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s2000 buying advice?

G

goodness-707

Active member
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Location
Dublin
Moto(s)
not nearly enough
Name
Richard
I'm sure it's been discussed, but the sink isnt' very searchable, so...

I'm thinking about getting one. I won't track it. Just looking for a fun weekend drop top, and they seem to be kinda affordable. I'd prefer a model year as new as I can find with under about 65k miles on it. Budget: prefer to keep it under 20k if do-able. So BARF experts... what's the good, bad, and ugly about owning an s2000. (thanks in advance).
 
paging stan23

btw, make sure you have good security
 
Better off with a 350z. I hate the soft tops, but its hands down a better car for the money (unless you track an s2000, then there may be a bit of wiggle room).

350z or 370 would be cheaper.
 
I do know of one for sale that was properly broken in, extremely well taken care of (garaged and covered) 2004, $20k and 66,077 original miles

But everything I have heard, as long as they were properly broken in, they are a hoot! Be prepared for a fairly stiff clutch because it is a performance clutch. (Used to work at a Honda dealer and it was one of the main problems for repair)

Oh, how tall are you? I am 6'1" and my eyeline was at the top trim of the windshield
 
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My buddy had a gen 1 and gen 2. Gen 1 was actually the faster car. He put every bolt on there was and ran a 13.9x once. Got hit and destroyed it and bought a 2.2L one and it had a little more torque but wasn't as fast. The newer ones were not as finicky with break in.
 
If you are firm on that mileage and it being a later year, you probably are going to have to come up on the price a bit or search really hard. beware anything that has a long list of mods. If you do buy something with mods, you need a paper trail for what shop installed it and to absolutely trust that they would do a great job. Even then I would say a car on a modded engine at 50k is likely less reliable then a stock one at 70-80. If you can find a stock one, it's a honda, you will have honda reliability, don't fall into the myth about it being an amazing corvette beater, but it'll keep you happy and be quite a bit more exciting then something like a miata.

That being said, I would get a Miata over the s2000 because they are cheaper to buy and insure, plus they feel special and fun to drive for the original at least, the NB and NC gradually got worse, whereas the s2000's I've tested have felt quite a bit more aggressive and serious. I only have secondhand experience on the total ownership experience so someone else will have to comment on that.
 
For the money some people ask for their S2K, you could almost get a brand new Miata (which is the best generation Miata ever).
 
Reli said:
For the money some people ask for their S2K, you could almost get a brand new Miata (which is the best generation ever).
Click to expand...

I haven't test driven the ND yet...

I fear if I do, I will buy it.
 
Reli said:
For the money some people ask for their S2K, you could almost get a brand new Miata (which is the best generation Miata ever).
Click to expand...

I was considering an NC miata, but they are going for pretty steep prices lately, and kinda hard to find (at least in the color/trim we want.... eg needs to be a manual trans).

ScarySpikes said:
I haven't test driven the ND yet...

I fear if I do, I will buy it.
Click to expand...
I have. I like em better than the NC. Better road manners, quieter on the road whether top up or down. They're pretty nice, but they're also like $35k. That's what my wife wants. I'm just unconvinced that I want to spend that on a car right now.

Someone else mentioned height... I'm 5.7, so no worries about the windshield height. Vis out the back wasn't great, but that's typical of many convertibles.

I'm not worried about which will be the faster of the two generations; again, just looking for a fun drop top. It'll get maybe 5-10k miles a year.

So far, I'm hearing no major issues or things to beware of other than improper break-in related oil burning.
 
I know everyone goes apeshit over the AP1 with its 9k redline and stiffer suspension. But really...are you driving it at full boil that much? Personally, I'd go for the AP2. Not the final year Club Racer either. Redline only 8k, but you get more low end torque which makes it feel not as gutless and a ride that doesn't beat you up when you're just putting around town or just cruising at a comfy pace.

Plus it's getting almost impossible to find an AP1 that isn't beat to shit/modded too much/previously wrecked.
 
TheRobSJ said:
I know everyone goes apeshit over the AP1 with its 9k redline and stiffer suspension.
Click to expand...

OK, so drove both gens, but it was separated by some time. I thought the first gen was a fair bit stiffer, but I wasn't sure if I was imagining it. Thanks.

Being a guy who has worked on them... would you own one or steer clear?
 
As much as I hate all things convertible. ....


Just by a convertible Vette or even better a targa top. Better everything, more robust, parts are cheap, and not a Miata or S2000.
 
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