Keeping in mind im in search of a low monthly payment right now, the dealership has agreed to accept my trade in (92 base model stealth with front end damage, the car is almost worthless these days) plus $2000 cash and $289 a month (48 month lease) for a red '01 s2000 with 13,000 miles on it. Ive driven the car twice and it drives great. Its in immaculate condition i cant find anything wrong with it, even the rear window is looking good.

So pretend my car is worth only $1000 as it is, the estimate for the damage was over $2000! Insurance is sending me a check for $204x, so i figure ill just give the dealer my car and the insurance money and drive off in this s2000 and be way way happier.

Plans are to just buy the car after the lease is up anyway, but i didnt tell them that.

 

My guess is that it's not a good deal. Why do I say that?

You have not given enough details to guage the quality of the deal, so I am guessing you did not ask them the right questions.

1. What is the price for the S2000? Don't worry about lease/loan/trade/payment/rate, etc. Just find out what they want for the car.

2. Have you run any kind of carfax on the S2000? Where did it come from? What is the car's history. It is important to find out on any used car, especially from a dealership.

3. AFTER you know the above, and have negotiated the lowest possible price for the S2000, then start to talk about a trade in.

4. After you have done all that, then talk about financing. Don't ever let financing factor into price negotiations. Make it an after effect. To determine if the lease is a good deal, add up all the fees they are asking you to pay, add in all the payments, then add the residual. Once you know what you are paying for the car, figure out what interest rate it is equivalent to. You can go to edmunds.com and use their loan calculator. Obviously, the montly payment will be higher, but it will help you guage how good the deal is.

On a side note. If the insurance company is going to fix your Stealth, why not fix it and THEN trade it in? You will get MUCH more for it.

 

doubtful ill get much more for the car, im amazed they didnt total it because of the damage. The car is worth $2500 in perfect condition and its faaaaaaar from that. I would prefer not to sink $2000 worth of repairs (plus it needs more, someone keyed me damnit) into a car that is worth even less than that when i turn around to sell it later. I could even part the car out, i belong to 3si.org and could easily sell a ton of parts off, but i dont want to deal with that hassle, even tho i could easily make more money.

Before they were asking 29,900 for it, which i would never pay. Now they're asking 27,000, which doesnt seem out of line when looking at similar s2000s of the same year and mileage and condition.

 

I went to edmunds and looked up cars in your area

2001 Honda S2000
2 Dr STD Convertible

Dealer Trade-In
$22,575

Private Party
$24,685

Dealer Retail
$26,632

These prices contingent upon a clean vehicle history
Note: Prices do not include taxes, title or other fees.

I don't know much about Stealths, so I will take your work on the value of the car. I understand not wanting to deal with the hassle, but if you can get more than $1000 for the parts, it seems the way to go.

Sounds like the dealer has come down to a fairly reasonable price. Don't forget to check the finance costs of the lease.