Snap ring

VampNSXX · 24 December 2003

[ admin note - thread split from http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26430 ]

Hi guys just want your input and suggestions for this car because I am going to buy it from Mike. Its is in the snap ring range. What do you guys think about it? what do you think about the price,snap ring range ect. Mike seems like a great guy and really nice but I would still like to get other peoples opinion on it befor I go and get it.

Thanks

CBR1100XX · 24 December 2003

Its a beautiful car. I was also thinking of purchasing it but I decided to not pursue it due to the snap ring range. Mike had said that the car has none of the symptoms of a snap ring range car but perhaps that is because the car has only 39K and perhaps the symptoms might come up as more mileage is put on the car but then again it may not fail.

I saw another car brought into an acura dealership that was a snap ring range car and the guy didn't have problems until 56K.

Its a tough one.

VampNSXX · 24 December 2003

CBR1100XX said:
Its a beautiful car. I was also thinking of purchasing it but I decided to not pursue it due to the snap ring range. Mike had said that the car has none of the symptoms of a snap ring range car but perhaps that is because the car has only 39K and perhaps the symptoms might come up as more mileage is put on the car but then again it may not fail.

I saw another car brought into an acura dealership that was a snap ring range car and the guy didn't have problems until 56K.

Its a tough one.

What do you think it would end up costing in the long run? to fix it.

Ether · 24 December 2003

VampNSX said:
What do you think it would end up costing in the long run? to fix it.

$1500 or so.
Ofcourse, if you did the fix at the same time as a clutch replacement or new gears you could save yourself a lot of labor

MIKE GORTZ · 25 December 2003

blk nsx

You guys need to read Mark Basch article on this issue.Go to general disscussion and then search snap ring.Just because it is in range it doesn't mean it is going to fail.Even if it did it is only $1500.00 to fix,which is no more than doing timing belt and water pump which is done.Most of the cars in this range have not done belt and pump.The shifter is rock solid on accel and decel.I bought this car knowing it was in range and it was so beautiful it didn't matter.

joe · 26 December 2003

My trans is within the snap ring range,never had a problem. 73k miles. 135 of those miles at the track at nsxpo 2003.

nsxtasy · 26 December 2003

$1500 is a bit low. It typically costs around $1000 in parts ($700 from Dali) plus $1000-1500 in labor if you are not having any other transmission work done at the same time. If you are, though, then you save almost all of the labor.

CBR1100XX · 27 December 2003

When the snap ring fails, is it really noticeable to the point that you would automatically take the car in to get it fixed or is it so subtle that you would end up driving until catastropic failure and cause major damage.

How far can you drive the car without damaging the transmission when the snap ring fails?

MIKE GORTZ · 27 December 2003

I can buy the parts for$600.00 from Niell Acura[30% off for club members and about$900.00 to $1000.00 in labor.No need to do it because it may never brake.If the cluch was to go then you could do it for The $600.00 in labor.

sjs · 27 December 2003

Mike is correct, it may never break. But it is also true that perfect at 39k is no guarantee. The nature of the problem pretty much does guarantee that cars will fail over a range of mileage and use, some early (last few in a batch) and others much later (first few after they start getting out of speck), and everywhere in between.

That said, I can't understand how that potential alone is a significant deterrent to buying the car. If you would definitely buy it otherwise, then go for it. Mike has already offered to negotiate for part of the cost and in the overall scheme of things the cost of repairs IF it fails isn't all that big of a deal. And quite honestly, if an unexpected repair for even $2k would put you in a financial bind for awhile, then you may not be ready to own such an expensive used car. (I'm not saying that's the case for you, but you should be able to take such a thing in stride)

BTW, I don't know Mike and have no knowledge of his car, so this is not an endorsement of either. I'm just always surprised when I hear that someone rules out a car based largely on this issue.

nsxtasy · 28 December 2003

I agree with sjs's comments, 100 percent.

At worst, you could buy the car and pay whatever it costs (in the $1500-2500 range) so that it would never happen. The worst the snap ring range should mean is that someone might only be willing to pay $1500-2500 less for it than another, similar car that's not in snap ring range. So anyone who says they would never buy this car because of the snap ring range is being foolish IMO.

Incidentally, regarding the comment about it not failing in the first 39K miles - check the FAQ, because there are eleven cases in which snap ring failure was reported with mileage, and in eight out of those eleven cases, the mileage at the time of failure was more than 39K.

MIKE GORTZ said:
You guys need to read Mark Basch article on this issue.Go to general disscussion and then search snap ring.

What Mark Basch posted about this appeared in a post with the title "Snap Ring Information" in the Technical Discussion forum on this site. It was one of the posts that were lost and never converted when the NSXprime forum software was upgraded. However, it is essentially the information in the FAQ, if you scroll down to the heading, "HELP! My snap ring broke! / How much does repair cost?"; in fact, I believe that part of the FAQ is derived from Mark's post.

Snap ring

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