Every used S2000 I look at has the "tear".
02-15-2012 | 06:04 AM
#13
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,421
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From: Raleigh, NC
You're looking at cars that are ~10 years old. Chances are there will be a few things wrong with them. The soft top tear is incredibly common for these cars but you can find AP1's that have had the top replaced already without looking terribly hard.
No one that's selling an s2000 with a top tear is going to take $2,000 of the price of their car because of it, sorry man.
No one that's selling an s2000 with a top tear is going to take $2,000 of the price of their car because of it, sorry man.
02-15-2012 | 07:21 AM
#15
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,405
Likes: 29
From: Seabrook, MD
if this is a deal-breaker for the OP, and it might legitimately be, I think no Pontiac Azteks have torn tops.
*knock knock knock
02-16-2012 | 07:33 PM
#18
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Joined: Jan 2012
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I've looked at three 2003 Ap1's and they all have that unavoidable tear. Once I try and reason with the dealer and tell them it's going to cost around $2000 to fix it, they all laugh and tell me to have a nice day. Anyone have similar experiences on buying the S and talking them down because of the tear? Once the tear starts, it's over and IMO the top needs to be replaced. Some quick fix does not work for me
As a buyer I can sympathize with you. The tear sucks. But at the same time you are giving up a lot of time (opportunity cost) searching for the car. With the time you waste looking for a car, you could have just done the top yourself and already have been enjoying your s2k
As a seller, I can sympathize with the dealer. I had a similar experience with unreasonable buyers when selling my 2007 camry this past month. Every one of them complained about minute things. I ended up trading my car in to the dealer and they gave me more than I was asking.
Another thing, why the heck are you at a dealer? I feel like private party is better with the s2000. Get to know the owner and the maintenance history. Test out the car thoroughly. Have it inspected and make sure that all of the vin tags match. You can also run a carfax, but I ran into a lot of bad s2ks with a clean carfax history.
