You know that we are an appearance-conscious bunch when, not only do we have a forum chapter pertaining to Photographing our cars, but we also have a serious forum chapter and badge dedicated to washing and waxing the car. Any post of damage suffered is met by a preliminary “meh, that will buff right out” followed by advice, suggestion and expressions of horror about the OP’s idiocy. Honorable mention must also be made about S2K’ers against Door Dings a badge several of us proudly wear. Any casual wayfarer with average intellect only need take one look at us to quickly determine that we are not to be messed with, at least as far as our cars are concerned.
Just like that four letter word that we sometimes step on accidentally, damage too happens. It can come in any way, shape or form and sneak up on you no matter how much you plan to keep it from coming close. One moment you are relaxing after a great group drive until you walk around to see where the stones from when you went sideways around a corner kicked up and damaged the paint. You take the scenic route back to your car that was painstakingly parked in that abandoned lot where no one parks to notice a door ding where none existed when you left it to bask.
Cloth tops on certain model years are prone to tearing in certain locations and when a tear does appear it makes the strongest of us go weak-kneed and bawl out our heart. We are certain that almost every one of us had a facepalm moment or two, like somehow connecting the surface of our palm to our forehead is going to make the problem go away.
After time spent moping over one’s misfortune, we do tend to come around. Some of us tend to get the damage taken care of right away or make plans to have it fixed at a future meet or tech day. There are also those of us that then tend to look at the damage and decide it’s too minor to worry about. If anything, the damage is a proud battle scar and a badge of honor for the S2000.
Now tell us. Have you had a facepalm moment with your S2000 and how did that make you feel?
Tip of the hat to Saki GT for suggesting the idea.
Image courtesy of tooNz213
NOTE: S2KI welcomes the opinions of its members on the S2000 and on all topics related to the S. Should you feel the creative urge to pen a few words then by all means do so and PM Energetic, Aashish2 or Onehots2k OR send us links to what you would like us to write about and we will feature you (or your community) on the S2KI Home Page.
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on Dec 20th, 2010 at 9:11 pm
i just put stickers over it
on Dec 20th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
I had the tear in my top cant use it that much anymore cause its like half inch big. Also my seal on the driverside top is leaking so now its raining and everytime i stop i get water into my pants. So i feel bummed to drive it but i love my s and soon ill all be fixed. I just hope for the best!
on Dec 20th, 2010 at 9:47 pm
i hopped on the interstate one night after work and right at the on ramp some asshole decided he wanted to drop a bunch of sheet metal on the highway, well i hit a peice because i had no where to go and im like maybe 1/2 inch off the ground…needless to say it put a pretty good size gash in the paint on my lip and i dealt with it by punching the hit out of a wall when i got home and surveyed the damage
on Dec 20th, 2010 at 10:02 pm
this is so amazing to me, i am a member of the forum and i just got into an accident on WED, the 15th on a freeway ramp. it had just started raining and i lost control and ruined my rear bumper, after market exhaust, front bumper, rear tires, and some other interior damage. i will not be able to drive my S again until at least JAN 13th as the body shop in which my car is currently in has informed me the damages are “pretty bad”. this has come at a perfect time for me and once again i can relate to plenty of owners of the S2000, it was definitely a face-palm moment
on Dec 20th, 2010 at 11:12 pm
sew that shit up eric. then use some fabric glue on the inside. dont be a woman.
on Dec 21st, 2010 at 5:52 am
I saw a wear spot on my tonneau when I looked after reading the torn top service bulletin 09-033 (see: http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=701165).
It’s a lightly-driven ’03, so I’ll have to apply for a goodwill repair, which I doubt will be upheld, but I’ll be repairing her anyway (there’s a DIY repair guide floating around somewhere… involves gaffa tape, box cloth and velcro hooks, sigh).
I can’t stand any little defect with my prize—much less a full-on fender bender, or worse! I’ve actually never seen a damaged S2000 (except for disturbing crash pictures posted in a dedicated thread on this site or S2000.com). It makes me think I’ve bought the right car if all other owners are as meticulous as me.
on Dec 21st, 2010 at 7:30 am
I remember my first S2000 related face-palm moment.
After only 6 months of ownership, I could see sunlight peeking through the notorious tear-spot just behind the passenger side window. I didn’t face-palm at this point, I started with denial, then came anger. Bargaining with my car didn’t work – that really bummed me out. Finally, I accepted that my S has a flaw.
The face-palm moment came when I searched this site and realized that I could have prevented the tear by following a simple s2ki DIY!
on Dec 21st, 2010 at 8:09 am
I bought my S in October. I performed a thorough detail and exposed a few very minor imperfections…no big deal. After taking it to a paintless dent repair guy, it looked good as new. A few weeks later, I pulled another car I have into the garage, open the door a bit too quick and it opened too far and I put a nice ding in the S. I was sick…I HATE DINGS! I couldn’t believe I hit one of my own cars with another of my cars in my own garage. I couldn’t get it back to the paintless dent repair guy soon enough. Thankfully, all is right in my world again.
on Dec 21st, 2010 at 10:07 am
Wintertires are nice, but everyone should use them on snow & ice.
So I was able to stop in time (for a sliding car in front of me) but the van behind me was not.
Well… I stopped him.
Coming monday the car is at the body shop.
Probably a new bumper.
I was glad the exhaust wasn’t hit.
Oh well….
on Dec 21st, 2010 at 10:58 am
my car’s front lip fell victim last week to a stupid object flying out of a truck on the interstate. i was so pissed. but it was my dad that was driving it and he has since bought a replacement.
on Dec 21st, 2010 at 7:44 pm
The entire right side of my car was replaced and being a big job this was done professionally by a trusted group of techs I’ve lived down the street from for 10+ years. This is the only time the S2000 has ever had anyone but myself work on it under my ownership. Lets not forget it needs a new Top(badly) but it’s always down so that doesn’t bother me.
Before:
http://www.poopftw.com/images/s2kdamage.jpg
After:
http://www.poopftw.com/images/s2kdws5.jpg
I cannot tell the difference, the repairs are nearly 100% invisible. Car drives exactly as it should.
-Froth
on Dec 21st, 2010 at 10:36 pm
Driving my Sebring silver 02 back to see my parents on thanksgiving break at 4am we hit black ice and started spinning going 50 or so. Hit the front off the bank, slid through bushes and over some huge rocks, then hit the back off the same wall. It really didn’t look that bad at first, but the repair shop stopped estimating at 12k in repairs, and the insurance totaled it
rough.
on Dec 22nd, 2010 at 11:48 pm
I love battle scars.
I rock them with pride
on Dec 27th, 2010 at 10:43 am
Came flying around a corner by my house last week when the roads were dry ( so excited to get a day out with the S after the snow melted ) as a deer came running out in front of me I slammed on my brakes and just grazed him a little, no damage to the car except a little hair sticking out between my ap2 headlight and bumper.
After the Hart-Throat moment came The Face-Palm moment when realizing that I dropped my insurance to liability for the winter because I just drive my EG, so back in the garage she went! no more close calls tell spring and fully insured! that could have been a disaster.