I found the s2k I want but it is a 10 hour drive away from where I live. I had the seller send me some photos via email and I will get him to take it to a mechanic before I fly in to view. Would any of you s2k pros review the photos he sent me to see if everything looks good?

2001
All-stock
82,128 km
Original soft-top
Asking: $22,000 CDN
All the sticker VIN's match
Has sat in a garage for the last few years not getting serviced or driven. Is that a problem?

Thank you!

 

I recently did something similar, I had the dealer put it on a lift and get photos of the underside. Rust can be a concern on suspension components and subframes. Given this car is in Canada I'd be a little more worried about rust underneath. The other thing is tires, one lower mileage car I looked at had old tires showing signs of degradation even though they had decent tread. This can be another point of negotiation. If this car has been sitting mostly, they could have flat spots too. That said, it does look quite clean in these photos. Good luck!

 

The photos look good from this distance. I have no idea what the tire tread depth might be but if they're over 6 years old you'll probably want to replace them eventually.

Flying out and driving back with a car that's sat for years I'd ideally want a complete fluid change before starting out. At least a Jiffy Lube oil change and the fuel tank drained and filled with 93 octane. You can probably drive it home without incident. Do the complete fluid change and new oil again when home. Driving home assumes you're doing this thru inhabited areas, not wilderness.

-- Chuck

 

Thank you. Those are some good points.

 

Thanks Chuck. I was think some fluid changes may be required. Especially for my 700km drive.

 

The photos look very good to me as well. Looks like it has been well cared for.

To me, the number one thing in a sight unseen transaction is whether you get a good positive feeling about the seller, and the openness of the information you are being given. I purchased my 2003 literally sight unseen from a guy two state's away. It was the exact car I wanted in every way. He was a great guy in his early 70's and it was obvious immediately to me that he could be trusted 100%. I did my google searches on him and everything checked out. I sent him a check for a fair price in the winter and picked it up in May. It was everything he said it was. I'll admit I was little worried about how foolish I would look if it turned out bad. But, it was everything he said and more.

I don't think the storage will cause any significant problems. Just get the fluids changed, make sure the brakes are working correctly, and take it easy, like you are breaking in a new car.

My questions:

How does the car fax look?
Is it one owner? Knowledge re prior owners?
Any knowledge of major mechanical or body repairs?
How was it used?
Maintenance kept up?
Any problems with the top? PIctures with top up?
Does it run strong now?
It would be great to get a pic of the underside including the underside of the front bumper which often gets chewed up.
It would be great to get a video of the engine starting, and running. You can tell a lot just by the sound of the running engine.

But, my first impression is good.

 

I would also ask S2000 specific questions, may those be recall related, issues related, or performance related.

If the owner answer like a S2000 owner, and knows his/her way around the car when describing (if any) previous issues/mods/driving experience, you can tell the owner took care of this thing.

 

Brake fluid definitely needs a change, and it's getting low.

Canadian cars that are not winter driven will not have any rust issues. With low mileage like that it was likely not driven in many winters if any at all. One good thing about Canadian S2000's that are winter stored is that you don't rack up many miles on them as you would say in a California car. With a three season car in Canada they are pretty much stored for up to 5 months each year on average. I'd say 9 S2000's out of 10 are winter stored, very few drive in winter for a number of reasons.

 

Same across the northern tier of the US. Here in Vermont the toys tend to go into storage around Mid October- Mid November and they typically come out on tax day (April 15). Most folks wait until there has been some good rain to wash all the salt off the roads. Won't be long! Hard to imagine I'll be driving the S in a few weeks with a six foot pile of snow at the end of my driveway at the moment. Just have to have faith!