Prospective owner - introduction and questions

[SivaSuryaKshatriya]

Hello,

I have long loved 90's Japanese cars. The styling was a perfect mix of smooth and angled that gave the cars a sharp and aggressive look. The interiors were very driver oriented, almost serving as cockpits. In high school I owned a 300ZX Z32, which I loved.

I graduated from college a few years ago with a degree in computer science and am now in a position to afford what I see as the epitome of the 90's Japanese sports cars, the Honda NSX.

I am looking to purchase a manual hardtop NSX, preferably red, as soon as I can find one within my $45k budget. As I live within walking distance of work, the car would mostly live in my garage except for the weekends when I would take it out.

I spotted an NSX nearby that seems to fit all of my criteria. It's a 1992 red 5spd NSX - JH4NA1154NT800064:

https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/6156884841.html

However, I noticed that the front of the car was a slightly different color from the rest, and when I asked the owner about it (3rd owner) he mentioned it was in a front end accident in 1996, and repaired then. He said he got the car appraised at a Honda dealership only a few years back, and that it was in good mechanical condition. I have some questions:

1) How likely is it that the accident involved frame damage? If it did, I am not interested in the vehicle. However, if I can ensure that no parts of the aluminum frame were affected, and the alignment of everything is fine, I would be less hesitant.

2) Will the one-accident significantly affect the value of the car down the road? Assuming I keep it well maintained and add 10k miles a year, will it continue to rise in value, hold value, or drop rapidly? I know these things are hard to predict but I am curious.

3) The car will see track duty. In that case, does the accident matter?

4) Is the current asking price of $34k a fair price given the accident?

Thanks!

 

[gmeads]

I have some questions:

1) How likely is it that the accident involved frame damage? If it did, I am not interested in the vehicle. However, if I can ensure that no parts of the aluminum frame were affected, and the alignment of everything is fine, I would be less hesitant.

2) Will the one-accident significantly affect the value of the car down the road? Assuming I keep it well maintained and add 10k miles a year, will it continue to rise in value, hold value, or drop rapidly? I know these things are hard to predict but I am curious.

3) The car will see track duty. In that case, does the accident matter?

4) Is the current asking price of $34k a fair price given the accident?

Thanks!

My .02

1) Depends on the accident. Only way to know is to get someone in there that can inspect the car underneath the skin. Definitely wouldn't buy without verifying.

2) Is it salvage title or just accident history? Regardless, the accident history will create a ceiling on how much it can rise in value and will always be on the lower end.

3) Make sure it is structurally sound before tracking it.

4) Probably fair based on maintenance being up-to-date, new tires, etc. Just make sure that everything checks out.

 

[Bram]

That is a Canadian VIN number.

 

[SivaSuryaKshatriya]

Thank you for the responses. It looks like it sold. I was surprised it sold within a month given the accident status, but I suppose at that price point it would have gone anyway.

Is $34k a fair price for a 120k mileage 5 spd NSX in general if it's well maintained?

 

[buckeyensx]

Yes it is.

 

[Hass]

Yes I'd jump on that if the maintenance are up to date. Man your username is long

 

[8R6]

$34k for a decent condition, ~120k miles, na1 manual is a great deal. even with an accident as long as it didnt sustain frame damage. and even if you factor in about $7k worth of maintenance updating cost (tb, wp, hoses, valve job, etc.) because you don't know the history, that still only brings the total to $41k which is about going rate for 95/96 manual with maintenance records.

on a side note, as a fairly new first-time owner, i can say that after gazillion hours of reading stuff on here, it is completely worth the cost of having a legit mechanic/shop perform a thorough PPI on one of these cars. i highly recommend getting one before any purchase and it is worth every penny.

 

[Jinks]

My advice, don't buy a car from Craigslist.

 

[Hass]

My advice, don't buy a car from Craigslist.

I respectfully disagree

 

[brettowen]

+1. You don't buy a car from Craigslist. You buy a car from an owner who advertises on Craigslist and some really decent people advertise there. If I was selling my car, I'd use CL in addition to Prime and ebay.

 

[GZtoSF]

Yeah craigslist can be hit or miss. But I wouldn't rule it out if the car inspects well.

I think Prime is the place to go because my own experience is that the NSX Community here is a very savvy group of people. Anytime someone posts an iffy ad, or one that's full of dealer-copy BS (i.e. this is the ONLY blue and tan NSX ever made! 1 of 1! Factory Supercharger!) people are going to call it out.

Or if somebody is trying to pawn off a car that's had some trouble. Somebody will say something.

If I was going to sell my black 2002 I would list it here first and then on other sites linking back to the ad here as well as posts by previous owners showing the cars been in good hands.

So to me the only red flag about other sources is why wouldn't they also list on prime given that if the car is totally sorted the best place to find serious prospective buyers would be right here. I got mine when somebody responded to my WTB ad last october.