Came across this ad today. https://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/cto/5675160126.html

What do you guys think? deals or...?

 

I don't know..I wouldn't call it too good of a deal, but it is definitely more of a gamble than a stock one. If it were $10,000 it would certainly seem like too good of a deal and would raise more suspicion if the ad were even legitimate, but $19,000 is still a lot of money to me and usually with that much I'd play it safe and buy one that is more stock, like a stock 2006-2009. I saw a stock 2008 Chicane Silver AP2 down in a small town in Oregon with like 20,000 miles for $19,000 or something in really good shape, that to me seemed like too good of a deal almost, but the ad looked very legitimate. But I didn't bother looking into it because I just bought my '04 with 42,000 miles for $16,000.

Why was it re-painted though, and in a different color? It would be worth more if it retained the stock paint. I certainly wouldn't buy the car thinking to resell it down the road, might take a hit as stock examples are generally easier to sell, and parting can be a pain as evident by them selling all the aftermarkets with the car as one whole sale for everything as is. Being turbocharged I'd question the mechanical reliability more than a stock example.

 

Every turbo s2k ive seen purchased from someone else seems to have issues, some severe/catastrophic or more minor such as tuning or gremlins that take constant attention and headaches from the owner and then s2k community trying to help. Personally i would not want to turbocharge this car, and never purchase someone elses.

 

They're running the car about 9,300rpm on the dyno which is 1000 rpm over what's generally considered safe for an AP2 engine. No engine mods listed other than the turbocharger.

Kelly Blue Book value? For a car this heavily modified?!

If you want a boy race car go see it.

-- Chuck

 

Exactly why I'd stay away from this one, completely agree with both of you! Buy one stock first and then modify as you like knowing exactly what you're getting into. If you get someone else's generally you don't know, you may be getting their "mess" rather than a well kept car.
I'm thinking to get what the owner wants out of this one, sadly for them they will have to part it. That's probably what I'd do if selling one like that anyways, heck people generally part their aftermarket wheels, coilovers, and often even hardtop before selling the car even though it wasn't that modified (unlike this one which is, for better or..worse). When it comes to aftermarkets especially, parting first and then converting car as close to stock as possible will generally extract the most money. This particular one will be tougher than most because it is so.. modified from how it came from the factory.

 

It really depends on the quality of the build. It looks like a log manifold which is usually pretty crap. Mix of auth and rep parts and expensive bodywork. It says the title is clean but I would want it throughly checked to see if it was ever wrecked. Something seems off but hard to say for sure.