phoenix9999

Accepting that the future is a big unknown, I'm trying to determine my car roadmap over the next few years with respect to putting mileage on my S.

Situation: own new S2000, have about $13k loan on it. It's my daily driver / only car for now. Planning to pay off loan quickly... by the end of '04.

Drive about 15-20k miles/year to and from work, mostly highway, and another 5k miles "miscellaneous"

Planning to keep the S through 2006 at the minimum I hope!

I haven't seen many high mileage S2000s for sale so it's hard to tell what kind of depreciation hit a S2000 with 75-100k miles takes versus one that's less heavily used. Surely there's a difference. My question, is it enough to justify owning or leasing an alternative car?

Is it even feasible for me to project numbers in order to answer this question?

allkingz

No offense, but I'm not sure I understand your point.

Are you afraid of driving your S in fears of trade in value possibly two years from now? Are you debating whether a second car is worth it or not?

For giggles I went to kbb.com to look up trade in value for my car with 10K miles vs. 50k miles. There was not much more than $1000 difference. Definitely not a big enough difference to keep yourself from enjoying your car.

If you really want to keep the value of your car up, maintain it, keep it clean, and keep records of all your maintenance.

phoenix9999

I'm debating the effect a second car will have on the resale value of the S2000, before determining what my budget for that second car will be.

I went to kbb.com and did the same thing that you did but honestly I'm not so sure if I'm buying those numbers. Is that really the case with the S2000, in terms of real-world value?

Lastly, how does the S2000 hold its value in the 75k+ mile range, which is where it'd be after three years as a daily driver for me ? Looking around I don't see many S2000s at that mileage mark so it's hard to tell what the resale value is like.

papadali

If you look at the depreciation curve for most cars you will find that the greatest amount happens in the first few years. So putting a lot of miles on a fairly new car like your s2000 is gonna create a higher amount of depreciation than if you bought a 5 year old maxima and put the miles on that. When you go to sell the maxima you will have lost less money on it than the amount you would lose if you put those miles on your S (at least in my opinion, I could be wrong). The one exception would be if you had to do extensive repair work on the maxima. The other benefit of having a "beater" is you can keep your car longer and it will stay nicer. The only downside is that while you are driving the maxima you are not enjoying the S2000. Just my 2 cents.

tritium_pie

get a beater car just because the running costs of the S are higher than your average car; fuel, tires, brakes, and other wear items. also insurance should be cheaper if you can show that your S is only for pleasure driving.

get yourself a cheap, old but reliable beater-- it's worth it.

GeorgeP

I have been following S2000 used prices since last spring. I am looking for a low cost S for my daughter. The prices have dropped like a stone since the 2004 came out. Edmunds and the KBB do not reflect what the current actual prices are. I have a friend who is at the car auctions all the time. THe auction values on S2000 have dropped almost 5,000 dollars since July. Normal fall drop is about 700.00. If you look on Ebay you will find that virtually none of the cars are selling or coming close to the minimum sale price. The S2000 has enjoyed incredible resale. It now appears that pricing are coming down to the norm for most cars. Higher milage 2000/01 models are now selling from 15,000 to 18,000 even though book value is 21,000.

phoenix9999

OK, I guess what I'm trying to figure out is the depreciation curve for a sports car versus other cars. I'm trying to understand how resale value works specifically for something like the S2000.

I don't have many data points to go off of. But I know that a M3 with high mileage is almost impossible to give away. I know that a high mileage Ferrari ends up being regarded as a parts car. These sorts of cars scare buyers off once they've racked up the miles. I suspect that the S2000 leans in this direction: would YOU buy a S2000 with 100k miles on it? How much would you spend on it?

2000celicaspeed

the problem with a high milage s2000 is this. I was looking for an s2k a while back and i found a fairly good deal on one with 47XXX but then i found one for like 1000 more with 2300 and jumped on that instead. This is the type of car that is very easy to find with low milage so high milage ones are less desierable but i am not sure if we can quantify that number?

nastinupe1

Keep the S after you pay for it and buy something more practical in 2006

jeffbrig

This could have something to do with the fact that roughly half the country is covered in snow right now. Not exactly the market for buying sporty convertibles.

Talk to me in the spring when the weather is nice.