Hello, I am just about to pull a trigger on a 2007 AP2 but before I do, I'd like to have the car inspected. Would it be best to take it to the dealership or an independent shop? The shop that I found in my area has great reviews and after speaking with the mechanic, found out that he does a bumper-to-bumper check with a focus on the drivetrain. Has anyone taken their car to the dealership for an inspection? If so, was it thorough?

Thanks in advance.

 

Take it to a place that specializes in S2000's. There are a lot of things unique to the S2000 that a regular person might not catch - leaky clutch master cylinder, clutch buzz, vtec solenoid oil leak, etc.

 

Hello, and best of luck with your potential purchase.

I got my car inspected at the Beaverton, Oregon Honda dealership and the technician that inspected my car seemed to do a rather thorough job. However, just as was pointed out it can vary from dealership to dealership depending on which technician inspects your car, I think in my case I got one of the rare ones who seemed at least somewhat knowledgeable on the S2000. Imo they did a very thorough and proper inspection, including taking it for a test drive. An independent shop that is reputable and knowledgable on the S2000 would be a good option, but I would stay away from something like Pepboys/Firestone, etc. (compared to a dealership or s2000 specific mechanic/shop or reputable dealership). Still, having an inspection done is better than not having one done for the most part, regardless of where you take it.

 

Awesome, thanks for the replies. Do you guys by any chance have any recommendations in the Seattle area? Thanks.

 

In Seattle itself: Kansai Motorsports Note: I have no experience with them, but other PNW owners on the forum do, and have only heard good reviews so far.

My experience is with Queen City Auto Rebuild in Redmond, and they did an amazing job of repairing my car this last fall when it was nearly totaled.

Also, I think I know which car it is-- It's the blue one in West Seattle near California and Admiral

Best of luck, hope everything turns out well

A compression test would be a good idea, and make sure to have them check all the vins, check for any signs of paint work/body work, etc.

And if you haven't checked it out already, there is a regional forum specific to the area: Pacific Northwest Owners

Finally, one thing I would specifically ask about this car is if it has had a valve adjustment done, and if so when (hopefully they would have paperwork to show). Link: https://www.s2ki.com/...ustment-needed/

P.S.
Also, if you haven't yet done so, please run a CarFax on it--always well worth the money and it should list any accidents.

 

It can vary, but I would favor an indy over the dealer in most cases.

For the S2k, it was out of state so I had it inspected at a shop that was well-rated and that the previous owner took it to a couple of times. The written report was very disappointing, hardly any notes at all. However, when I called I was able to speak to the guy that worked on it, and got a lot more detail which made me comfortable enough to proceed with the purchase, and after 10 months of ownership the car has turned out to be exactly as they described. Although if the car was less simple & reliable than the S2k, I may have had it inspected a second time elsewhere.

For my M5, the dealer wanted something ridiculous like $375 (this one was also out of state). I took it to a very highly rated shop and they did a great, thorough job for half that price. The owner even stayed after hours chatting about tire choices and other stuff.

Bottom line is, take it to a highly rated indy and ask if you can speak to the mechanic afterward - you'll pay less and get a good idea of what you're looking at. By talking to the person, you can get a sense of whether it's rough, abused and neglected, or if it's solid with a couple of non-serious items to watch in the near future.

 

Wow, these responses have been great and very insightful. Thanks so much for your guys' feedback.

EricJT7, that's the one . Went to go test drive it this morning and the owner said that he had 10+ calls from last night. Glad that I was the first!

He unfortunately doesn't have any maintenance records from when the first owner owned it but the car has been taken to Renton Honda for maintenance so they should have the records in their database.

I'll have to ask about the valve adjustment. The engine is quiet so I'm hoping that it's been done.

Btw, what do you think of the price?

white98ls, thanks for the awesome feedback !

 

Send a pm to S2000junky. He is a local member in your area and could probably take a look at it.

 

Just as an aside, but still to the general topic of inspections and car buying: CarFax comes up in discussions on this forum a lot, but really, if you are serious about a car, it's good to run both a CarFax AND an Autocheck report. Sometimes one report has information that the other one misses. I used both during my last car search and I was glad I did.

 

I would trust a local S2000 enthusiast to look over a car with me over a shop or dealer that doesn't specialize in the car. If you have some previous experience with cars, there are plenty of resources available on this forum to self-educate yourself on what to look for. Start searching and reading the stickies.