I have been looking since March for the "right" s2000. I'm looking for bone stock in great condition, preferably with sub 50k miles. I plan on putting about 5k annually on the car and hope with strong upkeep the value will increase more over the years.

I have the opportunity to buy a 04 GPW with tan from a friend. Meticulously maintained, mint condition 1 owner with zero paintwork. OEM hard top included and factory cd changer in the trunk. He wants 33k based on color and condition. My only issue is it has approx 61k on it and my goal was to always have under 100k for potential resale which means I'll have it over that in less than 10 years. Price is a bit high. So what are your thoughts on value on this - desired color combo/condition vs miles?

 

There are not many cars like that left and they pop up infrequently. Usually the go quickly; many are word of mouth. When you find one you like, you may not see another one for some time if ever. You may, or may not, pay full price for the thing. However in this case it does seem the price is a bit high, to say the least.

 

61k is "acceptable" for a 16 year old vehicle. In 10 years if it has slightly over 100k miles it will still be considered acceptable miles for the age of the vehicle...
If you are looking to make money on one of these then don't plan on driving it after you buy it. If you plan on driving it then don't look at it like an investment... look at it as an opportunity to buy a last of it's kind sportscar with a decade ahead of good motoring fun.
Pricing on these are all over the board. You can find some in the mid 20k range but then there are similar mileage cars 10k more expensive. It seems the white ones are going for a bit more too...

Is this your buddy's car? https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...ckType=listing

At that price range I'd rather go with something like this with only 20k miles on it... : https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...ckType=listing

Or even better - this one
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...ckType=listing

Have you searched nationally?

 

At that price point, you can do better mileage-wise. GPW with a hardtop are both great though so it’s all about personal preference.

 

I have a 04 GPW with HT. Mine has 37k on the clock.
Im the original owner bought new in April of 04
Mine has a few mods Veilside spoiler and Alpine
stereo system, back up camera. I would not take less
than 35k for mine. As others have said these cars with one
owner, garage kept are getting very hard to find. Especially
GPW. I have replaced 1 headlight bulb and ballast in 16 years.
along with assorted rubber pieces due to age. If you know the
guy and the car along with its history i would jump on it
They dont come up like that very often 60k miles or not.

 

If you're worried about the high mileage, after driving it for 10yrs, you could always park it and not put any mileage on it. You're resale value would be great in that regard. Car sounds great, it's the right color combo, it has a hardtop, one owner, what more could you ask for? Negotiate the price a bit and enjoy. Get 10yrs enjoyment out of it, and then worry about the mileage.

 

GPW will always demand a premium due to the desirability of that single color, that's what I wanted & sadly I was not able to find one within my parameters(06-up & under 50k mi). I caved & went with my 2nd color choice(Silver) after searching for about 2months because I knew prices for our cars are not going down. I'm very happy with what I went with(06 Silverstone Red/Black interior 47k mi at purchase) even knowing I had a 1k mi drive to get my car back home, since then I've only clocked about 2k mi in around 5 months. At the end of the day you're the one who has to live with the choice to go through with the purchase of that particular car at the price that your friend is asking. Also another thing to consider is how will the transaction affect your friendship if negotiating the price gets intense & egos are getting stepped on.

 

In ten years, I'm sure you'll say, "man I'm so bummed I enjoyed this car and its not worth some amount of money that I had in my head".

But that's a problem for 10 years later.

I'm always regretting all the fun I had. Wishing I could turn experiences into currency and trade in fun for money.

/sarcasm

There's no foolproof way to project the value of the car in the future, so its doubtful you're going to see some crystal ball answer.

If you're looking for advice...

Cars are a terrible investment. Even your friend lost money.

Couldn't you just live your life normally and then figure out what the car is worth later?

In the mean time, invest in something worthwhile?

 

Buy now.
Levi

 

White is highly sought after - almost 50% of S2000 are a shade of silver, and there were only 525 2004 GPWs produced.

04-05 are interesting years - these are the only two years you can get all the AP2 upgrades to the chassis and car and mechanical throttle. Great if you want to keep it stock and get a 'best of both worlds' transition period car, not to great if you want to mod it.

The hard top is a red herring imo - the S is better enjoyed top down, and I don't think you'll get much use from it, but they fetch like $5k on their own I think.

I searched for four months back in 2004 to find one, so if you have an opportunity to get a GPW, I'd jump on it.