Looking for an NSX

[codieskid]

Hi Guys

This is my first post on here as I have just started looking into getting an NSX and wanted to get some expert advice from current NSX owners.

Right then, I currently own a 1997 Toyota Supra which I am selling and then I am going to start looking at buying an NSX to use as a project car. Could you guys answer a few questions to help get the ball rolling.

1) What sort of money (realistically) should I be looking at spending to get myself a clean, mechcanically sound NSX?

2) What are the estimated annual running costs of a typical NSX owner.

3) What things should I be looking for when buying an NSX, any major problems with the cars etc?

4) What are the expensive components that might need to be replaced throughout the NSX's life (e.g. clutch ever xxxxmiles) and what will they cost.

5) What are the differences between imports and UK cars?

Many thanks

Trevor

[ctrlaltdelboy]

hi there

some sensible questions asked there as a prospective purchaser ;)

I'll answer a couple but leave some for others with more relevant/recent experience

3) with the early cars there was a batch of slightly dodgy gearbox casings put into circulation - the issue was an over-bored groove in which a vital circlip (or 'snap-ring' as they call it in the USA) fits. The oversized recess allows excessive flex in the circlip itself which then fails as a result causing carnage to the gearbox internals.
The affected gearbox casings are only found within the range numbered J4A4-1003542 to J4A4-1005978, although the gearboxes in this range are affected to individual degrees ranging from 'perfect' to 'failure guaranteed'.

so basically, try and avoid a car with such a gearbox number is good advice.

5) the main difference between UK/EU/US cars and JDM cars is the ratios in the 5 speed manual box. The JDM gears are shorter for 2nd, 3rd & 4th for better 'off the line' acceleration, although standard gears give an edge for acceleration from 114-186MPH due to 'drop-in' rev point for 4th & 5th being on high cam.

Aside from the gearbox differences, there are the usual JDM differences you will probably be aware of from your experiences in the Supra community, e.g. ECU being mapped for 100RON fuel, km/h dials, foglights etc.

rear lenses are darker than UK/EU cars on JDM models, and lighter on US models (which are branded Acura BTW)

not many other significant differences, except that on EU & US models the steering wheel and pedals are really hard to reach from the drivers seat :? :lol:

welcome to the club!

[UltraViolet]

Hiya and welcome

I wouldn't say I am an expert, but I have owned a NSX since Feb 2002 and it is a rather nice example so I will give my views.

Firstly, this car is still very much in demand in Japan so you don't get the usual situation of the imports being more affordable. The Acura (US) car is cheaper due to being left hand drive, but the JDM cars are generally not any cheaper than the UK cars and hence not so many are over here.

Where the JDM cars are brought in however it is generally to bring in a model not available in the UK such as the Type S. The Type R would fall into that categaory but being so expensive - very rare!!

1) What sort of money (realistically) should I be looking at spending to get myself a clean, mechcanically sound NSX?
They seem to start at around £16k these days, even less for high milers or slightly tired examples. But TBH my opinion is that is is cheaper in the long run to pay the money for a good one rather than skimp at the purchase stage.

Reason ... well - they don't cost much to run EXCEPT if they go wrong. As a low volume Supercar, service items are fairly affordable, but bigger components can be scarily expensive. So, get a tired one and it doesn't take many repairs to be up to the price of the pristine example you walked away from due to asking price.

It is hard to put a definate price though as there are not many cars around. The market does seem at a glance to have dropped the prices a bit, but talking to other owners that do watch the cars that are up for sale, it does appear that many of the cheap cars have been on sale for a long while - perhaps for a reason :?: So I would budget to spend £20k for a good 3.0 manual. Less if an auto. More if a 3.2

2) What are the estimated annual running costs of a typical NSX owner.
Oooooo - what is a typical owner? Perhaps better you saying how you will use the car and someone who uses their a similar way/amount can better advise. I use mine as a weekend toy rather than daily driver so it is insured on a classic car policy for under £400 and is serviced once a year at circa £200. Then some years budget for a cambelt (and water pump) at around £600 or a replacement clutch at around £1,300 (including flywheel)
They are very economical on the ol' fuel though. Giving it beans you can get the economy down low - but on the public roads, you can't maintain high revs for long without being rather socially irresponsible. (2nd gear on the 5 speed manual takes you almost to 90mph :!: ) so the car is usually rather unstressed and as such, rather frugal!

Longer runs, I get well over 30 mpg. Average including fun runs ..... still not much under the 30 mpg.

3) What things should I be looking for when buying an NSX, any major problems with the cars etc?

Snap ring issue as Darren mentioned - TBH - I would think if going to fail, it would have by now. Only effects those in the range Darren quoted and most of those are in the US.

Window thingy - again, '91 and '92 cars only as the part was redesigned from '93 but a replacement part is about £20 from Darli. If the OEM part fails - window is down and Honda want about £500 to repair!!

Struts for engine cover and boot hatch fail - not expensive to replace though and even can be re-gasssed.

Check even wear on tyres - you don't want a car like this misaligned.... but worse still if it is as a result of a bent frame!

If wear on the leather bolsters ... check it is in line with the mileage on the odeometer....... these cars hide their age well, so the unscruplous could be tempted :idea:

4) What are the expensive components that might need to be replaced throughout the NSX's life (e.g. clutch ever xxxxmiles) and what will they cost.
Clutch ..... piece of string? TBH depends on the life the car leads, but they can go in as little as 30k miles and budget for about £1,300 from the Honda dealer.

5) What are the differences between imports and UK cars?
As Darren has said, not a huge amount - easy visual spot is the headlight washers on the UK - not on the import cars. Does actually look much neater without them IMO.

Best of luck finding a good one. A very different type of drive to the Supra.

[TheQuietOne]

OK I would say regarding running costs (I am nearly into me second year running a 3.2 as my only car) you should expect:

1. £250ish for two rear tyres every 3,000 miles if driven quickly on sticky rubber, or as much as 15,000 if driven like a @$ssey (or me) on F1's.

2. £180 for a small service (every 9,000 miles on newer cars 97+ perhaps or 6,000 on older years.

3. £250 to £400 for larger services.

4. £1600 for clutch.

5. £500 for cam belt (these are all estimates based on recent prices posted here)

6. That's about it for running costs - expect 15 to 35 mpg probably averaging at about 20 for most drivers I would guess. Mine has cost me £500 for rubber all round (to get it on matching tires), £180 for a small service (5 years or not sure ho many miles - was done at 23,000 on mine though. That is it for the last 12 months for me...oh plus insurance!

Will add more as it comes to me. Good luck hunting...

Regards, Matt.

[UltraViolet]

Just seen the other thread and your plans - in which case disregard what I have said about price and buying a good example, the work you plan could decimate the car's worth so you are better getting a cheap one.

I say could as obviously there would be a market for the finished project, but it could also put off a lot of people.

Firstly, many will assume it was done using a damaged car.

Secondly some (including myself) would see it as the worse of both worlds. My ideal would be the latest car for performance and interior etc, but the older car for styling. The newer car has grown on me, but I'm a sucker for the original classic styling with pop-up lights. :lol:

[simonprelude]

So we are all agreed the best of both worlds is a 97-02 3.2 with pop up headlights :)

There are quite a few cars around that need tidying, however are mechanically sound, your best bet would be look at a few of these and find out which Honda garage has serviced them recently, they will give you a good indication of how the car is.

To be honest I think you would be better off getting hold of a 3.0 as these seem to be the easier to work on, from both the electronics, and array of extra's available, then if you are going to do an 02 conversion it seems pointless spending the money on a newer car.

The other advantage with getting a pre 97 car would be the complete Honda electronic manual is available to download, where as I am still looking for a 97 on.

There is a white 3.2 on autotrader, and has been for a while, which seems a good buy, so best bet is to look, drive and speak.


Just seen the other thread and your plans - in which case disregard what I have said about price and buying a good example, the work you plan could decimate the car's worth so you are better getting a cheap one.

I say could as obviously there would be a market for the finished project, but it could also put off a lot of people.

Firstly, many will assume it was done using a damaged car.

Secondly some (including myself) would see it as the worse of both worlds. My ideal would be the latest car for performance and interior etc, but the older car for styling. The newer car has grown on me, but I'm a sucker for the original classic styling with pop-up lights. :lol:

[codieskid]

Thanks for the info so far guys, very helpful. I completely understand that many people might think that by modifying an nsx to look like a facelift that i will be ruining the looks and value. I have been a long term NSX fan and alway wanted one. Then I saw the facelift model and just love the freshened up look. For me getting my hands on any NSX is an exciting prospect but a facelift is far too expensive.

My idea now is that i will try to find a prefacelift car, maybe with some light scrapes/damage (nothing more than cosmetic) and then fix it up using new honda facelift parts.

Admitly i may lose money on the car (which car wont i) but I just love the look of those facelift NSX's.

[TheQuietOne]

Thanks for the info so far guys, very helpful. I completely understand that many people might think that by modifying an nsx to look like a facelift that i will be ruining the looks and value. I have been a long term NSX fan and alway wanted one. Then I saw the facelift model and just love the freshened up look. For me getting my hands on any NSX is an exciting prospect but a facelift is far too expensive.

My idea now is that i will try to find a prefacelift car, maybe with some light scrapes/damage (nothing more than cosmetic) and then fix it up using new honda facelift parts.

Admitly i may lose money on the car (which car wont i) but I just love the look of those facelift NSX's.

Could do a lot worse than the 96,000 mile red one (£16K) on Autotrader at the moment in Derbyshire, it is owned by a current Facelift NSX owner as a second car and I think has had a good history for the year or so he has owned it...he is Senna786 or something on this site so you could PM him perhaps...

I'm local to the car too if that would help...

Matt.

[codieskid]

This is the kind of car that I was thinking to use as a base for my project. Average mileage with cosmetic damage.

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/WWW/cars_search.asp?modelexact=1&lid=search_used_cars_full&make=HONDA&model=NSX&variant=&keywords=import&min_pr=75&max_pr=&mileage=&agerange=&postcode=b49+5pj&miles=1500&max_records=200&source=0&photo=1&sort=3&ukcarsearch_full=SEARCH

Does anyone know this car, is it one to avoid?

[TheQuietOne]

Automatic - for a start if that is a problem...

It was owned by Faisal who posted it on here, and was bought and put up for sale instantly a few months ago - if you look at the member list under the F's you can trace his posts and maybe even contact him over it...as far as I'm aware no one on the site had a look at it before.

[codieskid]

My Supra is an auto so its not a major problem but i would prefer a manual. Any ideas how good the auto box is on the NSX as the supra's is brilliant as it has a switchable manual mode which works just fine and will rev as high as you like without changing.

[codieskid]

I found some info on Faisal's NSX here

http://nsxcb.co.uk/forum2/viewtopic.php?t=1221&highlight=faisal

Doesn't look too bad, although still not sure about the auto box. What do you guys think? Would this be the sort of car that would make a suitable project car, obviously after a good look at the car and doing all the relevant checks.

[simonprelude]

Never driven an Auto NSX but looking at the stats for it you could walk as quick. Not really, but I seem to recall around 8 seconds for a 0-60 ??


MUST BE THE ONLY BLACK NSX IN UK

Err, walk, no, run away !! What twoddle.

[codieskid]

hhhmmm, an 8 seconds to 60 time is far too slow. If this is the case I will definitly be looking for a manual as thats just a joke.

[ctrlaltdelboy]

the auto NSX is a 4 speed and the engine is tuned down to 252bhp

[TheQuietOne]

Had started to write about that earlier and never got time to finish the post...I would also stay away form an auto unless you have something really fast for the weekend...