running out of places to look for NSX's

[dxd]

First timer,

just purchased a '97 spa yallow targa for $50g with 9000 miles, call me a fool, but I found it on line and purchased it from Fla. was in KC for 8 years with 1700 miles usage. I originally was to make a deal in Vegas for a 2001 with 13500 miles and a supercharger, fortunately the owner pulled it from the market. I felt lucky not to follow thru. I feel much better about an unmolested '97. The price is what your willing to pay. For me.. I'm happy and I feel the market price will only rise. Supply and demand.. period.

Love it

I bought my 97' White with 9600 miles for $48,000 bone stock. Pretty much what you paid for a similar car. I am very happy with the purchase and feel fortunate to find a VERY clean 1 owner near my home. I am pretty certain that the values will hold pretty tight and eventually rise. Where else can you purchase a super rare, hand built, incredible looking, high performance exotic automobile for this price? You can't.....:smile:

 

[swbatte]

First timer,

just purchased a '97 spa yallow targa for $50g with 9000 miles, call me a fool, but I found it on line and purchased it from Fla. was in KC for 8 years with 1700 miles usage. I originally was to make a deal in Vegas for a 2001 with 13500 miles and a supercharger, fortunately the owner pulled it from the market. I felt lucky not to follow thru. I feel much better about an unmolested '97. The price is what your willing to pay. For me.. I'm happy and I feel the market price will only rise. Supply and demand.. period.

Love it

Congratulations on the Car! I'm sure you'll love it for years. Post a pic!

 

[David Bauer]

I purchased the car in Naples and Naples Motorsports did a great job on shipping as well as pictures. The best place to have a ride photographed.

I plan on learning a great deal from these forums.

David

 

[Viper Driver]

I purchased the car in Naples and Naples Motorsports did a great job on shipping as well as pictures. The best place to have a ride photographed.

I plan on learning a great deal from these forums.

David

I can't agree more about my experience with Naples Motorsports. I bought my 2002 from them last week and drove it back from Florida. Rob and the rest of the folks there were great to deal with, and their cars are in tip-top shape.

Oh, and I had to save all of the photos that Naples Motorsports took of my car.........their photographer is very good at what he does (see my avatar). :smile:

 

[TurboLexus]

There's another thing to consider, that hasnt been mentioned yet (unless I missed it). If $40k is your budget, make sure you're leaving yourself a couple grand as a buffer, these are great cars but certain things can and will fail, as on most ten year old cars. When I purchased my '97, I had the car sent to John Vasos for PPI before I even laid eyes on it. He basically told me i'd be a fool not to buy it, and that it needed nothing. Needless to say, i've spent many thousands to make the car perfect, some expenses necessary, some not (same when i purchased my '91). You may not have a desire to make/keep the car in showroom cond as I do, but you can virtually assume the clutch hydraulics will fail, a cam plug will leak, at least one O2 sensor will go bad, at least one coolant hose will fail, hatch and/or trunk struts will go, the driver seat bolster may need minor repair, and you'll have to keep an eye on the wheel bearings/axle nut, catalysts, battery terminals, Bose amps, and climate control unit, and budget for more frequent tire replacement.
Clutch replacement on the 6spd is muy expensive b/c of the dual-mass flywheel. The earlier models would add window regulators, ABS, and oil press gauge to the list, as well as the snap ring issue on the affected cars. NSX's are also rock chip prone (most don't consider a pleather bra a viable option), if that bothers you then you'll have to budget for clearbra or repaint of front bumper cover and side vents every few yrs (varies of course). Very few dealers are competent with these cars, so you may need to budget to have the car sent to a capable tech for the major svcs, i.e. T-belt/water pump/valve adjustment. Lastly, I would recommend oil chg, transaxle fluid, brake flush, ABS flush (yes they're 2 separate systems), fuel filter, air filter, PCV, spark plugs, and spool valve filters if not done recently, plus I would test all the coil packs and inspect the coil cover gaskets. You can do a coolant flush and change the t-stat and cap as well.
Oh, and try to find one of the ones that's under emissions warranty extension, mine is and it is absolutely FANTASTIC. Expect to pay more if the seller has one of them and knows what it is, but I assure you it will be worth it.

Hope that helps man.

 

[argon_nsx]

now back to the problem-- the problem is that i cant find anything i like within a reasonable proximity (high as new york, low as north carolina, as far west as ohio - im from dc).. alot of the cars im finding are either cali cars or FL cars.. now this is FAR which means that if i was even interested, it would cost me an arm and a leg just to go LOOOK at the car..

This is easy.. you should broaden your search to finding the car in the U.S. You can easily get an NSXer in a certain area to inspect the car for you for FREE.. if they like what they see... and you like their evaluation... pay Acura 90 dollars to do a prepurchase inspection of it. If they like what they see... go pick it up and drive it home. I bought my first NSX (which so far was in the best condition upon purchase) sight unseen based on a NSX prime member's inspection. My brother and dad flew to Arizona and drove it home for me b/c I couldn't get the time off of work.

Here... I'll help you out... I've got FL for you so start looking here. I'll inspect anything here in FL for you... if you buy anything here in FL... I'll pick you up at the airpot in my 98 CTSC NSX and take you to the car you're buying ... I've inspected nearly 100 NSXes since 1998, thousands of BMWs and other cars... I have a paint meter and other tools... so you'll know if it has ever been painted etc... I'll take pics for you... high res pics... You can even stay at our house with my brother, wife and I for FREE to save hotel money and have safe NSX parking... I'll even work with the current owner and use my FL dealer's license to get a cheaper pre-purchase inspection for you at the Acura Dealership if I can. It would take about 12-16 hours to drive it back to D.C. from here I think.... I use to live there but have never done the drive straight from Orlando to there... It will be some of the msot fun hours of your life... and the longer the drive the better

I'm sure there are other NSXers in other states... who would be more than willing to help you in your search... but if you want the car... you'll have to forget about what any little book says and you'll have to start negotiating with the current owner... and you'll be competing with others to buy it and they'll have multiple calls on it... and most NSX buyers are walking around with the cash in hand and can buy it on the spot without taking up much time... so if you are financing, get pre-approved and be ready to move fast. I've sold three in the last two years... I know. One was my highly modded 91... one was my fathers stock 91 and one was my brother's stock 00.. all of which went for over book value. As a matter of fact both the 91s went for a tad more than twice the book value and my brother sold his for 7k more than he paid for it after putting 1000s of miles on it Go figure. PM me if you need me to look at a car in FL. As a matter of fact I'll even cover Ga for you too... I could make it into a weekend trip to see my wife's parents. And good luck!!! Whlie I'm at it... I'll get St. Loius too... I could fly to see my parents and check it out.. there was a white one there not too long ago... it sold though. I'll be in the Houston/Beaumont area in TX soon.. so I can look at anything you find there... and soon I'll be in CA and Vegas... so if you find anything there let me know and if it works out I can check anything out while I'm traveling.