hi us owners/potential owners. I read recently that the 1990 and 91 JDM NSX's are exempt from US import legislation due to the 25 year vintage rules. Does this mean you can import a JDM spec NSX into the states and legally use on the road? Better yet a NSXR in a few years time.
as there are not many left in Japan, I wonder if it will push the price up at auction thus affecting other countries like new Zealand and Australia who can already buy from the Japanese market thus increasing the value of those already here.
cheers
gene
Hi Gene,
They're not legal for import yet, not until they hit the 25 year mark (to the month) which the very first will hit this September and I haven't seen a single 9/90 or 10/90 NSX for sale. If it's anything like the GTR market, you can expect a significant bump. You could get a very nice 1989 Skyline GT-R in Japan in 2013 for around $10,000 USD, but you're lucky to find that same car for $15,000 now, and most US import companies will charge low to mid 20s after they land the car.
The thing is, I don't think the Japanese NSX market will be like the GTR market at all. It's in another realm. There were auction GTRs (rough cars) going for $4000-5000 back in 2013, but even early NSXs still command mid 20s at auction. Japanese dealer cars are often on par with or higher than the prices of commensurate US cars. The GTR was never sold in the US, but the NSX was (slightly more of them than Japan) and the differences are actually quite few, so the desire to purchase a Japanese car rather than the same US car boils down to "well, I'll pay more just because I want it" rather than there being a real advantage. Rarity and uniqueness will motivate some, but not all. I say that as I'm about to purchase a 1990 in Japan for about the same price as I would pay in the US, and I'll be here for another 2 years with it or I would have waited and bought an Acura.
So, having said all that, I don't think there will be a significant bump in Japanese auction or dealer prices. They're already high enough to price most Americans already living in Japan out of the market and dissuade potential US import buyers from dropping extra money for essentially the same car they could find in the US (with records). Part of that I think is also due to rarity. Nissan made 1000 R32 GT-Rs per month for at least the first two years of production, and 40,000 total. That's over twice as many as there are NSXs worldwide for all years of production. Every month from August last year into this year there were scores of GTRs riding on boats across the Pacific, and everyone wanted one. I do think there will be some, but I don't think it will be on that scale, and because of that I don't think there will be a huge "shock" in the greater Japanese used car market.
Left hook examples don't come up often in japan, there is one for sale this week
http://japautoauctions.com/aj-0owL40I7kL3AExQ.htm
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There's actually more Acuras brought back to Japan than you might think, and the funny thing that I've noticed is that they typically command lower prices than their Honda badged brothers. I'm guessing it's because interested parties in Japan have no intention of being "unique" with a LHD Honda (you'll see a ton of Mercedes, Porsche, etc in LHD).
Genuine NA1 NSXR
http://japautoauctions.com/aj-326jofkIXPGUkFq.htm
Buy now, then wait 3 years
If it sells for 9-10mil yen plus freight, duty etc you might just have a true $100000 NSX
Check out the 02+ (2001 Japanese) Type Rs. They will command close to $300,000.
Having said all of that above, the Type R may be a huge caveat since the US never received the model. Even being a very small number of them, I do think several US buyers will grit their teeth and take the plunge which may skyrocket the prices on these as Japanese dealers try to keep them domestic to Japan (but everyone has their price).
