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buying a nsx used

Joined
18 August 2005
Messages
34
hello all. new to the forum. why does the blue book value on an older nsx's seem so much less than alot of sellers asking prices. also It seems almost impossible to find a car within 300 miles and its hard to trust anybody these days about car history etc. when buying from private seller or auctions. should i buy only from nsx forum or what? excited and scared to buy an nsx
 
nsx owners probably paid more the blue book value too, they also generally have enough money that they aren't going to dump it for any price, unless there's something wrong with it. Most would sooner keep it than dump it cheap.

I wouldn't buy an NSX off of ebay. If you can't afford to buy a well maintained one with good service records etc..don't get one you're taking a lot of chances.
 
nsxscool said:
why does the blue book value on an older nsx's seem so much less than alot of sellers asking prices.
Because the websites like Kelly Blue Book and Edmunds don't look at actual market values for specific models, particularly low-volume models like the NSX. They just apply fixed depreciation percentages across the board. They assume that a 14-year-old NSX will sell for the same percentage of its original price as a 14-year-old Accord. Of course, this is not at all the case for a high-end exotic sports car. If I could find older NSXs for the prices shown on Edmunds or KBB, I'd buy a dozen of them!

nsxscool said:
It seems almost impossible to find a car within 300 miles and its hard to trust anybody these days about car history etc. when buying from private seller or auctions. should i buy only from nsx forum or what?
There are only about 9,000 NSXs in the country, so there may be few up for sale in any particular area, and unless you're lucky, they may not be the combination of year/mileage/condition/price/color/etc that you're hoping for. Your best bet is to search nationwide, using sites like NSXprime, Autotrader, Cars.com, etc. If you find one that's not close to home, arrange with the seller to have the car inspected by a qualified mechanic with NSX experience (ask on these forums for recommendations in any particular area) for mechanical issues, and possibly also by a local knowledgeable NSXprime member for aesthetic issues.

Buying from a listing on NSXprime does not guarantee that there won't be problems with a car or with the sale. However, NSXprime does have a higher concentration of knowledgeable NSX owners/enthusiasts, so if you're looking for a car that has been well taken care of, your odds may be better here.
 
Most Hondas sell for over book value, I have sold 3 Civics,6 Accords and 2 Legends in the past 8 years and never took less than 1k over book...JZ
 
zahntech said:
Most Hondas sell for over book value, I have sold 3 Civics,6 Accords and 2 Legends in the past 8 years and never took less than 1k over book...JZ
Edmunds claims that a '91 NSX is worth $13,101 as a trade-in and $15,507 when purchased from a private party.

Do other Hondas typically sell for twice the Edmunds prices?
 
The other thing about buying from someone on Prime is that you have a better chance of a number of people knowing the exact history of the car. You may even find posts about what has happened to/with it over the years.

There is a lot to be said for that.
 
http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/BuySell/pricing.htm

I have found this guide to be about spot on.
(You may do a bit better, but not by much on a nice,
well maintained, 1-3 owner car with complete history)
I have also found many owners overrate their cars.
Very few 10-14 yr., orig. cars in the "A" category.
But many are being offered as "A" cars at "A" prices.
Its a pain to find a good one, but worth the effort!
As to the 9000 cars in the U.S, I would bet a large % have been totaled or
have salvage titles. Maybe 20-25% or more!
I found this to be a difficult car to buy.
Did a commando search for 2-3 months ran 40+ of carfax's
test drove 8 cars. But have to admit its the best handling car I have ever owned.
Don't give up, just dig deeper.
Ask things like complete history? Any paint work?
That will narrow down the field.
As to the blue book, throw it out the window.
I thought the same thing, but got here and was quickly calibrated.
I would also bet prices of the early cars will start to climb soon.
(Just a guess). One hell of a car for $30-$40k.
IMO its the best kept secret in the auto enthusiast world.
Hand made, All Alum, Hauls ass, corners like nothing I have ever owned
and gives driver feedback like a go-cart.
Wanna change lanes? Just think about it and your there.
Now get out there and enjoy the hunt! :biggrin:
 
NSX are definitely the most undervalued honda by bluebook and NADA guides pricing,


anytime you have a "small market" vehicle meaning there are not many cars and also not many buyers, the figures are going to be harder to make any baseline averages out of.

The more cars that are sold the less the average is effected by each individual sale price. The pricing guide on this site does a pretty good job of giving an idea what each car you look at is worth.

Small market cars are tricky cuz with only a few buyers you may have the car on the market for along time just because the average person is not looking to buy that car.

I once had a Lancia Scorpion on the market for 2 years then I finally dumped it for 2k less than I was asking 6 months later I found someone looking for that car and willing to pay whatever to get it. :frown:


The internet has widened the sales market to a huge degree but you might end up taking a few trips before you find the right car...JZ
 
MCM said:
As to the 9000 cars in the U.S, I would bet a large % have been totaled or have salvage titles. Maybe 20-25% or more!
I would guess that the percentage is under 10 percent if you're referring to cars that have been totalled (and no longer exist), and much lower than that, if you're only talking about the cars that still exist.

However, if you guess a percentage based on reviewing ad listings, the percentage is going to be highly overstated. An NSX that has been totaled or has a salvage title is difficult to sell, and any ad may exist for months with the car unsold. Whereas when a nice NSX is put up for sale at a reasonable price, it often sells within a few days. So ad listings may make it look like there are a lot more salvage title NSXs than there actually are.
 
The car I bought is a 92 with 98k blk on blk very nice interior (normal dr seat wear) no oil leaks, 90k and timing belt done at dealer everything works well, no body damage,nice 17/18in wheels and well installed Wings West kit and bilstien struts/springs, super clean car, it was on auto trader for 6 months at 27k ...it really depends who is looking at the time as to how long a sale will take even at a "reasonable" price.
 
zahntech said:
The car I bought is a 92 with 98k blk on blk very nice interior (normal dr seat wear) no oil leaks, 90k and timing belt done at dealer everything works well, no body damage,nice 17/18in wheels and well installed Wings West kit and bilstien struts/springs, super clean car, it was on auto trader for 6 months at 27k ...it really depends who is looking at the time as to how long a sale will take even at a "reasonable" price.
The cars that sell quickest are cars that have few to no mods, especially appearance mods (other than wheels), and average mileage or less (median mileage for NSXs is 5K/year).

All I'm saying is that you can't judge how many salvage title cars exist based on ad listings.
 
Yeah I'm sure that its very possible the % of cars for sale with salvage titles is much higher than the % of cars with salvage titles.
 
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