I am in the market to purchase a used 91-93 NSX with manual transmission. I keep hearing that they are sooo expensive to own. What is so expensive about them? I know the clutch change can be $2000-$2500 and the tires wear because of the camber (cant this be fixed?). What other things on the car are so much to have repaired? Or to maintain? Thanks in advance.
What is so expensive about owning NSX?
- Thread starter DamonBoost
- Start date
There's a lot of things that go into the price of ownership. Especially on a car such as the NSX. You've named a few big items that will definately cost you money. Tires for sure. You can have the alignment done to take most of the camber out to help with tire wear, but you sacrafice some handling as well. I think Comptech makes a alignment part to help with this (?). But how hard you drive your car will dictate how fast you go thru tires.
IF you drive your NSX everyday then gas might become a serious cost. As well as insurance rates, ad volurem, and regular services from the dealer.
But should anything else go wrong with the car, or you break a part in the car....look to spend big $$$ to replace it because parts on the NSX are not cheap. Door panels alone are like $900 a piece!
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00 ITR #671. For Sale.
92 Civic CX (daily driver)
Looking to buy an NSX soon, but have to sell the Type R first!
IF you drive your NSX everyday then gas might become a serious cost. As well as insurance rates, ad volurem, and regular services from the dealer.
But should anything else go wrong with the car, or you break a part in the car....look to spend big $$$ to replace it because parts on the NSX are not cheap. Door panels alone are like $900 a piece!
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00 ITR #671. For Sale.
92 Civic CX (daily driver)
Looking to buy an NSX soon, but have to sell the Type R first!
Damon,
Before purchasing an used NSX, make sure all the major service(s) has been done. Make sure the 60,000 mile serivce has been done if you are looking to purchase a car with high mileage. The 60K service includes timing belt replacement, valve clearance, brakes, etc.. and can cost you up to 700$$ if you were to take the car to a dealer for this major service. Other than that, the car is pretty much trouble free and not expensive to maintain. For example,
oil change with mobil 1 synthetic: 35$
cermaic clutch: 700$
that is all I can think of....
It does get expensive if you plan on doing mods. Once you get it started, really hard to stop...email me if you have more questions
[email protected]
JACK
Before purchasing an used NSX, make sure all the major service(s) has been done. Make sure the 60,000 mile serivce has been done if you are looking to purchase a car with high mileage. The 60K service includes timing belt replacement, valve clearance, brakes, etc.. and can cost you up to 700$$ if you were to take the car to a dealer for this major service. Other than that, the car is pretty much trouble free and not expensive to maintain. For example,
oil change with mobil 1 synthetic: 35$
cermaic clutch: 700$
that is all I can think of....
It does get expensive if you plan on doing mods. Once you get it started, really hard to stop...email me if you have more questions
[email protected]
JACK
Jack- he's for the most part right!!!
Do you your homework or R & D. It will most certainly help.Good Hunting!!!
cheers
Do you your homework or R & D. It will most certainly help.Good Hunting!!!
cheers
watch the doors... that was this problem today... think about it!!! Anyway, it is the least expensive sports car I have owned and not alot in it. oil, gas... if you can afford it,,, then go for it!!!
60,000 mile service is more like $1200.
Steven 91 Blk/Ivory
Steven 91 Blk/Ivory
I think an individuals perception of "cost of maintaince" is relative to previous ownership experience.
I feel the NSX is inexpensive to maintain and a bargain compared to other exotic cars. My previous experience is with Porsche cars. Which I found to much more expensive to maintain and more demanding of attention.
If you are coming from an Accord or Integra (SP) you will find NSX parts are more expensive.
It is wise to price shop around for a shop / dealership. From my local experience, oil changes range from $26.00 to $56.00 between two local dealerships!
Have whatever you buy have it checked out, before buying.
Good Luck,
Rich
I feel the NSX is inexpensive to maintain and a bargain compared to other exotic cars. My previous experience is with Porsche cars. Which I found to much more expensive to maintain and more demanding of attention.
If you are coming from an Accord or Integra (SP) you will find NSX parts are more expensive.
It is wise to price shop around for a shop / dealership. From my local experience, oil changes range from $26.00 to $56.00 between two local dealerships!
Have whatever you buy have it checked out, before buying.
Good Luck,
Rich
very cheap for an exotic, slightly more expensive than a typical honda. most of the expensive stuff involves accidental damage, blown engines, transmissions. all of this is highly unusual and highly unlikely. but if it did happen, well, it aint no honda to repair.
only 'possible' but more common expensive potential problems can be found in a faq search. (snap ring/window regulators) didnt affect all cars.
overall, very inexpensive to own, except for tires...
good luck
only 'possible' but more common expensive potential problems can be found in a faq search. (snap ring/window regulators) didnt affect all cars.
overall, very inexpensive to own, except for tires...
good luck
Guys,
In respect to service costs I think we have the 60K and the 90K service confused. The 90K service with water pump and timing belt would be around $1200+. I say "+" because if you do a FULL 90K service with every item done, it will run you a little more. If you are really complete and replace all the cooling hoses as is recomended add a little more to that.
The 60K service is a valve adjustment and general tune, WITHOUT the timing belt and water pump, and would be less.
Although, it is true that most NSX's with 60K or less should get a timing belt and water pump due to crossing the 6 year mark. But a full 90K service is not really required. I would say the general rule is "while you are in there....do it all", but to each his own.
Personally I have found ownership cost to be above average, but not a killer deal. The parts are pricey, but you don't need to do repairs very often. I put about 5k miles on my car per year. I just completed a FULL 90K service, so theoretically I will only need to do oil changes for the next three years, other then maybe a clutch (I have 32K on tha car now)and the usual set of tires per year! (I use OEM Yoko's, a full set is $670, mounted and balanced, and worth every penny IMO).
There are also MUCH cheaper ways to go on the tires if you want to change from OEM and change you alignment.
The A/C will certainly set you back $$$$$. And any body work could cost you a visit to you local bank!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you do your homework and all the service work is properly done on a used car you are interested in, you will keep your costs in line.
HTH,
LarryB
In respect to service costs I think we have the 60K and the 90K service confused. The 90K service with water pump and timing belt would be around $1200+. I say "+" because if you do a FULL 90K service with every item done, it will run you a little more. If you are really complete and replace all the cooling hoses as is recomended add a little more to that.
The 60K service is a valve adjustment and general tune, WITHOUT the timing belt and water pump, and would be less.
Although, it is true that most NSX's with 60K or less should get a timing belt and water pump due to crossing the 6 year mark. But a full 90K service is not really required. I would say the general rule is "while you are in there....do it all", but to each his own.
Personally I have found ownership cost to be above average, but not a killer deal. The parts are pricey, but you don't need to do repairs very often. I put about 5k miles on my car per year. I just completed a FULL 90K service, so theoretically I will only need to do oil changes for the next three years, other then maybe a clutch (I have 32K on tha car now)and the usual set of tires per year! (I use OEM Yoko's, a full set is $670, mounted and balanced, and worth every penny IMO).
There are also MUCH cheaper ways to go on the tires if you want to change from OEM and change you alignment.
The A/C will certainly set you back $$$$$. And any body work could cost you a visit to you local bank!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you do your homework and all the service work is properly done on a used car you are interested in, you will keep your costs in line.
HTH,
LarryB
It's possible that we have the 60K and 90K service confused, but I would also dispute the price mentioned here.
The maintenance schedule is shown in the FAQ here, and typical costs for the scheduled services are shown here.
Prices shown for the 60K service range from $775 to $1025. There is no price quoted for a 90K service; however, a 90K service consists of the 30K service, plus the replacement of the timing belt and water pump. The replacement of the timing belt and water pump typically runs $1200 all by itself; you would have to add to that the cost of the 30K service ($600-800).
Replacing all the cooling hoses is a good idea. However, I don't think it's specified in the maintenance schedule. I'm not sure of the exact price but I would allow $250-400 including parts and labor. This is on top of the prices for scheduled maintenance shown in the FAQ. (FWIW, I had mine done when my car was nine years old.)
More specifically, the 60K includes the valve adjustment, air cleaner, fuel filters, spark plugs, transmission fluid, and brake fluid.
I would recommend that scheduled maintenance services either (a) be performed together at the specified mileage or time intervals, whichever comes first; or (b) be tracked separately so that they can be performed when needed.
For example, there are services that are specified to be done every 30K miles or two years, whichever comes first: valve adjustment, air cleaner, transmission fluid, brake fluid. The valve adjustment and air cleaner degrade more by miles than by time, so if you're keeping track of the items individually, I think you can stretch the time intervals if you haven't hit the mileage intervals on those. (Valve adjustment is actually recommended for every 15K miles, according to the schedule in the FAQ.) However, I would NOT stretch the time intervals on fluid changes. I strongly recommend that brake fluid and transmission fluid be changed (complete flush) at least once every two years, regardless of mileage. And any time the car is going to be used on the racetrack, the brake fluid should have been changed in the previous year, and six months is even better.
Again, the brake fluid and transmission fluid should be changed at least once every two years, maybe sooner.
Fortunately, body work is usually covered by insurance.
The maintenance schedule itself is similar to most other cars, and while parts are in some cases more expensive, labor is not. As a result, the cost of scheduled maintenance is not much more than for most other cars. The cost of scheduled maintenance is also highly predictable; you can easily calculate it based on how many miles you plan to drive over a given period of time.
Damn Ken,
You had your Wheaties this morning!!!! You are absolutely correct. I forgot to mention the trans fluid or brake fluid. I also totally agree with your pricing.
I should not start typing until noon!!
Thanks,
LarryB
You had your Wheaties this morning!!!! You are absolutely correct. I forgot to mention the trans fluid or brake fluid. I also totally agree with your pricing.
I should not start typing until noon!!
Thanks,
LarryB
"Pancakes. Tuesday is pancakes."
--- Dustin Hoffman, "Rain Man"
I guess in my first post I should have told a little more about myself. I am coming from a Turbo Charged LS Integra that I never quite finished. I have since sold the car and parted out all I had for the car. I built the entire car here at my shop. I am Director of Operations for a Import Performance Shop here in Little Rock, Arkansas. I am not afraid to do the maint. myself, as I have all the means here to do it. I was however concerned about the cost of maint. items. The Block and Head that we built for my car is unfortunately making (or fortunately if you are him) over 400 whp in another car. Why am I looking for an NSX? I would get sick at night thinking of the 30K I dumped in my car knowing that I would never get more than 12K-14K out of it. I have decided now I want to have a car that will hold some sort of value as I am getting older (24 wooo hoooo) and throwing money away is not my idea of responsible anymore. I am hoping to find a 91-93 for the $22K-$28K range. I have $10K cash to put down on it and want my payments to be around $380. I assume I can get finaced for 5 years on one considering my heafty <sp> down payment and good credit. Thanks for all the responses, keep them coming!
This is possible. However... If you are thinking more long-term (since you express concern for the market value of your car), you would probably be better off with a moderate-mileage, mint condition NSX. It will cost you a bit more, but it will be more likely to retain its market value (and be easier to re-sell) than an NSX with high miles (~100K+) or salvage title or one of the other conditions that puts it into the "cheap" NSX category you mention.
$28K for 91-92 is cheap? I thought that was about right? Geez man why u gotta rain on my parade? =)
For $28K, you will typically get a '91-92 NSX that has high mileage (roughly 100K or more), and/or automatic transmission, and/or salvage title or accidents repaired poorly, and/or requiring significant repairs, and/or is not up to date on maintenance, including preventive maintenance, and/or has visible "issues".
A five-speed '91 NSX with lower than average mileage (average is about 5K miles per year), that is in excellent condition and is fully up-to-date on maintenance, will generally go for the $32-35K range. Such cars tend to be difficult to be find because they sell quickly and often change hands privately before they are ever advertised.
It's one of those things where "you get what you pay for". The less expensive NSXs are worth what you pay for them... but if you're concerned about having a car that's easy to re-sell and maintains its market value, you're better off spending the extra few grand now; it will always be worth thousands more than a car that is not in excellent condition, and will be easier to resell.
[This message has been edited by nsxtasy (edited 03 September 2002).]
A five-speed '91 NSX with lower than average mileage (average is about 5K miles per year), that is in excellent condition and is fully up-to-date on maintenance, will generally go for the $32-35K range. Such cars tend to be difficult to be find because they sell quickly and often change hands privately before they are ever advertised.
It's one of those things where "you get what you pay for". The less expensive NSXs are worth what you pay for them... but if you're concerned about having a car that's easy to re-sell and maintains its market value, you're better off spending the extra few grand now; it will always be worth thousands more than a car that is not in excellent condition, and will be easier to resell.
[This message has been edited by nsxtasy (edited 03 September 2002).]
From my recent search/purchasing experience it seems that $27k-$32k is the typical price range of a '91-'93 in the 60k-90k mile range, the main difference being which services have been performed and which are do. You'll find a bunch of cars with 80k miles from owners who are selling before the 90k service.
I just paid $27k for a great interior/exterior knowing it needed $3k in service (I did both the 60k/90k to be safe).
The only cars I saw for less then $26k had either over 150k miles or salvage titles.
I chose the '91 NSX over similar vintage 911s as a daily driver with the expectation it will be cheaper to maintain. We'll see
Good luck.
I just paid $27k for a great interior/exterior knowing it needed $3k in service (I did both the 60k/90k to be safe).
The only cars I saw for less then $26k had either over 150k miles or salvage titles.
I chose the '91 NSX over similar vintage 911s as a daily driver with the expectation it will be cheaper to maintain. We'll see
Good luck.
However, the 90K service is really a combination of the 30K-60K-90K fluid changes that need to be done every two years, plus valve adjustment (every 15K miles), plus air filter, plus timing belt and water pump replacement. All services other than the timing belt and water pump should have been done several times already. The timing belt and water pump ($1200) should have been done years ago, since it's scheduled for 90K miles or 6 years, whichever comes first. By now, it's at least 5 years overdue
If you don't mind high miles (97K) and quite a few mods, you might want to check out Ilya's car, which is up to date on maintenance and did not reach its 31K minimum bid recently.
[This message has been edited by nsxtasy (edited 03 September 2002).]
Just got done with 60k + Timing Belt/Water pump and it cost me $1600. I did the easy stuff like spark plugs, air filter myself which reduced the cost a little. I did a little nudging to get the price down as they were going to charge me $1500 for just timingbelt/water pump.
Sorry I meant $1200 for the 90k service.Originally posted by nsxtasy:
You can find typical costs for scheduled maintenance services in the FAQ here.
Steve, $1200 is a bit on the high side for 60K service. $800-1000 is more typical. Maybe you Wisconsin folks will start coming down to Chicago for service, instead of the other way around.
Steven 91 Blk/Ivory
I paid under $26k for my '91 (1 1/2 years ago). It had 103k miles (not 150k), clean title, had just had the 120k service done (including timing belt and water pump), and even had a brand new (under 300 miles) factory clutch!! The more I read this forum, the better I feel about the deal I got.
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'91 Black/Black
Wanna sell it? JK So do you guys think financing a 91-92 is out of the question?
[This message has been edited by DamonBoost (edited 03 September 2002).]
Are you asking whether financing is available? (It's not very easy to find.) Or whether it's a good idea? (I don't think spending all your savings on a car that's mostly financed is a great idea - what are you going to do if you suddenly need a clutch for $2K or an A/C repair for $4K?)
If you're 24 years old, I think there are higher priorities for funds - building up some cash as a down payment to buy a place to live, to cite one rather obvious example. An expensive sports car - and the NSX is an expensive sports car, make no mistake - is not a necessity, and you ought to think about taking care of necessities before splurging on something that's a luxury item that has the potential to absorb much of your disposable income.
