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Where did you find your NSX? Did you travel? What's your story?

S

ss04

Contributing Member
Joined
12 December 2011
Messages
132
Hey guys,

First of all, a bit of an introduction. I am a Vancouver resident, and new to NSXprime. Just sold my '04 S2K. I've been a regular on S2ki for about 5 years. I loved the S2K, but it was time to move on as I've always wanted to get into an NSX but simply could not afford one 5 years ago.

My question is, for all you Canadian NSX owners... Did you travel to purchase your NSX? Was it local? Did you import it? I'm very particular when it comes to my cars, and everyone's definition of "mint" is different. I can't help but feel apprehensive about putting a deposit on a car that's a FLIGHT away.... The used NSX market is almost discouraging...

So tell me about your purchase story. Maybe I can learn something. And I apologize if there is already a thread like this. If so maybe just point me in the right direction :)

Cam

And just for good measure, a pic of my old S, because I am missing her!:

Summer2011-1b.jpg
 
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Do you still have that Amuse bumper or was it sold with the car?

btw I found mine in California. I did as much research as I could then I flew out to look at it, knowing that I might have to fly back home if it wasn't what i expected.

I loved it and drove it back to Toronto. I've have a story post int he build section.

Be patient and do your research.
 
^ Great build thread, but I think it just made me even more nervous about going down south for one :p

And the Amuse bumper went with the S2K.
 
Bought my '91 in 2001 from a guy in Tucson who tracked it on weekends. It already had 90k miles on it but had just had the major service and new clutch so I was gambling that a well maintained high mileage car was going to be ok. Actually, buying a 10 year old exotic car with 90k miles on it from someone I didn't really know .. in another country .. 2000 miles away .. that had been raced .. did cause me some anxious moments but I had talked to the guy's mechanic who was a well known NSX enthusiast at the time so that provided some level of comfort. Dealing with the down payment was interesting .. he let me send it to a senior teller at his bank to hold until I came down and did the inspection. So, he knew I was serious enough to send money .. but also cautious enough to make it conditional.

Since the car already had 90k miles on it, I knew it wasn't going to be pristine but I was buying it to use as a daily driver so that didn't bother me. Drove it home in about 38 hours; no problems at the border or with getting it approved by RIV. 10 years later, I've added 90k of my own miles .. and have also tracked it myself. Haven't really had a lot of unusual problems .. which is even more strange given that I probably have 25-30k winter miles on it at temps down to -40. It's just a great car.

Good luck. I found that the Canadian prices were higher than the cost to import but the exchange rate today is even more favorable than it was then and you always have a larger choice of colors/models in the US.
 
Bingo!!!!

NSX2398 said:
I found that the Canadian prices were higher than the cost to import but the exchange rate today is even more favorable than it was then and you always have a larger choice of colors/models in the US.
Click to expand...

awesome story btw!
 
Mine is imported as well. Flew out to see it. Previous owner was not on Prime. Mine is an 03 and I $55K all in. Compared to Canadian prices I saved $$ at the time (2 years ago). So far so good (BTW once you check out the car you can also pay a dealership that imports cars on the reg to handle the paper work and etc for you. I paid a friends uncle to bring it in with his container of cars which saved me some
coin and head ache since it was my first time considering importing and I really didn't know what to do).
 
Bought my 91 in the USA this year and bought sight unseen from Indianapolis.

Liked the idea of a northern climate car, a little easier on the rubber and paint.

Car had a great story, older owner, 21k miles, all services performed on time.

Had the car inspected by a company called AIM, reco by the importer, they detailed their work with photos and provided a rating of the vehicle.

Requested all documentation (service history) on the car be faxed to me.

Then reached out to the local Midwest Indy Chapter on PRIME and after a couple of exchanges one of the more experianced local members graciously (and fully) checked the car out for me.
This was the best part of the process, as I was new to NSX's so wasn't completely sure all the 'rub points' I should be looking for, this despite a NSX 101 course from Bram (thanks again) - JOIN NSXCC - your best resource and always willing to help.

Had an importer take care of the paperwork and transport..delivered to my door.

Car arrived as represented

Since then have been back and forth with the owner on Facebook.

Overall a great experiance with the execption of the 6% import duty you will have to pay on top of the HST.

Good luck on your search !!

Dave
 
Crazy story here:

I always wanted one. One day I was playing on Prime looking at pics and decided now is the time. Found one local that week at a dealership. Went down and bought it. :biggrin:
 
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From my searches the last few months, all of the US models end up being more expensive after GST, PST and DUTY. Here in BC, we have to pay 6.1% duty and 5% GST at the border, and then 7% when you go to insure it. That's another 18.1% tacked onto the sale price plus other misc fees and the exchange rate! I really hope I can find a suitable NSX north of the border...
 
Found my 02 GPW in Pebble Beach California. I searched for over 2 years for an 02 in white as that is the only color i wanted and I was not willing to look at anything else.

Placed a very specific WTB add in here and it took a while but was sent a private message with a car that was almost to my specs.

Also received 3 other messages with cars that were not in the year range I was looking for so I planned a trip/vacation to see all four.

Flew down to Cali to see the 02 and then off the Vegas for NSXPO to see the others and then to Denver and Phoenix to review the rest.

Pulled the trigger a few months later on the 02 ( never actually drove it before I bought it), paid the seller and arranged transport to my door. Carrier did all paperwork with customs and just presented me with the bill that included taxes and duties.

Went through process to have it registered in Canada and within probably 2 months i had the decal back and it was ready to be fully insured.

That was back in March of 2011 and I am still working on it. It is a labor of love but when you get your dream car, it is well worth the effort.

Good luck on your search. If you are patient you will get what you want.
 
that still sounds less then purchasing in canada to me.

in ontario you are looking at 13% HST regardless of where you buy (canada or USA).

the additional duty (approx 6%) plus all additional fees/fixes amounts to 7% of the sale price TOPs.

there is by far more then a 7% (imo is closer to 20%) savings on average when comparing similar model year/milage/condition us vs cdn nsx's.

when i deposited a cheque from one of my us clients a few weeks back i realized the cdn dollar is worth more then the us; which also represents an additional savings.

you do have to factor in a flight but even so i still feel that even if the overall costs of cdn/us costs were identical; the us nsx market is so much more appealing due having a much more attractive color/year selection.

in canada you have at most 20 nsx's on the auto trader; most of them being overpriced (the ones that sit around for a few years); and/or ones with tacky mods/completed repainted (which imo significantly lower the value of a car) asking 35k-40k cdn.

ss04 said:
From my searches the last few months, all of the US models end up being more expensive after GST, PST and DUTY. Here in BC, we have to pay 6.1% duty and 5% GST at the border, and then 7% when you go to insure it. That's another 18.1% tacked onto the sale price plus other misc fees and the exchange rate! I really hope I can find a suitable NSX north of the border...
Click to expand...
 
I have found a potential candidate, one ferry ride away. It's a '92 Black on Black, Canadian car. No accidents, all original panels/paint, with only 62,000 kms. Non-modified, garage stored it's entire life. I have not seen the car in person yet, but it looks as though it's immaculate from the photos I have been sent.

Asking high $30's (don't have an exact number as I've been emailing back and forth with the owner).

What do you guys think?
 
myw said:
LOL thank you for that. an amazing and hilarious read.
Click to expand...

It was one hell of an awesome trip... that's for sure!
 
Based on the condition, not in Snap Rang and everything is in good shape and maintenance records to show, it a fair price.

Please do your inspection.

Bram

ss04 said:
I have found a potential candidate, one ferry ride away. It's a '92 Black on Black, Canadian car. No accidents, all original panels/paint, with only 62,000 kms. Non-modified, garage stored it's entire life. I have not seen the car in person yet, but it looks as though it's immaculate from the photos I have been sent.

Asking high $30's (don't have an exact number as I've been emailing back and forth with the owner).

What do you guys think?
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for your response Bram. It is in snap ring range, however he had an Acura dealership fix accordingly - he has records for the work done.

I will definitely get an inspection done, as well as a compression test. If everything checks out, it does seem like a reasonable price considering it's a Canadian car.

Once the snap ring issue is fixed and documented, the cars resale value shouldn't be affected? Or am I wrong?

Cam
 
shouldnt affect anymore re resale value or concern if potential snap ring issue is fixed.

ss04 said:
\]
Once the snap ring issue is fixed and documented, the cars resale value shouldn't be affected? Or am I wrong?

Cam
Click to expand...
 
Got mine in Portland. Here is the story but it needs a little updating. I have since installed the '02 skirts and they look great, I will add a pic soon. It's been raining for 40 days and 40 nights in BC so I am not getting out much. I have also added a Honda badged airbag acquired from a member in Aus to complete my transition from Acura to Honda. Last thing onthe list is to get the climate control looked at by Brian K this winter, it works pretty much as it should but tends to fluctuate between air coming from the dash vents then the footwell vents for no apparent reason. For the moment I just waited until the little motor under the glove box was directing the flow through the dash vents then pulled the power plug to that motor, now the air stays where I want it. Other than that and a horn button replaced when the airbag was changed it has been flawless!!

http://nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php?t=139699&highlight=

Peter
 
got mine in Ohio.
I had always wanted the red/black hardtop model 91-94 right from day one. So when I started my search about 4 years ago thats what i looked for. But then I strayed from my original target car and looked at black, yellow and silver colours and also liked the idea of a targa top version as well. I soon realized that getting a really nice shape yellow one was likely too much coin as I had a budget of around $30000.oo. to work with.
As I got more serious and had looked at a few I knew red was the only colour for me and after my wife jokingly said that if your buying a sports car it better be red or don't bother to bring it home (i think she was actually serious)
i then focused on only that combination.
I finally found the one I had wanted in St louis, it was a very clean 1991 with a nice exhaust and up-graded wheels...exactly what i wanted. We talked some numbers as it was a little more then I initially wanted to spend but after thinking about for a while I decided to fly down and check it out. I called the dealer involved and was so dissapointed when he told me that i just missed out on the deal by a day that i felt really sick.
I moped around the rest of the day and went back on Prime fairly late that same evening and low and behold there was a new post for an even better version of the same car for less coin!
I then jumped on it, pm'ed the primer selling the car and basically made a deal within a day. The seller lived in Cincinatti and was kind enough to meet me half way as im from London, ontario.
the car looked great and checked out fine.
2 weeks later I got a buddy to drive me down to Cincinatti and we picked up the car, drove it back to Canada and got it plated for Ontario.
Brian from sourcensx may know this car as it was Blaines red/black 1991.
in the end I had stayed under my budget, got a great car that had some of the major services already completed and the exact colour combo i wanted. It really has only cost me a set of tires and alignment since i have had it and I couldn't be happier.


eddy
 
eddy w said:
got mine in Ohio.
I had always wanted the red/black hardtop model 91-94 right from day one. So when I started my search about 4 years ago thats what i looked for. But then I strayed from my original target car and looked at black, yellow and silver colours and also liked the idea of a targa top version as well. I soon realized that getting a really nice shape yellow one was likely too much coin as I had a budget of around $30000.oo. to work with.
As I got more serious and had looked at a few I knew red was the only colour for me and after my wife jokingly said that if your buying a sports car it better be red or don't bother to bring it home (i think she was actually serious)
i then focused on only that combination.
I finally found the one I had wanted in St louis, it was a very clean 1991 with a nice exhaust and up-graded wheels...exactly what i wanted. We talked some numbers as it was a little more then I initially wanted to spend but after thinking about for a while I decided to fly down and check it out. I called the dealer involved and was so dissapointed when he told me that i just missed out on the deal by a day that i felt really sick.
I moped around the rest of the day and went back on Prime fairly late that same evening and low and behold there was a new post for an even better version of the same car for less coin!
I then jumped on it, pm'ed the primer selling the car and basically made a deal within a day. The seller lived in Cincinatti and was kind enough to meet me half way as im from London, ontario.
the car looked great and checked out fine.
2 weeks later I got a buddy to drive me down to Cincinatti and we picked up the car, drove it back to Canada and got it plated for Ontario.
Brian from sourcensx may know this car as it was Blaines red/black 1991.
in the end I had stayed under my budget, got a great car that had some of the major services already completed and the exact colour combo i wanted. It really has only cost me a set of tires and alignment since i have had it and I couldn't be happier.


eddy
Click to expand...

My friend, I envy you ! congrats eddy!
 
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