2002 S2000 Red - Should I repaint?
 

I have a 2022 S2000 (AP1 obviously) with 73,000 miles and is in great condition. Paint color is the Formula Red with Black Interior. The paint is in general good condition but has a few nicks on the hood and sides from general road driving. Everything on/in the car is original and I have wanted to keep everything original. I really want to repaint the entire car with the Formula Red to make it look perfect, however, will this diminish the value if it is repainted, even though it would be the original color? I have no plans to resell and plan to keep long-term.

Maybe take it to a professional and see what they can do to restore/correct the current condition. Repaint effects value on certain vehicles. Since yours has 73k miles it’s not exactly collector condition. And if it’s had accidents on its records esp not a 10/10 VIN I’d paint away.

Take a lot of “before” photos so you can prove, one day, the shape the car was in before you repainted.

Don't repaint it.
You would be amazed what a professional paint correction (polishing etc) can do to restore paint. Find a reputable detailing shop in your area and leave it with them for a couple days.
I did a 2 day paint correction on mine when I bought it and it looked as good as new (still does)...
Rock chips etc is expected and OK on a car of this age. Touch up paint for those areas...

I agree with MrFunk. Any standard body shop will tell you to paint the whole car to "blend" the paint. It may take some work, but find a place that specializes in higher end cars and they will know how to do the proper corrections.

I agree with this sentiment. Try detailing the car first and see how you like it. A lot of the haze the comes in old paint is from oxidation in the top layer and that will come out with a polish. Depending on depth of rock chips a cut and polish may remove them or it will dull the edges enough so that they do not stand out as much. The goal would be to reduce the visual severity great enough and revitalize the paint such that you love it again. If you don't have a DA tool you can even do it by hand. It will take a long time but if you just want to test it out just buy a foam pad, a light polish, and some clay and go at it on a small panel. My car is covered in rock chips and pitting from smaller rocks and dust however after a polish I was amazed at how much better it looked. The chips and pitting are still there but are much less noticeable now.

Find a professional detailer - many are mobile and will come to your house or office - to check your car out. Ask specifically if they do paint touch up. Try to get 2 or 3 different detailers to give you and estimate.

Once the touchup paint cures, you can have the shop clean polish and apply a coating to your car. You could also look at paint protection film to keep the newly detailed car in good shape...

I'm in pretty much the same situation and I have pretty much decided to hold off on repainting. I agree with others either give the car a good paint correction yourself or have it done and then see how you feel about how it looks then. My S is all original too so after 19 years and 76k miles it is showing some patina but I like it all original.

You're looking for opinions so here goes: :)

As far as value repaints are suspect. What's the seller hiding? And they're also expensive.

Just found the invoice from a top shelf body shop for refinishing my front bumper and repainting it to match the body work. $600.55 -- that's just the front bumper. Had to come off the car so they could get the 1000 stone chips out of it and the faux brake air intakes had to be masked or removed, the VIN tag masked, and it all put back together again. They installed my NOS front lower spoiler under the bumper at no charge.

Look under your hood. There are bolts on the fenders. Some are painted body color, some are not. A "perfect" repaint will preserve the unpainted bolts and won't cover up the VIN tags which get more important as value enhancers as time goes on. Instant hooptie if the area under the hood or inside the doors or trunk doesn't match the exterior -- noticeable even if not changing colors.

Spend your money of a new roof and good summer tires. Even a good, professional Detail can cost $500.

-- Chuck

10/10 vin is way overblown. It depends on the circumstances of the car. Someone would still buy a $10,000,000 Ferrari if a fender was replaced correctly. I've never heard of such vin excitement with any other car I can think of. I have a 2008 with 9 vin #'s. The LF fender was replaced with a factory Honda fender and the car is perfect except a tiny missing sticker. Paint the car if you want and don't worry about the vin stickers.