I am wanting to buy an NSX to put some miles on. I am retired and live in a rural area where I have taken advantage of our mountain roads for years on various motorcycles and cars. I'm getting too old for the bikes and have a medical issue that could spoil the works, but basically I'm one clean Catscan and the sale of a Harley to put me in the market.
I don't think I'm alone in this, but I don't really want a garage queen. I want car I can take out and drive like it was fun to do. I also don't want to spend a grand-child's college fund on one either, so I'm looking for a car that's already got both some years and miles on it. A 91~92 with 70 or 80 thousand miles doesn't bother me a bit, in fact anything hovering around 100k is OK if I can see some service records. Honda means reliability in my experience, I've got an Acura CL parked out front (its my son's car now) that has 245,000 on it and with the grace of Mobile-1 its still strong. So high milage does't scare me.
Snap ring problems scare me, but that problem and the numbers to check are well known.
So here's my thinking, a 91 or 92 car with high milage but otherwise clean, some stone chips, maybe a shopping cart ding or two, paint that could use a good buffing and an untorn interior that doesn't smell like an ashtray. Maybe the former owner has done a few mods, maybe some suspension or exhaust work, if they haven't gone too wild I won't let it detract too much from the value. Tires got to be good and belts and such have to have been replaced. I'm seeing the car somewhere in the mid $20's with a top end of $30 grand for a car in more or less excellent shape but still more than 50k miles on it. How does that sound to you all, am I barking up the right tree?
Please remember in this pricing scheme - I do not mind a car that has been driven, in fact its almost necessary because I intend to drive the car and I don't want to be the guy who put 10 or 20 thousand miles on a garage queen, took it out and drove it in the rain and crap, got it dirty with a great big smile on my face, but in doing so sort of destroyed the value of some future collector's car. I respect these cars enough not to do that to one, but still want the enjoyment of one of the finest and potentially most affordable of the enthusiast's cars, the super-cars, every produced in the world.
What's your thinking on the pricing of a driver? And am I wrong to think I have to restrict myself to the earliest of cars? God how I drool over the thought of 3.2 6-speed car.
I don't think I'm alone in this, but I don't really want a garage queen. I want car I can take out and drive like it was fun to do. I also don't want to spend a grand-child's college fund on one either, so I'm looking for a car that's already got both some years and miles on it. A 91~92 with 70 or 80 thousand miles doesn't bother me a bit, in fact anything hovering around 100k is OK if I can see some service records. Honda means reliability in my experience, I've got an Acura CL parked out front (its my son's car now) that has 245,000 on it and with the grace of Mobile-1 its still strong. So high milage does't scare me.
Snap ring problems scare me, but that problem and the numbers to check are well known.
So here's my thinking, a 91 or 92 car with high milage but otherwise clean, some stone chips, maybe a shopping cart ding or two, paint that could use a good buffing and an untorn interior that doesn't smell like an ashtray. Maybe the former owner has done a few mods, maybe some suspension or exhaust work, if they haven't gone too wild I won't let it detract too much from the value. Tires got to be good and belts and such have to have been replaced. I'm seeing the car somewhere in the mid $20's with a top end of $30 grand for a car in more or less excellent shape but still more than 50k miles on it. How does that sound to you all, am I barking up the right tree?
Please remember in this pricing scheme - I do not mind a car that has been driven, in fact its almost necessary because I intend to drive the car and I don't want to be the guy who put 10 or 20 thousand miles on a garage queen, took it out and drove it in the rain and crap, got it dirty with a great big smile on my face, but in doing so sort of destroyed the value of some future collector's car. I respect these cars enough not to do that to one, but still want the enjoyment of one of the finest and potentially most affordable of the enthusiast's cars, the super-cars, every produced in the world.
What's your thinking on the pricing of a driver? And am I wrong to think I have to restrict myself to the earliest of cars? God how I drool over the thought of 3.2 6-speed car.
