All of the above. No sense buying a garage queen that will no longer live in a garage. These cars hold up well to minor fender bender stuff. No issues with drivability if repaired well, which is not difficult with these cars. Even the parts of suspension that can be damaged from fender benders and mild spin outs into curb is easily replaced. So no worries here.

But as for leaving it outside during New England winter, no. NO! Really bad idea. Even the shed is kinda iffy. Moisture and rodent issues. If you can, find a place to store it during winter, and take rodent precautions (cover tailpipies, intake, put mothballs under hood and use something in interior to discourage them).

Sun damage to top and interior is the other concern rest of year. So for me, I'd do one of those tent style covers, well secured so wind storm doesn't take it and mash it into car, and park under that during summer, then mothballed storage during winter.

Also, there is a thread for stuff for new owners to do and check. Check it out. Some of it is useful for pre purchase inspection. The rest is stuff you'll wanna do or at least know about soon after purchase.

 

IMO, the advice given here is correct, but the value ranges are off. In the past 6 months, the asking price on S2000's has gotten completely wonky. An easy 30%+ increase, and it's making even "well driven, decent condition" cars start approaching the $20k mark. Cars with way more miles and likely suspect maintenance (seriously, only oil changes and maybe a brake pad change or two for 100k+ miles? come on...) are commanding huge premiums relative to a couple of years ago.

I totalled my AP1 a couple of months ago (hit road debris - punched hole in oil pan, just a siezed engine totaled the car even with a retail valuation! which doesn't even begin to touch the prices asked for on this forum!), and I've contemplated another. But the prices people are asking are completely out of whack with reality, and as much as owners are all on board this "appreciation" bandwagon, only NICE examples that are low miles and very well maintained can command such huge premiums. The $10-16k range is filled with cars that are honestly not very nice on average IMO, especially on this board.


I'm probably not going to get another S2000 due to this, as I'm not paying the premium for relatively poorly maintained vehicles just because "hey the top was replaced 4 years ago and I've done a few oil changes!" Yea... that's called maintenance...


Leaving an S2000 out in the snow is not the end of the world, but I do think you'd see quite a bit of wear and tear on the car after a few years of that. But I'm also one to track my S2000, which most people here would squeal with disgust over diminishing the value now.

 

DefSport, I have no idea where you are located or what cars were priced like in your area 6 months ago but I'm surprised that S2000s are currently so much more expensive there than here in the Pacific Northwest. Typically cars (cars in general, not just S2000s) always sell for more here than most other parts of the country. I usually feel that in conversations revolving around S2000 prices, I'm safe in saying that they can be found at prices I mention (or lower) — definitely didn't wan't to be misleading in that regard.

 

Thanks, guys. I'm looking at storage options. For spring to fall, at least a car cover but more likely a carport. For winter I agree with everyone and would never leave it exposed to snow. I don't think a soft top is meant to support a foot of snow :-). I'm looking at storage units or it may be possible to store it at my dad's place. Regardless, it will never see a winter outside of shelter.

As for prices, I agree with all of you. There are decent samples in the 15-18k range. I plan to look all over and would fly to the right one if necessary and drive it back. But I've seen some that are astronomically high... Nearby, Bridgewater Acura just listed a yellow 2008 with 29k miles for 32k+. I've looked at it and it's a beautiful specimen, but it's been lowered (hence no longer original) and severely overpriced. I told them that... Likely about 6-7k overpriced. They chuckled. I'm sure someone will buy it.

I've read through the great info here and know what to look for. That info is certainly priceless! I also know how to tell the difference between a truly cared-for car and one that's been spruced up for sale.

My biggest issue is the "bug" has now gotten me and impatience is my enemy. Unless a unicorn appears, I'll wait until the spring, even if it means paying a bit more. I know if I bought now, I'll want to drive it now, and Northeast winters vs S2k doesn't mix well.
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I just moved to the PNW from the Houston, TX area - S2000's are going bonkers in both places. It's especially bad in the PNW, I'll agree, but even in Houston if it had a clean title and <150k mi the asking prices were creeping well into the teens for pretty rough examples with beat interiors and no maintenance history typically.

My previous car was higher mileage at ~140k mi when I bought it, but the thing was in great shape all over. It'd had the front bumper repainted, but no accidents on the Carfax, interior was mint for the miles. It was in very original condition, but that also meant the stock shocks were toast, and it needed brakes and some suspension refresh to bring it up to snuff. So "someone hasn't touched it" isn't the best idea if a car has significant miles on it. I got it for $8k, which was great at the time, but probably only $1-1.5k below market even considering the condition.

When I had to prove the insurance company wasn't giving me fair market value, I did a survey of all cars that were within 20k mi and +/- 2 years of the car. Average asking price of that? $16k. That's bonkers, we're talking about all 120k+ mi cars, a lot didn't have clean Carfaxes, and most were in "mildly rough shape," some in pretty rough shape like torn seats, top being torn etc. S2000's are great cars, but beat cars just don't warrant that sort of price premium IMO, but that's where the whole market is going.

Just look at the FS forum here, there are some pretty rough cars that are asking for high teens. Anything that's really clean is well over $20k.

 

Lots of good experience here. As for your plan to leave the car outdoors in a Northern Winter keep in mind many here have publicly stated they'd not even consider buying a car that had been abused like that. I frankly doubt I would.

I went the "all 10 VIN tags" route with my 2006 and wanted the car to be as original as possible. The car had horrible aftermarket wheels on it which went to a good home and were replaced with proper OEM wheels. A couple of inevitable things like intake and exhaust on my car but that's it other than a Gernby FlashPro tune to boost mid range power. (Pre-2006 cars need an aftermarket ECU to tune and then ya gotta find someone to do it.)

An "upgraded" sound system or even a radio in this car is pointless. Driving the car as it was built to drive leaves little time for anything else for me. I forget the radio is even there as it's hidden.

Convertibles are eaten alive by the weather and more so in winter. Left out in the weather the car will become "filthy" in just a couple of days. A roof leak will be catastrophic. I consider at least a roof cover essential but the rest of the car will get dirty fast. I'm not over fastidious about my cars but two of my three cars are in the driveway (including a new 2017) as there's only one space in my garage for now and the S2000 is there.

Right now many are highly motivated to sell. Sellers market starts around Easter. There are too many cars still available to take less than a pristine car. My benchmark for our area is $21,000 for a near pristine 2006 with under 50,000 miles. Add/subtract for every year newer/old and every 10,000 miles less/more. Not seasonally adjusted. YMMV.

-- Chuck

 

Of course, I am sure you will want to best the best engine oil in the car....................