Sold my 2004 NSX for $63k: Terrible resale value

Anyone who buys an NSX for straight line performance, drag racing, street drag has bought the wrong car and will obviously not be satisfied. Stock NSX does 0-60mph just shy of 5 seconds, it's plenty fast for regular street use. At a road course the NSX shines with its high corner grip, high speed stability, reliability, and major fun factor. I have driven many higher HP cars on the track and most aren't nearly as fun as the NSX.

The NSX doesn't understeer as badly as most other front engined cars. Honda purposely built the NSX, as with most other manufacturers, to have slight understeer for the novice performance drivers to stay out of trouble. Spend a few dollars with a simple change in the alignment on the NSX can dial out the understeer, try dailing out a front heavy car is a more difficult task.
 
Funny thread, I guess to each their own, I barely had a chance to put miles on my 2004 GT3 before selling it, never really got attached to the car ;)

Some folks go for power, some go for handling, and others for something else, "the good old" NSX is still the only car that fits me like a custom made suit :cool:
 
Nimbus said:
Anyone who buys an NSX for straight line performance, drag racing, street drag has bought the wrong car and will obviously not be satisfied. Stock NSX does 0-60mph just shy of 5 seconds, it's plenty fast for regular street use. At a road course the NSX shines with its high corner grip, high speed stability, reliability, and major fun factor. I have driven many higher HP cars on the track and most aren't nearly as fun as the NSX.

The NSX doesn't understeer as badly as most other front engined cars. Honda purposely built the NSX, as with most other manufacturers, to have slight understeer for the novice performance drivers to stay out of trouble. Spend a few dollars with a simple change in the alignment on the NSX can dial out the understeer, try dailing out a front heavy car is a more difficult task.

Hey Aaron,

I noticed that you started posting a bit more frequenty again, the last I heard you were driving a MB at a track event somewhere down in SoCal ;)

Still looking on getting another NSX? Curious minds want to know :D

Ken
 
Like the old say'n goes..."never buy new, unless you can swallow the depreciation" and yours was self induced "impulse sale" type :confused:

On the flip side, I bought a 91 and enjoyed it for 2 years and sold it for $ 2,500 more then I bought it for. :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:

good luck with the Porsche :smile:
 
"Sold my 2004 NSX for $63k: Terrible resale value "

I guess it could have been worse.
You could have sold it for $23,000.00
 
I wouldn't consider him giving it away...but gave the lucky buyer a good price...a very good price.

I"m already on his #1 list when he sells his p-car. hehehe. j/k

Ko-nsx said:
Man! You basically gave that car away. I think you'll really lose your shirt on the p-car, that is if you sell it within a year or 2.
 
CerberusM5 said:
I do some track work, but mainly aggressive street driving.

Aggressive street driving? That's my boy!
Remember, you have the car,the know how and discretion to pick where and when to drive your car as fast as you want. Don't let anyone tell you different!
With this new car you should be King of the Hill in your area and make sure everyone that needs to know finds out you ain't driving no slow poke NSX anymore. The multi headed beast is back!
 
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pbassjo said:
Aggressive street driving? That's my boy!
Remember, you have the car,the know how and discretion to pick where and when to drive your car as fast as you want. Don't let anyone tell you different!
With this new car you should be King of the Hill in your area and make sure everyone that needs to know finds out you ain't driving no slow poke NSX anymore. The multi headed beast is back!

I will be sure to let the word out.

However, I primarily like to assault the limited backroads we have here in Southeren Nevada, but there are a few like decent ones. I have a feeling I will be attending even more track/driving events in the future to stretch the legs on my new acquisition. :)

In regards to King of the Hill, I definitely need to start pumping up the boost A LOT to even come close to competing with the 1100 rwhp Supras and 1200 rwhp Hefner Vipers running around. I am sure there will be a GT700 kit in the near future. Then again, I would be more than happy to challenge them around Spring Mountain race course after some practice.
 
smhrednsx91 said:
I think you gave away the NSX. :confused: When you decide to sell your GT3, send me an email. :biggrin:


If there is a substantially improved 997 GT2 released in a few years I will be sure to let you know.
 
CerberusM5 said:
I agree, lots of understeer. Comfortable seats though.

When I first got my car I felt it had a lot of understeer too... After getting the feel for the balance, the training throttle oversteer can get you into a lot of trouble rather quickly..

I don't think the NSX is quite the understeerer that we think it is..

-Jeremy
 
Nimbus said:
Anyone who buys an NSX for straight line performance, drag racing, street drag has bought the wrong car and will obviously not be satisfied. Stock NSX does 0-60mph just shy of 5 seconds, it's plenty fast for regular street use. At a road course the NSX shines with its high corner grip, high speed stability, reliability, and major fun factor. I have driven many higher HP cars on the track and most aren't nearly as fun as the NSX.

The NSX doesn't understeer as badly as most other front engined cars. Honda purposely built the NSX, as with most other manufacturers, to have slight understeer for the novice performance drivers to stay out of trouble. Spend a few dollars with a simple change in the alignment on the NSX can dial out the understeer, try dailing out a front heavy car is a more difficult task.

I too thought the NSX had too much understeer when I first got it and was learning how to drive it. Turns out I was driving it wrong. I later found out how to drive it right and fast. No understeering anymore, unless I do someting wrong get into the corner too hot. When I get it right (slow in-fast out), I get 4-wheel drift and I can start accelerating before I hit the apex. That's worth about 5-6 seconds of a lap. Bottom line, if you understeer or oversteer in a corner, you're not driving the car right.
 
You know, in the NE I went to a event sponsored by the NEViper club.
There were many Vipers I'd say 20 or more and some were heavily modded, twin turbos and supercharged etc... Two with 25+G's worth of upgrades executed by some of the top Viper shops in the NE and, the meaner of the two had 850 rwhp and the dyno sheet to prove it.
1100 rwd hp on street cars huh? Rob Dyson's purpose built cars that compete in the American Lemans series don't have 1100 rwhp. That's more than the NEXTEL cup NASCAR'S have which run 775 hp without a restrictor plate.
What I'm trying to say is 1100 rwp running around in a Supra, on the street?

Top speed of 250 plus, right? What kind of clutches do these cars have? How do they keep the front wheels down? What do they have to stop the car?
How wide are the tires to handle that hp? How do they fit them under the car? Sounds unbelievable. That' a lot of car to keep on them there back roads.
 
pbassjo said:
You know, in the NE I went to a event sponsored by the NEViper club.
There were many Vipers I'd say 20 or more and some were heavily modded, twin turbos and supercharged etc... Two with 25+G's worth of upgrades executed by some of the top Viper shops in the NE and, the meaner of the two had 850 rwhp and the dyno sheet to prove it.
1100 rwd hp on street cars huh? Rob Dyson's purpose built cars that compete in the American Lemans series don't have 1100 rwhp. That's more than the NEXTEL cup NASCAR'S have which run 775 hp without a restrictor plate.
What I'm trying to say is 1100 rwp running around in a Supra, on the street?

Top speed of 250 plus, right? What kind of clutches do these cars have? How do they keep the front wheels down? What do they have to stop the car?
How wide are the tires to handle that hp? How do they fit them under the car? Sounds unbelievable. That' a lot of car to keep on them there back roads.

I don't know the tire sizes, clutcheds and other of these 1000+ hp Supras, but I know they don't have traction until at least 100 mph. These guys don't disect corners and road race their cars, which is my personal preference. They perform highway roll ons from 60 MPH for approximately 7/10 of a mile. I know of one Supra that pulled a turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa on its way well past 200 over this short stretch of interstate.

The same guy with the Supra is building a Heffner twin turbo Viper GTS and is targeting 1,400 hp. I know of one guy running this setup in NoCal and the car is suppose to be insane. :eek:

I doubt these cars (motors) would survive long on a road course for any extended period of time. Also the power deliveries are probably not condusive on a road course. Then again, they purely want to go fast in a straight line. I like powerful cars as well, but want the whole package (power, handling, braking and feel). I hope I found it in my most recent choice. If not, there's always the F430. :wink:
 
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jdc1687 said:
When I first got my car I felt it had a lot of understeer too... After getting the feel for the balance, the training throttle oversteer can get you into a lot of trouble rather quickly..

I don't think the NSX is quite the understeerer that we think it is..

-Jeremy

My feelings have remained the same, that my 2004 NSX understeered fairly excessively. This is not due to inexperience, but poorly calibrated suspension settings from the factory.
 
NSXDreamer2 said:
Consider yourself lucky being alive and tell yourself sad story about you doing 110-120 and hit a hump, (in a corner)!! You definately have much bigger balls than me.....

I'm more than surprised that you are trying to blame the car, where's the hump, why did you hit it?? :confused:

I didn't take the corner at 120. I braked hard, but not at limit, prior to it. I entered the corner within cornering limits for any road other than one with essentially a speed-bump sized expansion "joint" right at turn apex. Both of us were completely surprised that the car oversteered, and the resulting incident with the wall was mild. I drove it home. DC roads suck really badly and this particular "joint" was a new "feature" that the road crews had added to a ramp I'd been through several times prior both as a driver and passenger.

I went back through it a couple days later in a 350Z and was like WTF. But, we have potholes in this town big enough to rip your wheel off.

I don't blame the car, I blame myself for not realizing the depths of atrocity of DC roads. Imagine you take a turn marked 20mph, we all do this, and you're goin 40. Don't pretend that you don't do this in your NSX, that you obey the "minimum safe speed" signs on curves and ramps. Then, let's imagine that, today, unlike other days, there's a profound road hazard in that curve which you cannot see in time to avoid it which makes the safe speed ACTUALLY 20mph instead of the 40 that you're accustomed to.

Probably were I a professional driver, I could have recovered, however I managed the initial oversteer without issue and the road straightened out. I may have suffered a blowout at this point on the DR tire b/c the oversteer continued down the straight. Maybe I should have got on the power, but I neutralized the car entering the curve. I was taken by surprise by the sudden oversteer.
 
CerberusM5 said:
My feelings have remained the same, that my 2004 NSX understeered fairly excessively. This is not due to inexperience, but poorly calibrated suspension settings from the factory.

In my 2005 NSX which is fully stock, I haven't experience any such excessive understeer. However, I can easily induce oversteer and understeer by using throttle steering; providing controlled car rotation through corners.
 
CerberusM5 said:
Sold my car today for $63,000. Car had 7k miles in mint condition.

Car lost over $25k in only 12 months. :eek:

My NSX was severely disappointing from a performance standpoint, now also from a poor resale value perspective. :frown:

This is further proof that the true MSRP (value) of a new NSX should be $70,000 versus the ridiculous current MSRP of $89,000.

Sandy,

I remember advising you that you will take a big hit if you sell within the first year. And you should but the lost into a FactoryX Turbo, that would have solve your hunger for HP.

Good Luck
 
CerberusM5 said:
I don't know the tire sizes, clutcheds and other of these 1000+ hp Supras, but I know they don't have traction until at least 100 mph. These guys don't disect corners and road race their cars, which is my personal preference. They perform highway roll ons from 60 MPH for approximately 7/10 of a mile. I know of one Supra that pulled a turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa on its way well past 200 over this short stretch of interstate.

The same guy with the Supra is building a Heffner twin turbo Viper GTS and is targeting 1,400 hp. I know of one guy running this setup in NoCal and the car is suppose to be insane. :eek:

I doubt these cars (motors) would survive long on a road course for any extended period of time. Also the power deliveries are probably not condusive on a road course. Then again, they purely want to go fast in a straight line. I like powerful cars as well, but want the whole package (power, handling, braking and feel). I hope I found it in my most recent choice. If not, there's always the F430. :wink:

Unlike the 996 Turbo, the GT2 is a hard car to drive fast at the track (no Porsche Save Me Please feature) with the stock boost settings, just imagine how much harder it will be with the added HP that you are seeking.

If I had been you I would have gone straight into a F430 instead of going for a GT2, but then again there's a long waiting list for those right now.
 
NSX-Tuner said:
In my 2005 NSX which is fully stock, I haven't experience any such excessive understeer. However, I can easily induce oversteer and understeer by using throttle steering; providing controlled car rotation through corners.

I would think our cars should have no difference in suspension tuning from the factory. There is no doubt my car understeered quite a bit. You can use the throttle to counter the understeer in slow corners, but is difficult in faster corners due to NSX's relatively low power/torque output. However, these are just my own personal experiences.
 
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