so i found an s2000 in one of the colors/year/price i would like. need some help from s2ki on this. car was originally bought in levittown, NY (honda city) 7/02 by Sonny's Ice Cream and Food (st james, NY) . kept until 9/06 when it was auctioned as a fleet vehicle (57,082 miles at auction). it was then bought and sold by clawson honda (fresno,ca) 10/06. it was then repossesed and sold at auction 10/08 (79,393 miles) in oregon to the dealer who has it now.

only maintenance done i found records for (i have yet to reach dealer by phone, email):
- 10/06- oil and lube (57,141 miles)
- 2/07- timing chain tensioner (60,670 miles)
- 5/07- timing chain, air pump (63,549 miles)
- 5/07- oil change, evap system repair (63,666 miles)
- 6/07- clutch and flywheel replaced (65,085 miles)
- 10/08 2 new firestone firehawk gt tires 79,440 miles

okay.
first i am concerned about previous maintenance history. will a pre-purchase inspection, leakdown, compression, and valve retainer check suitable for checking for how it was kept (i have read all the info here about buying)? second, this car was driven 13,505 miles a year when it was in new york, thats a lot of miles to not drive it during winter (it was a company car it appears). i am really concerned about exposure to snow/ salt, etc that may bring rust/damage on. third, would i have anything to be worried about since this car was repossessed? so i found out the original owner (sonny's ice cream and food) but the number listed is no longer in service, unable to find a current number. although, i did find a similar business name in minneapolis , MN (sonny's ice cream). i called the number a couple times today and no answer. will try again this week and next week to reach dealer, and sonny's ice cream to hopefully talk to original owner(s). i live 550 miles away, thats why i am trying to be as careful as possible. carfax is clean (but you know how that goes).

specific car ad:
http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=u...000&cardist=543

 

hmmm i dono the price is pretty good but yea i would be careful. i dono think about this, would you rather pay like 2-3k extra and get one that has lower miles and more importantly a clean record w/ no worries? if you're already gonna spend 10k on a car why not put a little more for something better?

 

I would not touch it. This is a great car that will last a long time if cared for, even if driven hard. Any person that gets in this car and does not own it will beat the hell out of it and then fail to maintain it. Also, any car that has been repossessed is like a car you would get from a title pawn dealer. If they cannot afford the payments, they cannot afford to maintain it. An S that has not been maintained will likely bite you in the ass, hard. The fact that this car has been reduced is probably due to the fact that people like yourself have liked the sound of it, looked at it or drove it, and said no way. A used S2000 priced to sell is a warning, any money you save will likely be spent in repairs. You should be able to find an older, low mileage car that has been a garage queen as there are a lot of them out there. Original owner would be perfect so you can feel the person out a bit, why they are selling, how they took care of it. Heck, mine is a 03 bought used at $26,500 from a guy whose wife made him sell it after 3,500 miles in 2 years. I just cracked 20,000 miles and doubt I could get much over 15k for it. You are doing an awesome job on research and deserve to be rewarded not punished for it. Save a little longer or spend a little more if you have to, you will be happy you did.

 

thanks clag, thats basically exactly what i needed to hear. the search continues..........