Hello All,

I'm looking into getting a used White 07 with about 7k. Let me know your thoughts on my train of thought.

Starting price of $28,200 from carsdirect.com for a new one.

Summary:
$28,200 (brand new 07 before tax, title, etc.)
-$1200-1600 for depreciation
-$750-1000 for top wear right above passenger side seat
-$300 as weatherstripping above driver side window has a lot of small cracks
-$500 paint has swirls (I was shocked to see swirls on a low mileage 07)
-$500 for Fujitsu CAI
+$? for extended warranty
+$300 for tint (I'll check legality before buying)
---------------------
Final price = $24,600 to $25,250

Detailed
I figure the depreciation is about right using Edmunds as a baseline.
-$1200-1600

It looks like the top is worn through the inner liner above the passenger seat. The outside vinyl looks fine. I've seen the threads on top replacement through HoA under warranty. Looks like replacing could be a pain through HoA. This wear isn't near the metal folding top frame. It's in the middle of two frame sections. It looks like it was caught on something or slightly cut by metal. It's not a smooth wear spot.
-$750-1000

The weather stripping above the driver side window has a lot of small cracks right where the window touches the rubber. This area may leak in the future. I wonder if the cracks are due to the window tint. The window gets hotter while sitting in the sun and transfers the heat to the rubber, drying it out.
-$300

I was shocked to see swirls on this car. I figure at ~7100 miles this car has seen 3-5 car washes? By comparison, my 04 Mazdaspeed MX-5 has barely any scratches and no swirls. I was thinking when the dealership washed it last, they made the swirl marks. I've seen how dealerships wash cars. I figure $500 will be enough for a professional polish and protection. I know the paint is thin on the S so your thoughts on this?
-$500

I've seen the threads on the AEM V2 / Fujitsu CAI and the possibility of hydrolock. I saw these threads after seeing the car so I didn't check to see if the PO blocked the hood drainhole or if they put an umbrella over the filter element. The threads say it's a good idea to put the Gortex like cover over the filter and make an umbrella. They also say that you need to remove the bumper to change out the filter. I figure you could simply uninstall the pipe section with the filter attached to change out the filter and reinstall the pipe with new filter. I'm not sure how often this filter needs to be replaced or how hard it would be to uninstall/reinstall the pipe + filter. Another possibility, I could buy and reinstall an OEM intake.
-$500

The extended 2yr/100k powertrain warranty is probably worthless since it's a Toyota dealership providing the warranty and the fact that the factory warranty would take precedence. I'll take a closer look. I'll also make sure it still has the balance of the remaining factory warranty. Since there's only ~7k on the car, I figure it should only need one oil change record for the factory warranty to be valid?
+$?

The tint job is nice. Side windows, back window, and top of the front window. No bubbles and looks like a good job. I'll check to make sure it's legal here.
+300

Any comments and thoughts would be appreciated. I would probably take this car somewhere for a PPI to have a look at the car, namely the rear differential and valve/valve guides. If in know of a good place around Atlanta please suggest. I'll also post the PPI question in the SE section here.

Let me know if I missed anything.

TIA,
Lee

 

I just bought a 2007 with 2000 miles, perfect condition except for two small scratches on the front bumper for $24,700 (in Atlanta) last week. I also had at least on local dealer down to $27K for a brand new 2007 (including doc fees and delivery charge).


$24-25K for a less than perfect car seems high.

Junebug

 

man the s2k prices must go down pretty quick?? 24-25k OTD for a 1yr old s2000 seems like a very decent deal.

 

Dealer here in MN has a brand new Silver 07 for 29,500.

 

Wow, really? How did you negotiate down to $24,700 for the used 07? Was this the one from Honda Carland? If so, I need to take it off my list.

And where/how did you get down to $27k for a new one? If a new one can be had for $27k, I may go that route.

Mind sharing any of your secret recipe?

Thanks!
Lee

 

I got the car for $24,700 at a little lot in Marietta called GA best cars.

As far as my recipe for getting a good price, I took the carsdirect price of $28,174 and e-mailed it to the local dealers that had multiple s2000's on the lot (I figure they are the hungiest). One came back and said he was the cars direct dealer, and offered another $100 off. Another dealer offered $100 off that price as well. One actually offered above the carsdirect price! One took three days to answer.

But one came back at $25,999, plus $6xx transportaion and $399 "dealer fee" for a total of $27K and change. I went with the used one as $2300 off for 2K miles seemed like a deal to me.

I will PM you a copy of the offer from the dealer that was $27K tonight when I get home. It was one of the dealers over near Gwinnett (I really don't remember their name..all of them over there have similar sounding names.).

Junebug

 

Did you happen to see the car on the lot as you were passing by, at GA Best Cars? It's hard at times to see what all is available in a particular city. I usually look though Autotrader, Cars.com, and Craig's List. Is there anything else that you can think of? (I don't look at Ebay as I don't think most of those cars are in good shape.)

Thanks,
Lee

 

If you'd PM me the info for the dealer with the $27k quote I'd really appreciate it. I'm sitting at $28.6 right now, but I have a feeling my local might match...

 

Geeze i hate people that pick apart cars like you have.
Taking x value off to the price for this and that for minor imperfections in the paint and small cracks in the weather srtipping. guess what?! its a used car, meaing its been in the real world and unless something is DRASTICLY wrong with it get over it. when you buy used you cant complain about EVERY little detail.

 

Swirl marks are not minor when they are all over the car, which in 7k miles, means it was probably washed around 5 times. I don't even see this amount of swirl marks on cars that are in average condition and 5-10 years old. I will say white can be deceiving so it's really hard to tell how bad it is.

Minor becomes major if left to time. If the weatherstripping begins to leak, then this is a problem. If the CAI contributes to hydrolocking the engine, then this is a problem. If the top tear begins to leak, then this is a problem. Things don't magically fix themselves in the world I live in.

No need to go further. I know very few people that are willing to pay a sizeable sum for a great car and wouldn't do their due diligence.

On a side note, I wonder how you treat your car if you think these issues are minor or small.

Lee