Newbie Needs Spec V Advice

Hi, new to the site, and looking to get a 03 Yellow Spec V. I want the 03 because I love the bumper and prefer the black interior. I've been looking in some classifieds, autotrader and ebay & haven't found many. I'm watching this one on ebay w/ low miles and no reserve. It's also located only a few hundred miles away. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1,1&item=4574387391&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT (http://) I have also listed this post in another forum and was hoping you guys could tell me what you think, if you know anyone, or can recommend any place to look 4 a deal.
Thanks

Your link is bad, dude. I have an 03 spec v... Love it. Except mine has had so many problems and i've lost countless nights of sleep over it. I've heard I just have a lemon, though. I wouldn't buy one on ebay, but if you find a good one and don't get ripped off, more power to you. What draws you to the spec v? I might be able to give you some advice and let you know if you will really like the car.
In My Opinion-
Pros: Can't really say it any other way besides the car just has class. Flat out. It's quick and the suspension feels great. It also has a very sharp looking classy interior and the stock guages are really sharp looking. I always get compliments on the interior.
Cons: Yeah this car is great and leads it's class pretty much 2nd to the srt4. That is if you look at the class they put it in(small 4 door cars). So basically if you put it next to a eclipse gst, an acura rsx, or a celica gts you are going to get beat in handling and in speed. You won't get beat bad, but you will get beat. Also this car is very... i mean very expensive to upgrade, in my opinion. The 6 speed tranny can also be crunchy at times and a pain in the ass to work with. Mine is brand new and I still have to force it in reverse sometimes. All of that aside, the thing that burns me the most is that it isn't an attention getter. It looks too plain like a 4 door sedan more than a sporty fast car. That's great if you like the sleeper look. But if you get the car expect people riding in the back seat to say "so what kind of car is this again?"

I know if seems like the cons outweight the pros, but I just wanted to give you some hard information about the car incase it's really not what you wanted. Like I said, it really is a great car, but is it really what you want? These cars have great longevity, but for some reason mine is a four door lemon. Even with that aside as much as I love my car, if I had it to do all over again I would have laid down a little more time and a couple thousand dollars more for an acura rsx type S. Keep in mind the new 06 eclipse is now out on the road and to be quite honest, you're going to have to spend AT LEAST a grand to run side by side with it.

So you do decide to buy the car:
Cosmetic Upgrades: 1st thing I did was paint my calipers red(my spec is silver). This looked great. The red accents went great with the red SER badges. Next I got some blueish headlights and they look pretty sharp at night. And in a week or so I'm getting tint. Looks great on the specs.
Looking for speed?: A good 17-20 hp mod to start out with is a hotshot or nismo header. Should be around 3-4 hundred dollars if you install it yourself. I've had shops say they will put it on for under 100 if you're like me and are mechanically retarded. Other great mods iare balance shaft removal or a lightweight flywheel. That should get you into the high 14's EZ.

Well there, I wrote you my book. Lets just call it spec v for dummies(because that's what I am when it comes to automotive things). Don't know much about modding cars besides my little previous experiance with my old geo storm(laugh it up, jerks... I upgraded) so that's about 9 months of research, trial, and error on my part. In the sport compact world, out of 10 I would have to give the spec v a 7.5 maybe an 8. It's a reliable(not mine) quick classy ride and it's incredibly fun to drive.
Sorry for typos, I'm sure as hell not going to re-read this. Hopefully NismoPilot and fugiot will give you more advice. They always bail me out.

got the link to work. car looks sharp. I'd bit up to 12 on it. I got mine for 14 and it had 51k mile on it :(. (I got fucked)

Thank you both! You may have to cut and past the link. It took me a while to read your book pro, but it was worth it. I agree with you about all the pros and that's my main reason for wanting one. I really like the look of the 02-03's they are very skyline inspired. The owner of the car on ebay told me had a couple offers of 13+, but sunburst is probable my favorite color and I'm sure I'm not going to find one w/ 9k miles near me again anytime soon. IMO the Spec V isn't really in the came group as it's so called competitors. I've been to a few dealers and can get a new spec V after incentives for under $17k. All the competitors will laugh at you, if you mention incentives or anything under twenty. I think it's an incredible power/cost value considering the competitors cars will cost $4-8(rsx)k more. My only complaint is that, IMO the 04+'s looks like a regular sentra w/ rims ( I like the five spoke better) from the exterior. No skyline inspiration there. Thanks again guys!

I agree, the 02/03 specs look much sportier than the 04+, not to say they still don't look nice, but I would stay away from 02 specs due to many defects. I'm not a fan of buying the 1st year of a car.

ok i think me and zach may be your only authentic spec source here but heres my $0.02. I bought a '05 code red spec for 16 flat out the door. As far as speed the only thing that gets the spec v is the srt4......In my experience there arent many things out there with four cylinders that can touch this car, ive killed gs-r's, bmw's, mustang GT's, eclipses, you name it, it usually takes 6-8 cylinders or a turbo to have some competition. In the handling department the spec is pretty scary, i took a 30mph on ramp to the interstate at 75 and didnt even squeal the tires, its bred for autocross, the skidpad numbers it put up are only slightly off from the STI and it murdered most things through the slalom. I would recommend this car as a sleeper type street car, you will get used to hearing, "thats a 6-cylinder right?" First mod i would pick up is a cold air intake, you wont drive without it after you hear one. It sounds like a mustang after 5k rpm. I have to disagree with zach about its competitors though, put up to a rsx, a celica gts the spec will spank them, ive done it myslef, the type s rsx will get you high end but if you drag you'll get em. The gts isnt really competition at all, ive out driven several of them, you wont murder them but they wont win unless you lose both arms and your right foot sometime during the race. Not too sure about the eclipse but it would have to be boosted to get you. In my opinion there isnt a reason not to buy a spec, take the difference in price between it and ANYTHING, spend that money on mods and you'll beat it, people talk a lot about the type s, you could buy a header, intake, exhaust, get some headowrk done and murder the type s for about 1500 bucks, that would mean spending 17.5 and raping a 22-28k car......join the darkside luke

I feel a little stupid. I said thank you both not realizing both post are from you Zach. Hey, what do you want from me, I'm the nubie. Maybe now it's more appropriate. Thank you both! I agree w/ most of what you said N.P. I think the spec V is an incredible value for around 16-17k. From what I read in the auto mags. I'm going to side w/ zach's numbers. Still to get a car in the 14's for only $1,000 in upgrades would be a real eye opener for most V6's. Another thing I think is really nice about the car it's sleeper personality. Not because it necessarily looks like a sleeper IMO, but because they seem more rare and get less attention from the auto enthusiast. Which will make it that much more fun to spank a v6 mustang. As you can tell I've been contemplating A spec V for quite some time.

Not to mention the 02's have that pink interior.

yup, '03 is the year to get. Or an '05 and smack an 02 bumper on there.

rofl i smoked v6 mustangs in my old geo storm... trust me man. no v6 stang will touch you unless it has major money in it.

4.6 litre V8 is the motor used in GT's before the new GT.......and they go down too versus the spec

Yeah the early 4.6 GT's were just pathetic! Had so many problems they weren't really any faster than the v6's

Actually, I think the old 5.0 was worse than the middle-year 4.6's. Just terrible hp numbers for a 5.0 V8

well, I'm visiting my friend near Chicago this weekend. We both went to check out the car yesterday and it is beautiful and looks well maintained. I pulled up a carfax and it shows no accidents. But, the bid is already $12,400. Since, I think it's going to be hard to find another one this color, year and w/ the options I want, I'm going to bid $13,250. Do you guys think it's worth more? Thanks for all your helpful input! Here, I'll try and fix the link. EBAY SPEC-V (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1,1&item=4574387391&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT)

Holy S**T! 9k miles AND an 03? I'd bid as much as you've got on that thing. I'd even go 15-16k on that. It's pretty much new.

maybe it vaccumed up one of those butterfly screws we spec guys just love to hear about.......13 is as high as i would go, the trade in on my 2005 is only 13.5 and it has 9k miles, you can get a brand new one for around 15.5 if you know what youre doing

I guess i really want to know if you are the person who won this auction and bought it, Let me know!

I just got my 05 a few days ago for 16k, so i didn't do too bad on it. There were a few miles on it, everywhere else was wanting like 18k for em, and i was like damn not if i don't have to i won't, then i found this one and haggled me a 15995 sticker price. Go me. YAY

not bad