Ah Suck!!!!!

[ak]

Well, today was supposed to be the day that I purchase my NSX....instead I came back with nothing. A good case of looks that can be deceiving I guess....

I took a good looking(to my untrained eyes) 94 green NSX with only 31k miles that was on sale from independent dealer to Acura to get final check up before I purchase it... Basically, they found many little and some major problems and now I'm back to square 1. The main problem seems to be that the previous owners did not take care of the car well at all and also it was likely hit on the front right. I can't believe that some people wouldn't take care of such fine machinery...it's not a civic for crying out loud! I'm sure you guys here aren't like that but... Anyway, this was from Luxury Motors in Illinois. I'm not saying they are bad dealer but stay away from this NSX if you are looking around for one like me... Thank god I got it inspected..otherwise I'd have 10-15k bill on my hand.

Anyone have disappointing experience like this?

 

[DLMD]

Other than the possible body damage, what are the specific problems that Acura found?

 

[ak]

Leaking radiator, leaking oil(not sure of source), right front suspension messed up, tie rod worn out, rear bottom were scraped up badly, low fluid levels(brake, clutch etc) window regulator bad, left door lock bad etc etc.... Acura guy was pretty thorough and I was impressed.

 

[nsxtasy]

Anyone have disappointing experience like this?

I've heard of this happening before. This is why you have an inspection done long-distance: to avoid a plane trip to do it yourself (let alone making an even bigger mistake of buying such a travesty).

Keep looking, you'll find the cherry one you want.

 

[hejo]

Yes I looked a many NSXs before finding mine. Several times when I ask to have them inspected all of a sudden the dealer would start telling little things. Some dealers just didn't know until I paid to have it inspected. Needless to say I did them a favor and none of them offered to help cover the cost of the inspection.

 

[ak]

The dealer didn't know or pretended not to know about any problem in my case. Anyway, I pushed the car pretty hard and when I shifted 1-2 it seemed like the clutch was slipping really bad....then grab all the sudden. How smooth is it supposed to be when you do hard shifting at redline?

 

[nsxtasy]

I pushed the car pretty hard and when I shifted 1-2 it seemed like the clutch was slipping really bad....then grab all the sudden. How smooth is it supposed to be when you do hard shifting at redline?

Smooth. Not like that.

 

[Lud]

Having purchased a few high-end used cars, including two NSXs, from long distances I would recommend you always have any such car inspected by a local-to-the-seller mechanic of YOUR choosing before flying out there.

The fact that you are willing to pay for an inspection tells the seller you are serious. If they are really interested in moving the car and it doesn't have any undisclosed problems they should be willing to take it in for the inspection. I've never run into anyone that wouldn't, but if I did I would pass on that car. I would never fly out there or agree to a final price before it was inspected.

There are a LOT of used NSXs with problems out there, both older and newer models. It is an expensive car (and fairly expensive to repair) which means there is a lot of money to be made by unscrupulous individuals selling one with problems for full price. And anytime there is a lot of money to be made by people with marginal ethics there will be a whole lot of people trying to cash in.

My '91 NSX was the EIGTH red/black 5-speed I seriously investigated and my '98 was FOURTH blue/black 6-speed I seriously pursued - and there aren't a whole lot of blue/black ones out there!

 

[johndoh]

Originally posted by ak:
Leaking radiator, leaking oil(not sure of source), right front suspension messed up, tie rod worn out, rear bottom were scraped up badly, low fluid levels(brake, clutch etc) window regulator bad, left door lock bad etc etc....

Anybody else cringe at reading this? Oh, the poor NSX...

 

[NotFast]

FWIW, Lux Motors has had that NSX in inventory since later summer, for good reason. I looked at the car in Sept and could not believe it only had 31K miles on the clock. It had been through a car wash too many times, moldings around front window were broken, car had stupid aftermarket alarm system, etc. After reading ak's post I feel even better about passing up on this beast...

 

[ak]

I think my location id in the thread confused some people, but I live in Chicago vicinity now(moved last year) so I didn't fly to see the car. I'm not THAT dumb hehe. I jumped on it despite the weather mainly because it was local to me and easy to go check it out etc. Well, at least I have better idea of what to check more in detail.

 

[hejo]

I basically did the same thing Lud did and looked at over 15 NSXs before picking up mine. Also I figured is was worth a few $k more to get one that had been treated right and would basically be repair free.

My suggestion is to make list of what must be clean and what you're willing to deal with. A few hundred dollars to find the right car is a heck of a lot cheaper then putting up with unknown repairs and the hassel of dealing with them. The FAQ area has some really good info and this is what I used to create my list.

 

[SixthGear]

AK.. it's better to wait for the lemonade than get stuck with a lemon. I didn't have to hop on a plane but was glad to walk away. I've been looking for a '95-'97 NSX-T since late november. I've looked at a hundred ads at least but only saw 4 cars in person. A week ago, a green 1995 with 17K mi north of LA caught my attention... A test drive and visual inspection didn't reveal anything... it looked and drove like new. I wanted to run the VIN through carfax before making any further decision... and the seller, didn't know what carfax was, offered me the use of his brother's computer. In the next 2 min, it was funny to see how he was trying to explain that he wasn't actually the 2nd private owner that he said he was and the car didn't just have a minor accident to the rear fender.. it wasn't a creampuff but actually a salvaged (aka. totaled in an accident/sold by insur. co.) fixer upper... a nicely done one though. I complimented him on the nice flat monitor and left. Needless to say, the next "right" one for me is also going to the mechanic.. I've heard that there are alot of things that Carfax misses .. like frame damaged, nearly totaled cars. i've thought about buying a widebody carrera at times but keep thinking.. if shopping for an exotic this rare an experience can you imagine driving one?

 

[NotFast]

Don't ruin Carfax for the rest of us! Eventually ignornant sellers are going to catch on to it!! (although I don't know what they can do, except pressure you to buy on the spot)

 

[ak]

The carfax on the particular NSX I saw came out clean but god knows what the car had gone thru since its birth...

 

[nsxtasy]

Carfax only collects changes in registration status, such as title changes (sales, salvage title, etc) and I think emissions tests. It does not collect info on maintenance or service or any measure of how well kept a car is. It is also not infallible; there have been reports of NSX salvages that have never shown up in Carfax.

Don't forget to also check the list of known salvage titles in the FAQ.