Hello everyone. I am looking to sell our s2000. I am wondering if anyone can help recommend a target price or acceptable price as I don't want to underprice myself and overprice myself.

Any help is appreciated.

RED 2001 Honda s2000
Car is garaged in South Florida
69,856 original miles
clean carfax, no accidents
fully original, no modifications except for Robbinstop installed by Jeremy back in NJ
serials match everywhere

We are the 2nd owner. Original owner put 7000 miles on it and we bought back in 2001/2002 timeframe and kept it for the past 20+ years.

Shopping cart ran into passenger door, door was fixed and painted. Right mirror faded out and was also re-painted.

My wife sent the car into Honda for quick Oil change, as I was lazy this time, and they mentioned the following. I take this with a grain of salt because I don't trust some low-end dealer mechanics but I have not had the chance to bring it to a Honda s2k specialist yet either.

1. Drive Belt needs to be replaced
2. Front Tie rod is leaking grease
3. Front lower ball joint torn and leaking grease

I am debating about spending the money and getting this fixed (not at Honda dealer) and then selling the car or should I just sell the car as-is?

Anyway, with these facts, what do you think I can sell for now with these "unconfirmed by specialist" issues?

Any help is appreciated.

 

Low mileage and generally looks clean, except.... that last picture.

There's quite a bit of rust in there - hard brake lines, throttle body actuator cables, shock top-hat, hose clamp on intake, and valve cover beat up. All very curious for a low mileage car in Florida. I would want to see pictures of the under carriage - control arms and other suspension components.

Said that you bought from someone in NJ? How much time/mileage did it spend up there? Was it driven in the winter over roads with salt?

 

The good..

• Relatively low miles
• No mods

What's working against you...

• Sun fade
• Small items to fix that you listed
• Salt exposure (engine bay looks rough)
• Does chassis also show a lot of rust?

The two items in red are big ticket items for pricing these days.

I would think most enthusiasts would look past the minor items you listed that need fixing. Most people in this community would rather deal with that themselves or at a shop of their choice. My advice would be to note them as you have, but not fix them.

Without seeing photos of the chassis, its hard to guess a going price. Maybe $18K - 20K depending on condition of the chassis.

 

Car was transported to Florida 4 years ago. Rarely driven in NJ, more in beginning and then parked more then driven. I will try to take a pic of the undercarriage.

 

I have been pleasantly surprised how clean my engine compartment remains even after driving in the rain. I don't know if the later (mine is 2009) cars had different plastic panels underneath to help in that regard but that engine bay clearly shows the result of corrosive water. New Jersey driving in the winter will do that as well as driving on the beach in Florida. Ouch!

 

Rain won't hurt anything for a virtual eternity. Salt, however....that damages things pretty quickly. Constant humidity also starts corrosion, but nothing compared to salt.

It would appear this car got parked somewhere damp (grass?) after being exposed to salt. Or maybe someone was beach buggy'ing it and driving it in salty water? Or ocean water mist is being allowed to accumulate under the hood.

Bottom line...its been exposed to salt and humidity.

Rain driven cars won't show anything close to this type of condition.

 

Here are undercarriage pictures.

 

sell the car fully sorted...and I mean fully sorted. This is the sort of thing I'd do but I'm pedantic. and mildly insane.

1. take stock of all the bolts underneath and on the top that show corrosion- order each and every one of them from Honda and one by one, replace them all- alignment bolts, mount bolts, whatever.
2. buy new front A arms from Honda- replace those.
3. remove the valve cover, do a valve adjustment and photograph the valve retainers.
4. refinish or buy a new valve cover.
5. remove and refinish or replace all diff mounts so they don't look so rusty. Heck, while you're under there, refinish the rear, lower subframe to... you guessed it, remove the rust.
6. totally detail the car in and out.
7. replace the rotors/pads with hawk HPS pads, and either new Honda or coated rotors- make it all pretty. If the callipers are rusty looking, replace them too with coated callipers.
8. get some scotch bright pads and remove the aluminum corrosion top and bottom.

If you're handy, do all the work yourself- don't pay someone to do it as it will double your material costs. With the above mild restoration, you'll net more in the sale
As it sits now, and given what I'd need to do to make it right, maybe $13,000-$14,000 USD. I'm from Canada and hate corrosion on my cars and constantly battle the elements on my daily drivers.

good luck!
darcy

 

Underbody area looks typical of New Jersey road salt and there's not much that can be done about it without replacing lots of parts and spending lots of money on what will be someone else's car. Out of sight out of mind. I'd replace the glaring hooptie valve cover which really stands out and maybe just detail the rest of the car although it looks pretty good for the next high school owner. And maybe fix the bent antenna which jumps out at me. 2020 windshield sticker?

-- Chuck

 

Its definitely seen some salt.

For most of the S2000 crowd, that's a detractor. However, I'm not sure closely how first time S2000 buyers look at corrosion.

I'd list it for ~$20K or $21K and see what happens.