I’m at a point of trying to determine whether to restore my ‘02 S2000 or.. sell as is (value in parts?).

It has sat for the past 2 years outside after lending it to my aging Father, who did not maintain it at all and decided to stop driving it after a small gas leak.

Moisture has gotten inside, so I assume that just bodes poorly for the route of restoration as well. I believe he had about 150k on it and it had been a daily driver for me 10 years ago in the Northeast.

From sitting the brakes did stick to the rotors, I’m removed them recently to free it up and to gauge what the scenario looks like. Prior to removing the gas lines, car did start to crank, it just was not getting enough gas and put a stop to it there.

Opinions either way, it is a GREAT car and so sad to see it sitting but also want to be reasonable if I will need to throw $$$ at it and maybe more than I currently realize ... I have a brand new soft top to have installed but at this stage wanted second opinions before moving forward.

The AP1 are coveted and prices for good condition are pretty firm... provides some wiggle room to spend to get it spruced back up.

354

 

If you put in a lot of money to spruce it up, you may not recover all of it in a sale. You might do better if you take care of the low lying fruit and clean things up as much as you can for sale. Including a new top, even if not installed, is a step forward. It gives everyone some wiggle room in negotiations.

On the other hand, you could install the new roof, fix the gas leak, clean things up and restore any water damage on your own without too much money I suppose. It sounds like the bones are in decent shape. You will then have a pretty nice car. Drive or sell. Time will tell.

 

18 years and 150k - if you can clean it up and put the new top on, polish the headlights and paint, you could probably sell it at a decent price. If its rusting though, might not be worth it.

 

Before going any further get the car running, it's useless even for parts if the engine is scrap and the engine is possibly the most valuable part of the car if it's in good shape. Daily driver in where they keep salt on the road for months? How's the rust? Photos of everything will help us.

The early cars with the AP1 engine and 150,000 miles are "coveted?" could have fooled me. Don't get your sales price hopes up.

-- Chuck

 

Yes, Chuck. High mileage AP1 are highly desirable for people that want to drive the cars and are less concerned about resale.

Different folks want different things...and that’s (usually) fine.

 

Do you want to keep the car and enjoy it, and if so, for how long? Or is your ultimate goal to sell it as quickly as possible? The answers to those questions would inform my next steps if I were in your position....

A

 

Everything comes down to time and money and if you definitely don't want to keep it I would say it also depends on whether or not you are going to fix it up yourself or have the work done, If you can do the work yourself and have the time to do it then it may be worth fixing up to sell, if you feel your time is not worth it then sell it as is. If you have a place that is reasonable and competent to fix it up then that may work too, if not then sell it as is.