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  1. #1
    Member Array
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Melbourne
    Car:
    Civic VTIR

    Bad experience with S2K purchase - My Story

    Hi All,

    It's been about 6-7 months since I bought and returned my S2k due to odometer tampering. Here's my story.

    I was looking to purchase an S2K about 8-9 months. In about June or July last year, after looking at several S2Ks, I finally found one at a Honda Dealer. The car had 55,xxx kms on the clock and everything looked to be in good nick. I took it out for a test drive and had a visual inspection at the car. The car had full service history (doctored), and according to the salesman, had 1 previous elderly owner who had traded the S2K for a bigger family car. I put a deposit on the car pending an inspection from Stateroads. So the day for the inspection came and gone. The report indicated a very good rating for the car on the overall. There were some minor panel repairs, no accidents etc. So the day after the inspection, I went and paid for the car and drove home.

    After I got home, I opened up the bonnet to have a look at the car. Everything was still good until I started the car up. I hear this really unhealthy tapping sort of noise which was not present when I was inspecting the car. So I took it to a local mechanic who specialises in Honda and they told me its the timing chain tensioner. At the same time, they said that the headers have been taken out before as there were some pinkish looking seal around the gasket. I then called Honda immediately and took it back the same day. The mechanics there had a quick look and said they will take care of it and replace the timing chain tensioner and to pick up the car the next day. So again the day came and gone and I picked up the S2K.

    Several days after I had the car, I again opened up the bonnet and this time I opened up the intake box and noticed there was a hole cut on the side of the box (no wonder Vtec was so loud when engaged). I didn't think much at that time. Over the next day or two, I was browsing through Ozhonda forums for mods and came across a thread with a picture of an S2K with the exact same hole cut open on the intake box. The car was coincidentally the same colour. The plates and the wheels were different. So I started going through all the post by this individual and came to a conclusion that it was the same car. I then called up Vicroads and provided the previous plates and finally confirmed that it was indeed the very same car. I was also told that the car had gone through 5 owners. After going through pages and pages of post by the individual, I noticed that the car has had more kms that what was showing on the car. The car had at least 70,000 kms 7 months before I bought the car. The car also had the timing chain tensioner replaced 4 times and was tracked frequently. Upon inspecting the screws under the dash, I could see scratches on the plastic and evidence that it was removed previously. I went online again and printed out every single post that was relevant.

    At this point I was pretty pissed off and called Honda immediately (about 1 week after purchasing the car). I explained the whole situation to them and being the salesman they are, turned me away and said I was paranoid. After several phone discussion with the salesman, it got no where so I went to see a solicitor. He contacted Honda and basically said what a solictor would say. He also managed to get the phone number of the previous owner. I was also told by my solicitor that the person who traded the car in was good mates with some of the guys at this Honda Dealer. Whilst all this was happening, I called up consumer affairs to get some advise. I was told that I needed more concrete proof that odometer tampering had taken place. I called up more than 20 of this odometer places to no avail. Each and everyone of them said that it is not possible to check on a digital odometer. I then came across a company in NZ who said they can check this. They specialise in this type of fraud and are frequently employed by individuals to provide evidence in court. The only thing was I had to take out my dash and send it to NZ. Everything looked bleak at this point until I called this place in the city which was providing the exact same service as the company in NZ. With the all the information I had printed out and the assurance of the odometer tampering company in the city, I called up the previous owner to discuss. He denied tampering with the odometer and said that he had several cars and got confused with the km readings when he made the post. He offered me all these spare parts for the S2K. At the end, I just told him that I don't believe his story and I will be booking my car in for the odometer tampering. The conversation ended there. That very afternoon, I received a call from the manager at Honda who offered to buy the car back from me + the inspection fee. From here on, everything worked out well. About a month after this incident, I saw the car went back into circulation again with the same kms and the same price though through a different car dealer now (not Honda). The individual who owned the car previously seemed to have seized all activities on this forum. Whether he came back as a different user, I don't know.

    Whew... long story but would like to share this with everyone and hope no one has to go through all this crap.
    Last edited by dciisir; 15-01-2011 at 08:40 AM.

  2. #2
    Member Array
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    aowallans house
    Car:
    shooting star
    you went for such a ride with buying this s2000 that it wasnt worth it. =P

  3. #3
    Its always scary buying a used car. Hell even some new cars have problems which makes things like buying from a private sale or buying a sports car from a teenager pretty scary. I've had bad expereinces purchasing motorcyles but they do wear faster and have a shorter life than cars.

    But that feeling of driving/riding home all happy only to wake up the next day to see your new toy in a puddle of oil just makes your eyes water.

    On the flip side my mate bought a car and didn't do a revs check or was aware they existed and it was a repairable write off and hasn't had any problems with it forever now. Then again he doesn't race/thrash or do anything outside of normal driving.

  4. #4
    Member Array
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Western Sydney
    Car:
    94 EG, 11 Maloo
    Jesus Christ! You can't trust anyone can you? Makes me sick
    Power Of Dreams...
    VTECN

  5. #5
    Member Array
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Sydney's WEST
    Car:
    NHB DC2R + EURO
    Wow bro! Honestly this is an amazing write up and thanks fk you didn't stop when u got told your paranoid and stuff :/

    Really want to congratulate you on this whole mind fk bro!!!

  6. #6
    Moderator Array
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    MELB.
    Car:
    RiceTrolley.
    sorry to hear but glade it has worked out well
    凸-_-凸

  7. #7
    Member Array
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Melb
    Car:
    P1.5 460F/350R
    dciisir, youre awesome.
    you did the right thing and went for it.
    S P A M | W O R K S
    With our special rotational tires, it will allow you to drive very fast. - JK Tyre

  8. #8
    Member Array
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Melbourne
    Car:
    Civic VTIR
    I'm glad that it all worked out too. $34,000 for a car that I had no confidence in. I was stressing every day over it. Just goes to show how scary it is buying a used car even when purchasing from a proper Honda dealer. I was actually browsing through the forums every so often, ready to inform anyone who had bought the car after the ad got taken down from carsales but I haven't come across it yet. It was a blue 03 S2000 with tan interior and had the non polished wheels from the AP1 series 1.

    I am now in the midst of looking for a Gen 5 Lude

  9. #9
    S2Krazy Array
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Brisbane CBD.
    Quote Originally Posted by dciisir View Post
    It was a blue 03 S2000 with tan interior and had the non polished wheels from the AP1 series 1.
    From that description alone I know the car (as only about 10 MCB + tan interiors exist in AU), and the forum user in question... I just can't remember his user name. Was from Victoria.
    --------------------------------------
    PM's Turned Off

    Prelude - Sold.
    S2000 - Sold.
    NSX - Sold.
    F355 - Coming...

  10. #10
    Member Array
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Northshore sydney
    Car:
    s2k, bb6
    Quote Originally Posted by ludecrs View Post
    From that description alone I know the car (as only about 10 MCB + tan interiors exist in AU), and the forum user in question... I just can't remember his user name. Was from Victoria.
    yeah....from melbourne westside? i think i might konw the person too .... hmmm....i wonder if this person still has there car or not......hmmmm
    僕の名前はTony です。

    I need a new car....lol

    Speed has never killed anyone, suddenly becoming stationary... That's what gets you.

  11. #11
    Member Array
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Sydney
    Car:
    Honda S2000
    Hey mate. Well done to sticking to it! Must have been a horrid week to think that 34k has gone into that. Glad to see it all worked out at the end. Forget the lude, look into some more s2000s!

  12. #12
    S2Krazy Array
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Brisbane CBD.
    Quote Originally Posted by dciisir View Post
    The individual who owned the car previously seemed to have seized all activities on this forum. Whether he came back as a different user, I don't know.
    Shoot me a PM and I will check if the user is using a dual account on the forum and have him / her IP banned.
    --------------------------------------
    PM's Turned Off

    Prelude - Sold.
    S2000 - Sold.
    NSX - Sold.
    F355 - Coming...

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