a year of searching, had to drive 4 hours from dallas to houston, had to get to the dealership before 10am bc they wanted to get rid of it before the end of the month (was the 30th) and then drove it back, 8 hour drive total, but the last 4 i didnt mind at all!

 

about four days of serious looking once i decided to buy used

i got an 05 with almost 8K miles on it in Feb. (now it's at about 12K lol)

 

I'm not really a convertible guy. After giving up on being able to justify the expense of a Cayman, I decided to consider the S2000 with a hardtop. Found it better to buy the best car deal, then get the HT. I would only buy from an individual, which means that I pay no sales tax in Ga.
I shopped for at least a year, willing to travel ~ 600 miles for a deal. I'm retired. One day the best deal I had seen ( I had a list of ~ 12 cars, they were not selling fast) popped up on CL 10% cheaper. Owner had lost his job, had one week to pay off a negotiated reduced balance with the lein holder to save his credit rating. I'm into a 05, garaged, stock, adult owned (over 40), perfect S (even the factory tires look only slightly worn) with 12K for well less than Kbb (including TTT). And 10 miles from my house. Silverstone, the darkest color I liked. It will continue to be a car covered garage queen, & hopefully depreciate very slowly. Looks like a HT will cost near $2000. That's OK. The car will remain stock Honda, including filters.
I have a DD (07 Sonata 4 cyl/5 speed MT) that is much better for interstate hwy trips. But if I go north into the Ga/NC hills, guess which one I'll drive.
Thanks, Honda.

 

Took me about 3 weeks, found my00 with 43000 miles for 12,800 in mint condition on autotrader. I got really lucky, found it the same day it was posted.

 

my criteria: under 20k/mi, had to be someone i knew. couple shows up for photo shoot, voila! there she was, but a year away from end of lease. the couple let me drive it for 4 months, then i bought outright. back then $5k down, finance $18.5...yow! four years later, got the title. has about 47k/mi on her now....still a baby