I went and drove a BB '06 today at Saturn of Greenbrook in NJ (I'm looking for an '06-'07 as a pleasure car). I noticed there were two minor dings in the car, of the two rear tires one was brand new and one was down to the wear bars, and the alignment of the rear bumper was suspect. Overall it looked like the car would clean up fine and end up looking close to pristine if the deal was good enough.

The drive was amazing. Brisk acceleration and steering tighter than I've ever felt before. I can't wait to take delivery of my own. The only thing I noticed on the drive is that engagement into 2nd was a little rougher than the other gears (seemingly minor).

After I got back from the drive I walked around the car and matched VIN stickers on all panels to insure they were original. When I got to the rear bumper to examine the VIN tag, I noticed something I will mention below. What I saw proved to me that the bumper was repainted at some point and it made the alignment issue I saw initially make sense.

Anyway I went in to talk numbers thinking that if they would knock over 1.5k off of asking ($20,788), replace the rear tire, and align the rear bumper that we might be in business. After the obligatory consult with the manager, the sales person came back and said the following: "the price is firm", "we'll split the cost of a rear tire with you", "these cars are moving and the price will be going up in a month for spring", and "we showed you the clean carfax and that bumper was never repainted".

After this I smiled, said no thank you, and proceeded to leave with my wife. As we were walking out, the sales person asked just what made me think the rear bumper was repainted. I told her that I worked for a body shop in college and when I was matching up the VIN tags I noticed the one on the rear bumper had scotch tape over half of it and black paint bleeding up onto the other half interrupting the crisp edge of the sticker. She was impressed. I'm not sure whether the scheister manager knew but I don't think she did. I wonder if she'll call me to ask if I'm still interested?

Anyway I wanted to share that with you guys. Thanks for reading.

(Also posted on TOV)

 

not sure what the rear bumper looked liked, but the S2000 does have rear bumper issues on most of them. the wind gives it a bit of lift and doesn not align correctly with the body.

 

good call.

i went to see a 06 bb in star nissan in queens (terrible place i would never buy) and this moron salesman tried to jump start the dead battery. idiot put the battery pack thing ON TOP OF THE FENDER (when he took it off there were scratches and stuff) and i believe he put one of the cable on negative causing HUGE sparks to flare up lol. they woulnd't let me test drive it and this was a long time ago so i'm sure some poor guy ended up with a messed up car. i don't really trust dealerships...

 

All the VIN stickers on my car have a very small piece of tape on the leftmost side though I know for a fact that all the panels are original (in paint and in part). IIRC my previous S2 also had this. So, FWIW, the tape itself may not be a warning sign.

All it all it sounded like that dealer was sketchy, so kudos for walking away. It'll make pulling the trigger--when you find the right one--that much more perfect of an experience

 

2006 model for 20K? Say no to that

The price is too high. We are in a financial (as well as economic) tsunami ... there are plenty of better deals out there

Good luck !

 

i guess greenbrook new jersey must be sheltered from the economic crisis going on in the rest of the country. a FIRM price at a dealership? brand new they've been going for $27,000 rather than the $40,000 retail...

 

$40K retail? Maybe in canada. My 08 Had an MSRP of $34.5K I believe.

 

Thanks for the support and kind words. I did notice tape on the rear quarter VIN stickers also. I guess that makes sense now; but there definitely seemed to be overspray bleeding onto the rear bumper sticker that wasn't on the others.

As for the price, I just smiled and snickered as she told me the "these cars are hot", they're moving", "the price will be going up in a month for spring". If they knock 2k off of the price and replace the other rear tire, I might go back up and look again because with some good detailing, it would be a beautiful car.

Was 2nd gear having a slightly rougher, more mechanical sounding engagement than the other gears normal, too? Is there an easy adjustment for that? Unfortunately a lot of us are used to (FWD) Honda transmissions being finicky: 2nd gear on my '04 RSX Type-S, 3rd gear on my '06 Si, and 3rd gear on my '07 V6 6MT Accord.

 

At times, yes the gears are notchy at first, especially 2nd and 3rd gear, but after you drive the car for a bit to warm the tranny oil it becomes smooth as butter. If it doesn't then it's time to change the tranny fluid or another problem subsides. What's the milage on the BB '06? It just may be that the transmission fluid needs to be changed.

 

Mileage is 17,578. It wasn't a particularly warm day and my drive was shorter than 15 minutes so maybe that's why.