As I’ve begun considering how much better my life would be with a rusty Land Rover in the driveway, I’ve been pondering the question of how much of a project is too much of a project? When it comes to bodywork, unless you have a good relationship with someone who moonlights as a panel beater, anything with rust is simply too much work and too expensive. Mechanical faults, however, are a different concern, and this 1995 Acura NSX listed here on Hemmings presents a unique opportunity to own a fantastic, 90s-era supercar for a pittance of the going rate if you can assess the risk correctly of a documented rear-end impact. Thanks to Barn Finds reader PRA4SNW for the tip.
The seller is asking $65,999 for one of Japan’s best and most reliable performance cars. As you can see, the back right corner took a hit which resulted in a significant crease in the quarter panel and likely also shifted the rear suspension geometry around. In terms of repair, this is a gray area, as you likely won’t know the extent of the damage until you begin removing the bumper and body panels along with dropping the rear suspension to see if it will ever align correctly again. The seller suspects – and I believe he is right – that the right rear impacted a curb or structure that tweaked everything behind it. You can also see some cosmetic damage to the corner of the bumper as well.
While no airbags went off, it was assigned a salvage title by the state of Colorado. I would assume this NSX was not insured on a collector-grade vehicle policy, as I can’t see the damage exceeding the going rate of a car like this. However, that assumes the damage is truly as minor as the seller indicates, which he seems to think can be essentially wrapped up with a four-wheel alignment. The listing mentions the price will go up if the car doesn’t sell in its current state, as they will address any other repairs the Acura needs – which I can only assume means the requisite bodywork and any additional adjustments needed to the suspension. The interior is clean, and it sports the preferred 5-speed manual.
When I purchased my 1995 BMW M3, it carried a salvage title from California due to a theft that occurred when it was about 10 years old. The car was otherwise unaffected, but the title issue spooked most in-state buyers. The seller believes this NSX will end up with a rebuilt title once the repairs are complete, and that will help improve its chances of regaining some lost value. The seller says once this happens, “…the price will go up drastically,” but collectors don’t like branded titles in any form. In addition, cheap modifications like the aftermarket taillights and slammed suspension also keep big-money buyers on the sidelines. My advice? Do an exhaustive inspection and buy it if the car passes the sniff test. Ditch the mods, put it on stock wheels, and get the rebuilt title. Then, you’ll have an NSX a purist will appreciate, even with the ding on its paperwork.
Ran out of driving talent it seems…
High performance car and low performance driver is my guess.
There is no way I’d ever consider paying $65,000 for a car with a salvage title that prevents it from being street driven. The way I read the ad, the buyer has to fix the suspension, then file for a “rebuilt” title, which will allow it on the road. That appears to put any and all downside risk squarely on the buyer. If the seller really thought the fix is going to be as easy as they suggest in the ad, they’d fix it themselves so they could benefit from the increase in value.
The salvage title you refer to with your BMW is different. California, does not issue “rebuilt” titles. Even after it’s repaired and inspected it still says salvage, but was perfectly legal to drive on the street. The salvage title for your BMW is functionally the same as the rebuilt title would be for this car. I just asked a friend that has a tow company and just got one for a car, the information is on the California DMV website, doing a general Google search will provide a generic AI answer that isn’t reliable.
Steve R
Yep, a dealer who probably gave the owner $30K for it in trade or cash. Quick flip. Caveat emptor doubled here. Always loved these and gave serious consideration when they could be had for around $40K. Since they’re often in Red or Black and sometimes Silver, this Green over beige is really nice.
IIRC, California has a distinction between a Salvage title brand vs. a Salvaged title brand.
The former indicates the car has been totaled (written-off by insurance as a total loss or otherwise received by a junkyard) and is not legal to drive, whereas the latter indicates it has been repaired/restored to roadworthiness and inspected/certified accordingly by the DMV for legal use on roads again, equivalent to a “rebuilt” or “restored salvage” title brand in other states.
How much is a giant can of Bondo?
Beautiful car however as someone just opined – no way I’m paying $65k for a salvage title and the car’s owner knows this – they just don’t want the hassle of doing the repair in case IT IS something more in-depth.
With regards to the title – I’m in VA and just went through this with a Salvage Title from NJ after the purchase of a gas saving commuter vehicle. This is NOT as easy a process by any stretch of the imagination and given there are no assurances here of the damages by the seller, $65k is a bit of a risk to take for something that no matter what is still going to say either “Salvage” or “Rebuilt”
Granted each state is different in how they handle branded/rebuilt/salvage titles so buyer beware however this seems a bit “sketchy” given the seller seems to be leaving “something” out!
Hmm overpriced and salvage.with replacement parts at 401 K prices. So thats a negatory…
For that price range …
No headaches for a new warranty and standard trans available…
The Nissan’s 2026 Z plays to nostalgia, but the sleek, long-hood design holds its own in modern times. A 400-hp, twin-turbo, V-6 keeps the Nissan Z’s acceleration up-to-date, and the Z offers a rarity behind that six-cylinder: the choice of a six-speed manual gearbox in addition to a nine-speed automatic.
Exactly!
the other issue on ANY unibody car is that a “hit” at one corner invariably torques whole chassis, so look for odd gaps at the OPPOSITE corner.
I have found some of these types of hits can also twist, stretch wiring and you can get odd things happening depending on temperature (wires shrink in the cold, no not the george castanza pool issue!), etc.
success to whomever
Yeah, that would be my fear as well being that it’s a unibody car. I would be curious to see what the alignment looks like and if the rest of the body gaps are good. Doesn’t appear to be a hard hit but never know.
It seems that they replaced the right rear control arm. Having worked at Acura of Boston in the early 90s, although I never worked on a NSX because you need special certification for that, I saw one NSX that was in an accident and cosmetically was repaired beautifully, but the alignment could not be brought into spec. I don’t know much about all the title details, but if this can be brought into alignment specs and it drives smoothly than you might be OK. Definitely have to replace the wheels as the right rear wheel has a chunk taken out of it.
These may not be the fastest or nicest cars, but to some they are beautiful.
A $10,000 parts car for $65K? I don’t think so. It definitely has some parts value. But an insurance company probably already had it on a frame jig to check it out. So, I’m thinking some very cool, usable parts for a different project. Drive train, and seats alone worth $7,000-$10,000. I’ll give them $5,000 !
I’d sure like to see the underside of the rear end. A good knock on a corner can leave its mark on some weird parts of the mechanicals. Getting the suspension hard points back in place, motor and transmission mounts out of tension and shift linkages pointed back to the right directions will require the owner to first locate a body man who is familiar with the idiosyncrasies of the car.
Then plan on spending many long hours locating parts, shipping parts, and fitting parts. It may all be just little stuff, but on any sort of an exotic car, little stuff still all begins with four place price tags. And don’t forget, parts that come from overseas now have the tariff issue to complicate life.
Its a shame these little cars didn’t take the market by storm. As I remember, there were a lot of marketing studies at the time trying to figure out why.
One popular theory was that the car had no personality because it was just TOO good. The thought was that people who love exotic cars expect them to have headaches thereby giving their owners a sense of accomplishment when those niggles are overcome (how many stringback gloved hands “tweaked” Webers that seemed to always need tweaking – especially when there were beautiful young ladies looking on?). Simply put, the NSX had nothing that ever needed tweaking, ergo, they were unloved.
I wish I could afford to unlove one.
These were constructed from aluminum. If there’s structural damage, that will complicate the repairs.
This is a mess. A rolling nightmare. When it is perfectly repaired, it will command 45k.
That color combination was so beautiful in person! I lke the rims to, even if non stock
I had a NSXT, black and slinky. Oh, to be young and single again… Anyways you would be amazed how quickly these cars would come around, and not at particularly high speed. A decreasing radius turn was an adventure. There were no nannies and it was hard to tell when you were at the limit until it took you for a ride a few times. If was intoxicating until it wasn’t. Tire pressure was critical. Streets were a unforgiving learning location, I know from personal experience.
I agree that 65k is ridiculous for a salvage car.
DREAMING at $65K
Lovely looking car. I remember when the Acura NSX was first intro’d to the USA market. I remember thinking that it’d be something new and different for Acura, or even Honda, to offer to those who want something different from the Honda Accord or Acura Legend. I was beyond disappointed when it was discontinued from the USA market. You’d think that we, the car buying public would be allowed to decide such things.
I loved them too, but the car-buying public DID decide…by not buying them. Of course, the price point at the time was quite high in comparison to other vehicles, albeit not for vehicles of a similar ilk, i.e, Ferrari’s, Lambo’s, Masserati’s, etc.. Still too high for most of the buying public.
Really? *Did* they decide? I would’ve bought one had there been a dealer to offer them. There should also be a means to maintain them and keep them roadworthy.
In MHO. This car was not viewed as a competitor to “super cars”. They were not viewed as exclusive enough. PLUS again in MHO there were not outrageous in style. (enough)
I like them fine, just outside my financial budget for a toy.