Hi, I'm new to S2ki and new to S2000's in general. I just bought an '04 S2000 with 31,000 miles on it, two owners. Autocheck score of 94 or 95, everything clean.

So I go to pick up the car after making the purchase and am told by the dealer that the rear axel needs to be replaced because something was vibrating and blah blah blah, vague explanation.

Today he tells me that the car is ready to be picked up and that the Honda mechanic who swapped out the rear axle said the car had an "aftermarket sport" axle and non OEM.

Why would a car have an aftermarket axle? Could this have been a weekend track car or an accident that wasn't reported or... ?

He said that Honda cleared it as being in good condition, but after the aftermarket axle thing, I'm suspicious.

Any suggestions on what I can do to check the cars history and condition?
Thanks!

 

The car could have been a weekend track car yes, but depending on the previous owners "future plans" for the car its hard to tell. Lots of people who like to build their S2000's for high HP applications tend to upgrade the rear end i.e. the differential and the axles that can handle more power than the stock ones. Are you able to look at the axles to determine a specific brand?

 

how much you got for? if you dont mind me asking

Most of the time aftermarket is better than OEM believe it or not!

 

sure aftermarket is better than OEM, however he bought a used car with aftermarket axles, which means whoever had it previously was running some pretty strong boost, and probably rode it pretty hard.

OEM axles are meant to handle the power from the factory, I see most FI guys with pretty decent power running OEM axles. SO again this car was probably used for drag or track and not something i would buy IMO

 

That sounds like bs from the dealer. I'd figure out a way to double check the dealer before getting too suspicious about the car.

 

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, I'll ask tomorrow about the axles that were removed and try to find out what brand they may be.

I paid a little more than I should have for the car I think, I got it for $16.9k from a dealer. I was trying to get an '04 w/ low miles for 15k-16k but had a real hard time finding one.

If I had known about the axle problem before I bought it, I wouldn't have bought it, but I didn't learn about it until afterwards and when I drove it, I didn't notice anything. Everything else about the car is fine and in good condition from what I could tell from my inspection.

The second owner, who had the car for about 2yrs only put 6-8k miles on it (dont remember exactly) but that's normal for a summer only car. I live in Boston and most folks are nuts enough to use these year round.

Thanks again

 

That's not a bad price, but not a great price.

Got an 04 with 61K last July for 15.7.

Aftermarket anything should lower your price. Why would you buy it if you were suspicious?

 

I didn't learn about the axle thing until after I had purchased the car. When I test drove it the AC wasn't working, it just wasn't blowing any air. So the dealer says, " I have it scheduled to get repaired at honda tomorrow or something and I'll get that fixed asap.", so I concede and say Ok, get it fixed and I make the purchase.

He then tells me, "I asked Honda to change the rear axle also because I felt the car vibrate between 40-45 mph and it shouldn't do that." And I didn't find out it wasn't an OEM part being replaced until I was told to come pick it up.

I'd already paid for it before learning anything other than the AC doesn't work.

 

I completely disagree. In my experience only a small percentage of aftermarket parts are better than stock. Most of the time fit and finsh is suspect and unless you can revert back to stock without knowing there were aftermarket parts on the car it's worth less than if it were stock.

 

You have to remember "aftermarket" doesn't necessarily mean "high performance part" Aftermarket just means not OEM. Could be an OEM replacement part within OEM specs, but since it isn't an OEM part it's considered "aftermarket". Majority of dealers don't know the true meaning of "aftermarket". When I bought my S2000 I was told by the dealer that it had a "racing" front bumper on it. But clearly from the pictures I seen it didn't have a "racing" bumper, it's a stock front bumper with OEM AP2 lip. The dealer thought since the lip was on there that it was a "racing" front bumper. Just some food for thought.