Where did you find your NSX?

[fastaussie]

Not sure if serious, or..... :?

it was a joke with a bit of seriousness thrown in. several years back, probably about 4 to 5 years, there was a common scam going around from people saying they were in Afghanistan and wanting to purchase a vehicle, motorcycle or car unseen. I was approached several different times for cars or bikes I was selling. the usual, "they were going to send me a certified cheque" and such, and "they're gonna pay me extra to have it shipped out of the country, but i would have to pay the shipping company cash when they arrived". you know, that kind of thing? and all contact was always via e-mail, for one excuse or another they could never talk on the phone or wouldn't be in the country to meet and look at anything. they were always "going to trust me" that the car or bike was in the condition I advertised it. so the scam was they'd send a fake cheque, and you'd pay cash for your vehicle to get shipped away from you...

 

[Yinzer]

Not sure if serious, or..... :?

PI4TW: reading about your purchase was one of my favorites, very happy for you. There was a time where I thought finding the unicorn was going to be impossible and I tried something 'easier' for a while, and sought out the various silver NA2 coupes...had the one you bought come on the market before I found mine, I might have been competing with you for it. Super glad we got what we got, hope to meet up someday with them in person.

Good idea, guess I will skulk about and start PMing you fine people with nice cars.

I got lucky I know, but here's another tip...the key for me was to also seek out owners who hadn't posted in a LONG time. Contacting frequent posters here who obviously are still in the honeymoon phase with their NSX's (like me) are probably a real longshot... So as for anyone reading this thinking about it...don't call me, I'll call you.

 

[PainIs4ThaWeak]

it was a joke with a bit of seriousness thrown in. several years back, probably about 4 to 5 years, there was a common scam going around from people saying they were in Afghanistan and wanting to purchase a vehicle, motorcycle or car unseen. I was approached several different times for cars or bikes I was selling. the usual, "they were going to send me a certified cheque" and such, and "they're gonna pay me extra to have it shipped out of the country, but i would have to pay the shipping company cash when they arrived". you know, that kind of thing? and all contact was always via e-mail, for one excuse or another they could never talk on the phone or wouldn't be in the country to meet and look at anything. they were always "going to trust me" that the car or bike was in the condition I advertised it. so the scam was they'd send a fake cheque, and you'd pay cash for your vehicle to get shipped away from you...

Ah. I was unaware of this. Thanks for the explanation.

 

[IRVINFLA]

I had been checking on most of the sites noted for some time when I casually looked on Ebay (before Prime Ebay listings), and found a nearly bone-stock '92 BB with 74K miles, listed by a higher-end lease termination dealer located only 30 minutes from my home. I called and spoke to the owner who said he had taken the car in as a trade-in for another vehicle, two days before. I quickly drove there with a buddy of mine who used to be a Honda service manager, to check it out. We both fell in love and after a thumbs-up PPI by Dwight Brady, our premier NSX guru here in south Florida, two days later and almost 6 years ago as my birthday present to myself, she was in my garage!

Don't hesitate to pull the trigger when you find the right one.

 

[WA-NSX]

Found our NSX brand new at an Acura dealer in 2001.

Liked the car - and liked the dealer.

Fourteen years later, no regrets.

 

[Wizard]

My NSX wasn't listed on Prime, Autotrader etc. All credit for my NSX goes to Yinzer. :biggrin: In Yinzer's quest to find his NSX, he stumbled upon many great NSX's. In the middle of his lengthy, novel like post where he shared his experience of how he came to finally get his dream NSX, he casually mentioned something to the effect of "if anyone in CA is looking for an excellent condition, low mileage GPW NSX, I know where to find one...". I PM'd Yinzer, who was very nice and helpful and gave me the name and phone number of gentleman with the NSX, and the rest is history as they say.

Granted, I had to drive 9 hours from SoCal to San Francisco to purchase the car, but it was very well worth it. Within 10 minutes of ownership and gassing up at a gas station for the journey home, a guy in a Ferrari came over admiring the car and asked if I wanted to sell it. I laughed and said "I just bought this car! I have literally owned it for 10 minutes". Interesting enough, San Francisco is also where I bought my mint condition, low mileage 93 White TT Supra about 15 years ago, and my friend bought his mint, low mileage Audi S4 about 4 years ago. I've been to San Francisco 3 times now...never for sight seeing or vacation, but to buy cars or to assist with buying cars. haha It seems the people in NorCAL take great pride in their cars and have some of the best gems IMO.

 

[heySkippy]

I made a thread in the "NSX Wanted" forum here at Prime and my NSX found me.

 

[JMChristopher]

I may have found one. What would you guys estimate the value to be for a great condition, four owner '93 silver manual with 68k miles? It is pretty close to stock except for Koni shocks, RM exhaust and wheels.

 

[vivanshah]

I may have found one. What would you guys estimate the value to be for a great condition, four owner '93 silver manual with 68k miles? It is pretty close to stock except for Koni shocks, RM exhaust and wheels.

i'm not as in tune with values for older cars, but i'd say low 30s if maintenance is all up to date and it includes stock parts.

 

[tof]

I may have found one. What would you guys estimate the value to be for a great condition, four owner '93 silver manual with 68k miles? It is pretty close to stock except for Koni shocks, RM exhaust and wheels.

I'll take a stab. $32K. (Private party sale. Expect to pay a bit more to a dealer.) That was my gut based mostly on sales I've seen on Prime. I picked it before checking KBB and NADA.

KBB prices run 33-35 for "very good condition" private party sales. I think that's a bit strong this time of year.
NADA low/avg/high retail is 25/33/40. I would consider the car with this mileage and condition "Average +" but retail is dealer pricing.

Knock off a grand if the timing belt is due within a year or two.
Knock off more if the clutch is worn.
Add a little for things like installed window fix-it thingies, refurbished climate control unit, AC certified conversion to R134, coolant hoses replaced, fully functional audio system, etc.
Take a little off for missing items like the tool kit, spare tire, engine bay cover.

Oh, and a big one: Add a grand if the car has a full service history with receipts. (Be sure to check the vin on the receipts.)

Of course the real question is what is the car worth to you. You might pay a premium because the color is harder to find. Financing the vehicle might limit what you can pay. Things like that. And of course you should negotiate the lowest possible price, which may be lower than "value".

What do you other owners think about the $32K base price I started with?

 

[Wizard]

I may have found one. What would you guys estimate the value to be for a great condition, four owner '93 silver manual with 68k miles? It is pretty close to stock except for Koni shocks, RM exhaust and wheels.

Please don't derail this thread and go off topic. Start your own thread please...

 

[chewybaca96]

Found mine on Autotrader after 10-12 months of searching. Had several in my sights from Prime, cars.com but this one popped up out in VA. Had a co-worker I trusted take her trusted mechanic to check it out. He gave the thumbs up and I pulled the trigger. I'm just over 18 months in and just paid it off a couple weeks ago...which now has my trigger finger itching again. hah!

 

[Nukem]

I picked my '91 up in Illinois. Funny story is it rolled off the Assembly line May '91 was sold originally in Kentucky, went to Florida, then Illinois, then I brought it to Nebraska. I have #2584 (I think...could be 2184) Another owner of a red '91 has #2585 (or 2185 forgot but we are one number off). They were separated at birth and now reunited 24 years later.

 

[JMChristopher]

What about NXS trader?

http://www.nsxtrader.com/

 

[boca rat]

I am in Florida. Found my 99 on eBay in LA, flew out the next day to get it after a buy it now and PPI. Shipped it back. Found out by chance while in LA doing the deal that my customer there's father in law is the NSX tech at Anaheim Acura so had him do the TB/WP.

My 91 CTSC was found locally via another owner in Jacksonville.

 

[Mani]

Craigslist after looking on Prime and CL for about 10 months. Stars aligned because I responded around the time the seller had posted it. Contacted the seller around Tuesday and had the car a few days after =)

I was very happy because a month earlier I had missed out on a fully compteched out NSX with all the 02 updates for around the same price point.

 

[vivanshah]

Old prime post. Bugged the owner for a few months....

 

[jazzmann]

Last summer I was less than a year from paying off my house and my present to myself for doing that was going to be an NSX, something I had dreamed about for 24 years. I knew I'd need to do some homework and found Prime from a "NSX for sale" search. Never really paid attention to other sources after that. I'd check in now and then to browse the sale listings and learn about NSXs from the conversations. In mid-March this year, a few months before the payoff would be complete, my financial advisor, who had done this before with other cars, told me not to wait, start looking now b/c people start putting out their toys to sell as soon as the weather turns nice and the best ones go quickly. The next day I looked in Prime's sale listings and saw Honcho's post, along with a few others that were interesting. I recognized his immediately as a standout and sent a PM. He called me back in a half hour and a half hour after that we had a deal. Six days later (including a weekend), the title was on its way to Harrisburg to be reissued in my name.

THANKS PRIME!!

 

[quantwothree]

i'm in the middle of doing all that. i'm watching CL, Prime and Ebay like a hawk but as days go by, these cars are getting more and more expensive.

 

[RickySixx6]

My story is the same as most. ...

Took me 2-3 years, but...
Found on Prime, on the west coast, while in Afghanistan. A 1998 Kaiser Coupe (non-targa) w/ 72k for $45.9k

Immediately offered the sellers asking price. He was cautious at first, as I was attempting to buy from Afghanistan, but finally agreed after we both became comfortable with each other.

Put it in storage for two months until I headed back to the states. Jumped off the plane from Afghanistan, and onto the plane to L.A. Drove it back to NC over the next 10 days, hitting all the important sights along the way. (Most notably, Pike's Peak, and of course, being from NC, US-129 (Tail of the Dragon))

A NON targa 98!??? WOW - Great find.

- - - Updated - - -

I may have found one. What would you guys estimate the value to be for a great condition, four owner '93 silver manual with 68k miles? It is pretty close to stock except for Koni shocks, RM exhaust and wheels.

Retail 36-39k

 

[99targa]

Just happened to do a Google search one weekend and found one for sale, a 99 Kaiser Grey with 30K miles on the clock, at Luxury Motors in Sacramento. The NSX search took all but 3 days to complete transaction.

 

[oldnews]

Found the first one on Autotrader in 2007, a Red/Camel 2001, sold it in 2009. Found the current 2003 Red/Black on Prime. Bought sight unseen for asking price with guys lined up behind me.

 

[GaNSX]

I'd been looking here, Autotrader, and ebay for almost 2 years. I had sold my 69 Charger to a German exporter and had the funds to buy. I drove out of state three times with truck and enclosed and had come back empty each time. I'd get there and the car would never be what was advertised and over priced for what I was standing there looking at. Countless cars that I called on and planned to go see that sold prior to me being able to drop everything and get there. A couple weeks after returning from Florida, not able to strike a deal on one, I was passing through a neighborhood about 20 minutes from my house and spotted one sitting in a drive way. Spoke to the owner who was a hell of a nice guy but the car wasn't for sale. Almost a year later I see the same car pop on Autotrader. It might have been on there for a hour and I had the guy on the phone. He remembered speaking to me but we couldn't agree on a price. After about a month of me bugging the hell out of him we met in the middle and I made the terribly long 12 mile drive back to my house with the car I'd driven thousands of miles to find.

To anyone looking currently: Have your method of payment ready to go before you agonize over finding a car.
Search the VIN numbers HERE on this site. I found bad info on a vehicle by searching the VIN here which lead be to a beware thread. After speaking to site members who had seen the car first hand I knew to stay away and keep looking.
I also learned this is one of the few vehicles I've tried to buy where the seller actually has the upper hand in the negotiating process. Most of them know it will sell sooner or later and are not going to cave much on the asking price... if they have it priced reasonable to start with.

 

[Lostbuckeye]

To anyone looking currently: Have your method of payment ready to go before you agonize over finding a car.
Search the VIN numbers HERE on this site. I found bad info on a vehicle by searching the VIN here which lead be to a beware thread. After speaking to site members who had seen the car first hand I knew to stay away and keep looking.
I also learned this is one of the few vehicles I've tried to buy where the seller actually has the upper hand in the negotiating process. Most of them know it will sell sooner or later and are not going to cave much on the asking price... if they have it priced reasonable to start with.

The NSX is a hot buy right now so negotiating a better deal is very hard. But patience and persistence will eventually prevail. Congrats on the find.

 

[MashimaroNSX]

Searched around for 2 years and couldn't find a nice clean example that I was happy with, then one day in 2005 I browsed the ebay listings, found one, and immediately contacted the owner via email. The person worked at GE and was laid off and needed the money. It was immaculate, 91 sebring silver/black with 68k miles and he was happy with 23k. 10 years later I realized how much I lucked out.