Hey everyone!

I've been lurking on S2Ki for a couple of years now ever since I first met my coworker and have recently been really thinking about making the purchase. I purchased a Civic SI 2014 Sedan for around 21k OTD a few years back and while I've had a lot of fun driving and learning on that car, I've felt that I would be able to move on to an s2000 now. My car now has 16,000 miles on it and it was on KBB for around 20,500 so I figured I wouldn't lose a ton of money on it aside from the coils and CAI I put in. I've been in serious talks the last couple of weeks with a few s2k owners that are selling their vehicles and the one I'm most interested in is a 29,000 mile GPW 2007 with black/red interior going for around 27,000. I'm trying to be as patient as I can and figuring out what is a good price for one of these AP2s and I was hoping to get some of you experienced folks advice.

I guess my 3 questions would be:

1. If you had the experience or something similar, what was it like moving from a relatively more practical car to the s2000? I know the one thing I'm really just missing on is the ability to drive others around, but I do still have access to an old 2002 Acura TL.

2. As a side question, I noticed that my car does have a few rock chips and very minor scratches as well as some curb rash. I recently got quoted on the curb rash on my wheels and it would be around $300 to fix and the scratches around $400. In terms of selling my car would it be advised that I do both/either/none of these services?

3. I'm currently looking at 2 s2000s and was hoping to get your opinion on them. The 2007 AP2 that I'm currently looking at is a Grand Prix White w/ Black and Red leather interior. It is a 1st owner with all matching VINs and kept in pretty relatively pristine condition aside from a tear on the soft top and rock chips on the front bumper and a scrape on the back bumper. It has BC Coilovers, an xbrace, and an K&N Filter. What would be a fair price for me to offer for the vehicle or is that 27,000 a fair price?

The second s2000 is a 2004 GPW AP2 with a tan interior and no mods aside from the stereo system and powder coated oem rims. The car has matching VINS, and looks very pristine. It also comes with an OEM Hardtop which is something I would want to buy. The car has around 50,000 miles and is priced around 23k. The only thing is that the car is a 2 owner and has been in 2 minor accidents that were strictly body damage and the service records were provided. Same question for this car as the first one!

Thanks again for all your help and time guys and I look forward to hopefully joining the community!

 

Welcome!

Quick answers to your questions - solely based on my personal opinion:

1) I have never missed not being able to cart people around. I used to have a sedan and actually got sick of going anywhere and people just volunteering me to be the driver because I had the car that could fit everyone.
I went from the sedan to a 2+2 coupe (back seats basically unusable) and then to my first S and if I were to complain about it in any form, it would be the exact opposite, where I want to drive to somewhere with a group, but it doesn't make sense to drive the S by myself when everyone can pile in to a 4-door anyway. So then I miss out on getting to drive it.

2) You will only get a fraction of what you put into the repairs back in the sale price of the car. Is it worth it? probably not. It may save you from having people try to lowball you because it's not "perfect". Personally, I wouldn't do it unless it severely affected the look of the car, like it was painfully obvious that the rims are torn up, or the scrapes are really bad/visible.

3) Do you care about traction control and drive-by-wire? If that's important to you, the 07 would be the way to go. I think the 04 sounds like a better value, especially with the hardtop. The low mileage on the 07 isn't low enough to justify 4k more without any worthwhile extras in my opinion. The Hardtop alone on the 04 is almost worth that difference. Minor body damage isn't a deal-breaker for me, especially if the title is still clear and the repairs were done well. My AP1 was in a minor collision that took out the driver side front fender and door skins. It was repaired very well and I didn't factor the accident into the price when I sold it (but I did disclose it on the craigslist ad). The buyer didn't care either

I know values have been going up recently because they're getting harder to find but I picked up my 07 ap2 GPW/Black&Red (supercharged) almost 2 years ago for 20k (from a friend) and it had 31k miles at the time. It had some minor chips/scrapes, and minor issues here and there (bad sensors that had to be replaced, etc). Just to give you some perspective.

 

Sabre has good advice.

To maybe add some prespective--an OEM hardtop in good condition would sell for around $3500 with all the mounting hardware so figure that into the price of the 04. The 07 has a ripped top so needs a new one so figure $800-1000 for that

In my mind, the 04 is a far better deal. GPW is the rarest color and folks who have one hold out for top dollar so figure that in.

I do love VSA (I sold my 05 with 9900 miles to buy an 07 just for thr VSA)- I think it adds a very important safety factor to our cars--you see very very few folks with wrecked 06+ cars in part because of the VSA. And on an S2000, there's a button to turn it completly off if you wanted to. Others will chime in that you're not a Real Man if you drive a car with VSA so opinions differ greatly on its value--only you can decide that--- read the past threads on the pros and cons.

06+ cars are far easier to mod because the ECU can be easily reprogrammed and the earlier cars need an add on module.

Be sure to read the the sticky up under the FAQs in this thread about "what to look for in a used S2000" as well as the model differences year by year.

Amd welcome to S2ki!!

 

Is it your daily? If So, I would look for a car without all the vin's present because if you get in an accident with a mint condition gpw that you paid 27k you would be devestated lol.

 

I'm a newbie but since I just bought my 1st ('06 w/43k miles) I think the price your paying is way way way high! Mine is a 1 owner 65 y/o perfect condition 100% stock & I paid $19.3K. I didn't think of it as a bargain nor outrageous . I flew to OH to pick it up & drive it back to the Philly burbs.
Just my 2 cents.

 

PS,
I love to post a pic if SOMEONE could direct me to posting instructions for dummies.

 

If you use the quick reply at the bottom of the thread post, you can click the Use Full Editor button, and then under the text box is a section for Attachments.
Click Choose File and select the photo from your computer and then click the Attach This File button.
Once it's uploaded, it will show a small thumbnail down in the same area and to the right there is a link that says Attach To Post which will insert it into the message you're typing.
[attachment=95138:Screen Shot 2016-05-25 at 12.53.06 PM.png]

 

Just so you know, I bought an original owner, never seen rain, 6300 mile 2005 S2000 for $24k out the door. It was literally a time capsule. I think the prices you quoted are high.

 

Maybe as a newbie I don't have attachment posting privileges cause I don't see this at all.

 

It's actually probably a limitation of a guest vs a paid member.
It's been so long since I've been in guest status that I had forgotten that many features are not available to guest status.