Hi! My first post...

Firstly, thanks to s2ki and its member. I've learned a lot about the S here. Been lurking here and at the i-club forums for months trying to decide between the S and the STI. I know those are very different cars and hope to own both some day! But I'm more interested in the S at the moment.

I had made a deposit on an 05 which arrived at the dealership today and I was all excited about picking it up tomorrow. Unfortunately, the car has suffered some bumper damage, apparently on the under side only. I'm told that it's going to need some body shop work. Since I've yet to see the car, to give me an idea of the extent of the damage, the sales guy said that it's about two hundred dollars worth of damage.

I'm not feeling comfortable buying a car that has spent time in a body shop. Perhaps, I'm being too picky.

Anyway, here're my questions:

1) Would it be unreasonable of me to ask to replace the bumper? I have no idea how easy or difficult a task that is.

2) Another dealership told me that it's not possible to order Hondas. Is that true? I ask because I wouldn't mind waiting a couple of months as long as it's the right color and fresh off the truck!

Thank you.

 

It may not be possible to order the S from the factory, but your dealer should be able to trade one with another dealer that has your exact color combo. Dealers have lists of all the S2000s in your part of the country, what dealership they're at, etc. That's how I bought mine. The only downside is my dealer got it one month earlier than I wanted it. So, you don't have control of exactly when it comes in.

As far as the bodyshop goes, I wouldn't call any car that has spent time in a bodyshop "new". However, once repaired you'll never know the difference. $200 worth of damage sounds like they just have to sand down the bumper and repaint it. I would either ask for a serious discount on the repaired car, or insist on a new bumper.

 

IMO.. I wouldn't touch it.

I wouldn't take my car and allow damage to happen it, fixable or not.

And *IF* it did get damaged, it would be my fault, I'd know all the aspects of the reason for the damage and I could take the right action.

To have a dealership tell you, without you seeing it.. First RED FLAG.

If your doing BRAND NEW, It should be brand new, not one that's been repaired/fixed right out of the box.

Tell them to jam the car up someother guys arse

 

A good percent of cars get bumped in shipped around dealers - and a lot of those spend time getting things repaired at a bodyshop before the car ever goes on sale.

do a search - this topic has been covered.

If you demand a new front bumper it will only have to be painted anyway so whats the difference.

This is an S, and things aint cheap, so on the scale of things $200 worth of damage is NOTHING.

Go check out the car, let them fix it and enjoy your new S.

 

Thanks for the replies. I'll go take a look today but I'm probably going to search for another car although it's true that such damages are often not disclosed to buyers.
Cheers.

 

I would hurry up and go look at the car BEFORE they fix the "$200 dollars" worth of damage. Honestly I bet its more than $200 bucks.
I would request a new car. I would never take a brand new car that has had any kind of body damage and hasn't been titled as it won't show up in the history.
I watched mine get unloaded and I was there the whole time they went through it. I actually helped remove the protective tape myself at the dealer to check the paint. I had to tell the "mechanic" to remove the space spacers in the springs. The car was perfect and had it delivered to my house in a trailer. I wrote down the mileage to make sure no one drove it other then my family or my sales rep. (He's like 69yrs old)

I worked at a Mazda dealer for a few months and they had a truck get its roof crushed in from the moron driver. They still took the truck sent it to their body shop and in 2 weeks it was on the showroom floor. The client I found out afterwards, was never told and they could never know because the truck had never been titled. Dealers do very shady things to cars...

Request a new car. ASAP or just go to a different dealer.

 

I would take a look at the car, and see how bad the damage is. I would personally probably request a new bumper, but I wouldn't turn down the car because it might have a new bumper cover. In my opinion that's a little extreme. If they fix it and you can't even tell, then maybe talk them down in price, but I would still buy it. If you would talk to anyone that works in a car manufacturing plant (my brother-in-law's whole family works at the Honda plant in ohio, and my mom's boyfriend works at the Ford plant in Ohio), you would be very surprised how many cars get repaired before they even leave the factory, whether it's just minor paint work or replacing panels, more than likely something was repaired on most people's car. Long story short, if it meets your satisfaction, by all means get it, but if you feel questionable about it, then don't. There will be plenty of other opportunities if you're patient.