Good points, but there is no sales tax on private party sales in AZ. Also, registration will probably be under $100 a year for an early AP1. Make sure you check on insurance though, especially if you go with a salvage title car. I'd say just be patient and keep looking, something will come up. I would really suggest going with a clear title car though, the extra $1-$2k now will pay off later.

 

$9000 budget, then there is tag, title, sales tax (if buying from a dealer). Then you've gotta buy insurance, pay for gas... and you'll almost certainly modify it... $$$$$.

So basically once you're one year out you've probably spent $15,000 or so on that $9000 car.

My advice would be to up your budget a couple thousand dollars, buy from a private seller, and don't modify the car. That will help kept your ultimate costs low even though you spent a few more bucks up front.

 

Shouldve bought my car in AZ and yeah my registration is under 100$ a year now, but when i bought the car the previous owner was 7 months past due on his so he had to pay over 300$ in penalties

 

Some words of advice for the OP as a guy who is also in the market for his first S2K.... Also a question..

How old are you, OP (Thread starter)? It just seems that you are a little young. If you're under 21, you might want to consider something else or up your budget. If you're under 18, no doubt about it you should look for something else. I did, I got an '02 Accord EX V6 @ 16 when I really wanted an S2K. Because on top of the car itself, modding does not come cheap. At least compared to other Honda's like a Civic or Accords. Because Honda spent a TON of money trying to make the stock components as best as possible while still being streetable. I bought a pair of quality coilovers (D2} for my 02 Accord for $800 brand new, RAN 10x better than stock. If you don't spend close to $1500 for a set of coils on the S, it'll pretty much be a downgrade from stock. Same thing goes for Headers, Exhaust systems, etc..

I wanted an S2K when I first got my license but I also had a similar, small budget. So I opted for the Accord and promised myself than when the time came to get another car, it would be an S2K. It's been almost 6 years since then & my budget has more than doubled (7k-8k to 17k-18k). Plus I make enough money to mod/maintain the car, which I wouldn't have been able to do before even if I could've afforded the car itself.

Someone already said it but Live within your means. If you only have 9k to spend on a car, I honestly don't think an S2K is your best choice.

Good luck. & If you're going to stick with an S2K regardless... BE PATIENT AND DO NOT SETTLE!

 

I only brought up AZ because I know that is where the OP is located. It usually doesn't matter where you buy the car but rather where you register it. Even if you had bought in AZ, your home state would have hit you up for taxes during title and registration.

 

Good point. Insurance is expensive on this car and the gas mileage sucks. These are ongoing expenses that you are going to have to pay long after that $9000 is spent on the purchase price.

 

Yep, this is why many people had their houses foreclosed on.

"Oh I can afford a $200k house but you'll approve me for a $500k one? That sounds awesome!"

 

There's no airbag in our seats.......

I probably would have laughed and said no if you offered $6.5k for that S2000 too.

 

Like others have said, 9k can get you a clean title AP1. If I were you I'd wait a few more months and try and save 2k more. Your options from there will widen greatly.

 

I'm surprised that everyone thinks $9000 will easily get him a "clean" S2000. I suppose it depends on what you mean by clean. I expect that $9000 will buy him a 2000/2001 with 120,000+ miles unless, the car is in really rough shape.