thanks for the input guys i would/could spend more, but i have a plan in place to build a detached garage/man cave (for bikes and toy car) in addition to the 3 car garage, after which point in time, i would be a bit more spendy and buy a "long term" toy car (don't know what i want yet). this is strictly a car to keep me amused and tide me over til I've sorted out the details. all that and try not to dump too much money into it whether it be repairs or depreciation... hence, trying to buy a car that has practically hit bottom for depreciation. i'm open to other suggestions, but unless it's a compellingly awesome car, i probably wont go over 15K. my default pick is a stock S2000 or a good deal on an elise (which can occasionally be found for just around 20K). still waiting on the guy to get me the dyno/tuning info he has. per him (and the carfax backs this up) he moved from virginia after a nasty divorce and his shit is all in a disarray. i'm assuming he's using this to keep these docs from me, but i'm hoping he'll produce them to reduce my worry. bad, i saw that supercharged S2000... he's down to 16.5K but he doesn't answer PM or emails to his craigslist ad. and I have no idea who "VLAD" is and don't like to call people lol also, it runs on E85 which i think i can find near me but that car worries me too because it's had so much work done. the guy who built it seems to know what he's doing though. i hope he gets back to me. i can't post in the classifieds thread cause i dont have enough posts on that forum as far as dyno/diagnostics shop goes, i'm looking for a place in Northeast ohio (which is where i am) NE of cleveland. if i was in cbus, there is be no question I'd take it to dtm-brian. i will probably take it to him if i end up buying it.