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New NSX owners' gripes....

akira3d

akira3d

Legendary Member
Joined
27 March 2000
Messages
3,925
Location
Palos Verdes, CA
Okay, we now own the ultimate sports car and, as far as driving the car is concerned, have very little (if anything) to complain about. But, I'm a little curious if you have experienced any of the following situations:

Confronting a "Ferrari snob" who called the NSX "a poor man's Ferrari"...someone who honestly thought the car was being mass produced on an assembly line by robots

Having to deal with a Ferrari-owning boss who still insists his 355 could smoke my car

Having to explain what kind of car it is (at least one person thought it was a Mustang...and another forum member mentioned someone thought the NSX had ripped off the design of the Corvette)

Someone (driving an Acura Legend) offered to buy my car, thinking it was a used model even though my two-week-old 2000 NSX-T still had the dealership's plates and the temporary registration taped to the windshield. To his credit, he said he was debating between the NSX and the BMW Z8...so maybe he was willing to pay $120,000 for my car
wink.gif


Someone walking by my car tried to impress his girlfriend by telling her that my Acura sportscar was only made one year and hasn't been produced since

Anyone have similar stories to share? I'm curious to hear what else I can expect from the uneducated masses.


------------------
--akira3D ('00 NSX-T red/black #113)
"Reality is better than the dream..."
 
I have two CAN'T GET NO RESPECT stories: 1) I recently told a Porsche Boxter-owning friend that I bought a mint condition low milage NSX-T, and he asked if it's the one built on the Honda Accord frame, and 2)recently told a good friend that I had bought a mint condition NSX and he asked if I knew that it used up tires in 5,000 miles (I think he's right).
 
The other day I pulled up to the pumps and a guy in a truck says: "Nice Viper you've got there" I said thanks but it's not a Viper. Oh no? It's a Corvette then. No, it's not a Corvette. What is it? It's an Acura. Whaaat?? A Honda? Well, it's nice anyway. Thank you.
 
I've owned my 2000 for a bit over a month now and have run into the same kind of comments.

A close friend of mine in the UK has a couple of Ferrari's and a couple of Porsches - but he can't keep the damn things running. So when I told him I bought an NSX and he said "Hal, can't you afford a Ferrari?", I said "It's not that, it's just that I can't afford the personal mechanic I'd need to keep it running". He understood and that was the end of THAT discussion.

Two weeks ago I had a guy come up to me (telling me very proudly that he'd just bought a new Mustang for $35K) and ask what made the NSX worth the $50K he heard they cost? I didn't correct him on the price because, between us girls (as my friend Barbara from New York says), I'm guessing whatever I said would be lost on him. The number of folks who have asked about my "new Corvette" have really surprised me, too.

And, last but not least, was the guy just two nights ago who made a point of telling me his stock Lexus GS400 would outrun the NSX to 200mph any day of the week.

um, ok.

Luckily, I bought this car because I thought it was GREAT FUN to drive and not because I care what anyone else thinks of it; my thinking is that life's too short to live it trying to please other people.

drive safe & smart... and be well.
hal
 
I am amazed that this many people have already chimed in on this topic. Obviosly a lot of pent up agression out there on this topic.
smile.gif


Anyway, as I have said before on this list, I read an article that summed it up perfectly: "If you want to impress your neighbors buy a Ferrari, if you want to impress yourself, buy and NSX." While I am happy with plunking down cash in the almost $100k range for a car, and I am VERY happy with my choice to pull back my deposit on my Ferrari F355 in order to buy my 2000 NSX, I was still not prepared for the level of confusion out there on this topic. Driving the car ends up being a "public education" task.

I too have had people mistake it for a Corvette. Most people just don't know what it is. The fact that it only has a V6 tends to leave other with a V8, or even some V12s feeling sorry for me that I paid so much for the car and got so little. It is really enfuriating. But, I have to admit that the worst part of all is something that I expereinced over the weekend at a local car show. Everyone kept asking, what year is it? When I would reply 2000. They looked stunned and amazed. I even had some people ask me "Is this a 1997?" While that is the first year they made Yellow, and nothing against those of you who own a 1997 NSX-T, but then you have to correct them and say, "NO, it is a 2000". I don't mind admiting that the 1997 and 2000 models are almost identical, but then they want to know why I spent the extra $30,000 for a new 2000 when I could have bought a 1997 for less.
smile.gif


I have to admit that based on the nature of the ownership experience, maybe I should have saved $30,000 and bought a 1997... then I could have used the balance to buy a new Mustang or a Corvette.
smile.gif


The one thing you can count on is not ever being able to change the attitude of a Ferrari owner. It is just not going to happen. Afterall, I was almost one myself. As I have also said before, owning a Ferrari is a "religion" and when it comes to religion, no amount of facts will ever change someone's mind.

We will all just have to be comforted by the fact that most Ferrar owners are compensating for not being well endowed... and I am not talking about their trust funds.
smile.gif


------------------
Gordon G. Miller, III
Y2K NSX #51 Yellow/Black
[email protected] http://www.g3.com
 
Perhaps it is a bit sick, but I love the fact that my car is a Honda (although with twin-turbos and NOS)-- it makes it that much more fun to smoke muscle cars and Porsches. I have even replaced all of the Acura logos on my car with the red Japanese Honda badges.

I can't tell you how many times I have humiliated Camaros, Firebirds, Corvettes or 911s and had the other driver pull off the road because they were too ashamed to pull up next to me again after we dragged. And, in 95% of the cases, I only raced them because they BEGGED for it. he he he he he he.
 
I'm a bit surprised by the speed of the response to this topic...but now I'm really glad I started it.

I certainly am not ashamed at owning a "Honda." In fact, it is one of the things that drew me to the car in the first place.

My dad used to drive a Honda 600. For those not in the know, it was a two cylinder, air cooled, tiny box...essentially a motorcycle on four wheels. He drove that car for over ten years until some kids rolled it down his driveway as a prank. The amusing end to the story is that he got as much money for scrapping it as he originally paid for it.

I wish he still had it...having the NSX and 600 side-by-side would make a great photo.

Anyone else have amusing stories to share?
 
This is an interesting topic. I just sold a 2000 Millenium Yellow Corvette that I bought in November so that I could get into the NSX.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the C5. It did 0-60 in 4.7 and was pretty good at handling. I miss that torque. The main reason I sold it, was that at the end of the day it was a Corvette... a mass produced car with compromises to meet the $40K sticker price.

The irony is that, my new NSX has been mistaken for a Corvette. But, I don't care, because the NSX feels so much more luxurious and responsive to me. So, I would agree with the adage: "If you want to impress your neighbours by a Ferrari. If want to impress yourself, buy an NSX." (If you want to impress your wallet by a C5.)

Finally, more people mistake the NSX for a Ferrari than a Corvette. It's bound to happen on a car that has a production run of 400 units a year. It makes us extra special.

------------------
 
Pardon my adding another post, but I've got to second Akira's comments: I bought my NSX BECAUSE it's a Honda, too - I've owned >20 Honda motorcycles (have 5 in my garage now) and they've never once failed to start or failed while I was driving them - EVER.

Akira: My neighbor down the street has a Honda600 in his stable of cars... quite a kick :>)
hal
 
the masses think mc donalds makes good hamburgers. so much for them. if you think the burgers at mc donalds are good do not read any further.

the nsx is a car for those ho know the differece between value vs just spending big $$
on ferrari's or the likes. ferrari owners need to buy 2 of them. one for driving and one for repair.

i love it when people ask what it is after 9 years in production as exclusivity is very hard to come by especially in a vehicle as exceptional as an nsx. when i am asked what it is i usually say a "honda". when asked about how much it costs, it tell people that they can have my monthly payments anytime. hard to tell a guy in a pick up truck my car costs $80k.

often times when i am driving some guy will give me a thumbs up which feels good.
Originally posted by akira3d:
Okay, we now own the ultimate sports car and, as far as driving the car is concerned, have very little (if anything) to complain about. But, I'm a little curious if you have experienced any of the following situations:

Confronting a "Ferrari snob" who called the NSX "a poor man's Ferrari"...someone who honestly thought the car was being mass produced on an assembly line by robots

Having to deal with a Ferrari-owning boss who still insists his 355 could smoke my car

Having to explain what kind of car it is (at least one person thought it was a Mustang...and another forum member mentioned someone thought the NSX had ripped off the design of the Corvette)

Someone (driving an Acura Legend) offered to buy my car, thinking it was a used model even though my two-week-old 2000 NSX-T still had the dealership's plates and the temporary registration taped to the windshield. To his credit, he said he was debating between the NSX and the BMW Z8...so maybe he was willing to pay $120,000 for my car
wink.gif


Someone walking by my car tried to impress his girlfriend by telling her that my Acura sportscar was only made one year and hasn't been produced since

Anyone have similar stories to share? I'm curious to hear what else I can expect from the uneducated masses.
Click to expand...
 
The best thing about the NSX or any Honda product is the reliability, you get supercar looks and performance with super reliability. Thats the main reason I dumped my Porsche, there was always something breaking. Two weeks after I picked it up new a high pressure hose failed, then maybe a month or so later the Catalytic converter went. I mean constant crap. Engine mounts, water pump, AC condenser, 2 grand clutch job. and thats just the big stuff, forget the little crap that failed. And what about the Boxster when it first came out how many engine failuers people had, we also can see how reliable the new 911 is on the track. I think that instead of selling an already well sorted new model, the factory experiments on new customers to do the sorting for them so a few models years later the car could be decent, as we see with the Boxster. And a Ferrari is 4 times as bad from what I see from my friends. Porsche and Ferrari make good solid bodies but they should hire the Japanese to build the rest for them.
 
The UK experience is similar (although hardly anyone over here knows what a Corvette looks like). But I've had dads telling their kids that my car's a Ferrari. I always correct them - over here owning a Ferrari is virtually admitting that you have more money than sense. And one of the great things about NSX ownership is that it's the other way round!
 
Blackhorse6,
Ferrari also won first overall in the Rolex 24 hours at Dayton in 1998 (I as there in the Ferrari pits). If I recall correctly, they placed 1st and 4th overall. I only saw one NSX there and that was in the 3 hour intro race before the real race got started... it was barely keeping up with the Miatas on the inside parts of the track.
smile.gif




------------------
Gordon G. Miller, III
Y2K NSX #51 Yellow/Black
[email protected] http://www.g3.com
 
Akira3D:

Uuhhh, I think the 355 would win. Unless you plan on a supercharger sometime soon. I'll get a 360 Modena as soon as a $5000 30,000 mile service becomes a drop in the bucket for me. (Any investors out there want to help me get there a little faster?
smile.gif
)

Originally posted by akira3d:

Having to deal with a Ferrari-owning boss who still insists his 355 could smoke my car
Click to expand...
 
I watched that video before and I thought the driver is that 355 didn't shift too well
like he missed gear or something.
If he had done it properly, I think 355 would be faster
 

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