Thank you for all of the comments and recommendations in my previous car shopping topic. If anyone's interested, here's a run down of the cars I test drove and how they compared:
BMW Z3. Had to drive 260 miles (each way) to find a dealer with these in stock. Test drove two of them. The first was a standard Z3. It felt "squooshy" and the shifting didn't feel natural. The second had the M sports package with tighter suspension and M transmission. The Z3s had better accelleration from a dead stop than the Honda, expecially the M, and I liked the idea of a straight-six larger-cc engine. The M rode and shifted nearly identical to the S2000, and had a nicer interior than the plain Z3. The problem with the BMWs, both of them had some serious interior rattling and they just didn't feel as well built as the Honda. I was also turned off by the plastic rear window. The Z3's exterior design was the prettiest of all the cars I looked at.
Mazda Miata. Ver nice cars, similar in style and interior design to the Z3. They fell short of the 200 HP rating I was using as a guideline, but had pleny of power nevertheless. Low speed handling and accelleration felt comparible to the S2000, but the Miata felt "squirrely" at interstate speed. One ergonomic problem with the Miata too. The left side footrest was too far foreward; if seat was back far enough that left foot was flat on the footrest, I couldn't reach the bottom of the clutch and only had a toe-hold on the gas pedal. Big bonus for the Miata, could've bought new for the same price as a used S2000.
Chrysler Crossfire. Dispite the fact that Chryler is swimming in leftover coupes and convertibles (overstock.com has them for $7-$8 thousand below msrp, and Chryler has huge rebates through their dealers), these cars are nearly impossible to find. You want to sell cars, you gotta get your dealers to stock them! The only Crossfire I found was a used model that had actually been sold already. The salesman let me sit in it though. I really liked the unique exterior style, and the interior was wife's favorite. Would have liked to found one for sale...
Pontiac Solstice. The interior was the absolute nicest and most comfortable of any convertible I tried. Unfortunately no dealers allowed test drives, and the car fell below the 200HP minimum I was aiming for. The worst aspect of buying Pontiac was the dealers. Dispite GM's comments that markups "would not be tolerated" and sending letters to every sales manager, prices ranged from $3,000 - $6,000 over msrp. Screw 'em. I suspect that after the initial buying backlog is cleared and dealers start choking on unsold cars, the prices will normalize. A higher-performance version is also expected within the year.
Nissan 350Z. Car was super-fast! Wife was scared. End of story. Also, I never found a used convertible and thought the new convertibles were seriously overpriced.
So the Honda S2000 was the 'winner'. Each car had positive and negative aspects. The Honda was sort-of an average between all of them, without having any major flaws. Glass rear window. 240 HP. Comfortable enough. A few "toys" and features included (power windows and mirrors, remote locks, power roof, CD player...). Good accelleration and high-speed handling. Nice-sized trunk. Beautiful blue color, with a blue interior including blue leather seats.
I think I got a fair price too, from an Acura dealer. The S2000 is an '02 with only 15,000 miles and I paid below NADA retail value. The car is absolutely "like new", except new Hondas are priced around $34,000.
Best Wishes,
Bob
BMW Z3. Had to drive 260 miles (each way) to find a dealer with these in stock. Test drove two of them. The first was a standard Z3. It felt "squooshy" and the shifting didn't feel natural. The second had the M sports package with tighter suspension and M transmission. The Z3s had better accelleration from a dead stop than the Honda, expecially the M, and I liked the idea of a straight-six larger-cc engine. The M rode and shifted nearly identical to the S2000, and had a nicer interior than the plain Z3. The problem with the BMWs, both of them had some serious interior rattling and they just didn't feel as well built as the Honda. I was also turned off by the plastic rear window. The Z3's exterior design was the prettiest of all the cars I looked at.
Mazda Miata. Ver nice cars, similar in style and interior design to the Z3. They fell short of the 200 HP rating I was using as a guideline, but had pleny of power nevertheless. Low speed handling and accelleration felt comparible to the S2000, but the Miata felt "squirrely" at interstate speed. One ergonomic problem with the Miata too. The left side footrest was too far foreward; if seat was back far enough that left foot was flat on the footrest, I couldn't reach the bottom of the clutch and only had a toe-hold on the gas pedal. Big bonus for the Miata, could've bought new for the same price as a used S2000.
Chrysler Crossfire. Dispite the fact that Chryler is swimming in leftover coupes and convertibles (overstock.com has them for $7-$8 thousand below msrp, and Chryler has huge rebates through their dealers), these cars are nearly impossible to find. You want to sell cars, you gotta get your dealers to stock them! The only Crossfire I found was a used model that had actually been sold already. The salesman let me sit in it though. I really liked the unique exterior style, and the interior was wife's favorite. Would have liked to found one for sale...
Pontiac Solstice. The interior was the absolute nicest and most comfortable of any convertible I tried. Unfortunately no dealers allowed test drives, and the car fell below the 200HP minimum I was aiming for. The worst aspect of buying Pontiac was the dealers. Dispite GM's comments that markups "would not be tolerated" and sending letters to every sales manager, prices ranged from $3,000 - $6,000 over msrp. Screw 'em. I suspect that after the initial buying backlog is cleared and dealers start choking on unsold cars, the prices will normalize. A higher-performance version is also expected within the year.
Nissan 350Z. Car was super-fast! Wife was scared. End of story. Also, I never found a used convertible and thought the new convertibles were seriously overpriced.
So the Honda S2000 was the 'winner'. Each car had positive and negative aspects. The Honda was sort-of an average between all of them, without having any major flaws. Glass rear window. 240 HP. Comfortable enough. A few "toys" and features included (power windows and mirrors, remote locks, power roof, CD player...). Good accelleration and high-speed handling. Nice-sized trunk. Beautiful blue color, with a blue interior including blue leather seats.
I think I got a fair price too, from an Acura dealer. The S2000 is an '02 with only 15,000 miles and I paid below NADA retail value. The car is absolutely "like new", except new Hondas are priced around $34,000.
Best Wishes,
Bob
