more: http://www.nsxprime.com/wiki/JH4NA1152MT002323
I presume you also saw this: http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php/149512-JH4NA1152MT002323-sc-blk-ivory-in-ny-avoid

 

[944turbo]

I did see the wiki entries and previous discussion. I'm going to talk to the dealer on tuesday. Yeah, the nitrous is a sign that the car was beat on, which would probably be a deal-breaker with any other car, but the NSX powerplant seems to be remarkably resilient. If it passes leakdown test I'd be fairly confident in picking it up with the intention of spending 3-4k sorting it out. Really depends on the condition of the paint, interior, etc. I ran a carfax and it doesn't show any accidents or anything crazy. It looks like it's mostly been passed from one dealer to another and probably joyridden by the dealers themselves.

 

[GojiraPlease]

This guy is very negotiable! He's selling for a private seller and before my bank told me they wouldn't finance anything above 100k miles, we had agreed upon $26k if everything worked out. I had the same outlook regarding the nitrous

 

[944turbo]

Hmmm interesting. Did you get him on the phone? I haven't talked to him yet.

 

[docjohn]

back in the day RM racing sold a stand alone nitrous kit,nsxbuilder has had nitrous for years without issues...but these are all NA motors...so blower plus NO3 is rarefied air.

 

[944turbo]

Looks like the car is off the market. I never talked to the guy, I wonder if a prime member ended up with the car.