public opinion to nsx ownership

[huckster]

im just curious what everyone else has experienced after buying an exotic. this is my first, and, well, it seems like casual acquaintances/neighbors arent quite the same...

i dont live in a low rent neighborhood but now the people working on my neighbors houses seem friendlier than the owners?

im not overly concerned, just curious.

is this common?

is this because no one owns an exotic in my neighborhood (at least ive never seen one)? which is really weird because this is one of the top three areas in kansas city.

im very curious about other owners post nsx purchase experiences....

 

[mlambert890]

People on my block are convinced I'm a dope dealer. What makes it worse is that I live across the street from a big park and on Friday and Saturday nights, a bunch of actual dope dealers line up a caravan of Lexi and hang out with their girlfiends - *directly* across from my house!

This is all a pretty uniquely Brooklyn experience though, your mileage may vary

 

[Nsxotic]

The NSX certainly gets a lot of ridicule. After all, it's just a Honda..... This is the perception. I defend it to the end but it always ends the same. Corvettes, Porsches, Ferraris, etc.. are all faster and better.... they just don't get it and probably never will. And, overall, exotic car ownership certainly makes life much more difficult. Their perception of your car and their perception of you..... IMHO.

 

[nsxtasy]

Originally posted by Nsxotic:
The NSX certainly gets a lot of ridicule. After all, it's just a Honda..... This is the perception.

I think Todd is misreading your situation. His description above is based on the assumption that they know exactly what kind of car it is. Most folks don't; they just know that you bought a fancy expensive sports car, and they're reacting to that.

 

[mlambert890]

It's true that the NSX takes a lot of heat, but that's because it is a difficult value proposition for the average person to comprehend.

"Balance" is a tough sell to the average American. The Corvette has "Bang for the Buck!", that's a big American thing. The Viper has "BIG BALLS!" that's also a big American thing. Porsche and Ferrari have "mystique". The NSX has "balance". That's a tough one.

I think this is why you see the NSX get 1000x more respect in Europe.

As for our "import brethren", it has to be remembered that the Supra, RX7 and 300Z are no longer around in the USA. That means that every year, the owner base of those cars gets younger and cockier (as the resale values plummet). The average import sports car owner today is basically a new age hot rodder who resents the big money NSX because it isn't a straight line rocket ship.

Yes, I've thought about this too much

[This message has been edited by spookyp (edited 22 February 2002).]

 

[Nsxotic]

Ah......... perfectly said. Hearing some real good things tonight. Same as in the other 'value' thread.... Well said, spookyp.

 

[huckster]

im not really talking about a comparison. thank you for the comments though. i dont really compare the nsx to the supra or rx7. i almost bought a rx7 8 years ago and it had the same value to the public as my bmw 3. not the same with the nsx.

i think im getting some sort of "oh you have an exotic sports car vibe" like a ferrari, lotus, etc. im wondering if this is universal for exotic ownership, a regional demographic thing, or something else....

 

[8000RPM]

Originally posted by spookyp:

The average import sports car owner today is basically a new age hot rodder who resents the big money NSX because it isn't a straight line rocket ship.

Indeed. What I find really annoying is the apparent resentment the NSX gets from the younger import car crowd. And strangely I have gotten the worst reactions from owners of another Honda product - the Civic Si. It never fails that whenever I come across a souped up Civic Si, the driver alwasy feels obligated to show his "worth" by revving and instigating me to race.

I even had a young punk challenge me to race for $50 while at a stoplight. His words: "hey man, how much did you pay for that? You wasted your money man. I bet you $50 that you can't leave me when the light turns green."

Whatever.

 

[randall]

huckster,
i get the same feeling in my neighborhood,"DEER CREEK",i don't know if it's because i'm younger than all of my neighbors or my nice cars,i also have a very loud street-rod maybe thats it,they won't even wave to me!which pisses me off,i wave everytime i see them!

 

[Soulstice]

I feel your pain bud. My neighbor bought a brand new TransAm 3 days before I got my NSX. Needless to say, he was royally pissed when my car was getting more attention than his on the block. (I'm good friends with his roommate and he always tells me how mad he gets).

I'm just worried he might key it or something stupid.

BTW - Although I've been 'haunting' this forum for a long time, this is my first official post here. I got my black '96 NSX-T with 37K miles last week and loving every second of it.

 

[ncdogdoc]

Huckster,

I do not get that in my neighborhood, as I am never home, and my neighborhood is one of those where people move in and out of to the bigger, more expensive homes fairly quickly, so I do not know many of my neighbors. The one's who do know me as a person think it is a really cool car. Now my clients at the office are different, they are always ribbing me about paying me too much if I can drive "that kind of car". Then there are those who give me grief if it is not spotless (which I deserve

), but for the most part, people are really nice about it.

Soulstice,
Welcome to the family. You will love the car and this forum. Be sure and join the NSXCA. I am sure Ken will chime in here real soon about that one!

------------------
Gary Yates
1995 Red/Tan

 

[hejo]

Originally posted by huckster:
i think im getting some sort of "oh you have an exotic sports car vibe" like a ferrari, lotus, etc. im wondering if this is universal for exotic ownership, a regional demographic thing, or something else....

I got some of that from my neighbors who thought I was having a mid-life crisis. The people that know me understand there's still a young kid bottled up in me. It bothered me for the first year but I just ignore it now.

If someone says something to me I usually respond with yes it's my "boat" money. No questions anyone for dropping $80k-$500k on a boat but a car??? Hmm I don't get it myself.

 

[nsxtasy]

Originally posted by Soulstice:
BTW - Although I've been 'haunting' this forum for a long time, this is my first official post here. I got my black '96 NSX-T with 37K miles last week and loving every second of it.

Welcome to our playground! I'm sure your NSX-T will exceed even your highest expectations!

This is a great time to buy an NSX in Texas, since this year's NSXPO 2002 will take place in DFW November 6-10. It's held by the NSX Club of America in a different city each year, and this year will feature three days on two different racetracks!

Oh yes, thanks for the reminder Gary

Don't forget to join the NSX Club of America so you can receive the NSX Driver newsletter and participate in all the club activities and get together with the other 59 club members in Texas.

 

[flaminio]

I saw my neighbor's three-year-old boy the other day, and he told me "You have a cool car!"

I'm a big hit with three-year-olds

.

-Bob

 

[RyRy210]

I actually sorta "fit" in now with the rest of my neigbors. I live in a wealthy community where most of them have almost the full line of mercedes vehicles in their garages. One of my neigbors own a Black Diablo, another a Ferrari 456GT, one has a F40, and just the other day I saw a 512TR in one of my other neigbor's garage. Didn't think he owned one but guess I was wrong. Then there are 2 NSXs, including mine. S-Classes and Porsches are a dime a dozen here. I bet you there must be more nice cars hidden in my neighbor's garages. 3 houses down from me there is a house with an SL600 and a CL600 always parked outside and never in the garage! I always wonder what they have stashed in that garage! So the answer is I really don't get that much attention at all in my neighborhood. Not at all!

Ryan

 

[NorCalwhite]

I have alot of good respones from the people in my nieghborhood. It seems people are courious about my car, they usally don't know what kind of car it is or they think it is a Ferrari or Corvette. I just explain that it is a hand built car from Japan sold by Acura.
As for the younger street racer crowd, I get alot of thumbs up on the highway or if I am parked somewhere they come over to check it out with big smiles on there faces. I never heard any negitive respones about the NSX, just "Nice car man" or "Sweet". I love owning this car.

------------------
Joseph Gavazza
99 White/blk NSX
92 Lexus LS400
01 VW GTI VR6

 

[Black&Tan97Tnewportbeach]

I am in the same boat as RyRy, I am in Newport Beach, aka "Newporsche Bleach". There are 5 porsches & 10 benzes AT LEAST on my block. That was one of the main reasons I picked an NSX, I wanted a SPECIAL CAR that I could drive EVERY DAY. When you put these qualifications on a car, in my opinion, the NSX is the only choice.

If you live somewhere besides SoCal, you probably will get strange reactions from people. I grew up in NYC, people will spend $9million to have their kids get 1600 on the SAT, but they wouldn't buy an aftermarket part for their car if you put a gun to their head! My Dad still lives there, he always says 2 things: "Everywhere else, you are what you eat. In SoCal, you are what you drive" ; and also "In NY, you see a car with kool rims every 6 months, in SoCal you see one with factory wheels every 6 months". So in other words, in places with more 'traditional' values, 'splurging' on a special car may be frowned upon by the 'reasonable\feasible' crowd.

And one last lesson can be taken from the Hip-Hop\Rap arena, where it is frequently stated that "Game recognize Game". This means that if you got your pimp game on, as in nice clothes, nice house, nice wheels, hot chicks, you probably will positively acknowledge someone else who does. And those who "ain't got" are haters, they throw off a negative vibe to those who got game 'cause they jealous. So when someone is hatin' on you, do what Big Snoop does, and gesture like you brushin' crumbs off yo shoulder at them . . "Brushin' off the Haters, I gots NO time fo haters!"

 

[JoeSchmoe]

Originally posted by huckster:
im just curious what everyone else has experienced after buying an exotic. this is my first, and, well, it seems like casual acquaintances/neighbors arent quite the same...

Well, there are 3 NSXs within a 2 block radius around my house. On occasion, a 4th one will park out in front... So I guess NSXs outnumber honda accords on my block =)

The neighbors are NUMB and offer NO reaction to NSXs anymore. The biggest reaction to any car Ive seen recently was when some family down the street bought a new Camry Solara and the neighbors were all huddled around peering through the windows.

 

[huckster]

interesting responses....so it really does sound like the so-cals have a completely different experience(no surprise there)

appreciated the mid-western values comment--theres probably some truth to that.

the neighborhood thing makes some sense to. even though the house price range on my street is 230k-1.5mil, just dont see any toys like this. a few vettes, thats it. (in kansas city these are considered Very expensive houses-unlike california)

funny note--neighbor across the street told my wife that she noticed a new car in our garage, which she had seen me driving, and she asked if we were 'car sitting'.

so maybe the 'got game' comments are something as well. like Randall, we are also younger than almost everyone in our neighborhood.

man, people can be interesting, and weird...

 

[huckster]

oh yeah, HEJO--this IS my boat money--the boats i want are too damned expensive!!!(my wife compromised when i showed her boat prices and ownership costs)

 

[mtnbear1]

I just bought a red '96 about a week ago and I'm very happy w/it. I had a '96 300ZX Twin Turbo and although it was a great car, it's just not in the same league as the NSX.

Occasionally, while driving and attracting a lot of attention, I've felt a little guilty. Almost as if I'm ashamed that I can afford to own it...then a friend asked if I would rather be driving my Z and I don't feel so bad.

I'm glad to be part of the "community" now!

 

[DDozier]

Huckster, I think things are a little different her in the mid-west.
Friday night my self and RAYRAY(92 Black NSX) met for the first time at a Hooters, this is a big, BIG import crowd hang out. I felt like Brad Pit and Julia Roberts must feel when they try to go out for dinner. We pulled in to a crowded parking lot full of cameras and cam corders all turned on us and our cars. Kinda scary.

In my hood the neighbors are still tryng to figure out what it is. One neighbor says it looks kinda like one of the new vetts, I kindly corrected him, The new vetts look kinda like my NSX, but for the most part everyones reactions have been good and I have a alot of good conversations from perfect strangers that just like nice cars.

I am still amazed that everyone wants to know the same thing, How fast does it go!

 

[NSXForEver]

I posted a comment a few weeks ago about this same subject. Glad to see I am not alone. I live in Southern Indiana and most people around here have never seen an NSX. I have several neighbors that have been cold towards me since I got my NSX. Mostly they are men in their mid 40's. There are a couple that haven't spoken to me since last June when I brought my NSX home. They used to talk to me all the time. Oh well.

My favorite reaction that I get around here is when someone assumes I got a "honda" because I couldn't afford a Corvette. Some people just don't get it.

Matt


------------------
2000 NSX-T #49
Silverstone/Black
10,500 miles
No Mods

 

[Michigan NSX]

DDozier,

They ask how fast it will go because the thing LOOKS d*mn fast!!

[This message has been edited by Michigan NSX (edited 25 February 2002).]

 

[huckster]

dont know about the "honda" comments, but i am glad to hear that my apparently 'midwest' experience is not unique.

damn, if id wanted the snobbery, id got a ferrari. if id wanted the put downs, id got a corvette. if id wanted the expense, id got anything but the nsx.

ya know, now ive got to do a rant. i do have neighbors with vettes, and I DROVE a vette, and that is like a lightened, lowered humvee. very fast, very cool, and very damn chevy. i wanted a 60 something muscle car, and the new vette feels like the 60-70something era cars i drove. very fast, but wouldnt want one past 60k miles. fit and finish suck, and the damn thing made me think it was finished at 80k miles.

has anyone else driven new vettes and the nsx??? i remember both from my test drives this past year, and the vette is a very fast, but very poorly finished, big balls car. i liked the acceleration but it felt like a rocketship, not a car.

im not talking about acceleration, im talking about finish/fit/experience. the nsx actually felt faster but most importantly i was in control. the vette was completely different.

i know the stats, and im reaching here, but the experience was totally different. glad i didnt buy the vette.