Honda NSX Buyer's Guide

The original NSX is the supercar Honda built to embarrass Ferrari on reliability, and thirty-five years on it has done exactly that. Our data holds one sold result, a 1996 NSX-T manual at £73,125, with an active 1990 coupé estimated at £50,000 to £75,000. That is serious money for a Honda and entirely deserved: the aluminium-bodied NA-series car is now a blue-chip Japanese classic.

Know your generations

Two generations, separated by a decade. The NA1 (1990–1997) carries the 270bhp 3.0 V6 with VTEC and, from 1995, the NSX-T targa; the NA2 (1997–2005) brought the 3.2 and a six-speed manual, with the 290bhp Type S in Japan and the hardcore NSX-R as the unobtainable halo. Early manual coupés and anything with the 3.2 are the driver's picks; automatics carry a meaningful discount qualitatively. The NC1 (2016–2022) is a different proposition altogether, a 573bhp twin-turbo hybrid built in Ohio, ending with the 600bhp Type S; it depreciated when new and is only now finding its collector audience. Our sold result and active listing are both NA-series cars, which is where UK interest concentrates.

What to pay

One sold result: £73,125 in May 2026 for a 1996 NSX-T with the manual gearbox. The active 1990 coupé's £50,000 to £75,000 estimate brackets the same territory, so on our evidence a good NA-series NSX in the UK is a £50,000-to-£75,000 car, with the £73,125 hammer showing where a desirable manual targa actually lands. One sale and one estimate cannot map the whole range: JDM automatic imports sit below this qualitatively, and NA2 manuals, Type S and any NSX-R far above it.

What goes wrong

Remarkably little, which is the point, but the list that exists is specific. Early manual gearboxes (roughly 1991–1992 production) had the notorious snap-ring failure on the countershaft bearing; verify the transmission number is outside the affected range or that the fix is documented. The timing belt and water pump service is due every seven years or so regardless of mileage and is an engine-out-adjacent cost at specialist rates; a car without recent evidence of it needs the price adjusting. VTEC spool valves weep oil harmlessly but leaking cam seals are dearer. Window regulators fail, the climate control unit's capacitors age, and targa roofs creak. The aluminium body is rot-proof but expensive to repair properly, so panel fit and paint depth readings matter more than on a steel car; check for accident history above all, because chassis jigs for aluminium NSXs are a specialist matter. Original dampers and bushes are often past their best by now; budget for a refresh rather than assuming the tautness is factory.

Our view

The NA-series NSX is one of the safest supercar purchases in our records: a car engineered to be run, with Honda service costs rather than Italian ones, and a market that has already decided it matters. At our £73,125 sold result the manual NSX-T is fairly bought, and a documented, accident-free manual coupé at the lower end of the £50,000 to £75,000 estimate band would be the pick. Buy on gearbox, service file and bodywork; the engine will outlast your ownership.