Backspin23

Just like the title says I thought It'd be fun to share any interesting stories of how you got your car.

I had been looking for a sports car for a couple months. It was the start of summer and I had gotten bored of my Element. I'd looked at 350's and mustangs and others. After about a month I decided S2000 was the car for me. So I'd been looking and looking unable to find any good ones. then one day at work this really nice '04 silverstone pulls in to get their oil changed. It's all stock, very clean, 26,000 miles, and owned by a really nice laid back middle aged couple.. perfect!! So after they're all done with their visit I said hey if you happen to be interested in selling your car..I'm interested in buying it. they said they'd keep it in mind and a week later they came back and told me they'll sell it. about a week after that I had my car traded in, they bought a new CR-V, and I took my shiny new baby home (I think the wife was happier changing to a CR-V than her husband )

mysilvers2k

I've always had a motorcycle, last one I had was a Harley Sportster. I decided that I would get off the motorcycle when I turn 40 and into a sports car, so I started researching sports cars in 1999 to purchase in 2000. I found the S2K and decided this is the car for one. I was ready to buy one, but all the dealers wanted $10,000 over MSRP at the time, so I waited.

I found out that they had replaced the plastic rear window with a glass one in 2002, and the dealers were now willing to make deals in the winter, so in February of 2002 I decided to buy myself a Valentine's Day present, and here I am. Still driving my S and loving it .

Sabre

Good topic!
My tale is quite a storybook though...

My previous car was a Celica GT. I had it for nearly a year and a half and it was the car that started getting me interested in cars as a whole. (it was an impulse buy after my old Escort was getting into the troublesome stage).

Like so many cars, the GT started out great, but after a while felt "not enough" and so I started eyeing GT-Ss for the extra HP and "lift" which is Toyota's answer to VTEC -> VVTL-i. I testdrove one in Beaverton and loved the feel of it but the car itself was a lot more beat up than the salesman originally told me on the phone. So I passed and kept my eye out for others.

During that time, I ended up getting a spun rod bearing in the GT. Big mess ensued with the aftermarket warranty I had bought, and the local Toyota dealer. They fixed the bearing wrong, and it failed within a day and cause me to throw a rod through the block. After three weeks of arguing between the two companies with lots of finger pointing, and threats of lawsuits, etc etc etc, the dealer caved, rebuild a used block, only to have the tranny go out within a week. Got that repaired under the same warrenty at AMMCO (The dealer refused to do any work with my warranty anymore) and the moment I got it back I could feel the car was no longer reliable on both ends. Just one of those things you kind of know...the dealer obviously was going to replace my engine as cheaply as possible.

So I knew I should check on financing for a GT-S. I needed to ditch the GT before something happened. I got approved so easily I started to ponder how much I could get that I could afford. I was passing the local Honda dealer here and saw an 01 GPW S in their lot so I called them up and asked about it and wanted to schedule a testdrive. I went there late in the evening after work (this was in mid-Dec). Went over the car, chatted with the salesman who was a big roadster buff and talked up the car. Took it out on the parkway here and opened her up and had a smile on my face from ear to ear the rest of the 20 min drive. I knew I had to have one.

I made an offer on the car that would fit in my financing, but the dealer wouldnt budge. So I kept searching and found my 02 in Bellingham WA on Autotrader. 19k miles for $19.9k at a Porsche dealer. Called them, worked out the deal on the phone all ahead of time.

Drove up Fri to WA and stayed with my brother in Bellevue. Got up Sat and went to the dealer, took it for a test drive, filled out the paperwork and left. I was there all of two hours. Drove back to his place. Crashed out and drove home Sunday. It'll be my two-year anniversary on the 14th of this month.

A couple of interesting side stories that went along with the tale:

1) I drove over the Mt. Hood pass on Fri in the rain and wet. In that ONE DAY I was out of state..it snowed and packed the roads. The S still had summer tires on it so coming back Sunday I had to stop in Sandy and buy chains at Fred Meyer and crawl over the pass at 30mph.

2) The dealer wanted a $500 downpayment to hold the car. I was still waiting for my most recent paycheck to clear (which was my free money for the month to spend) so I asked if they'd do $200 that day and then the rest of the $300 when I got there so my check could clear. When I got there and did all the paperwork, they ran my card and only charged me another $200. So I got an extra $100 discount

3) When I tested the GPW here locally, the salesman had me take the car around back so he could put some gas in it from their private tank (I'm sure it was regular ). We spent 20 mins trying to find out how to open the gas door. He had three techs come out of the service bay to try and help us because there was no handle on the floorboard!! They finally found it and the car was nice and warmed up by that time (idling while we waited). And that, kids, is why we dont go to the local Honda dealer here.

S20004ME_PDX

I knew I wanted the S2000 since 1999, when it was first published on all the major car magazines (which I kept). But since I was still doing my 6 year college plan while working, I decided I was gonna hold off on getting it until I graduate from college.

Then 2003 rolled around, I finished school, and was ready to get what I promised myself. But unfortunately that year, they discontinued the exact color combo I always wanted. GPW with red/black interior. So I begin my search for an used one.

It wasn't an easy task to say the least. I found out the GPW with red/black interior was only available in both MY00 and MY01, 02 was all red, and 03 was tan; and since MY00 had some issues that needed to be worked out, MY01 was basically my only option for make year.

So the search begin. I was able to find 2 01 GPW within a 200 mile radius at the time, and I drove and checked out both. Neither seemed/felt right. I waited. I search almost every day to see if there was new listings, then finally on S2Ki, there was one with very low miles on it and the price was reasonable. The only thing that might have made me think twice was the fact that it was in Washington DC. But after several PM's and phone calls, I made up my mind. I wired the seller $500 deposit, and told him I booked a flight out to DC to check out the car.

Before I went there, I had pre-arranged a full inspection at the local Honda dealership, as well as a transport truck, that is ready to pick up the car on the same day I leave DC if I choose to buy the car.

All I can say is things couldn't have turned out better. The seller is one of the coolest guy I met. He picked me up from the airport in the S2000 right on time. He made the effort to take time off from his work to take me to the dealership as well as dinner and some DC sightseeing. Car check out flawless, and the only known issue was the low rpm clutch buzzing, which the dealer in Oregon honor the warranty and fixed it before 32K. Even the truck that came to pick up the S2000 showed up on time, and they made the delivery the day after I returned to Portland. Rest is history.

Tony_05s2k

lol good stories! Well I was turning 20 and was getting tired of my civic lol. One of my friends had just got the S, once I got behind the wheel I knew it be my next car the only trouble for me was I wanted the tan interior which meant I needed the GPW, I looked and looked for four months till the day I found her waiting for me in Seattle so I rushed from work and headed north it was perfect 10k miles and the owner was a middle age lady!

Planets

My previous car was a '99 mitsu eclipse and I'd pretty much had enough of the headaches it had caused me over the years. Plus I was just a few thousand away from having it completely paid off. I wasnt sure what exactly I wanted to replace it with, but it was definitely time for something else. Maybe another sport compact, maybe an SUV or a Subaru to get me through the snow, I really wasnt sure. I had never really even considered the S as a car that I would someday buy, until I rode in a friend's '01. That was enough to spark some interest. I loved how it just felt like a little streetlegal go-kart. The tight-fitting cockpit, the engine noise, the hard suspension, the immediate turn-in, etc. Then one day the same friend mentioned that he saw a used '00 with 19k miles going for 19k at the local nissan dealership. This was in '03. I went to the dealership the next day for a test drive, and within minutes of driving it, I knew that I had to have it. So we went back to the office and negotiated and I ended up buying it that day.