Looking to buy a . One of the cars I am looking at is a 99 Vreg Silverstone, but I'm not quite sure whether its an import or not:

The dealer thinks its a UK car; it has got tons of UK history including Honda Dealer purchase invoice. The Number plates and holders are the UK size.

I think its an import; the carpet is light grey (I've only ever seen dark charcoal or red), the seats have black leather outers and grey leather for the inserts (I thought all UK models had single colour leather). The original stereo has a band expander, there is a non-standard button on the dash (looks like a fog-light switch), the sun-visors have Japanese crap written all over them.

I have had imports for ages and don't really care, except of course the issue of price. Can anyone confirm what it is?

 

Well, it walks like an import and talks like an import. I'd say...........

IT'S AN IMPORT!

The dealer 'thinks' it's a UK car? Why can't he/she tell you then? I'll tell you why - because it is an import and is worth several thousand pounds less than a UK car. I guess this isn't a Honda main dealer? If the dealer is being less than straight about this matter, I'd be deeply suspicious of anything they said and would not buy from them, period.

It's only four years old, so it should have all the documentation from new, plus records of previous owners. Can't you call them?

Give it 24 hours and someone else will post more checks I'm sure.

Good luck

 

The pdi should be stamped in the service book which should give a clue i.e. is the book in English or some other language. You can ring Honda U.K. with the VIN to confirm for definate.

IIRC early models did have some sort of half leather seats or something.

HTH

 

I've not tried this, but apparently you can enter the VIN number into the Honda website to check for outstanding warranty recalls etc.

This might give you some idea?

 

Thanks gaddafi.

The dealer isn't being less than straight thou, I know the dealer well and they bought the car thinking it was UK. They showed me the V5 which said something like "first registered in Great Britain" since it has had 2 owners. They want to get some money back if they bought a import for trade UK money.

Does anyone has any thoughts on the specs?

 

having V5 saying first registered in Britain does not mean it has already been registered somewhere else in the world. You need to check the manufacturing date and the registering date in UK..since to get a v5 for an imported car they need to see some proof of when it was first registered abroad. If there is a 6month or more gap then maybe there is some doubt.

regarding specs..it is hard to say, but if it was a JDM model orginally, then it would have a lot more of the "Japanese crap" as you call it, all over the car. Example in the fuel cap area, door catch, engine bay would all have some Japanese writing on it.

 

I've been there, and gave my S back after a week because the dealer lied to me and told me my car was UK when it was EU.

The only sure way of straigtening this out (without seeing the paperwork) is to ring Honda UK 0845 200 8000 They are open today and are very helpful. Give them the VIN and or Registration and they will tell you if they supplied the car. Eus are worth 1000 - 2000 less than UKs. Also ask if there are any outstanding recalls, and if the oil bolt recall has been done as this will extend the engine warranty by 1 year.

There are enough S2000s around at the moment to pick and choose Tifosi Red and PWE have very competitively priced cars for sale on this board with proven history, all recalls done, and loving owners. This car is too specialist (and expensive) to buy into a car with unknown history.

Good luck

 

Thanks for the suggestions, the dealer has now had time to do the checks and has confirmed it's an import. It was imported by a Honda dealer brand new.

I suppose this makes it an almost UK car, either way I'm not going to pay UK money for it, so for now the deal is off.

Would love to buy a S2Ki owners car, but I have a Honda NSX that is worth similar money to the S2000s I am looking to buy, so dealers seem to be my only option.

 

Hav you advertised your NSX privately? Someone on this board might be interested.

 

Didn't really want to sell privately - loads of hassle. I like dealers they talk straight (rip you off) and I don't have to spend hours entertaining tyre kickers and test pilots.

Mind you advertising just on this board might avoid the above thanks for the advice.