I had been about a years since I sold my first NSX (forced sale since I had been out of work for more than a year). Every night I would go through all of the customary webs sites looking for an NSX. I was particularly looking for an NA2 car, preferably a red/tan one. Anyway, on a Sunday night I came across an add on Craig's List for a 97 NSX in North Hollywood, CA, about 10 miles from my house. The only problem was that the asking price was about $8,000 to $10,000 less than the going rate for an early NA2 NSX. I thought to myself, there must be something wrong with the car. But, I could not pass up the opportunity, so, I called the seller early Monday morning and made an appointment to see the car later in the morning.
When I got there I learned that it was a Spa Yellow Pearl NSX with about 112,000 mile on the clock. Modifications included 2002 wheels, tinted windows, a Pioneer double din stereo with navigation, and a Valentine radar detector. The car looked really clean, inside and out for its age and mileage, but there were no maintenance records available since the owner had died and the family did not bother looking for the maintenance paperwork. The entity selling the car for the family was a German auto repair shop. The repair shop representative said that they had gone over the car and replace the valve gaskets, spark plugs and a few other minor fixes. Their impression of the car was that is was fairly clean and in good condition. After going over the car and taking it for a spin, I decided that it was a very good deal. The only problem I had, was the high mileage and the lack of maintenance records. But, I quickly decided that it was a Honda, and 112,000 miles was nothing to be greatly worried about. So, I decided to make an offer at a little bit lower price (I got greedy). They refused, so I offered to buy the car for the selling price under the condition that I would first take the car to someone to perform a PPI.
Since my normal mechanic was too far away, I took the car to Glendale Acura. There they did a thorough non-invasive inspection. I paid extra to have them perform a compression test. All test and inspection points came back good. They were however, concerned about the timing belt. My thought, that even if I had to replace the timing belt, It would still be a good deal. So I offered to put down a deposit to hold the car until I was able to obtain a cashiers check from my bank. The shop representative told me that I did not need to put down a deposit, that he would hold the car for me for a day. So, I found the nearest branch of my bank and headed over there to get a cashiers check.
When I returned about an hour later, the shop representative said that he had received five calls inquiring about the car, and one over-the-phone offer for $5,000 more than the selling price. However, the representative said that he would keep his word and sell the car to me. So, I bought the car, and picked it up the next day since they needed to have the car smog tested as required by California law.
I have now owned the car for a year and a half, and it is still looking a running great. The only problem was a blown radiator hose when I took the car to the track. I also may need a new clutch since it appeared to be slipping on another track weekend. I have also made some mods and have or will be making some more modifications in the near future. You can read about my build in the "Build Thread here on Prime. See link below:
http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php/190361-MCano-s-97-Spa-Yellow-Build
Well that sums it up! Thanks for taking the time to read my post.
