Dipping my toe in the water

[JSDEJN]

After years of procrastination I have decided that I would like to buy a NSX. The 1st piece of good luck I had was when I approached the local Honda dealer at the Oswestry show and they put me in touch with Roy, one of their salespeople, who turned out not only to be a font of information but also a NSX owner. We looked on Piston Heads and saw FY53FD which he thought had promise. I spoke to the owner who seemed genuine person and then I spoke to James, another contact of Roy's, who also seemed to be an encyclopaedia of information on these cars. If there is anyone else out there who has any information regarding this car or has any views/opinions about it, then I would be very appreciative if you would let me know.

Best regards

jsdejn

[Pride]

If I was in your shoes I would just go for as I did 16 years ago now.
These cars in mho are virtually bullet proof and are often taken far too seriously for my liking.
You will enjoy it believe me.

[Mistercorn]

Do you have a link to the advert?

Not many for sale at the moment.

MC

[goldtop]

Do you have a link to the advert?

Not many for sale at the moment.

MC

This one: http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/honda/nsx/honda-nsx-v6--------------------2003/2235419 (owned by a forumite, I think)

[Mistercorn]

I do believe it is owned by a forum member. It has been for sale for some time so obviously not a giveaway price. I don't know anything else about the car though I'm afraid. Welcome to the forum btw.

MC

[andystevo]

Surprised that this car hasn't sold before now, at face value appears to be decent value for a facelift despite the mileage (for all that matters).

[JSDEJN]

Thanks for the feedback, I am now away for 6 weeks but luckily so is the vendor so hopefully I will be be able to go and see it in October.

[nobby]

the mileage is nothing ... i too am very surprised it has not gone already

[Mistercorn]

the mileage is nothing ... i too am very surprised it has not gone already

I keep hearing that mileage doesn't matter, but clearly it IS important. If this car had 20k miles it would have sold. This is nothing to do with the cars not being able to cope with the mileage perfectly well, simply that lower mileage is more desirable.

MC

[Pride]

I keep hearing that mileage doesn't matter, but clearly it IS important. If this car had 20k miles it would have sold. This is nothing to do with the cars not being able to cope with the mileage perfectly well, simply that lower mileage is more desirable.

MC
In my opinion putting mileage on is even more important, the engines if properly maintained are good for half a million miles+
These cars are meant to be driven not moth balled like other supercars, just enjoy enjoy and don't worry about "desirable mileage", life's too short.

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

After years of procrastination I have decided that I would like to buy a NSX. The 1st piece of good luck I had was when I approached the local Honda dealer at the Oswestry show and they put me in touch with Roy, one of their salespeople, who turned out not only to be a font of information but also a NSX owner. We looked on Piston Heads and saw FY53FD which he thought had promise. I spoke to the owner who seemed genuine person and then I spoke to James, another contact of Roy's, who also seemed to be an encyclopaedia of information on these cars. If there is anyone else out there who has any information regarding this car or has any views/opinions about it, then I would be very appreciative if you would let me know.

Best regards

jsdejn


This one: http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/honda/nsx/honda-nsx-v6--------------------2003/2235419 (owned by a forumite, I think)
Hi, jsdejn.
Welcome to the club. Hope you will find your NSX one day.

Based on the photo used in the link provided by goldtop, I think it is this one as the link is using exactly the same photos.

http://www.nsxcb.co.uk/showthread.php?11995-2003-Long-Beach-Blue-Perl-For-Sale


Kaz

[richmills]

I keep hearing that mileage doesn't matter, but clearly it IS important. If this car had 20k miles it would have sold. This is nothing to do with the cars not being able to cope with the mileage perfectly well, simply that lower mileage is more desirable.


If it had 20K on the clock I'd be asking mid 60s for it though ;-)

[lotusolly]

Surprised that this car hasn't sold before now, at face value appears to be decent value for a facelift despite the mileage (for all that matters).

Very surprised this car hasn't sold too. The mileage is hardly high and certainly well below average!
I can't think of another facelift car that has been advertised for under £50k without being cat D or very high mileage for at least a couple of years and prices seem to have been on the up since.

[Mistercorn]

If it had 20K on the clock I'd be asking mid 60s for it though ;-)

That is very interesting, so at these mileages depreciation is something like 50p per mile. It is things like this which make me consider my car use carefully. This weekend I am driving around 1200 miles in Scotland. I don't want to spend a fortune on the trip and if the car would depreciate by £500 as a result that is a serious consideration. OK, so for my car it might be less as it is already on 35k miles but you get the idea. Rain was also forecast, which after driving in heavy rain a couple of weeks ago became the deciding factor, so the NSX is sat at home.
I don't consider my car a 'keeper' so potential resale is a factor to me.
MC

[richmills]

That is very interesting, so at these mileages depreciation is something like 50p per mile. It is things like this which make me consider my car use carefully. This weekend I am driving around 1200 miles in Scotland. I don't want to spend a fortune on the trip and if the car would depreciate by £500 as a result that is a serious consideration. OK, so for my car it might be less as it is already on 35k miles but you get the idea. Rain was also forecast, which after driving in heavy rain a couple of weeks ago became the deciding factor, so the NSX is sat at home.
I don't consider my car a 'keeper' so potential resale is a factor to me.
MC

I'm not sure it's quite such a linear depreciation as that. From my experience of trying to sell mine and looking at other facelifts that have come on the market and sold at the same time it seems to me that there are at least 2 distinct markets in play; A market for those facelifts that have very low mileage (around 25K and under), and the rest. If your car falls into the low mileage catagory you can price it at the top end (60K and up) and it'll still sell quickly, once you enter the perceived high mileage zone however you lose the class of buyer who wants those ultra low mileage examples and the price has to drop considerably.

There's probably at least another 1 catagory between the low mileage and high mileage classes, but I don't know exactly where that lies.

I originally had mine up for mid 50s and I got absolutely no interest at all (literally 0 enquiries for 4 months). Since dropping the price to late 40s however I've had 3 what seem like serious enquiries in the space of a week, so maybe that's the right price for this mileage. We'll see.

As for worrying about whether you should take your NSX on a trip to Scotland, definitely do it! I did exactly that about this time last year and it was fantastic. Lovely roads and beautiful scenery. These cars are meant to be enjoyed, so go out and drive it :)

Cheers, Rich.

[goldtop]

I'm not sure it's quite such a linear depreciation as that.


This. With a lot of things that have a collectible cachet, low use/wear has a disproportionate affect on value. Certainly for vintage guitars, the equivalent of low miles (mint, unplayed, no colour fade, still in original unbattered case, with all hang tags and 'case candy' intact) is the difference between a lot of money and a hellofalota money. And people don't buy those to play!

Mistercorn, I think at 35000m you face a tricky dilemma. If you put another 35000 on it, it may affect its desirability for some future buyers. Just avoid 'boring' trips in it!

[NoelWatson]

Didn't the facelift with >100k miles sell for ~35k recently?

[Hagasan]

Yes, the yellow one, three or four month ago... I think it was on about 140k miles?


Didn't the facelift with >100k miles sell for ~35k recently?

[NoelWatson]

Yes, the yellow one, three or four month ago... I think it was on about 140k miles?


So I guess once you get beyond 50k miles there is no point in attempting to keep the mileage down.

[unclebob]

So I guess once you get beyond 50k miles there is no point in attempting to keep the mileage down.


I wouldnt even even consider a Honda engine run in until it had at least 100k on it! The relationship between miles covered and wear and tear is highly exaggerated....it's all relative. Why we still base our high miles figures on assumptions made in the sixties and seventies is beyond me.....100k was a lot for an engine made in those days...now I'd argue that we really need to re asses what is actually a correct figure for a car we could class as having high miles. Japanese manufacturer were the first to offer comprehensive 100k warranties on mechanicals back in the early 80's because they knew that the manufacturing tolerances they applied when building engines were so much higher than their competitors....I've driven Hondas since 1979 and mileage has never been a factor when considering a purchase...my only condition has always been, it must only have had one owner. If u look at the US market, cars with mileages approaching half a million miles sell for what we would consider outlandish for those mileages but of course in the warmer climate engines warm up very quickly and as we all know the most wear and tear on an engine is in those vital few minutes from stone cold to operating temperature.

[Mistercorn]

I never mentioned anything about reliability, just how mileage affects price. Which it does, a lot.

MC

[Pride]

If u look at the US market, cars with mileages approaching half a million miles sell for what we would consider outlandish for those mileages but of course in the warmer climate engines warm up very quickly and as we all know the most wear and tear on an engine is in those vital few minutes from stone cold to operating temperature.
Which is exactly why I installed a Clifford remote control engine start alarm system 16 years ago.
it allows prewarming of the engine before driving off 20-30 minutes later, plus it's a real cool fun gadget to impress anyone walking passed at car shows and events which I regularly attend and with the great sound of the Pride V2 exhaust it makes a fantastic pairing.

[Senninha]

http://www.thesupercarrooms.co.uk/car-details/honda-nsx-for-sale-h16

stubled across this for anyone looking ... kind if kills the 'mileage affects price' position ... or will it if sells ... I have no links etc etc, but it does look clean and pure ...

[goldtop]

http://www.thesupercarrooms.co.uk/car-details/honda-nsx-for-sale-h16

stubled across this for anyone looking ... kind if kills the 'mileage affects price' position ... or will it if sells ... I have no links etc etc, but it does look clean and pure ...

Isn't that Jammy's car? Has been up before on PH. £28k for a good condition manual is about right, no?

I don't think it kills the mileage/price argument. It just shows there's a curve not a linear progression, and so changes in value level off as mileage goes up (assuming the car's in good condition otherwise).

So the difference in value between a 110,000m car and a 80,000m car is a lot less than the difference between a 40,000m car and a 10,000m car.

[Papalazarou]

I'm not sure it's quite such a linear depreciation as that. From my experience of trying to sell mine and looking at other facelifts that have come on the market and sold at the same time it seems to me that there are at least 2 distinct markets in play; A market for those facelifts that have very low mileage (around 25K and under), and the rest. If your car falls into the low mileage catagory you can price it at the top end (60K and up) and it'll still sell quickly, once you enter the perceived high mileage zone however you lose the class of buyer who wants those ultra low mileage examples and the price has to drop considerably.

There's probably at least another 1 catagory between the low mileage and high mileage classes, but I don't know exactly where that lies.

I originally had mine up for mid 50s and I got absolutely no interest at all (literally 0 enquiries for 4 months). Since dropping the price to late 40s however I've had 3 what seem like serious enquiries in the space of a week, so maybe that's the right price for this mileage. We'll see.

As for worrying about whether you should take your NSX on a trip to Scotland, definitely do it! I did exactly that about this time last year and it was fantastic. Lovely roads and beautiful scenery. These cars are meant to be enjoyed, so go out and drive it :)

Cheers, Rich.

I think there are probably quite a few categories. However, perhaps some are in the eye of the beholder.
Certainly there are the obvious ones; type R's, type S, late low mileage coupes, the last 12. I'm biased, but there is also a market for the four or five facelift targas left. Colour also plays a big part. However, some perhaps mean more to NSX addicts than the new to NSX buying public. But for the record; pearl white, silverstone, LBB and black do it for me.

It does seem a shame that mileage is god when buying and selling. But I guess that will always be a big marker in value and many people will put that above condition. In fact I would say that is as much a definite as people chasing low mileage.

[britlude]

so you could say that a car with low mileage is neglected, not used for what it was designed for, more garage art than actually being a car....

having low mileage/maintaining low mileage is to miss the point, and to deny yourself the experience.

best advice, sell the car, buy the equivalent chunk of gold to maintain your investment. place that on a pedestal in your lounge, and get the added bonus of saving petrol!

;)

[Senninha]

So the late market low mileage appears established at £60k+ ... the early original red/black in solid condition with a documented history seem to be changing hands in the early to mid £20k's ... and from recent sales, the late NA1's seem to have settled around high £20k's to early £30k's ... so excluding the specials mentioned above, the unknown models would appear to be the NA2 pop-up models, coupe or T-Top ... anyone bought or sold recently care to share market value intel?

[havoc]

Isn't that Jammy's car? Has been up before on PH. £28k for a good condition manual is about right, no?

I don't think it kills the mileage/price argument. It just shows there's a curve not a linear progression, and so changes in value level off as mileage goes up (assuming the car's in good condition otherwise).

So the difference in value between a 110,000m car and a 80,000m car is a lot less than the difference between a 40,000m car and a 10,000m car.

Absolutely.

The "investor" market :spit: is where the big money lies and what they want doesn't tie into anyone else - they want low mileage, originality (paintwork especially) and ideally provenance (low # of owners, better still some sort of "history" to the car). The premium here is huge as a % of a 'normal' car's value.

Underneath that there's the "value-for-money required" driver market at its various levels - from those that want a beautiful, special car to use occasionally but not lose money on, right through to those that want a regular-use workhorse, everyone will have a keen eye on the 'worth' of the car as much as the spec/condition/history.

In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have gone for a 90k car, but I bought on looks (gorgeous), condition (good but not perfect) and history (massive file of bills, all stamps correct, only 1 careless owner out of 5). But whilst my wallet may regret not buying an investor-grade asset while they were cheap, my emotional side doesn't...have had too much fun and too many memorable road trips in mine to regret anything for long!


...so if I was in the market for a facelift, this blue one would be high on my list as I would want to use and enjoy the car while I owned it.



Edit: Paul - NA2 pop-ups, despite rarity, will probably fall JUST under the mainstream facelifts, as the facelift seems to have some cachet amonst the investors and the age of the cars will still play a small part. Plus the perf leather seats, I guess... Targas...like-for-like I'd expect a premium over a coupe for all except investor-grade cars. But that's just my 2p, no evidence to support that.

[JSDEJN]

Thanks for the info, in Croatia and has rained since Monday off and on, going to see the car when back at the beginning of October.

[goldtop]

Thanks for the info, in Croatia and has rained since Monday off and on, going to see the car when back at the beginning of October.

Load up on the Malvasia wine if you're going through Istria! Am now in Italy, and the car's already stuffed (not the NSX though, which wouldn't have been much fun on some of the unmade Croatian roads).

Good luck on the NSX hunt.