Hi all,

My name's René and I moved to Chicago in July. I started my first job here out of grad school (Go Irish!) and I currently live in the city (ten minute walk to the L, Metra, and a one minute walk to two major bus lines). I decided to keep my S2000 from Texas to see if I would use it here, but...with work and traffic, I rarely drive my it. So, I decided to sell it. Now, this is not a sales posting, just some background info.

I got my car (2001 GPW) from my cousin who had the engine and transmission replaced in Dallas with a 2004 engine and transmission. The engine and transmission have about 75k miles less than the rest of the car (158k). Now, since I am looking to sell it, I would like to have my car checkout/evaluated by a reputable mechanic familiar with S2000s to mitigate any concerns a potential buyer would have about this swap and just, the car in general.

Do any of y'all have any preferred shops to go to for this in Chicago? My search on this topic hasn't borne much fruit, so I figured I'd address the matter specifically on this forum.



Thanks a lot for your time!

 

Wait til summer, come to a couple meets, then decide if you still wanna sell it. You might have a change of heart.

 

Oh, trust me, I don't want to sell it. I LOVE this car. But, the good financial sense is to part ways with it, especially if it's not being used.

 

Let me just say that, as someone who moved downtown from a rural area back when I started undergrad school in the fall of 2007 and brought my first S2000 with me, even though you don't need to use it by any means, it's well worth hanging on to it for sheer pleasure driving.

I'd highly recommend what jeggy is saying; however, your best bet might actually be to have one or more of us local owners just check it out. We'd be as knowledgeable, if not more, than most shops you'd go and talk to (S2000-specifically), and we'd probably only charge a couple of beers.

Whatever route you take, our meets are open to all past, present, and future S2000 owners, but I think if you got involved in the community, you'd see how awesome owning the vehicle up here is. There's a number of members here who live in or at least fairly close to downtown, (myself included) and we find ways to still enjoy the car and make it worth its while. Welcome to the UMW!

 

what K1ngfunK said is correct. He only says that bc, here in the UMW, many people sell there cars . A few months time passes, there here again , looking for another S. However , since you are 'new',I do invite you to come out and meet the community. There are a very knowledgeable number of us who know so much , and could look things over for you. Nonetheless , If you need 'someone' to check the car there are a few people on this board that can help . Ill let them PM you if they choose , I'm sure some will post here. In a few days , if your not satisfied, you can PM me and I can give you a list of trustworthy people , who have done work on my car. I don't want to post up here , to avoid any comments of these "shops". I'm sure they will chime in shortly

Andy

P.S welcome to the UMW S community

 

Thanks for the responses and the warm welcomes!

It's always great to get more information. I would love for someone, anyone to check my car out just to get some idea of what could be changed, what might need to be changed soon, etc. I have a good idea, but second (or third) opinions are always welcome. I look forward to seeing some people/mechanics respond to this thread, but if not, I'll get a hold of you ScrapDog. And K1ngfunK, I do love driving with the top down in the loop when the weather's nice. With that said though, capitalizing on something I don't use but twice a month is a good idea.

 

In the same battle myself. I hardly drive mine anymore and it makes better financial sense to sell it. I took mine out last week since the weather was nice and I hadnt driven it since mid september since I have been so busy with work. But after driving it again, its hard to part ways with it. I think I would be looking for another one a couple of months down the road if I sold mine.

As in terms of help, this UMW group seems pretty helpful. If you go to some meets and they vouch for your car, buyers from this board should buy with confidence. If you need a shop to help you, Im sure any dealer can give you a PPI for buyer confidence. Personally, Ive gone to ProFunction for most of my work and have had good luck with them.

Dont rush it though. Spring is only a couple months away. If you still want to sell then, you may get a little more than right now.

 

I would also suggest to wait until spring if this is an option.

As for checking the car out, there are several members that can help out, but I would suggest taking it to a Honda dealer. Given the swap of major parts off another car I think it would be in your best interest to have something from a Honda dealer in writing what is good/bad. If I was the buyer I would either want my tech with me to look it over or something in writing from a dealer. Dealer has too much to lose.

If I had to guess Fletcher Jones is probably one of the larger Honda dealers in the city that you can take your car to. Maybe someone else can chime in but I don't think there is a charge to inspect the car, only if you have things fixed or serviced.

good luck with everything.

 

Seeing as Jeggy and especially I live somewhat close, if you'd like on a weekend (I know work keeps both of us pretty busy during the week) we may be able to swing by and check it out for at least an informal look-see, and you can get to know a couple of us. If this interests you at all, feel free to PM him or myself. There's also certainly no harm done if you want a dealer's stamp of approval, either, as a random buyer might take their word to heart the most.

 

I know what you mean mrgarciainc. I drove mine for the first time in about a month last week when my girlfriend and I went to the airport. It was amazing. And, well, she doesn't want me to sell it! But, she understands the financial benefits. I would definitely love for some of the members on this forum to give me their input, and, well, just to see other S2000s! I appreciate the shop recommendation too. I really am going for driver confidence since this car had extensive work done on it. It's just a little something to ease worries, since this car sounds great.

I might have to wait till spring to sell it to get a bit more. Not ideal, as I wanted to invest the proceeds, but...so be it. I thought about going to the dealership for an evaluation, but I'm hesitant passnu2. Having the say of Honda on my vehicle for buyers not familiar with S2000s or mechanics might put people at ease, but the evaluation is by no means a binding agreement from Honda to assure the quality of my car. There's no incentive for Honda to make a very thorough inspection, because...if one used car via a private purchase was poorly (or not extensively) evaluated, they're not on the hook legally for it and the worst thing that happens is they make one customer mad; not really going to damage their brand. Whereas an independent, reputable mechanic will know that his name is on this. In a nutshell, the power of the huge global company will insulate them from a poor (or not extensive) evaluation and an independent mechanic's name/reputation would be in jeopardy moreso (simply due to smaller size, ratings on Yelp, forums like this; just saying that one opinion has more weight when there are less customers involved), so they MIGHT be compelled to do a more thorough job. Now, this is assuming the worst, that Honda won't do a good job, but...I'm just playing out scenarios. I don't necessarily believe it, but I don't dispel it because I'm not too fond of dealerships in general for multiple reasons.

Any thoughts/experiences on this long winded response?