Should I buy an NSX?

100% agree with above. At your age I am sure you'll want some attention and the NSX will only get you more dudes.

Get a comfy SUV and your own place and you've got perfect girlfriend bait.

But yes, it is a toy. Consider your financial future before you make any major decision like this.

excellent advice above, imparted by gentlemen who are wise, educated, and who have owned NSX's for a long while. i would heed most of it.

i bought my first NSX in my early 30's, and have been very fortunate to pay for nothing but normal maintenance. i'm on my second NSX now, and have owned Ferrari's and many Ducati's also, and have never had anything major go wrong with even the Italian stuff. but like a lot of the posters above stated, an NSX isn't nearly as cheap as the average Honda loving person would lead you to believe, not even close.

if you can find a clean stocker that was well taken care of, you'd probably be alright. both of my cars were very clean with low-ish miles (40 to 50k), but needed $4,000 and almost $7,000 of service done when i bought them. and while i haven't had to experience it myself, things do break on these cars, they're not bulletproof. and they are old, and the parts aren't always easy to come by, nor inexpensive.

i'd agree with what most of the other blokes said, you don't need two cars at 18. that's a bit much. and they're absolutely right about driving an NSX around, you can't just park it anywhere. if you must have one, and you can easily afford an NSX, sell the S2000 and do it. living at home and having low expenses is a good time to purchase an NSX. you should be able to pay if off fairly easily before you get into a mortgage/rent or major financial responsibility situation which typically happens later in life anyways.

something only one other poster touched on, is that NSX's have been appreciating for a while. if you have a clean stock one, you won't lose money on it if you decide or need to sell it in the future. and if you buy one later in life, it'll cost you more than now.

there's a lot of pros and cons to the argument here. you'll decide whatever works best for you. if you decide to, the (first) NSX is one of the very last truly analog Supercars...

Ap1carson said:

Also, I'll be working full time so making the monthly payment is not an issue at all. Maintance would be quiet expensive but since I'll be dailying the ole reliable s2000 the nsx would be a garage queen, maybe driven 1-2 times a month, and hopefully that will keep it from needing all that expesinve maintance. I would try and do all the maintance myself since I'm mechanically inclined and trust nobody with my cars

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Unless you're a competent mechanic and feel comfortable occasionally tearing into an NSX engine or diagnosing and repairing the climate control panel then you're going to need to trust someone with your NSX, and it won't come cheap. Unless you want to park this impending car in your garage and do nothing more than look at it, you're going to incur maintenance costs and they'll be substantial - there's a lot more in the way of expenses to owning an NSX than just the purchase of the car. If you can truly afford to own an NSX, then all the more power to you...go out and buy it. But I have yet to meet a teenager who owns an NSX (although they're probably out there). I suppose if you buy one, don't molest it and discover that you cannot afford it, then you could always put it up for sale.

First off getting an apartment right now is a complete waste of money. The college I'll be attending is 10 minutes from my house so might as well take advantage of the free food and roof over my head! And for the girlfriend, already have one that I've had for a a little over 11 months now. I'm getting an nsx, will update with pics within 6-12 months !!

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Aside from what everyone else has said before, I think it's highly irresponsible and jeopardizes your future to spend "pretty much everything you have" on a luxury item like a NSX, and then go even further into debt. It doesn't matter how old you are, committing almost your entire net worth on a single asset simply doesn't make any sense at any point in your life.

Wait until you've saved up more before even considering purchasing an NSX. For now, enjoy the S2K - it's a great car.

meh, I say get one. You seem intelligent enough, you know far better than anyone whether its a good idea or not.

you can always sell it if you get yourself into trouble.

Honestly, worry about getting a better education than a better car right now

I don't know why I feel the need to chime in here, but I suppose I do. You have a choice here, and it's between the smart thing and the fun thing. More importantly, this is also a choice between a smart financial decision and a dumb one. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't do it, but it is still a dumb financial move.

Smart thing: Take the money you would spend on the NSX and buy whole life insurance. That will never get cheaper for you than it is right now, and if you're going to own a business (which seems likely) you're going to want it in the future. Others will recommend other investment strategies, and perhaps saving for retirement. Again, you will reap MUCH MUCH MUCH better returns from an investment such as that than you will for the NSX, even if the NSX continues to appreciate. If you want to build your credit score, get a credit card and cut it up if you ever cannot pay the balance in full before any interest is incurred.

Fun thing: Buy an NSX. If you don't, you'll regret it, but that doesn't mean you should. Cars are not good investments, even cars like the NSX - Sure it could increase in value, but then again it might not. Potential return is there, but at what risk? As others have mentioned, you already have a fun car and you clearly aren't letting life pass you by without enjoying yourself if you are driving an S2000.

Figure out if you want to hamstring yourself financially and accept the future implications in exchange for a toy. HVAC technicians make good money, but it's not a job at Goldman Sachs, either. Your 30-year-old self will be glad you bought a life insurance policy - You're going to need one eventually, and the cost is WAAAAAAAY lower when you are 18. There's always another toy you could buy; learning the right place to draw the line (not too frivolous, not too uptight) is the hard part.

Tom

I understand your desire for the car, I was 27 when the NSX came out and remember telling my wife we could sell the house and live in the NSX.

Fast forward 17 years; paid cash for my dream car and had a garage to keep it in.

The NSX has been a joy to own on many levels; met some fantastic people, it's pretty cool to own your dream car and driving it is pretty fun too.

Be patient in your hunt; you'll be glad you did.

Don't listen to these guys! They don't know what they are talking about. Life is too short to play.

I did something similar to what you're contemplating. I had a reliable DD, lived at home while I went to college down the road on scholarship, didn't have much in the way of bills.

I saved a bit of money and financed the rest to purchase an early NSX late in college, and while I enjoyed the car and the attention it brought, it was a pretty bad decision on my part. It was reliable, but I would have really been in a bind if something serious had happened. It kept me up at night. I had a coolant hose let go and I spent a few weeks waiting on the hoses and getting to each one when I had time between homework and classes. Kept it for a year and then eventually sold it before graduation realizing I needed to get liquid cash and I couldn't really AFFORD the car. There is a difference between having the cash to BUY the car and AFFORD the car.

Fast forward to today, and I'm happily in another NSX having waited 7 years to get myself adjusted to feel comfortable in AFFORDING the car.

The ownership experience is far more pleasant if you're not worried something is going to happen because you're financially prepared to deal with it. Otherwise, you're looking over your shoulder for what might happen. I know 2 people right now who are scraping by trying to own BNR32 Skyline GT-Rs, a far less (understatement) reliable car than the NSX. They have a GT-R, they can tell people they have one, but it's broke in the garage because they can't afford to fix it. That's not a fun place to be, and it really sours the experience if you can't enjoy it comfortably.

FWIW, from a guy who was you over 10 years ago when these cars were admittedly cheaper.

Damn... my form of transportation between the age of 5-18 were my feet. Only started taking the bus and subway when I went to university in the downtown area.

Seriously, wait until you finish school and don't need to depend on your stepdad to get the NSX. Unless he's a millionaire, how well do you feel about him saving up all his hard earned money for you just so you can buy luxurious things? Let him enjoy his life...

shinjyo said:

Even you are working full time, think you can afford monthly payment is the dumpest idea. That's why you see so many people driving M3 because they think they can afford a $700 payment monthly. Such materialism is so wrong for this age. The reality is you can't afford the item if you can only make monthly payment on it.

Three things to do for your age: learn how to save money, learn how to make money, and learn how to control your desire. Once you finished that, you are probably in the age of looking for a van.

Setting up a real life goal and a financial plan (saving and spending) for yourself is very important for your life. Never get a loan on a car especially on the NSX. Learn to put these money on something more valuable. The best way is to invest yourself: learn more skills, develop your career path, and travel around to open your vision etc. Most NSX owners use disposal income to play with their car. Like other said, nsx costs way more than you can think of even you think you can do it yourself (dude, the parts cost $$). Even you have the money, you should help out your family's monthly spending. How about you pay for the gas electric bill?

I suggest you to keep the S2K, make sure you keep up with the maintenance, and you should have lots of fun with it. Relax and take a further look of your life. When the time comes, you will get yours. Be patient!

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Best advice I ever heard here...

Ap1carson said:

Well guys really appreciate the opinions. The s2000 is 100% paid off with title in hand. Also, since I'm going to community college it's rather cheap at 5k a year which my dad has been saving up and has roughly 23k in a college savings fund so I will have no student loans! Now seems like the best time to get an nsx because once the real bills start hitting when I get out of college I know it won't be till I'm 40 that I can afford one!

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Your logic is backward. By being smart with your finances early in life, you will be in a much better position later in life to afford one.

Ap1carson said:

First off getting an apartment right now is a complete waste of money. The college I'll be attending is 10 minutes from my house so might as well take advantage of the free food and roof over my head! And for the girlfriend, already have one that I've had for a a little over 11 months now. I'm getting an nsx, will update with pics within 6-12 months !!

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This is going to the beginning of an important lesson. You ask for advice on a public forum and get some great answers. However your immaturity still shines through. Mr. Carson M, from Chesapeake, VA, you look like a nice kid sitting on the fender of your BB S2K. Also congrats on this May 27th being the one year anniversary with your S2K, and for letting your girlfriend ride in your car. Do I need to divulge anything more? I don't think so. But wait, I hear someone calling. It's your village and they want you back.

Well guys I appreciate everyone's opinions. When the time is right I'll update it with pics of what will hopefully be an nsx beside my s2k. Until then, farewell.

DocL said:

This is going to the beginning of an important lesson. You ask for advice on a public forum and get some great answers. However your immaturity still shines through.

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He's going to a community college 10 minutes from home. Obviously wasting money on a car is more important than an education.....

^ if that's suppose to be an insult nothing wrong with going to community college for 2 years and then transferring to old dominion university for another 2 years and walking out of school completely debt free with a mechanical engineering degree lol

Ap1carson said:

^ if that's suppose to be an insult nothing wrong with going to community college for 2 years and then transferring to old dominion university for another 2 years and walking out of school completely debt free with a mechanical engineering degree lol

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As long as you do that. Otherwise a two year degree is worthless so focus less on cars and put the time, effort and money into ensuring you get a 4 year degree. Don't get caught up in hanging with the students who are "just there" and who won't put in the effort to learn.

Understood. My dad has about 25k saved up for college for me and at 5k a year for community college and 10k a year for the university there is no way I'm gonna through the opportunity to walk away from school debt free out the window. Gonna take the time to better myself with the education and also work full time doing hvac. But hvac sucks so that's just that much more motivation to get a good job and not have to be stuck under houses and in attics everyday. And for the nsx, it will work itself out along the way.

Ap1carson said:

nothing wrong with going to community college for 2 years and then transferring to old dominion university for another 2 years and walking out of school completely debt free with a mechanical engineering degree lol

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Another bit I left out from my story. I too was a mechanical engineering student. Between homework and classes, I didn't have time for cars.

Now, if you're like me, you'll be hard-headed and go get an NSX anyway to prove everybody wrong... but you'll be back here like me telling a younger version of yourself to wait for a few years. It's a whole lot more satisfying if you wait.

Well we will see. Class starts up mid August so while I'm working and going to class I'm gonna put atleast 800-1.5k away monthly for what would be the insurance, maintance & monthly payment on an nsx. And if it's manageable after the first semester of school I'll end up pulling the trigger. But until then I'm gonna keep saving for a down payment and also keep a close eye on the market and see what comes up

I'll also continue to drive the s2k at 9k daily

If you can DD the S2K, then you can DD a NSX.

Sell the S2K, buy a "semi-beater" NSX, and enjoy. Not getting a pristine NSX will save you money, you'll be in a better financial situation having just one car, you won't worry so much about taking out your nicer NSX and getting door dings, rock chips, whatever.

Work hard in school and the family business!

My $0.02.