WVCR-V

So what's with stating that a car has never seen rain? Is this even relevant anymore? I still regularly see ads for modern collectables like S2000's, Corvettes, Porsches, etc. with low mileage stating they have never seen rain. Somehow that irritates me. I mean, its a car, it is meant to be driven outside...where weather happens. I understand that you definitely want to keep it off of salted roads and that is easily manageable. But where I live in the Mid Atlantic, you can start out on a beautiful morning and come home in a thunderstorm. Its impossible. I could see if its an old classic worth 100's of thousands, but somehow on newer cars this annoys me. Maybe I'm just jealous that I don't live in a dryer climate...lol.

darcyw

you can bet manufactures test their cars in all sorts of weather. heck, porsche (and others) put each car thru a water test to look for leaks. My s2000 is guaranteed to see rain after I wash it.

darcy

vader1

I am not sure about the first owner as I bought my S2000 as a lease return with 12k on it, but I drove it from there to 41k over 12 years and it only saw rain once in my care. That was the only way I knew it needed a wiper on the passenger side after owning it for several years.

Does it make a difference? I think a little bit. First a car that has never seen rain has been kept indoors for one thing, you know the owner probably pampers it, and I can tell you if you see a car the same age and mileage from Hawaii versus one from Arizona they will look quite different when viewed from underneath. A car that has seen rain, might have been kept outside and that will show in the paint. When looking at used cars it is amazing to see the difference in a five year old car that has been kept outside versus garaged, even after detailing.

I am not sure a few rusty bolt heads make much of a difference to most buyers, but if somebody has a true, "never seen rain" car, I give it a 5 extra points on a hundred point scale just because weather is wear and tear, and that car would have that much less of it.

It is not a deal breaker either way, but when buying used, and you want as cherry as can be, one is "more cherry."

mosesbotbol

It's a way of stating the car was only used for perfect day driving, like it wasn't their primary car. How can anyone prove it has never seen rain? Would they refund your money if you found footage of the car in the rain?

shutoburner

I have a Subaru Legacy for rain and snow days and try to avoid driving my s2000 on guaranteed rain days...price I pay for living in PA. Maybe that's what some folks do when they have a second bad weather car.

WVCR-V

Yeah, that's basically what I try to do as well. I have a CR-V daily driver but here you can leave on a beautiful morning and come back in a storm. Plus, if you leave town for multiple days driving though different areas who knows when you'll hit rain. i mean just to attend the Tail of the Dragon even takes you to an area that's basically a rain forest. I don't mean to sound like a hater for those who meticulously care for their cars, but I just don't see how its reasonably done. Believe me, I like to keep my S out of the rain as much as anyone but I don't see how in this region.

HwangTKD

I am pretty proud to say that my car has only been in the rain twice during my ownership (3 years). The original owner said that the car has only been in the rain once. I had 3 other s2000's that were horribly rusted underneath (I live in CT). When I bought this one I swore to myself that I would never leave it in the rain or snow. It takes a tremendous amount of effort but it makes me happy. It's a car at the end of the day, but I intend to keep it for the next 20 years. My car is a 2006 Berlina.

Hfreak

Almost an impossible statement unless you have OCD and plan religiously. Both my cars have seen rain under my ownership but not by choice, only a couple times each and was not expected. I will not drive the car if it is raining or rain is forecasted. You can't trust the weather not to spoil your weekend.

TheDonEffect

It's not so much the falling from the sky rain onto your as it is all the water that gets in from under driving around, with all the crap on the road, increases the amount of rock chips, undercarriage corrosion, etc etc. Also cars that typically are shown that level of OCDness tend to be parked in garaged which imo is even more important in non snow areas since the sun wreaks havoc on cars. So yes, if a car hasn't been rained on, but more importantly it shows it, I'd give it kudos. Of course, I listen to the person saying it, but I always look at it myself. I've seen garage queens look like crap because the old guy hit a bunch of stuff and got poor bodywork done on it, and cars that are parked outside on the street in urban area look great because it was owned by an over enthusiastic college kid who lives for their car.

WVCR-V

Makes sense. Mine has always been garaged and I've only been caught in the rain a few times in the 10k miles I've put on it. Before that probably even less since it was only driven 38k miles in the first 10 years.