ok, moving in the right direction. by next winter should be able to do it.

 

Winter is the time to look for a cheap deal. Also consider taking a road trip to pick one up. Depending on where you live the prices may still be pretty high (in my area '00 are listed for $15k still) but if you don't mind flying out and driving a few days back, the mid-west and some other areas have some great deals.

 

You could probably do it but I would get the car checked thoroughly first.

Personally I'd recommend buying the best car you can find in your price range, not the cheapest. A lesson I've had to learn over and over again in life is that sometimes saving a little money can be a really expensive proposition!

 

I had planned on making my search over about half the country. I live on the east coast and would fly as far as maybe a 2-3 day drive.

 

wow.. time flies. AP1s depreciated pretty bad.

 

So you'd spend a few hundred dollars in travel costs to buy a cheaper car? I'd rather apply that money to finding a good local car you can properly inspect and cheaply walk away from should you need to.

Any S under $10k is not going to be a gem with a single flaw. Much more likely is the car will have been beat on and that will show everywhere.

The difference between the most clapped out S you can find and a nice clean early car is < $5k. Take your time, save your money, buy a good car from the start.

The S is not like other cars, there are many out there that were used as weekend cars and treated royally by contentious owners. On the flip side, since it is a sports car there are those others than were run hard and put away wet. The early cars have depreciated enough that the choice between the two is an easy one; you can get a good example for so cheap it is not worth saving $2-3k on a POS>

 

I understand the ins and outs as I've already owned 1 S2000. I understand what you're saying about getting a really cheap one, so I'm going to wait until I can get a well cared for one with higher mileage for what I want to spend. I dont mind a few dings and scratches as my plan is to make it into a track car anyhow.

But I would consider flying to save a decent amount of money, but only to go buy from an S2ki member with lots of time and reputation on this forum.

 

i don't think s2k's depreciation is bad at all. Think about it, the car is MY00 and will have 90k + miles for it to be under $10k. the car's frigging 8 years old with high mileage.

imagine prices on used domestic cars..

oh and this is a sports car which loses value alot faster than any others..

 

Let's face it, the S2K is no Supra, it will not stabilize or increase in price.

 

I think the floor for S2000's with under 125K miles and records will stick around $12K.