I found an S2000 on Facebook in my area. It's a Laguna Blue S2000 with 51k miles for 19k. It has been slightly modified. I did some research on the VIN and found a sales ad for the car when the seller purchased the vehicle.

https://vms.autorevo.com/ebrochure/6509947.pdf

The only thing not listed that is added is an AEM CAI that I will be replacing with a K&N or a Stock air box

Here are some pictures of the car. It looks like a wire tuck has been done, a battery and eps relocation. The car is 4 hours away so I don't really have the opportunity to look at it in person. Can you guys tell me what you think?

https://imgur.com/a/S2kjl32 - Pictures
https://imgur.com/a/2bj4Lbr - Carfax (Clean)

 

I forgot to add in the first post, the car is a 2006.

 

When buying any car like this you HAVE to see it in person. Pictures ALWAYS hide things, even if you try to be as honest as possible.

That said, the rear fender flare is not "slightly modified." More than likely the original metal underneath has been cut up and cannot be restored. Even if it's not cut, it still has holes riveted in, so if you wanted to repair it then it would be some welding and a repaint. There's a million and one ways to **** that kind of work up. It also ruins the value of the car. It's ok if you like this kind of thing, but it looks pretty weird on stock suspension and wheels and front fenders/bumper.

A wire tuck is a horrible thing unless you did it to your own car and you know where everything is. When you need to fix something, you won't be able to use any available documentation to help you. For first time S2000 ownership, I would skip this one.

 

The fender flares and wire tuck are a major "NO" for me
fender flares just look so gawdy especially with the exposed rivets. They ususually cut the inner fender and roll lit up and primer it. Then they screw in the screw studs
Repair will be difficult and the wire tuck look is not for me, but aside from that. Any repair you have to make is now a 100x harder.
That's why the price is low. An 06 with that mileage here gets around 20k.

 

Thank you for the replies. I'm not too familiar with wire tucks but I'm willing to take the car apart to figure it out. It's something that I would have done in the future. Can you give me some examples of repairs that would be harder because of the wire tuck? I know if any fuses get blown I'm going to have to take the fender off, but I'm okay with that since I have some experience with body work and wiring.

 

Hard Pass

 

The owner is literally valuing the car based on the mileage. Don't do it man, you can find cleaner examples for that kind of money.

 

Some of these mods (like the fender flares) suggest the car was far more heavily modified at one point in time and the owner likely removed and replaced anything that could easily be put back to stock. Heck it might have even been boosted given all the work done to relocate the wiring and fuse box freed up tons of space by the exhaust manifold. If this doesn't bother you then that's fine but for me there is no way I would buy this car.

 

Relocated battery only degrades reliability and only has minor benefits even in a dedicated race car. Non-functional cosmetics like "wire tucks" are just that: non functional.

Appears to have a leaking rear window in the non-OEM (aftermarket) roof.

I might drive across town to look at this, but not several hours.

-- Chuck

 

He had told me the soft top was OEM