So is a warranty reflected in the cars value/selling price? Basically if you purchase a car that is still under warranty that is stated to be a "1-2k" value as mentioned above and your car goes in for ZERO repair work during ownership you've basically paid the 2k on top of the cars value for peace of mind? (Given the warranty effects the cars selling price)

 

I did just that when I bought mine in 2002. $1400 for a 7 year warranty that's about to expire. I've had exactly one repair under the extended warranty - clutch master cylinder. That's a $110 part if I changed it myself, maybe $250 if I paid the shop to do it. So ultimately I paid over a grand for "peace of mind".

 

Not a bad deal. I got my S as "certified pre-owned" from a Honda dealer. You'll get [almost] everything covered for the first year, then powertrain until 100k.

But don't kid yourself, their big inspection thing is just a lot of talk. All they did to my car prior to sale was wash it, sloppily wax it, replace the air filter, and do an oil change. I know this because I looked it up...they won't really tell you what they do.

 

Mine was certified by mistake when the previous owner bought it. He didn't have the car long and the certification and warranty transferred to me...I guess becuase it was a private sale. Anyway, I contacted the Honda dealership that certified it because of a small issue (which, it turned out, was not covered) and learned from the sales manager that the service dept had turned the car down for certification because of aftermarket parts (dc header, hks exhaust, fujita CAI). But the sales dept. certified it anyway...possibly by mistake. Long story short, it is certified and the waranty is good.

A few months back I started hearing a clicking sound from the right rear...Sounded like a bad cv but it turned out to be a wheel bearing. When the dealer went to press in a new bearing it didn't fit in the hub properly. They ended up changing out the hub and bearing. Thanks to the warranty I paid zero.

For those unfamiliar with Honda's certification program, the warranty covers the engine and drive train (Including hubs and wheel bearings ) until the odo hits 100,000 miles or seven years from when the car was first sold new, whichever happens first. So that certified car the OP was looking at would be covered until 2012.

BTW, I am now running a stock intake, header, and exhaust just to avoid any future hassles with the dealer over the warranty. But I am looking at intakes and exhaust systems again since my warranty will be up in early 2010 anyway.

 

got my 01 certified pre-owned. things were cool til i realized it had a blown head gasket. the dried coolant sprayed thru out the engine bay shouldve been a hint hint that something was wrong but i was just happy to potentially purchase the car and i trusted the whole "certified used" garbage. it overheated on the drive home, i thought it was just somehow low on coolant, filled up the radiator, didnt notice any leaks, called it good. big mistake.

by the time i was back in the car after training for my job and realized what was wrong i was stationed halfway across the country and no honda dealerships in the area wanted to touch my car. i paid $1600 to get it fixed since i couldnt get back to the dealership i bought the car from before the warranty was up.

i would rather take a used private seller s2k and get it checked out professionally. cheaper IMO.

 

If you are planning on modding, even lightly, you might want to skip the CPO. A very few have been lucky enough to get warranty items covered by HondaCare when there have been mods done to the car.

 

looking at the various online pricing guides, the $18.9k price isn't too bad for a certified sticker price. edmunds says $20.6k certified / 19.1 reg retail. kbb has retail of $20.5 and nada is at $18.8.

are there other local options closer to your target price to use as leverage in negotiations? 17k is pretty aggressive, but unless you're at carmax, you shouldn't have to pay what's on the sticker.

 

All of the S2k's in the Twin Cities are over priced, so no, I don't really have any leverage. They want the car gone, that's about all I have. I'd actually pay up to $18,000 and I think they'd go there.

 

I got my certified 4 years ago. It just expired in march. Mine paid for itself as the convertible top ripped itself apart.

They replaced it under warrenty. saved 2000 for the parts and labor.

 

$18k sounds like a reasonable meeting point, and a nice price for that car, which looks to be in excellent shape from the pictures.