Greetings,

This is my first post as a new member of this forum. I have to say, this really is a great forum and I look forward to spending many hours here!

I am contemplating the purchase of a 2003 S2000 from a friend and business associate. The car has approximately 32K miles (70% or more are highway miles) and is in immaculate condition. I know he loves the car and has taken great care of it. In fact, he is the kind of guy who takes great care of all his stuff. I don

 

32,000 miles is nothing, especially if the car was well maintained. $23,000 doesn't sound too bad either. Many consider the '03 to be the best year.

I would pay a little more to get a car from someone I knew personally than at a dealership. You know their personality, their driving habits, etc...

 

I guess $23k is not bad if you know everything the car has been through. However, I would think a car like that would go for around $21-22k right now especially since winter is coming.

Front tire wear is normal on the inside tread of our cars because of the negative camber settings. I'd make sure he aligned it to factory specs and not some arbitrary spec just to make it wear even. That could affect the handling in a negative way.

If you don't modify your car or drive it aggressivly, then hondacare or extended warranties might be good. Otherwise, they can be a real hassle to deal with. They often hate giving out any money for repairs and try to blame you for any problems at worst.

Honda certified is hit or miss with this car. Since it's so different than any other car Honda sell, things tend to get overlooked. There have been many stories of rotated tires, wrong gas being used, and other things that the Honda dealer screws up b/c they're not familiar with the car. Of course, there are good dealers out there that know there stuff. You just have to know where to look.

 

I got my 03 with under 3K miles for $24.5K... Given, I got a good price but I don't think I'd pay what he's asking for a car w/ 32K miles on it.

 

I paid 22,998 last month for a 2003 with 15,685 miles on it, one "gentle" owner, purchased and owned locally, where the local Honda dealer told me the full service history. The car was at a local Jeep dealer though. It sounds like your scenario is similar.

I did get the Jeep dealer to lower the price by locating 2003's in my five-state area and pointing out what I could get for less by traveling. Maybe you can get a lower price by doing that. Your current price sounds at the upper range of fair to me.

If its a small town you might consider who would service it. Where I'm from the Honda place sells new S2000's mainly to Chicago area buyers who go out of the city to get a better price, which means they have little service experience on S2000's. I found an independent foreign car shop that knew more about it than the Honda place, so that's where I take mine.

Good luck.

Steve

 

I paid $24,500 for an '03 with 13000 miles on it. I think with that many miles the price should drop a couple of thousand; although, if you know the care was properly taken care of, the extra $ may be worth your peace of mind.