Can anyone recommend a good, reputable, nationwide car inspection service? Looking at S2K's nationwide and I'm wondering if this is a good way to go to confirm a car's condition, etc.

New to the site so if this has been discussed already (likely) please point me to the thread. Thanks!

 

A Friend of mine did this. We are in IL and the car was in Texas. When he got the car the truck had a rust hole in it. Was not the best experience. The best solution is to go yourself and pay for an inspection at a local shop.

 

You can also ask local (to your shopping area) s2ki members to check it our for you.

 

Best answer. We know these cars, and whoever does the inspection can be researched ahead of time on this forum. What their knowledge is, how long they've been here, etc.

Any service you hire you'll get whatever tech happens to get assigned. They'll use a generic checklist used for all cars. They won't have any clue about common things to watch out for with these cars. They also won't know what things that sound bad are actually easy fixes, or which ones are really expensive.

 

I'll bet everyone here would like an excuse to go see another S2000 and report on its condition. Showing up in another S2000 would assure the seller we know the car. But there's no substitute for personally inspecting and driving whatever car you're considering.

Looking for a S2000 in general may not get the car you want as there are four (4) generations which often differ significantly. Call them Early-AP1, Late-AP1, Early AP2, and Late AP2. They're not all alike.

-- Chuck

 

Thanks for the responses everyone. While I would love to be able to see the car(s) in person, it just isn't practical as I doubt that I would find "the one" on the first try.

Asking an S2KI member sounds like a good idea and that may be the path I take...

 

I will throw out that in some cases, some cases, you might be able to ascertain the condition of a car without having someone check it out. My case in point. The car I wanted was at a dealership in another state. They had tons of pictures and the car had 30K miles on it, one older owner. Absolutely stock and damage free. They had tried to sell it on eBay for months but the reserve was ridiculously high as I discovered. I had lurked for all that time and finally I called and we negotiated a deal. I had, in writing, specified that if the car was not as represented, the deal was off. The dealer agreed in writing. I purchased the car and paid for it sight unseen in person. It took 2 weeks before I could fly to PHX and take two days to drive it back to Sacramento (which was on heck of drive over the Sonora Pass-my face hurt from all the smiling). The first time I saw the car was when they picked me up at the airport with it!

Still happy with deal.

 

Glad it worked out. But not seeing how in your story you ascertained anything before inspecting car in person.

There were photos, but every potential deal has photos. There was sellers story, but always a story. There was a Carfax, there is always a cf.

You invested time and money to travel and inspect. What if it had turned out to be a turd? That would all be on your dime. This is what OP is trying to avoid.

 

You are correct on all counts. It came down to the old 6th sense. I felt I could tell from the trail of evidence it was the real deal. The guy I dealt with at the dealer did not have a personal stake in the car the way an owner would have. He went out and dug around for some of my specific questions and sent pictures to confirm my what information I asked for. Plus, in my case, flying to Phoenix as a jump seater was free so that was no big deal.

I just thought maybe, maybe, the guy just might find a similar situation and should not reject it solely on one factor of negative in person findings.

 

@ cosmomiller: I get that. Sometimes a car checks all the boxes (10 VIN's, clean Carfax, no rust, no Winters, one owner, etc.) and you just feel right about it. Plus, in your case, you had a written "guarantee" which, while maybe not ironclad, sure helps.

I have seen a few like this but was too hesitant to pull the trigger like you did and poof! they were gone. I'm glad your search had a happy ending! I'll keep looking...