need help before purchasing a 2002 Honda S2000
 

Hi everyone. I'd like to hear everyone's opinion and suggestion on this 2002 S2000 that I'm about to get. Ok here are the problems:

I saw this 2002 S2000 at Jaguar dealer in NC. This car still look good very good ( inside and outside). It only has about 11K miles on the odometer. Anyways I test drove it and found nothing wrong with the car. I asked the saleman for the carfax report, and everything about this car is fine except for the fact that the mileage it was last recorded was at 114,687 miles. Can anyone tell me what is going on? Is there a mistake on the carfax report or is it even possible to roll back the mileage? By the way everything under the hood is like brand new. I am just confused. What should I do? Please help me before I decide to buy this car. Thanks in advance.

Tuan

Sounds like CarFax may be wrong. That is a lot of miles for the year of car and that many miles would show wear on the inside of the car. (Carpets, seats).

What does the Jag dealership say? Very interesting though.

I mean it has a little wear on the leather seat and that's about it. Everything else is like brand new. The Jag dealer say that whoever did the car inspection before typed in the wrong mileage, and they also say that if there are any indication of rollback, they could go to jail for 7 yrs. What I don't get is that it took them forever to get the carfax report of this car. I thought they probably tried to hide something. I don't know. Suggestion or opinion on what I should do are welcome. Thanks guys

Well spend whatever to get your own CarFax although it has the VIN number right on it. I think that they are probably correct and the wrong mileage was recorded. I'm sure you can tell a car that has over 100K miles on it.

Not sure how you would confim that though and remember that when you go to sell it the buyer is going to have the same questions unless you can straighten it out. Are there any maintenance schedule receipts in the owners manual, things like that.

I think it is a big risk for a dealer to roll back miles. I don't think they woud do it, not a reputable one like a Jag dealer anyway, that is only my opinion though.

If they want to sell the car have them write the name of the previous owner on a piece of paper and leave the room, you jot down the name and check it with them. Leaving the room makes the dealership not responsilbe for you getting the name (Privacy issues).

The price of the car is the big indicator. If they are asking a rediculously low price I would be hesitant, if the price is fair market value then that would indicate to me the mileage on the report is wrong. If it isn't then the dealer wouldn't want to raise red flags and would offer the car at a low price so you wouldn't want to check it.

Make sense?

Should be apparent the differance between 11k miles and 114k miles.

Are you dead set on this vehicle? Personally, if I was really uneasy about it, I'd find another one. With that said, I might be able to put this to rest by having an independent mechanic look things over; would they would agree to that? As previously stated, it's probably just a typo. I would also try to find out if there is a procedure to correct erroneous carfax information; I would make the dealer straighten that out as a condition of the sale (get it in writing!). Best wishes with your decision.

Well, I really want the car. It's so clean, and I believe it's a typo too. I definitely get a mechanic to look over and there are no maintenance receipts or anything like that. They want $19950 before negotiation. I'll keep everyone posted. Thanks guys.

Just remember the person you sell the car to will feel the same way you do, that he/she is being ripped off. It will be harder to convince them as a private sale. I like the suggestion that as a condition of the sale try and get the dealership to straighten out the mileage issue.

That's too much for a 02.

Wow thats a crazy price. I see 04s and 05s with 30 k miles go for that and cheaper.