Most people are right so say go with your gut, but I've always been attracted to the lower mileage of 2 cars.

Regarding that 02...Based on conversations I've had with a few people in the used-car business....It wont bring more than $7000 at auction normally they will bring $1000-$2000 less than KBB trade-in..depending on the car

It sounds to me like your gut is telling you to pick the 2001.
If you are leaning toward the 2002 or are undecided, get preapproved for a loan and go to the auction to see if you can get the 2002 cheaper. Also, with the private party sale, there may be some wiggle room on the price.

thanks for thie quick replies. I am in Nampa (just outside Boise), the private party car for sale is in Boise, the 02 is at Edmark superstore in Nampa. They are a great place to buy cars from, and most always have the lowest "dealer" price on any car. If the car will only pull $7k at auction, you would think they would give it to me cheap but they are big on the "NO NEGOTIATION" one price deal. Did i read one of these posts correctly, has someone seen this car before to know about the semi-fresh transmission? I'm trying to look at it tonight or tomorrow afternoon. Let me know, thanks!

P.*. Should I notice a big difference in power between the supercharged car and my 97 NA engine? the car from the dealer just didn't seem any faster, it actually felt heavy, especially the power steering, it was very hard to turn sitting in the parking lot and the HUD did not appear to be working. I've wanted one of these cars for so long just for the HUD, so that alone could be a deal breaker.

The HUD is overrated IMO.
The SC Ei will be about 150 lbs heavier than the NA but the Magnasteering the SSEi has is adjustable.
With a few minor mods, from our help, that Ei will rock your world.

You will notice a difference between the two engines

00+ ei'* are a huge step from your car..even the pre00 ssei'* when it comes to the sound systems, the handling, and the smoothness of the suspension over rough road.

I'm always concerned with transmission fluid flushes. When I bought my 94, it had about 20K on its transmission. The 99 has its original transmission at 120K miles, but the fluid has been flushed every 30K miles! You should see if the transmission fluid flush intervals were recorded and how far apart they were.

Here is an email from august....

so did you buy it? I noticed it was no longer on craigslist....