Well said. This was exactly my thought process when I bought my 08 for 21k about 4 years ago. It had 1,694 miles with new car smell. I wanted one in 1999 when these came out but by the time I got thru professional school they were out of production. I bought a low mileage and even though it was for a steal, I bought it to use it.

 

Actually my thinking is that my 02 with 8.5K miles and oem hardtop for $21K is almost like new but its a lot cheaper than a new car to purchase and it does not depreciate like a new car. It will lose value, but no where near at the rate that a new car would. I could probably sell it for more than 10K after putting on 100K miles which will take me 10-15 years. At age 65 it might be my last roadster. So its about avg $1000 a year in depreciation, if that. You do have to take care of them obviously.

 

I think you could get 30-35k if it's in as good a shape as you say and you are willing to wait.

Don't bother starting it up. Next owner will do a proper bring back to life process. And unless you drive it you never hit operating temps, more harm then good.

 

To OP or anyone else who wants to discuss:

What would your plans be for it, if you bought it?

Seems like you are throwing money away every mile you drive. Would a slightly higher mile S2000 be more worth while?

If you're buying it to store and hoping to gain value, how much do we think it will gain over 10-30 years? How would $30,000 of Amazon stock or what not do over the same time span?

I'm just genuinely curious. I would have a difficult time trying to figure out what to do in your situation.

 

I don't think it would be worth it to store a car hoping it would gain value in 15, 20 or 30 years if you calculate the cost for storage and maintanance to keep it in good shape. Heated garage you can't use for an other car, yearly or bi-yearly maintanance and your 30 grand will only be worth 20 grand in 20 years...

Unless you want to save it for your kids or something i wouldn't do it. Buy it and drive it if the weather's good

 

the problem with this is car is once you start driving it, the value is going to drop significantly from the premium you paid for it. This is the kind of car you buy and never drive with the hopes that one day it becomes extremely valuable.

 

Unless a low odometer reading gives you joy, I wouldn't pay too much more for this car.

1,000 miles in a 16 year old car - that is like 60 miles a year. What a waste.

 

He could buy it and put a couple thousand miles a year on it. 5 years from now it would be a 21 year old car with 10,000 miles. No harm in that, it could actually expand the potential buyer base because some people are afraid of cars that haven't been driven. I would bet that car will be worth at least $30k in 5 years if it's oem with 10k miles.

But for sure if he's looking to mod a car he should find one with more miles. Rolled fenders, stanced, boosted, squared etc would destroy the value associated with a pristine low mileage car.

 

OP disappeared after Sept 27th. Wish he had posted some photos. Wonder if he ever bought it.

 

I'd pay 20 grand tops