What is the cost of ownership like on a first gen NSX?

[Old Guy]

I line up more to the side of @BB_NSX. I went back through my records and my cost of maintenance since mid 2011 has been $3500 Cdn (about $2550 US depending on the exchange rate) so an average of around $500 Cdn / year. The maximum in any one year was around $1400 which included new tires. I do the easy maintenance myself and farm out the ugly stuff so if everything is done by a shop the costs will be higher. That is mechanical maintenance only so no winter storage fees or insurance or gas or vehicle cleaning / polishing stuff. The car is a 2000 with the original clutch; but, does not demonstrate any signs of impending clutch failure. The car has timed out on the timing belt so a TB / WP is in the future. If I do the TB / WP next year I expect that the average long term cost of maintenance is still going to be around $700 - $750 per year.

When I got my car it had a pile of tiny stone chips on the front end and cracks in the signal lights. It didn't affect driveability; but, after a year or so it bugged me to the point that I had the front re sprayed and completely covered in PPF and replaced the signal lights. That was purely discretionary and purely cosmetic so I don't consider it to be a maintenance item and its not in the costs.

 

[cartfan123]

I line up more to the side of @BB_NSX. I went back through my records and my cost of maintenance since mid 2011 has been $3500 Cdn (about $2550 US depending on the exchange rate) so an average of around $500 Cdn / year. The maximum in any one year was around $1400 which included new tires. I do the easy maintenance myself and farm out the ugly stuff so if everything is done by a shop the costs will be higher. That is mechanical maintenance only so no winter storage fees or insurance or gas or vehicle cleaning / polishing stuff. The car is a 2000 with the original clutch; but, does not demonstrate any signs of impending clutch failure. The car has timed out on the timing belt so a TB / WP is in the future. If I do the TB / WP next year I expect that the average long term cost of maintenance is still going to be around $700 - $750 per year.

When I got my car it had a pile of tiny stone chips on the front end and cracks in the signal lights. It didn't affect driveability; but, after a year or so it bugged me to the point that I had the front re sprayed and completely covered in PPF and replaced the signal lights. That was purely discretionary and purely cosmetic so I don't consider it to be a maintenance item and its not in the costs.

Those are more inline with my costs of my 1991. It’s been reliable and all of the maintenance I’ve done has been preventative. I’ve got a very low mileage car but still it’s been Honda type reliability. Remains a thrill to drive almost 30 years later.

 

[qingcong]

What are the big ticket maintenance items that you likely can't avoid if you are to own the car for any significant amount of time? Off the top of my head:

Timing belt
Clutch

What else?

 

[Sterling Sackey]

What are the big ticket maintenance items that you likely can't avoid if you are to own the car for any significant amount of time? Off the top of my head:

Timing belt
Clutch

What else?

Not to discount the cost of those jobs, but it's worth noting that there are owners who have over 100,000 miles on their original clutches, and many people leave the timing belt for well over a decade (not advised by any means, but they seem to never really break, at least in the cars I've come across).

 

[goldNSX]

My car is boosted and I drive the car often fast such as the wear rate might be higher and so is the required maintenance. Going downhill braking very late I don't want to experience a blown brake hose so I've changed them after x years for example, and so on... Fancy a blown coolant hose? No, so changed them which is due every 15-20 years if you put some serious miles on the car.

Stock cars for rare and easy weekend driving need less maintenance. But after 15-20 years every NSX faces the normal degeneration of the electronics (caps) and of any rubber parts (axle boots, A/C o-rings, clutch hydraulics, brake master, coolant hoses).

 

[SWFL_NSX]

Agree what much of what has been said-the cost of ownership mostly depends on what kind of owner you'll be.

The previous owner of my car lived in Ohio, only drove on Sundays in the summer and never in the rain or snow. It wasn't a big deal for him that the AC needed to be refilled every summer, he may not have known that the rear tail lights were leaking, probably didn't care that the clutch had a mysterious squeak, and probably didn't notice that the cam caps and valve cover seals had slowly leaked oil all over the engine. He replaced the timing belt, but used aftermarket parts. His cost of ownership was low.

When I bought the car I turned it into a daily driver using almost all OEM parts and doing all of my own labor. So the evap came out of the dash and the AC compressor was replaced, all seals have been addressed, and it's currently in the air getting a new OE clutch. The decision to make it a daily driver drove up the cost of ownership, as did the decision to use only OE parts.

A garage queen with some deferred maintenance is much cheaper to own than a daily driver with a (somewhat) picky owner.

 

[Honcho]

Agree what much of what has been said-the cost of ownership mostly depends on what kind of owner you'll be.

The previous owner of my car lived in Ohio, only drove on Sundays in the summer and never in the rain or snow. It wasn't a big deal for him that the AC needed to be refilled every summer, he may not have known that the rear tail lights were leaking, probably didn't care that the clutch had a mysterious squeak, and probably didn't notice that the cam caps and valve cover seals had slowly leaked oil all over the engine. He replaced the timing belt, but used aftermarket parts. His cost of ownership was low.

When I bought the car I turned it into a daily driver using almost all OEM parts and doing all of my own labor. So the evap came out of the dash and the AC compressor was replaced, all seals have been addressed, and it's currently in the air getting a new OE clutch. The decision to make it a daily driver drove up the cost of ownership, as did the decision to use only OE parts.

A garage queen with some deferred maintenance is much cheaper to own than a daily driver with a (somewhat) picky owner.

Very well said

 

[goldNSX]

Yes, that's a good comparison. But even a garage queen gets driven from time to time and some things have to be looked at. If the car breaks down every time you take your garage queen out it's definitly no fun. Ask the F-guys why they don't drive their 328, 348 so seldomly...

One example of the reality: a (proud) owner didn't drive it for several years and took the advice to check the ALB brakes. On his short trip to the garage the brake pedal fell to the floor. No brakes, haha. The garage didn't repair anything, they just did a flush of the brake fluid. The car brakes at last and the owner is happy. So far so good.
What do you think how long it will take until the next problem occurs (brake master, brake hose, ALB). Of course, you could say and be proud of doing a cheap fix or keep maintenance at an absolute minimum level. But I would not dare to drive such a car, not on an easy Sunday and for sure not like I use to drive it from time to time. :wink:

 

[Sterling Sackey]

Agree what much of what has been said-the cost of ownership mostly depends on what kind of owner you'll be.

The previous owner of my car lived in Ohio, only drove on Sundays in the summer and never in the rain or snow. It wasn't a big deal for him that the AC needed to be refilled every summer, he may not have known that the rear tail lights were leaking, probably didn't care that the clutch had a mysterious squeak, and probably didn't notice that the cam caps and valve cover seals had slowly leaked oil all over the engine. He replaced the timing belt, but used aftermarket parts. His cost of ownership was low.

When I bought the car I turned it into a daily driver using almost all OEM parts and doing all of my own labor. So the evap came out of the dash and the AC compressor was replaced, all seals have been addressed, and it's currently in the air getting a new OE clutch. The decision to make it a daily driver drove up the cost of ownership, as did the decision to use only OE parts.

A garage queen with some deferred maintenance is much cheaper to own than a daily driver with a (somewhat) picky owner.

Great post and 100% true to what you'll actually see when looking for a cosmetically garage-queen quality NSX.