710
05-12-2004, 11:21 PM
I would like to introduce myself, my name is Peter. I have been looking and saving for an NSX for over a year now.
This is my first posting ever, I hope I do it right.
I have been reading the NSXCB site for a few weeks now and NSX Prime for about 11 months. I am very very impressed by the support, friendliness, and information on these sites. Congratulations on a very good site.
I have spoken on the phone to a couple of the Dutch NSXers who post on NSX Prime, they are really friendly and helpful. I can see by your posts and your colleague's posts that you are all nice too. I hope to meet you one day. I will attend a few UK meetings too and hope to be able to contribute something. Will you have a Christmas get-together this year?
I went to the NSX days in Spa this year and got my first ride in an NSX. I also met a Brit there with a black NSX with a wing, and learned a lot about NSXes from him. He and his wife and friend were very friendly. I forget his name but he goes by j14nsx on NSX Prime. If you read this, thanks for all the help and info.
Several months ago I had a chance to finally drive an NSX. Now I know.
Next Tuesday I will go to buy one. A 1991 red one from Holland. 51,000 km (about 32,000 miles) and in really good condition.
I will import it to Britain next week. I live in Kent, but I spend much of my time in the BENELUX, Belgium, actually, so I am buying a LHD model, like my other cars.
I have been in cars my whole life and am reasonably sure about the facts of this car. But I do have a question about the VIN number.
My question:
The car is registered in Holland. The Dutch log book shows Jan 1993 as the year. I looked at the VIN number and it shows it's a 1991. I understand that many European cars remained in the dealers for some years due to their high price and, when finally sold, received that date (as some countries do it that way) as a registration date. Does that sound correct?
I checked with Honda UK (since I'm importing it to the UK) and they had to contact Japan because they didn't have any info (UK or European) on it. The Japanese responded to the Honda UK homologation department; it was produced on 9 November 1990 (the number is JHMNA11500T000211). 1990?
Does that mean it was the 211th one brought here to Europe? Incidentally, do UK models (because they are RHD like Japan's cars) have a different numbering system than the European system, possibly similar to Japans system? Anyway this is a non-UK one (LHD).
Also, I checked the "check digit" in the VIN number and it doesn't add up the way it should according to the American system on NSX Prime. I guess our system is different. Do we actually HAVE a "check digit" system, and can anybody tell me what it is? The year is there though, an "0" meaning European 1991.
The gearbox is not in the "snap-ring range" (see nsxprime.com), it is before it.
Also Honda Japan (and Honda UK) can't find the actual "destination country" of this car. Honda UK found that strange. There is no record of the "destination country", either in the UK or Japan. But it is clear to me the car is a European NSX (blinkers, codes on the lamps and windows). And the owner says that an importer in Holland got it from an Italian Honda Dealer and imported it to Holland (in 1993). The owner says he is the second private owner. He says the first private owner was Dutch too (he was not the actual importer). But, as yet, I haven't seen any documents to show this. I must say, though, that I trust this seller. He is known and trusted by the Dutch NSXers I spoke to to a high degree.
I have checked the car and it is not crashed, made from two cars, numbers welded in etc. I believe it is legitimate and it is in such good condition I guess I will buy it anyway. The price is about right. The owner is selling it because he has several NSXes and no time to drive them all.
Are there many NSXs in Europe that have strange VIN dates compared to actual (first use) registration dates? Can it be a Nov 1990, as Honda Japan says? Did Honda start producing them in 1990, but shipped them in 1991 (1991 being the first year the NSX was registered/sold in the world)?
Next week, when I give it its final thorough check before paying for it, I will ask again where the service documents are. But I don't think he has them. Which brings me to the next question; the age/mileage of the car appears genuine. It is not worn and looks inside and in the motor compartment as a 32,000 mile car should (so, new). There is nothing to make me think it has been clocked (miles turned back). So should the timing belt be changed? Honda says 100,000kms (I think) or 6 years. The car is 13 years old. If the miles are genuine, as I believe they are, then the car has been sitting in a garage a good part of its life. Do the belts get brittle? They may be twice as "old" as they should be, as opposed to twice as "worn". If the timing belts are 13 years old, would they already have broken, so am I to assume they were already changed? It could be a dangerous assumption. Can I tell by looking at them if they have been changed?
Have you any experience of this? Will they break on my way home? Is the 6 year rule due to aging/brittle belts?
Also, in the USA (nsxprime again), there was a "recall" of those early years, due to the water-pump and coolant hoses being defective. Do you think, after 32,000 miles, they were changed? Could a defective part like the water-pump last 32,000 miles? Did European cars (including Holland and Italy, the supposed homes of this car) have the same recall or did they have a different series of water-pumps/hoses? Have you heard of the water-pump/hoses breaking in older European cars? Since I don't have the car's history, I don't know what work has been carried out. Can I tell, by looking, if the water-pump has been changed, or is the new casting the same as the old one?
Thank you very much for reading this. I hope you can give me some answers concerning the above questions.
Peter
This is my first posting ever, I hope I do it right.
I have been reading the NSXCB site for a few weeks now and NSX Prime for about 11 months. I am very very impressed by the support, friendliness, and information on these sites. Congratulations on a very good site.
I have spoken on the phone to a couple of the Dutch NSXers who post on NSX Prime, they are really friendly and helpful. I can see by your posts and your colleague's posts that you are all nice too. I hope to meet you one day. I will attend a few UK meetings too and hope to be able to contribute something. Will you have a Christmas get-together this year?
I went to the NSX days in Spa this year and got my first ride in an NSX. I also met a Brit there with a black NSX with a wing, and learned a lot about NSXes from him. He and his wife and friend were very friendly. I forget his name but he goes by j14nsx on NSX Prime. If you read this, thanks for all the help and info.
Several months ago I had a chance to finally drive an NSX. Now I know.
Next Tuesday I will go to buy one. A 1991 red one from Holland. 51,000 km (about 32,000 miles) and in really good condition.
I will import it to Britain next week. I live in Kent, but I spend much of my time in the BENELUX, Belgium, actually, so I am buying a LHD model, like my other cars.
I have been in cars my whole life and am reasonably sure about the facts of this car. But I do have a question about the VIN number.
My question:
The car is registered in Holland. The Dutch log book shows Jan 1993 as the year. I looked at the VIN number and it shows it's a 1991. I understand that many European cars remained in the dealers for some years due to their high price and, when finally sold, received that date (as some countries do it that way) as a registration date. Does that sound correct?
I checked with Honda UK (since I'm importing it to the UK) and they had to contact Japan because they didn't have any info (UK or European) on it. The Japanese responded to the Honda UK homologation department; it was produced on 9 November 1990 (the number is JHMNA11500T000211). 1990?
Does that mean it was the 211th one brought here to Europe? Incidentally, do UK models (because they are RHD like Japan's cars) have a different numbering system than the European system, possibly similar to Japans system? Anyway this is a non-UK one (LHD).
Also, I checked the "check digit" in the VIN number and it doesn't add up the way it should according to the American system on NSX Prime. I guess our system is different. Do we actually HAVE a "check digit" system, and can anybody tell me what it is? The year is there though, an "0" meaning European 1991.
The gearbox is not in the "snap-ring range" (see nsxprime.com), it is before it.
Also Honda Japan (and Honda UK) can't find the actual "destination country" of this car. Honda UK found that strange. There is no record of the "destination country", either in the UK or Japan. But it is clear to me the car is a European NSX (blinkers, codes on the lamps and windows). And the owner says that an importer in Holland got it from an Italian Honda Dealer and imported it to Holland (in 1993). The owner says he is the second private owner. He says the first private owner was Dutch too (he was not the actual importer). But, as yet, I haven't seen any documents to show this. I must say, though, that I trust this seller. He is known and trusted by the Dutch NSXers I spoke to to a high degree.
I have checked the car and it is not crashed, made from two cars, numbers welded in etc. I believe it is legitimate and it is in such good condition I guess I will buy it anyway. The price is about right. The owner is selling it because he has several NSXes and no time to drive them all.
Are there many NSXs in Europe that have strange VIN dates compared to actual (first use) registration dates? Can it be a Nov 1990, as Honda Japan says? Did Honda start producing them in 1990, but shipped them in 1991 (1991 being the first year the NSX was registered/sold in the world)?
Next week, when I give it its final thorough check before paying for it, I will ask again where the service documents are. But I don't think he has them. Which brings me to the next question; the age/mileage of the car appears genuine. It is not worn and looks inside and in the motor compartment as a 32,000 mile car should (so, new). There is nothing to make me think it has been clocked (miles turned back). So should the timing belt be changed? Honda says 100,000kms (I think) or 6 years. The car is 13 years old. If the miles are genuine, as I believe they are, then the car has been sitting in a garage a good part of its life. Do the belts get brittle? They may be twice as "old" as they should be, as opposed to twice as "worn". If the timing belts are 13 years old, would they already have broken, so am I to assume they were already changed? It could be a dangerous assumption. Can I tell by looking at them if they have been changed?
Have you any experience of this? Will they break on my way home? Is the 6 year rule due to aging/brittle belts?
Also, in the USA (nsxprime again), there was a "recall" of those early years, due to the water-pump and coolant hoses being defective. Do you think, after 32,000 miles, they were changed? Could a defective part like the water-pump last 32,000 miles? Did European cars (including Holland and Italy, the supposed homes of this car) have the same recall or did they have a different series of water-pumps/hoses? Have you heard of the water-pump/hoses breaking in older European cars? Since I don't have the car's history, I don't know what work has been carried out. Can I tell, by looking, if the water-pump has been changed, or is the new casting the same as the old one?
Thank you very much for reading this. I hope you can give me some answers concerning the above questions.
Peter