new member new car, anybody know of JH4NA1185TT000445?

**slow joe** · 03-18-2012, 15:41

Hi, everyone, after falling in love with the first NSX I ever saw, in 1998 I knew one day I had to try and get one. That day came 3 weeks ago by pressing the buy it now button on e-bay. Not recommended to go this way, but I think I did OK. Sight un-seen, salvage title, no inspection. From what the owner told me, and 40,000 miles, not to mention exactly what I wanted. (red on tan 5-speed, targa, no mods) I jumped, head first, ask questions later. This car was on e-bay probably only 10-hours, with opening bid of $18,000 buy it now $25,000. didnt want it to get away, didnt want a bidding war. Drove 7 hours the next day to pick it up. When I got there the owner was totally cool, said take it for a drive, make sure you want it. All I wanted to do was take a quick look with my flashlight. When I first laid eyes on it I thought, "you lucky dog". any way a quick look at front frame horns and inner fenders and lower rockers (where jack points are attached) and rear frame horns showed no structural damage that I could determine. I did find re-painted front clip, and a little base coat, no clear, sprayed near the cruise control module. Wiped it off with thinner and found just a little gray body mastic. Well I am wondering why this car was totalled. Owner story was questionable, but I believed him. Said he didnt know, thought it was damaged in front. So now I am thrilled to be a club member and wonder if anyone knows anything about this car? I purchased it in Keizer Oregon. Absolutely everything works on this car and of course I love it.,,,,,,,,,,Joe

**NSX Wiki Champion** · 03-18-2012, 20:45

Welcome and congratulations on your purchase. Don't know how long you've been on the site but if you haven't found the NSX Wiki yet (off the red action bar at the top of most pages), you might want to check it out as it has maintenance, troubleshooting, DIY, and mod info that you might find useful.

**bngl3rt** · 03-18-2012, 21:22

Originally Posted by slow joe

Not recommended to go this way, but I think I did OK. Sight un-seen, salvage title, no inspection.

I'm actually glad you went with your gut and had it work out. Hanging around on prime reading about PPIs and engine noises and snap rings and timing belts and water pumps can make you mighty paranoid - analysis paralysis.

Needless to say I am mighty jealous. Enjoy the heck out of the car!

**slow joe** · 03-18-2012, 21:23

Thanks for the tip about wiki, I had seen the link but never clicked it. Looks like tons of great info to help get me up to speed.

**anesthesia** · 03-18-2012, 21:28

Congrats! On buying your dream car, what year is it? Any pic. You can share?

**slow joe** · 03-18-2012, 21:54

Yes I am hoping my profile picture just needs to be approved, I tried loading photos, but got the same error message twice, will try again. It is a 96

**Teej** · 03-19-2012, 05:10

Congrats on your purchase.. you will find without doubt that this website is the absolute best source for anything NSX in the internet.

**blue_myriddn** · 03-19-2012, 05:20

Congrats on the car, great color combo! Really hope it all works out for you.

If it were me, I would consider doing 2 things:

1. find one of the reputable NSX educated mechanics around your area (being in CA, there are lots of folks on here who should be able to recommend someone) and get an experienced eye on it.

2. Get the car up in the air and take a ton of photos of various body panels, etc and post them up. I am always amazed at how members of this community can look at a picture of this car and quickly identify whether work has been done and what the possible red flags are. I guess it just goes to show how fanatical NSX owners are

I hope it all checks out and you are well rewarded for your bold move. As is often said on this forum - when you find one you like put down your cash and move fast!

**slow joe** · 03-19-2012, 06:32

Yes, thanks for good advice, once I got it home, I did put the car on blocks and removed the wheels, crawled around and inspected everything I could see. I did not pull those plastic inner fenders though. I definitely will do that and take photos. first photos I tried to put up resulted in an error message but will try again.

**arista5** · 03-19-2012, 06:38

This thread is missing something.....

**blue_myriddn** · 03-19-2012, 06:51

Originally Posted by slow joe

first photos I tried to put up resulted in an error message but will try again.

You may want to try something like imageshack for posting up photos. Tends to be pretty foolproof. Then use the

icon and paste in the image code to get it in your post.

**Sportsmind4me** · 03-19-2012, 11:18

How does one not know how one's car became totalled?

They think there was some front end damage? To quote Shawn, "Are you kidding me?" That would have been a major Forumula Red flag for me. Did the guy provide you with any records for the repair and/or maint? Man, I hope everything checks out and you didn't get hosed.

**myw** · 03-19-2012, 12:06

+1 on both counts!

ps. congrats!

Originally Posted by arista5

this thread is missing something.....

Originally Posted by Sportsmind4me

How does one not know how one's car became totalled? They think there was some front end damage? To quote Shawn, "Are you kidding me?" That would have been a major Forumula Red flag for me. Did the guy provide you with any records for the repair and/or maint? Man, I hope everything checks out and you didn't get hosed.