Long term S2000 lurker potential first buyer. Have done alot of research on this board which is great. Have had an Integra Type R, Shelby GT500, and lots of stuff in between. I am in the process of shipping an S2000 to Hawaii and need help deciding which. It will be a weekend car parked outside. I plan to keep it for a couple years and maybe sell it when I leave here two years later (military). Budget is up to $25k.

Theres a silver ap1 with 98000 miles, one owner. Interior is in great condition, exterior normal wear and tear with a small dent in the rear fender and a two inch tear in the top. Dealers final offer was $13k. This car appeals to me cuz its the lowest priced out of all the local ones ive seen.

On the opposite end of the spectrum there is a ap2 laguna blue with 45000 miles. Car is in great condition the best ive seen the second owner took very good care of it and it shows. However it has a SOS stage 2 kit tuned with hondata flashpro by John Reed Racing ( supposedly one of the best i hear). The kit was installed at the dealership at 12000 miles and there are receipts for the mods. The car drove like stock and pulls hard. I love the condition the car is in however not sure if I want someone elses supercharged product. I can tell the install, tune, and maintenance are all top notch. Car is in the best condtion out of the 4 I drove. Dealer final offer was $24.5.

There is another laguna blue ap2 which splits the difference at $21k with same mileage. It is in good condition but not as mint as the supercharged one.

So just looking for some thoughts and feedback. Im going to decide by tomorrow as I leave back to Hawaii next week. There are no S2000 for sale in Hawaii as of now.

Im split between the silver and supercharged one. Silver i would save a bit more but id have to deal with the top, dent, and live with the normal wear and tear of the various rock chips and such on the exterior. Id have some money throw into a suspension and wheels which I want to do.

The supercharged one is in great condtion inside and out but there is that X factor of it being supercharged. But then again if i wanted to supercharge it its already done. I just love how mint this car is.

The stock blue one once I add a flashpro its only a $2500 difference between fhat and the supercharged one which is in better condition.

 

I would not pay 24.5k for someone's supercharged S2000. I probably also wouldn't pay 13k for a 98k AP1.

I'm not much help, sorry.

 

Yea the market is pretty limited in Seattle. Ideally Id have weeks or months to shop but im only here for a couple weeks. Ive seen some good deals in socal and the east coast but I dont want to buy a car like this sight unseen.

 

Hi Luchini,

Based on what you said about having it parked outside and that you will plan on selling it in 2 years, if you had no other choices and really really wanted one now, seems like the Silver AP1 with high mileage may be the best option.

Since it's higher mileage you can enjoy driving the car more and worry less about it being parked outside. As long as the major maintenance has been done on the car along with good records it should last awhile and when you sell you can probably sell it for around $10K or less depending on mileage. You can do some relatively inexpensive patches to the aesthetics and just enjoy driving a roadster.

In an ideal world, if you could get a high mileage AP2 in that price range that would be good.

Since you had a Type R before you are probably used to the high redline just like in the AP1.

The other two cars are over 20K, my concern for those cars is that you will be having it parked outside, the possible damage or theft.

In addition when you sell 2 years later you will be more hard pressed to sell it for what you bought it for and those may have more depreciation. At least then you can have more $$$ in your pocket to use 2 years later.

That's my 2 cents, hope it helps!

-Goodo

 

I would go in and try to haggle more on that 98k ap1. 13k is a little high, especially if the soft top is damaged. Those things are very expensive to replace. I'm not sure if you've been doing this online but I've found dealerships are more eager to deal if you go in, be an interested buyer, and then prepare to walk over the price.

 

I wont even tell you what the asking prices were haha. Well the silver one they were asking $14,900

 

being as shipping cost is the same, and at least in some parts of the islands people seemed to like hotrods you might get the best you can and have the only SC one in your area

 

Dealers get away with rape, I still have no idea how.

I tried selling my boosted Civic SI (2007) for 12k for MONTHS. It had a blue book value of 10k and I had another 15 grand in the turbo/suspension setup. It lingered for months, no buyers.

Dealership buys it from me for $10,000 (damn it). Sells it in ONE WEEK for $15,000. Why someone felt safe buying it from them vs. me for another 3 grand.. I'll never know. They would've gotten the same warranty from me as they did from them (read: none).

Damn society.

 

+1 for this, your goal is to minimize cost of ownership, which comes down to "what you buy it for today" minus "what you sell it for in two years". Any newer car is going to depreciate more, and you'd be crazy to put a ton of mods into a car that you know you're going to sell in two years, so just buy the cheapest on you can get that has been taken care of. Drive it like crazy and sell it in two years to one of your military buddies for close to what you paid for it.

If you were buying one to lightly mod and keep for 20 years, then the cheaper Laguna Blue AP2 is the best of the group. Rare color, AP2 so the ECU is tunable, plus traction control. This is the better car to own long-term.

Enjoy the car! Five years from now you'll regret selling it. They aren't making any more of them...

 

My DD is a lease with 18 months to go. When its up I might just DD the S2000. The military allows one free car transport after my tour is done so I could take it with me at no cost. New cars are usually marked above MSRP in Hawaii due to availability and sometimes only one dealership on island such as BMW. If I wanted to sell it the silver one would prob sell quickest and the supercharged one probably be harder.

I just wish the stock ap2 was mint like the modded one. That modded one has no wheel curbs unlike all the others.

So still torn. Ap1 is cheap, dont need to baby it, but the top has a tear and a dent in the rear. Stock ap2 is in better condition but $8000 more. Modded ap2 is in the best condition but also most expensive and is modded for better or worse. Silver is nice but I really like laguna blue. Also the SOS kit could also take off and sell if I decide to sell the car.

At this point I dont know if I will keep it or sell it when I leave island either. Ive always been fickle with cars unfortuntely longest time ive owned a car was an sti for 4 years.