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Prospective owner LV (need opinions)

Joined
27 October 2010
Messages
6
Hi everyone, I have been in the market to buy an NSX for some time now and an opportunity just came up. I have been lurking this forum for a few days and from what I can see, you guys seem to know what you are talking about :smile:.
So I finally decided to register in order to gain access to your omnipotent knowledge on NSX's.

So here's the deal:
A guy that I know who works at a shop has a 1992, 5 MT, white NSX with slightly over 100k on the odometer. He emailed me some photos of the car and it turns out that it has a salvage title, but he told me that it needs little work because it was only slightly "bumped" in the drivers side quarter panel (which he already replaced with a used OEM one). He also said that it runs and drives.

So I went to go look at the car in person with my father (who is a retired master autobody technician) and a friend who works with Hondas. It turns out that it does not run or drive and he claims that he will not try to start it because it has been sitting for over a year on the side of his house and he needs to replace all of the fluids first. That's only the first part, the car was missing the front driver's fender, and you could clearly see that the wheel well right in front of the post was VERY poorly welded. I asked what exactly happened to the car and he said that "it was hit in the quarterpanel." So I asked what happened to the front and he claims that nothing was done to it and that that's how it is... The door was partially sanded towards the back and the side skirt was missing, which leads me to believe that someone replaced the door however he claims that it is the original. I also asked if there was any suspension damage or if it had been hit in the wheel, and he said no, but upon closer inspection it looks as if both the front and rear suspension is bent (on the driver's side).

Then we took a look at the interior and it turns out that the car was broken into and the radio was stolen so the center console was broken. Also the interior was extremely dirty (as with the exterior) and had bush and shrub bits and a lot of dust etc. The center tail light piece was missing and the lock to the trunk was broken as well.
He says that the transmission was replaced right before the "collision" and that it has a brand new clutch etc. Upon inspection it does not look as if the transmission had ever been touched, There was a THICK layer of grease/oil all over the transmission that looks as if it had been there after years of driving.

Other bits and pieces: The car has cross drilled rotors but they are completely rusted, the wheels are the kind you would find on a "donk" in my opinion lol, and there is an aftermarket air intake. The quarter panel which was replaced was red, and missing the fuel door, and the rubber seals around the door/windows was hanging off the car. Did I mention the paint was in terrible condition?

That was my thorough description of the car from what I could see in less then 15 min. God knows what else is wrong with the car.

I would be willing to take on a project like this, however only if the price is right since it is in extremely poor condition, doesn't run, and the seller is either a liar or idiot :tongue: lol.

My question to NSX Prime is: How much would be a fair price for this car based on the description? I will tell you how much he wants for it after so we can get an unbiased opinion lol. Also if anyone would like to see the pictures he sent me I could probably post them, but keep in mind it looks a lot better on the pictures then in person.

Thanks for your time.
 
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The problem with salvage title cars is that no matter how much money you dump into them they are never worth more than $18-$20K tops. Thats assuming that you fixed everything, got all the maintenance up to date and a nice paint job.

I would pass no matter what the price.
 
The problem with salvage title cars is that no matter how much money you dump into them they are never worth more than $18-$20K tops. Thats assuming that you fixed everything, got all the maintenance up to date and a nice paint job.

I would pass no matter what the price.

I agree.
 
Yea salvage title is not my first choice, however it's pretty cheap. I realize that if there are engine/trans issues I will end up paying as much for a salvage car that I could buy a descent clean title nsx for. That's why I'm wondering how much this car should go for.
I guess I'll just come out and tell you that he is asking $9,000 for it. I told him that if he can get it to run/drive properly, then I might come see it again. I wouldn't normally go for a salvage car like this, but I really want an nsx and this one is within my price range right now. Desperate times call for desperate measures :biggrin:
 
From what you describe the car is a "wrecked wreck", for $9,000 it's not cheap, for free it's still not cheap. You could easily sink $20,000 into the car to bring it up to a $29,000 car that isn't even worth $20,000. Whatever price you pay for this car is too much and from what little you've said about your resources, don't walk, run as far from this POS as you can!!!!:eek:
 
From what you describe the car is a "wrecked wreck", for $9,000 it's not cheap, for free it's still not cheap. You could easily sink $20,000 into the car to bring it up to a $29,000 car that isn't even worth $20,000. Whatever price you pay for this car is too much and from what little you've said about your resources, don't walk, run as far from this POS as you can!!!!:eek:

lol that's exactly what my father and 2 other guys I know said. The worst part is that the guy is unwilling to budge on the price because he thinks he could part it out for 20k haha
 
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No way...I just bought a MINT one owner 91 Blk/Ivy with 45k original miles
for 23k...You would have to be crazy to pay 9k for that car. You could easily drop 10k-12k in the car just getting it moderately up to speed. Not to mention, all the fun extras you would want to add to the car...
Good Luck, I'd wait until you had a bit more cash...I'm 43 and I've been lusting after this car for 20 years...It was worth the wait:biggrin:
 
Yea salvage title is not my first choice, however it's pretty cheap. I realize that if there are engine/trans issues I will end up paying as much for a salvage car that I could buy a descent clean title nsx for. That's why I'm wondering how much this car should go for.
I guess I'll just come out and tell you that he is asking $9,000 for it. I told him that if he can get it to run/drive properly, then I might come see it again. I wouldn't normally go for a salvage car like this, but I really want an nsx and this one is within my price range right now. Desperate times call for desperate measures :biggrin:

this will only bring sadness into your life. You buy it fix it up for minimum lets say 10K... it still runs like crap...you keep spending...still has that stupid annoying sound dammit! %0mph in highway...whoops my caliper fell off for no aparent reason..massive damage... more$$... damn im gonna sell: sells for 10K=epic loss of money and no gain in your personal life
 
No way...I just bought a MINT one owner 91 Blk/Ivy with 45k original miles
for 23k...You would have to be crazy to pay 9k for that car. You could easily drop 10k-12k in the car just getting it moderately up to speed. Not to mention, all the fun extras you would want to add to the car...
Good Luck, I'd wait until you had a bit more cash...I'm 43 and I've been lusting after this car for 20 years...It was worth the wait:biggrin:

RobD is right but - Rob you got a real steal - like the steal of the year dude. Can't expect to find this deal everytime out.

With that said - you would be absolutely out of your mind to buy a car in that condition from as you say either a liar or an idiot. I'll tell you he's both a liar and a moron and he's trying to pass of his tragedy to someone else. If you buy this you will be the biggefr moron - no offense really but this is not a deal it's a catastrophe waiting on a HUGE SUCKER! Are you that man?????? I sure as hell hope not.

Besides - if you buy this car we'll be hearing about it for the next however long you screw around with it and it will be one stupid thing after another unless you are an ace mechanic and don't need to work - cause this thing would become your new job!

Forget about it - and you really don't want all of us telling you I told you so over and over now do you? I didn't think so.

I mean no disrespect but I can't say this in a real nice sugar coated way and get the point over.

Please either save up more dough or buy something decent. But don't buy this turkey whatever you do. My 2 cents plus the kitchen sink!
 
RobD is right but - Rob you got a real steal - like the steal of the year dude. Can't expect to find this deal everytime out.

With that said - you would be absolutely out of your mind to buy a car in that condition from as you say either a liar or an idiot. I'll tell you he's both a liar and a moron and he's trying to pass of his tragedy to someone else. If you buy this you will be the biggefr moron - no offense really but this is not a deal it's a catastrophe waiting on a HUGE SUCKER! Are you that man?????? I sure as hell hope not.

Besides - if you buy this car we'll be hearing about it for the next however long you screw around with it and it will be one stupid thing after another unless you are an ace mechanic and don't need to work - cause this thing would become your new job!

Forget about it - and you really don't want all of us telling you I told you so over and over now do you? I didn't think so.

I mean no disrespect but I can't say this in a real nice sugar coated way and get the point over.

Please either save up more dough or buy something decent. But don't buy this turkey whatever you do. My 2 cents plus the kitchen sink!

No offense taken. This is why I'm here, I want to hear from people who know about nsx's. I already knew that this car was a dud, but people keep telling me that "it's worth a lot more then 9k if you part it out" but I am looking for a car to fix up and eventually drive, I'm not looking to chop up a car for profit. The owner himself said that he "was going to put the body panels on and bring it to the auction to sell for 13k+" I wish I could warn whoever actually buys the car of what I've seen...
 
No offense taken. This is why I'm here, I want to hear from people who know about nsx's. I already knew that this car was a dud, but people keep telling me that "it's worth a lot more then 9k if you part it out" but I am looking for a car to fix up and eventually drive, I'm not looking to chop up a car for profit. The owner himself said that he "was going to put the body panels on and bring it to the auction to sell for 13k+" I wish I could warn whoever actually buys the car of what I've seen...


I wouldn't believe anything that owner says. He's looking for the best way he can to get out from under this pile of S.... Walk away and don't look back - there is no money in what he's trying to do - or at best it would be damn hard to get! Good luck in your search.
 
No offense taken. This is why I'm here, I want to hear from people who know about nsx's. I already knew that this car was a dud, but people keep telling me that "it's worth a lot more then 9k if you part it out" but I am looking for a car to fix up and eventually drive, I'm not looking to chop up a car for profit. The owner himself said that he "was going to put the body panels on and bring it to the auction to sell for 13k+" I wish I could warn whoever actually buys the car of what I've seen...

Plz don't make the mistake buying this car. Many of us have waited a long time for the right car to come along so we know where you are coming from. Keep saving and keep looking. The right one will come along. It took me 4 yrs to find my car. This is the wrong car and please don't buy it and come here later to tell us your sad story.
 
Plz don't make the mistake buying this car. Many of us have waited a long time for the right car to come along so we know where you are coming from. Keep saving and keep looking. The right one will come along. It took me 4 yrs to find my car. This is the wrong car and please don't buy it and come here later to tell us your sad story.

Liftnot - is the color of your car baby blue???? I'd love to see pics of that - it looks cool!
 
Plz don't make the mistake buying this car. Many of us have waited a long time for the right car to come along so we know where you are coming from. Keep saving and keep looking. The right one will come along. It took me 4 yrs to find my car. This is the wrong car and please don't buy it and come here later to tell us your sad story.

I completely agree. Project cars are fun, but I'd suggest waiting to find something that may be worth working on. I'm not in any way saying that you're incapable of making it into a beauty; I just think you can find something much better. I think the ultimate message from everyone is stay away from salvage titles and be patient. Patience is a virtue but when you get your NSX, you'll never regret it. It took me about 5 years to find mine and I didn't have a shred of buyers remorse-it was SOOO worth the wait! Good luck finding the right one for you.
 
I completely agree. Project cars are fun, but I'd suggest waiting to find something that may be worth working on. I'm not in any way saying that you're incapable of making it into a beauty; I just think you can find something much better. I think the ultimate message from everyone is stay away from salvage titles and be patient. Patience is a virtue but when you get your NSX, you'll never regret it. It took me about 5 years to find mine and I didn't have a shred of buyers remorse-it was SOOO worth the wait! Good luck finding the right one for you.


Thanks for the advice guys. I'm going to keep looking, maybe I'll end up with something other then an NSX for now, but I'll eventually find one and buy it.

I notice that most people who drive NSX's say they are worth the time/money that they put into them. They take real pride in owning one like no other car. I know it's a great car, but without owning one I can't really know how it feels. All I know is I like everything about NSX's and I'm somehow drawn to them.
 
I just saw this post. I know exactly what car this is. I drove by it two days ago since my guy who does seats/interiors lives on that streat. This car has been sitting on the side of this house for God knows how long. Call me up if you want to get into the NSX scene. NSXPO is going on right now as we speak and you could see 170 cars to see how cool they each are.

Don't buy a salvage car like that one. For twice what he is asking you could almost get one with no problems(well sort of). My name is Ryland and I live in Las Vegas with a Green, Supercharged NSX in Las Vegas. My number is 702-528-7746. Call me up if you need some help on this.
 
They called to me ever since I saw my first one! All us owners feel that way and after you get one - you really feel that way cause they are soooo much fun to drive and the sound is orgasmic....:biggrin:

I've owned a bunch of sports cars and many others here have as well - there is a reason we have the NSX! :wink:
 
No, Tim, its GPW. I did not have the proper setting so it came out that way. What looks cool is my NSXClear side markers:wink:

Tim

Yeah they do look good I've seen those on other cars. Especially on GPW. Matter of fact if I had a GPW - which by the way is my favorite color- I'd definitely have them too. On my silver it really doesn't make that much of a difference. I almost like the stock ones better. If I had it to do all over again I would have a GPW!

Have you made any other improvements to the interior? Just curious - would love to be out there at NSXPO right now. Damn.....:frown:
 
Yeah they do look good I've seen those on other cars. Especially on GPW. Matter of fact if I had a GPW - which by the way is my favorite color- I'd definitely have them too. On my silver it really doesn't make that much of a difference. I almost like the stock ones better. If I had it to do all over again I would have a GPW!

Have you made any other improvements to the interior? Just curious - would love to be out there at NSXPO right now. Damn.....:frown:

I waited 4 yrs to find my GPW:eek: I am not going for the R- look but I have the Panda look:smile:
Interior-wise, only a 350mmm MOMO/quick release from Erick (evo575).
and a round shift knob from Chris Wilson.
The QR is also for anti-theft. I am saving up for a set of bucket seats to save some weight. I don't like the OEM seats. They are too slow and I am too skinny.
Hey, we are hi-jacking this thread:rolleyes:

I did not go to the EXPO either. There are at least 40+ NSX in San Diego and I think only a handful went. The local/LA meets are enough for me plus the SuperCar sunday is uber interesting especially on a marque day.
 
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