Sports Car Market magazine has been covering the prices and interest in 1990s Japanese cars for a while now. The guys who dreamed of these in college are of age to get afford a nice example now. And lets face it, 99% of these cars are heavily modified and run hard and put away wet. Originality and low miles were the key.
I know a little about this car. A forum member reached out to me for my feedback on it, and I helped him do some sleuthing on the vehicle (apparently I'm now the resident high-mileage Scuderia expert LOL, which is a badge I'm proud to wear!). Really good guy and we have kept in touch as his search continues. There is some good, and some bad, with this car. The car is on consignment by the current owner. I believe the same owner that posted the 6-year old thread about how the AZ dealer screwed him by misrepresenting the condition of the car, which he bought sight-unseen. Ironically, I saw this car way back before it sold to the current owner when it was for sale at that dealer in AZ (a buddy was looking at a 997.2 tts manual they had for sale (which he should have bought!). The car actually looked good to me. I didn't examine it with a fine tooth comb, but it presented well. I suspected the FOD car was the same car featured in the "I got screwed" thread based on the same black-painted engine bay panels. Through some detective work we discovered it was the same car noted in the thread (based on a vin match from an old for-sale youtube video that briefly showed the vin on the steering column. It was confusing though because the seats were different as they car in the thread had yellow tech fabric inserts. So, the bad news is that it was an exotics racing rental. The good news is that my buddy that looked at it indicated that the current owner truly has dumped a lot of money into it to make it right over the past 6 years. Including re-upholstering the seats (a+ high end job, but no cavalino in headrests) and tons of maintenance and repairs. So I think its probably a pretty solid car. And if my experience with a former exotics racing car is any indication, the car is likely strong as they maintained them very well, fixed them properly when they did break, and did not let "renters" rag on them (always with an "instructor," no "race mode," etc...). The engine panels are in fact the oem carbon, but they were painted black to deal with clear coat discoloration issues (which is a shame because they can be repaired and re-cleared...perhaps that is still a possibility?). I can't speak to whether it has ever been in an accident, but the black engine panels is definitely not a result of a collision. My buddy also said it drove well. With all that said, however, he came to a similar conclusion as you (apparently) have: good car, likely solid, but just a bit high on the price based on the history. Good luck with the search. I have a couple friends keeping their eyes out for good, sub $200k scuds, and I'm not sure they exist anymore unless the have a story/accident/miles.
My folks bought me a brand new DC2 Integra in HS. Wasn't a Type-R though. That's what I really wanted, but can't always have what you want when you aren't paying for it . My car was $25k at the time. I think a Type-R was $35k without premium and the local dealer held a drawing to see who got allocation, so it wasn't exactly a straight forward process. About 3 years ago, I was contemplating bringing one in from Japan under the 25 year rule. Type-R's came out in 96 over there. Different front-end (what I really want) and much more raw, less weight, and slight bit more power. Yellow is as actually pretty rare. There'd be 20 white ones for every yellow one. It's a fun car and I still like the lines. Definitely not a $115k car . $60k at the most and that's pushing it .
"I can't speak to whether it has ever been in an accident, but the black engine panels is definitely not a result of a collision." I had to do a double take on the Carfax to see if it was the car I was offered. If you look at the Carfax, the car was in Socal in 2014-15. This car belonged to a friend of a friend (who I never met) and was offered to me. My friend, who owns a 300 mi Scud and the one who convinced me to buy one, told me the car was in a rear accident and was repaired by the owner. Either an accident or some fire. Extensive damage to the rear panels, which is why it was painted. Owner is said to have repaired on his own dime, hence no Carfax history. I didn't even know about the exotic rental part. This car has more history than I thought. The owner wanted $145k at the time. I told my friend, with an accident history like that, I'm not even sure I'd take it for $100k. This could all be hearsay. I never saw the car in person. I'm just going off what my buddy told me. Whoever wants to buy should have it inspected thoroughly at a qualified body shop.
Interesting. Yes your post came up when i googled the VIN. The selling dealer assures me the panels are carbon fibre and there are zero paint lines on the car and it has never been in an accident. So something doesn't jive. Either way I think it's a bit high
Here's my post from 2015. I'm not one to blurt out random stuff like that. But as mentioned, I never saw the car. It was presented to me by my friend. "My friend has a black Scud, but the rear had damage. He fixed it. He wants $145k for it. Are you interested?" That's when I asked him more details, but it was enough detail for me not to bother checking it out in person and wasting the seller's (his friend) time. https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/scud-pricing-guide.334361/page-85#post-143974168 Yes. The rear engine bay panels are carbon, but they're painted black. If you look in the pics, they're STILL black. If someone really wants to hide it's history, buy some new carbon replacements . Carbon oxidation on the Scud mostly occurs on the carbon airbox. They tend to turn brown over time. Discoloration on the engine panels is much more rare. I've seen it, but VERY rarely. And trust me, I've seen a million pics of Scuds. You can sand and re-clear them. I'm a very detailed-oriented person. I pick-up on stuff people don't notice quickly. But I'm not super anal. I know what's reasonable and what's not. @freshmeat picks up on the same things, but he's far more anal than I am .
The engine panels have a common issue of turning white right above the headers ..very common .. right near the vents on the carbon fiber panels covering the headers Here is a pic Sent from my moto g power using Tapatalk Image Unavailable, Please Login
That's not something I'd paint them black over . That's more of a surface issue from heat and can probably be fixed from sanding and re-clearing. The airbox turning brown is a different issue and far more noticeable. The resin in the carbon is actually turning brown and there's almost no saving it with a re-clear. You can tint the clear black or get away with if the browning is light. Once they turn full blow brown, there's no turning back from that.
Here's the browning of resin you'll typically see on the airboxes. That's not on the surface. That's the resin in the carbon itself. Almost as if these piece were made by a different carbon manufacturer using different resins. Sort of a weird occurrence like the discolored alcantara on the passenger airbag on 08's. I haven't seen anyone go out of their way to paint the airboxes black . Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The Browning is the uv and heat attacking the clear resin making it yellow until brown...the white is extreme heat attacking the resin and if left long enough the carbon weave will be ruined The brown /Yellow as you said can be easier repaired ..just need to sand the resin down as far as needed and recoat with proper uv resin The white areas have to done with a specialized process (like a media blaster .can't remember what it actually was ) (not many shops have the proper machine /process ) that removes all the resin ..(pretty much) and then recoat them One is a diy ..the other not so much The coolant cover is usually the first to go die to the hot coolant and uv Sent from my moto g power using Tapatalk Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
That is a horrible short cut .. that alone speaks volumes about the owner ..buy the owner not the car Sent from my moto g power using Tapatalk
If you notice, the reservoir cover rarely turns brown although they are pretty much in the same vicinity as the carbon airboxes. Rarely do the panels either. They'll oxidize, haze, that's about it. Carbon parts are typically made with a clear gel coat on the surface, which is applied to the molds during production. Then carbon and resin is applied. The browning is the resin, which is integrated into the carbon, not the clear surface gel coat. Not all resins turn brown.
I actually was told by the refinishing shop ..the three represent three different types of damage .. just can't remember which is which ..but i do recall the order of difficulty was coolant, air boxes and then side panels ..with results being the highest on the easiest of course Anyway way off the topic ..sorry.. Sent from my moto g power using Tapatalk
Thanks for contributing. At this price point I think I will just pass. Is there an FAQ somewhere on these cars for common issues? I am just getting into them now. No idea why I ignored them for so long. Looking for a stablemate to my EVO RWD
I'm shocked they chose to just paint over the carbon instead of redoing the clear coat...and yes, the original panels are highly susceptible to yellowing/milking, but if owners at the time kept up w their recalls, all the engine bay panels would've been redone at no cost. The discoloration on the dashboard airbag panel also irks me...if memory serves me right, this was also part of a recall for 08s.
