Question on JH4NA1153pt000522 for sale in Atlanta

[Yinzer]

Does anyone know anything about JH4NA1153PT000522 for sale in Atlanta by the "Atlanta Car Club?" It's a '93 with 55k miles with an asking price of around $28k.

According to the seller, it's a 1-owner even though the carfax reports a loan or lien in 2004. A few quick calls to the dealerships on the carfax suggest that the 90k timing belt/water etc. service may have not been done. Also one reported the rear bumper was replaced in 2001........ The reported "1-owner" is Marquis Grissom from the Braves, which is no big deal to me, just an interesting fact that led to finding online that the car apparently once had chrome tri-stars....

The seller has a few spotty reviews online but negative online reviews from unhappy customers at any establishment aren't uncommon...

I may have Eiffel do a PPI next week but wanted to inquire for any local knowledge of the car or dealership first here. Apparently new pictures will be posted soon.

Thanks very much, Happy Thanksgiving!

http://www.everycarlisted.com/ga/atlanta/acura/nsx/vin-jh4na1153pt000522

http://atlantacarclub.com/view/000522/-1993-Acura-NSX-in-Doraville-GA

 

[alum04org]

:biggrin: Good luck, Andy! Car appears nice in photo.

 

[99NCNSX]

Andy, I would get in touch with tbromley. He lives in Atlanta and could probably advise on the dealership as well as take a look at the car for you. A PPI by Eiffel would be a good final step before purchasing as well.

Appears to be a very nice example judging by the single photo posted. But photos can be deceiving. The fact that original wheels and original exhaust are still on this '93 indicate that this NSX was probably not molested/abused. Not that these are bad things - I have after market wheels and exhaust on mine! Just that when you find an NSX that is completely original, it's pretty rare and probably owned by someone who truly appreciated what Honda created in the NSX. Good luck! I'll plan on looking you up next time I am in Pittsburgh.

John K

 

[eyewantone]

I contacted the dealer and they have no service/maintenance records...FWIW. And they finally posted the pics on autotrader...

 

[kamlung]

did you ever get anywhere with this car? i have seen it listed on autotrader for a few weeks now...

 

[Yinzer]

I decided to pass. The car looks mostly nice in the pictures and the seller was friendly the two times I reached someone but there's no service history and the seller never responded to several followup messages regarding setting up a PPI and any opportunities to further verify the maintenance history & situation with the 2001 bumper replacement. A followup call to the seller indicated that their mechanic of 20 years thinks he replaced the TB/WP four years ago but he kept no records. Also the initial photo listed with the ad was not of the actual car, which I felt should have been mentioned upon first discussion. I did not explicitly request if records could be obtained but their stance was that they believed any buyer would take it upon himself to rectify anything he didn't like since this was such a special car...

The seats/interior look very nice. It may be nitpicky but some lights appear off in the radio/HVAC and the headliner appears a bit brown (smoky?) above the driver. It very well may be a very nice car, none of these things by themselves may be dealbreakers and I can agree somewhat with occasional sentiments on Prime that perhaps NSX's are treated as being more fragile than they actually are, but I didn't feel very confident in this one from so far away. A few times in life my ignorance on something led to a purchase that wound up with my being pleasantly surprised at the really great deal I stumbled into, but perhaps here I know too much for my own good. Any room to reasonably move from its asking price still doesn't make it overly intriguing w/o records. Maybe it'll be a hidden gem. If anyone pursues, I'd love to hear more.

Merry Christmas !

 

[shawn110975]

good luck on your very very long search

found mine not so mint but had a clean title and it was fun spending time putting the new parts in myself got to know the car.
no maint history, ac didnt work, old beat up peeling chome stock rims, leather was def worn, dirty engine, def near the middle if not bottom of the barrel. ( then )

there were issues with mine that people on prime would have passed on but me not being picky I now have a mint 92. almost 3 years now and no issues with my bottom of the barrel NSX. 3 years later I have 3 nsx's in my driveway
I guess I lucked out with my first purchase which lead me to more and more purchases

that diamond in the rough is few and far between so bend a little and that can make you happy I say.

and any diamond you find is gonna have a price tag that for a 20 year old car people would run from.

 

[ThumperAC]

I agree with Shawn, unless you want a garage queen show car, don't be afraid to get one with some blemishes.

Ar first in my search I said I was ok with a car that needed a little TLC, but as I looked I had trouble pulling the trigger on one that was not perfect. I ended up looking for about 4 months before pulling the trigger. I ended up getting a car with some minor flaws, but I am very happy. I try to put miles on my car and enjoy it (as opposed to letting sit in the garage) and in all honesty if it were perfect I would have trouble putting so many miles on it.

Good luck on your search!

 

[tbromley]

The lack of response to your questions by the dealer is exactly why I always recommend staying away from them. There's always some damn lurking story you have to dig out with a PPI. Then you're pissed you had to pay to learn. These little dealers are rarely if ever worth fooling with, especially when you get a better deal from an individual and records. Reason folks start fooling wtih these dealers is because they get anxious and impatient holding out for the right one. DON'T! Hang in there. It will come.

 

[Huck]

When someone uses a "stock photo" instead of the actual vehicle--I never bother following up as my experience is that there is a significant reason. Service records are critical on these cars. On mine, the owner died 2 years ago and his widow was selling the car without any records. The local dealer would share information but no printout help. So, belts-seals-gaskets-valve adj-wp-clutch-snapring-wheels-tires-plugs-axles-harmonic balancer---all this crap adds up and I haven't got to hoses, door window upgrades, or radio amps yet~~~. Hopefully I will get to that before NSXPO. Good luck with your search and I too buy into the idea of buying a well maintained driver rather then garage queens---life is short my friend--and I for one prefer to slide into home base saying--"what a ride"!:wink:

 

[Yinzer]

Thanks for your responses, just wanted to acknowledge that. Shawn makes great points about sweat equity but any spare time goes towards a 2nd rental property, so my NSX unfortunately/fortunately has to come with a service history and seller that I feel comfortable with. Unless of course I stumble onto something too good to pass up. 'Unfortunately' because this takes some of the adventure out of things but 'fortunately' because I'll have a better chance for a smoother transaction & let me save my sweat & headache energy for the rental property - which will then pay for the NSX.

The irony of it all is that I've owned my current car for 10 years and could afford & rationalize an NSX easier than any other time in my life, but the timing isn't right. Like how a girl can marry the first "right guy" that she meets but a guy usually marries the next girl he happens to be dating once he knows he's ready. I always got a kick out of that statement and feel it applies here, sorry for philosophy in a Prospective Owner thread! As soon as the property is set, I'll be ready and will likely buy the first nice NSX that I really like, hopefully located somewhere for an interesting road trip home. So this Atlanta car for me is probably not one that's too good to pass up, and thanks for riding along with me on my very very long search - Shawn's right, it's been a long search ha ha. Technically I've been looking forward to owning one since college in '91, so it's been a really really very very long search. I'll keep following Shawn's rebuilds; if they're as nice in person as in pictures perhaps my NSX might be driven home from Florida. Fantastic job on those Shawn...

Happy new year all !

 

[cosplayerkyo]

http://www.actionnissan.com/used/Acura/1993-Acura-NSX-nashville-8fa29c510a0a00e000ba22e1fded718f.htm

I've noticed this car was posted again. Would anyone know who may have been the second owner?

 

[Typeone]

The link doesn't work...

 

[cosplayerkyo]

Ah looks like they took it down. Must have sold already.

 

[EIFFEL]

http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showt...-(pics-video-inside)?highlight=OIL+IN+COOLANT

Good thing you are not the "lucky" owner.

 

[Yinzer]

I can add:

Engine was replaced by SOS with a 19k mile engine. Prior owner also said the car received an SOS clutch, flywheel, SOS lost motion assys, hawk pads, some coolant hoses. Some other work was done at Track One in Nashville, possibly by one of Redbird92's ex-mechanics (bizlipkick mentioned a "Dan"), getting the 3 major fuel lines replaced, OEM fuel pump, filter, front and mid radiator hoses, thermostat, all four CV axles. Also got new exterior lights, as some weren't working when the buyer received it from Atlanta Car Club. Other work is mentioned, including some unspecified misc electrical work and some replaced bushings. Sounds like it got a lot of bugs worked out. Could be good for the right person at the right price.

I'm only repeating info from an email discussion with the OP from early April 2012. I considered this car in late 2011 before I became focused on finding a GPW, and around March 2012 I recognized pictures of the car when it appeared in autotrader - one of the pictures was bizlipkick's current avatar picture. I emailed the seller thru autotrader to answer my curiosity if this was the Atlanta Car Club NSX.

I'm sharing this not to get on his back for not fully sharing that the car came from Atlanta Car Club when he posted his issues and was asked about the dealership who sold it (Eiffel's post above mine). Am just keeping it real for any potential shoppers. If anything I should have considered posting an update last April when I learned of the car's history but it sounded like bizlipkick was going to hold onto it after all. I did keep watch to see if the car appeared in the Prime FS area or in discussion on Prime; and here we are.

Edit: did a VIN search after my post and saw that it actually did appear on Prime in October 2012.
http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showt...-LISTING-1993-Acura-NSX-Vin-JH4NA1153PT000522

I missed it. Shame on me, I'm disappointed. Didn't watch closely enough.
$37k ask in Oct 2012 and in other online ads if you search the VIN. I think it was $29k at the Nissan dealership's ad this past week? I don't remember.

 

[bizlipkick]

Hey guys, I did end up getting rid of it. After putting so much money into it, me and the wife decided we had to part ways before something else happened. I definitely learned my lesson on "impulse" buys. The car was in great condition when I got rid of it- I would not have gotten rid of it if it wasn't perfect. Sounds stupid, but after what I dealt with, I was not going to pass the buck. I am a firm believer in karma, so when I got rid of it, it was as close to perfect as I could afford. I took a pretty big loss with all the work I put it into it, but we were at the point to where we could not put any more money into it. Track one was a huge help in getting every thing squared away before it went up for sale, Mike and Dan were nothing but professional in the whole deal.

I orgionally posted it to sell it on my own, but learned a quick lesson that the NSX market is a shark tank. I was low balled all the time, i.e. offers of 10 k and a broken (insert random import here- s2000, civic, etc), or offers you wouldn't field if the car was a salvage, much less a car almost completely mechanically restored. So I but the bullet and traded it in, which the deal I got through the dealer was miles ahead of what I was being offered on the free market. I loved the NSX, and feel it really is the best car I have ever owned, regardless of the issues I had with it. I learned allot of lessens, and can put it in my bucket list. Not many people can say they owned their dream car, and I can count myself as one of the lucky few. I really think who ever ended up purchasing the car will have the experience I hoped to have, a well running NSX with little to no maintenance issues to worry about.