What are the main reasons for buying a 92 over a 93 or 94; looking for first gen!

T

tbromley

Legendary Member
Joined
13 April 2009
Messages
2,901
Location
Atlanta, GA
Hi guys,

I want a low miler - can't turn back the clock on the odo but you can fix anything! That's my logic. I just want cherry inside and out.

So I have some options right now that I wonder if they are worth persuing or should I just wait to see what's coming in the future.

A 92 or 91 - my thoughts about the 92 or 91 that in my opinion are less desirable because they lack the passenger side air bag - no this isn't a track car - it's driver - not daily - but plenty of driving on the street.

Ok, I've heard that the early cars in these 2 years may have AC head and Stereo issues that require rebuilding - and there is a guy named Brian here that does it. Who is Brian and does anyone know how to email him?

I know about the snap ring too, the 92 I found is a low miler and it appears to have a tranny vin # that starts out B4... not J4.... so it appears to be out of the snap ring range or the case was already changed out. Maybe someone knows about that here - your thoughts are desired.

I am curious enough about this car that I'm willing to entertain arguments for the 92 and I wonder if any of you would like to chime in and give me some food for thought. This one has 14k miles and is white and thats the color I want. But I'm pondering a lot of deffered maintenance and tires plus it's a dealer and I'll have to pay taxes and I'd don't like that at all. In GA if you buy from an individual anywhere and bring it in - NO TAXES!!!! That's going to be around 2500 on a car around 34k or so. I don't really want to pay that unless I can get a real deal and usually that ain't happnin with a dealer. So I'm ready to pass on this one just because of that if I can't get it really right.

So what is really right for a car like that??? I know what maintenance has to be done, understand that very well. It's really all about the resale of the pre air bag cars - is there a big difference and it seems like there is. For example - a lot more 91s and 92s for sale as opposed to 93 and 94s. I am looking for those years cause I want an original coupe in the first gen 3.0 /5 speed because parts and maintenance - clutches are about half the cost of the 3.2 if you consider the DMF.

Please comment and give me the benefit of you perspective and wisdom for my search! Thanks a bunch to all I appreciate all of you!

Tim
Atlanta
 
Regarding airbags, personally one of the things I would do when buying a car that old is get rid of em. They get old and fail - most manufacturers recommend replacing them after 10-15 years (depending on manufacturer). There are stories out there of them going off in your face while driving down the road - and the old airbags really hurt :biggrin:
 
The 91s & 92s don't have EPS (electronic power steering). I don't mind that because its not hard to turn as long as your moving. The transmission serial # should start with a J4. I'm not sure why you mention B4, so that sounds like an error from the seller. Its easy to find so always check yourself by looking in the rear of the motor between the chassis bar and the cowl trim and look just to the right of the throttle body. BrianK is the prime memeber that rebuilds the stereo amps, CCU, and EPS units. Also make sure you have full maintenence records. Otherwise you take a gamble. Coolant hoses should have been replaced and the car should have its 3rd TB/WP. For those early year cars with under 30K miles expect to pay a premium. I would concentrate more on the maintenence and get one between 40-70K miles as these cars are reliable well over 150K.

Best of Luck!
 
1. Airbag is your preference

2. ALL NSX's have Stereo and CCU issues, nothing to do directly with model year, age does play a factor, however these are relatively inexpensive fixes.

3. There were 4434 NSX's delivered to the US is 1991-92. There were 1111 NSX's delivered to the US in 1993-94. The fact is there were 4x more 1991-92's:)

http://www.nsxprime.com/wiki/Production_Numbers

HTH,
LarryB
 
IMO, 91 to 94 are very similar.... You just have to find the best sample to purchase regardless of the year.

As for the issues you pointed out, even the snap ring issue is not a big deal especially if you are replacing the clutch at the same time. Furthermore, not all snap ring trans is going to fail.

The cost of these issues is nothing comparing to your porsche's experience.
 
I feel that the 94's are superior to the 91-93's because we have the larger 16 and 17 inch wheels compared to the 91-93's. The 94-93's also have a different arm rest cover where we have a small built in cup holder and a separate small compartment. 93-94 are not in snap ring range, 93-94 have passenger side air bags. I also believe the 93-94 have slightly different cut gears to reduce gear noise. We also don't need to retro fit from R12 to R134a if you happen to run into a/c problems. I personally think the 94's are the best 3.0 liter 5 speed coupes aval in the US.
 
Tbromley ,

Regarding the tax issues , private VS dealer , in my state if you buy a vehicle from a private seller VS a dealer the dept of motor vehicles will get ya when you go to register it for the sales tax.

How is Georgia about collecting taxes ?

Here in Connecticut we get taxed on everything , sometimes more than once.


P.S. I am going to a ' tea party " tomorrow. Grrrrrrrr :mad:
 
You found a '92with 14K miles? If all the maintenance is up to date (timing belt, water pump, coolant lines, etc.) I'd buy it and enjoy it.
 
Hey Guys,

Thanks for the input so far. To clarify - yes I've found a 92 with 14k miles but it hasn't had the service brought up to date. No TB/WP/coolant hoses/60k service to change all fluids etc., it has old tires, all of that needs to be replaced. Who knows about the CCU and stereo? If the transistors wear out from lack of use then they may need reubuilding as well.

I asked about the snap ring and got the guy to go out - told him where to look, the vin sticker was on the top of the tranny - the dumbo pulled off the sticker - he read it to me and it's a series that starts with B4..., now that is odd, which makes me think possibly something has been changed - I have no clue as i'm not there to look myself. He read it twice. Had it in his hand - I told him to put it back on the case- these guys are clueless - it's a Mercedes dealership that got in on trade. What can I say. I don't know that much but I knew a hell of a lot more about them than he or their mechanic. If I get really serious and I"m still debating this I will have it taken to an Acura dealer and even then I'm not sure about that, you never know about dealer service as it varies so much from place to place. This is a small city I think in Ill.

Someone mentioned that he thought the gears were trimmed in 93 to provide less gear noise? Anyone know anything about that for sure? Obviously the 93 was developed to a point that introduced changes internally - are those changes deal breakers? I'm really almost inclined to not give this much thought if I really want the air bag.

I've talked to Larry B and he said, in reference to BFrank, that he's never seen problems with the air bags. He wouldn't recommend taking them out because of "age". Glad to hear that. But I think it might be desireable. The other thing he mentioned is the much larger numbers of 91s and 92s of production - hence why you see more of them than the 93 and 94.

Another asked about taxes - yes here in GA we get a break- it's the state law- and NO we don't pay taxes as in 7% when you buy from a dealer, when you buy from any individual regardless of state of purchase - so that is a big deal here in GA. That basically tends to make Georgians buy from individuals. I checked with our Revenue department on this so I know this is the case. Sorry for you other guys that don't enjoy that liberal tax policy!

So now that you know more about the car and what it will need as in 4k to 5k in work. The AC is probably in need of a compressor seal rebuild. And the fact that it will require me to pay taxes - what would be a good price or would you just let it go? You see here's another point too - the car has such low miles for two reasons -

1. It's lived in an area that is surely not conducive to all year round driving

2. the owner only drove it like every other month and then only about 3 of 4 months out of the year or so. It lives in the snow belt big time. That's why so many low milers come out of that area.

I'm almost inclined because of this to pass it by. Look for a later model 93 or 94. Personally I don't care about the tire sizes - for my purposes the original tire size has it's on advantages - they are fine for street driving which is what I'll be doing and they are cheap to replace. So I'd really just as soon have a 93 but the 94 is ok too. The reasons are most likely this dealer that is asking 39k is crazy. No way I pay that. I doubt they'll come down enough to make it worth it to me to invest up to 5k in the car plus pay taxes of nearly 2400. This is another reason I get so tired of dealers. Middlemen that really, and especially in this case, do nothing to get the car in shape - nothing cause they know nothing. They are simply looking at the mileage and thinking they will make a ton - they're unknowledgeable about the car and most likely want another purchaser to be of the same ilk - in other words someone that knows about as much as they do - not much- and is all ga ga over the miles.

I'm way past ga ga. I really am a dealers worst kind of buyer - I know more than they do about the car. This car is worth in my opinion no more than 33k and still by the time I get thru spending money on it and paying taxes I'll have 40k in the car - that is too damn much. Especially for a 92.

So most likely I'll pass on this car. Now that you know as much as me - now what do you think?

THanks guys,
Tim
 
I don't remember seeing an asking price, but with the details that you have given it seems to me that you could negotiate a better price based on bringing the car up to current maintenance schedules.

Also, as Larry mentioned, the cost of CCU and radio fixes are minor. On any car of this age ('91-'94) I would expect to repair or upgrade a number of minor problems.

I personally can't believe you would pass on such a low mileage car (I prefer the early coupes: light weight, manual steering) unless there are other issues with the car that you haven't mentioned. Body, paint, interior? :confused:
 
Last edited:
ChopsJazz said:
I prefer the early coupes: light weight, manual steering
Click to expand...

+1 basically the main reason why I bought mine. I know it's not always the wisest buying the first production build year (I bought a 91) but it's out of snap ring range and the condition was immaculate. I had the budget for an early model NA2 or a later model NA1 but I realized that an NA2 would probably require the same maintenance (TB/WP, Cam Plugs, Hoses, etc...) and I really wanted a bare bones coupe (no Power Steering, Hardtop). I could also spend the extra money with the savings of an early model NA1 to pay for the necessary maintenance and upgrades like headers, exhaust, NA2 brakes. I also did not want a OBD II setup for ease of FI later on. I believe OBDII started on 95+ so you might be ok on this too.

I know you're comparing between 91-94. Might be a bit off track.
 
was it 92 they changed the center console to the double door? I know i've been wanting to upgrade mine to a double door, that nsx logo gets hot in the summer and I always burn my wrist.
 
Not saying I'll pass, but they have to be willing to work with me too. I'm not going to bend over and take it just cause it's a low miler. I think too that there are others to come. So I'll see.

The console was changed in 93 by the way. I like no power steering and the coupe.

I hope they are ready to deal but I talked to the guy yesterday gave him an idea of what I thought it was worth and he hasn't gotten back to me.

Maybe it will work out - don't know - but we'll see what they say.

Thanks guys,
Tim
 
Tim, I speak for all sane rational primers who care deeply about all past present and future nsx owners and lovers ,when I say BUY A CAR ALREADY.and let your fingers grip around the steering wheel rather than the keyboard:wink:
 
I had a '91 for eight years that gave me no problems other than the speaker amps needing a rebuild. Now I have a '92 (snap ring car) and have no issues. I expect my ownership experience for my '92 to be no different than the '91 I had. I'll enjoy this '92 as much as I have my previous '91.

I prefer the '91-'92s for their large glove box and clean center console (no clunky split doors and useless cupholder). :biggrin:
 
docjohn said:
Tim, I speak for all sane rational primers who care deeply about all past present and future nsx owners and lovers ,when I say BUY A CAR ALREADY.and let your fingers grip around the steering wheel rather than the keyboard:wink:
Click to expand...

I've been conversing with Tim over the past several weeks....there is no question that he is probably studying this purchase to death. However, with that said, I've done the same with just about every car I've purchased. I say, Tim, keep focused on the specific color/year/condition you want and just get er done!

One thing in your favor is the fact that there are probably more NSX's on the market right now than at any time since the early 90's.
 
Thank you John, I appreciate that. I guess I am beating it rather stoutly. However let me ask all you sane people what the max is for a low mile 92? I mean would you be willing to have 41k in a 92 low miler right off the bat?

It has to have the services I described earlier - min. 3k
I have taxes - 2400
Tires - 600 min.
That's 6k gotta do right now.
Say they accept 34k
Bottom line 40k min.
Hope it's not in the snap ring but that's a wierd number that starts with B4 - right? If thats not the right number and it is in the snap ring range
another 2k.

Is that too much? What is too much?

Thanks guys really do appreciate the support.
 
Tim I see 3 options:

1. If White is the favorite color then you'll need to buck up and spend this $40k on this 92 car (but honestly 6k of it is maintenance that you won't need to to for a very very long time). Plus its low mileage so many years of enjoyment upcoming. Color, reliable, and low mileage = winner.

2. Wait a while and see if another White NSX comes up with these services already done. You may or may not be waiting a while...

Other Colors:

3. There is a 2003 Yellow Yellow for sale here on Prime that is way newer and the guy is asking $47.5k for it with around 30k miles. To me spending the extra 7.5k is worth it unless you're really stuck on a White NSX.

Tim in all honesty I love your passion and hunt for a NSX but you seem to be all over the board in terms of years. Having owned both a 91 and 2002 you can't go wrong with either as both rock. I loved them both and wouldn't hesitate on owning either again.

I believe its deal time and not the time to be paying a premium for a NSX.
 
How many NSX coupes have you personal reviewed?

If you want a daily driver and concerned with TCO, I strongly suggest locating an NSX with approximately 75k miles. That mileage (75k) appears to be the sweet spot for pricing. Start checking for sale ads on NSXPrime daily. I'm confident you will find the perfect NSX for your wants & needs.

Are you aware of the the ABS issue? If not, research this issue. Also be aware of plastic bushing issue on the window regulator and cost of windshield replacements.

The most important question for you is, do you have a trusted NSX technician in your area? Just food for thought :wink:

If you pass on this NSX, please send me a pm :)

I'll give you the details latter...
 
whiteNSXs said:
Actually none of the 1991 to 1994 manual tranny cars have power steering. All autos have power steering.
Steve
Click to expand...

I stand corrected...I should have looked at the wiki first. Thanks :smile:
 

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