Cat D N5XGC

[gcon45]

And so we are where we are: no-one really wants to touch Cat C/D NSXs and they hang around a while.

I put my red facelift up for sale in the summer at £59,995 and was inundated with phone calls.
I had several £50K+ offers with the best being £52.5K (which came from an english dealer who wanted to have the car collected the following day) so the above statement is untrue (for facelifts anyway).
I decided not to sell in the end. Had I been offered the full amount I may have been tempted but I doubt even then I could have parted with it. It wasn’t a completely wasteful exercise however as I got to find out what the car’s actual current value is.

[drmikey]

This is a really interesting point and I think it's down to the NSXs own success as the "Everyday Supercar"

How many 1991 "restored" NSXs are there out there compared to restored Ferrari 348s, or Esprits or Lambos for example.

The latter cars are classed as classic, vintage, retro collectables that probably get driven once in a blue moon and sit in a collectors or enthusiasts garage

The NSX is still considered an everyday car - expected to start on the button, have minimal mechanical issues, relatively straightforward to service.

I think as such, many do not consider it a classic "classic" - its too good a car!

Whereas something unreliable, rusty, nightmare to maintain, achieves higher number classic "points".

And similarly with CAT C/D damage or reshells, replacing half the car due to rust - many marques can get away with it - its accepted, but not for the NSX.

Yes it has an aluminium chassis, but it can be fixed very well according to the very detailed service manual.

Whereas something like an Elise, is basically designed to be thrown away if any structural damage.

The Cat C/D thing's quite intetesting really. You crash a car 'say minimally' but the car is written off for whatever reason; gap insurance, uneconomical to repair etc. The car is then tough to move on. Often because no-one logs or keeps the repair information.
Anyway, the bottom line is that the car is worth half market value and is hard to resell.
Meanwhile, people are taking rusty 60's chassis's with a logbook to restoration garages, which rebuild pretty much the entire car and sell it as an authentic Ferrari, Aston Martin, etc....
I know it's economics and perhaps it doesn't matter if you don't know what you're buying. But it just smacks of rediculous.
Not only that, but you can paint it whatever standard colour you want.,and if you get it right, it's worth even more money.
Ever wanted to paint your NSX championship white. Well in 20 years time you can and it won't matter. Do it now and effectively half it's value.
We are a stupid creature who doesn't understand the real value of material things. ������

[goldnsx]

Yes it has an aluminium chassis, but it can be fixed very well according to the very detailed service manual.

I agree with your points but a corroded but unbent steel chassis is not the same as a bent one esp. when aluminium is involved. It CAN be fixed according to the very detailed service manual but there's an economical incentive to keep costs within certain limits when doing so. If you repair it step by step according to the manual the effort and the costs are so high that noone would rebuild a crashed NSX. That's why a Lotus Elise is thrown away after a crash.
There are (call it) 'crazy' dismantlers out there who part out very young luxury cars even after a slight 'fender-bender' just because:
- the parts are worth more than the repaired car
- people in the price-range have very high expectations and won't buy a fixed or resprayed car even it was only slightly damaged. Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huGe5L6nDBk Ferraris, Lambos etc...
I guess/fear that the trend is going in this direction. If the new car gets gremlins or slighty crashed people throw it away and move on to the next toy. This is in contradiction to 20 or 30 years ago.

As for the NSX: as long as there are 'enough' cars out there there's no need to rebuild them from a heavy crash. Unlike other makes the car is so reliable that you won't make so much money just from the parts or have to wait a very long time to get wrid of them.

[Nick Graves]

Is that the story (morning glory) with that late-model red one up on PH for £55 large?

[drmikey]

Elises are binned as they cannot be fixed - according to Lotus. Complex bonding, not conventional spot welds like on the NSX

Many shops in Japan and one in Europe fix crashed NSXs to a high standard.

Yes Im sure there are some dodgy repairs also.

TBH the NSX chassis is so over engineered you really would have to have a complete bodge job for it to cause any serious safety issues (as long as it aligns straight, of course).

Anyone who drives a Caterham would be in far more danger in an accident than a repaired NSX!

But CAT C and D is also good for us lesser mortals that cant afford mint condition low mile "HPI clear " cars, but still want to experience an NSX

I agree with your points but a corroded but unbent steel chassis is not the same as a bent one esp. when aluminium is involved. It CAN be fixed according to the very detailed service manual but there's an economical incentive to keep costs within certain limits when doing so. If you repair it step by step according to the manual the effort and the costs are so high that noone would rebuild a crashed NSX. That's why a Lotus Elise is thrown away after a crash.
There are (call it) 'crazy' dismantlers out there who part out very young luxury cars even after a slight 'fender-bender' just because:
- the parts are worth more than the repaired car
- people in the price-range have very high expectations and won't buy a fixed or resprayed car even it was only slightly damaged. Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huGe5L6nDBk Ferraris, Lambos etc...
I guess/fear that the trend is going in this direction. If the new car gets gremlins or slighty crashed people throw it away and move on to the next toy. This is in contradiction to 20 or 30 years ago.

As for the NSX: as long as there are 'enough' cars out there there's no need to rebuild them from a heavy crash. Unlike other makes the car is so reliable that you won't make so much money just from the parts or have to wait a very long time to get wrid of them.

[Hagasan]

Looks like the subject car of this thread has found an owner now going by a Facebook post earlier...

[umran9]

Ive bought the car in question!

[goldnsx]

Congrats for your purchase!

[havoc]

Nice one...let us know how you get on with her!

[umran9]

Got her booked in for a major service cambelt etc at Norton Way just waiting for parts to arrive from Japan...Need to find some decent wheels too!