Originally Posted by GuthNW

Normally I would never advise buying one of these cars in the manner that you have, yet these cars seem to have really shot up in value as of late and even without knowing anything about your personal situation I can understand why you might be tempted to go this route at this point in time. I don't see any dents in the photos you presented here so I can't really comment on those (are they bad enough that PDR would not work?). Based on the photos you have shared here I don't detect any of the appearance issues that typically come with a truly neglected car. Given the additional information you've provided, if the engine bay looks clean then the car at least sounds like it's in really nice overall condition. The scrapes on the front bumper cover with no signs of deformity make me think there was a mishap that occurred while the car was parked, like someone accidentally banged into the car with something when they weren't paying attention, one of those garage mishaps that we all dread. Perhaps the same goes for the rear bumper cover. The biggest question for me without hearing it for myself would be the noise coming from the engine bay. Maybe it's nothing more than a cracked hose causing a vacuum leak.

I'll stick to the positive vibe when it comes to this car and hope for the best for you with the purchase. As this car has been driven very little I would guess most of those miles were put on the car when it was still relatively new as the age of the tires would indicate that this S2000 has likely been sitting for quite a while. Staying on the positive side, I can imagine someone buying this car and loving it, but either they were already fairly old when purchasing the car or something happened in their life that impacted their ability to really enjoy the car for very long after buying it. At that point maybe this car just got tucked away in the garage and they held on to it for as long as they were able before finally throwing in the towel on any hopes of being able to enjoy it any longer. (Essentially I'm holding out hope that some knucklehead didn't buy this car only to grow bored with it over time.) I am familiar with LHT's videos and I really appreciate all of the S2000-based DIY information that they share with the community at large. Having a place like LHT Performance available as your local shop to assess the car thoroughly and quickly would be godsend in this case. I hope that any news they turn up for you is as positive as can be.