The S2000 is known by many to be as close as it gets to pure motoring pleasure with no compromises like back seats or luggage space concerns. So what happens when changes in your life potentially necessitate a change of car to match the needs of the moment? Going through a similar circumstance, the concerns I face would be those related to planning out a suitable family car that could hold the dogs (all four of them!), have a boot (trunk) that could swallow the entire grocery shopping list and possibly store a pram (baby stroller).
In Singapore where I live, cars cost quite a bit. When I bought an S2000, it cost just over 100,000 USD and, if S2000s were still in production, they would now be on sale for more than 150,000 USD so obviously a significant portion of my paycheck goes to monthly payments and upkeep of my car. All these bills have to be managed while also paying mortgage on a 700,000 USD apartment which is the norm for middle market apartments here.
The clanging of wedding bells in my near future brought to my attention the various concerns of married life including the financial and practical transportation aspects that were required. This meant that I might have to dump the S2000 for a practical sedan or SUV to ensure I could both make the payments on all the bills plus manage the transportation of the in-laws and my wife-to-be’s four dogs. Other practical considerations that came to mind were to get a car that my wife-to-be could drive even when she is pregnant and be able to have a boot to store a pram as and when kids arrive.
Admittedly, I was pretty concerned that I would need to sacrifice for practical considerations the car I had come to enjoy so much. Being rather practical, I was prepared for the seemingly inevitable since I knew that the priorities of family life would definitely have to supersede my personal enjoyment. In fact, many S2000 and other sports car owners I know have had to do the same. Examples of sporty cars that they moved to for practical reasons include cars like the Subaru Legacy Wagon, the Mitsubishi Evolution and the Honda Accord Euro R. There were even some who decided that they would prefer continental sedans such as the Mercedes Benz C or E Class and the Audi A4/A5 series cars.
Sitting down for a frank discussion with my wife-to-be, I was surprised to find out that she had no intention to suggest that we sell my S2000 as she knew that it was pretty much my sole passion and hobby in what little time I had away from work. We decided together that we should keep the S2000 and get another car to tackle the daily duties and that would address all our concerns of practicality. I consider myself very lucky to have met a partner who is truly understanding in matters such as these. We had a good laugh after she recounted how nervous I looked when we began discussion regarding the car, as she knew how important the S2000 was (and still is) to me.
And so you may ask, what was the car we got to do the family run duties? None other than the Civic Type R Euro version as my wife-to-be loves driving too!
Images courtesy of c32b and Honda
Related posts:
- An S2000 Affair is Forever – Part 2 (The Great AP2 v. AP1 Debate) Click here for Part One. Click through for Part Two...
- An S2000 Affair is Forever – Part 1 (The Madness Begins) Our member, jeallen, shared his thoughts on his continuing affair...
- Don’t Hate, Appreciate! On my leisurely drive home for lunch (yes, home page...
on Jul 22nd, 2011 at 3:49 am
Love that story, especially when Im kind of the same position. Havent decided yet if Im going to keep the S2k or buy a Accord type S instead…
However, I wonder where have you got that nice looking front lip/splitter?
Thanks in advance,
Regards Mattias, Sweden
on Jul 22nd, 2011 at 3:51 am
Good story with a good ending, so far. Keep that car forever. I predict that in 30 years or so, you’ll be very glad you did.
on Jul 22nd, 2011 at 4:50 am
Lucky man! She’s a keeper!! :thumbup:
on Jul 22nd, 2011 at 7:46 am
To twist an old expression: Luckey in cars, lucky in love.
on Jul 22nd, 2011 at 8:04 am
Wow! This story hits real close to home except the crazy cost in Singapore. My wife knows how much the S2000 means to me and it really has grown on her as well. Our Tampa Bay, FL meets are great and she really enjoys the awesomeness the S2000 provides. I have been itching to get a CR before we have any kids, so it’ll be paid off by then. I even joked the other day that I still wanted to keep my AP2 as a Daily Driver and the CR as the fun weekend car and she admitted that whatever makes me happy. Although, my S recently has come across some issues and I’m hoping that won’t alter her mind at all.
Besides, she is the one who traded in her ’10 GTI with DSG for ’11 Hyundai Sonata SE (The GTI has numerous electrical issues and was out of warranty) because she wanted a 4-door car.
on Jul 22nd, 2011 at 9:51 am
I went through the same historical dilema with my 06 s2k which ultimately was traded in for an a4 Avant S-line. I loved that car, drove it for 3 years. But to keep it short, I just traded it in for a pristine 2008 S2k I found with 2300 miles on it. And although my initial feeling was of mourning for my Audi, I havent looked back beyond the 1st day I drove my s2k home remembering all of it’s amazing and spectacular uniqueness.
What a mistake, and if you do the same, regardless of how long it takes, you will look on another S2k and regret every second you’ve spent without your little unicorn.
on Jul 22nd, 2011 at 11:05 am
Is this even worthy story? You want to go from a non-practical family transport (the S2) to another non-practical family transport (the civic type-R)? Didn’t you just mentioned that the cost of buying a car in Singapore is prohibitively expensive and yet you made a choice to buy another impractical car? I’m just dumbfounded right about now. Why not buy a minivan for the family usage purposes? Ooops, don’t thank me, I just put some senses back into your frying brain. My bad, I guess.
on Jul 22nd, 2011 at 11:09 am
hey! Top Secret, go suck an egg. You jealous mofo…lol
on Jul 22nd, 2011 at 1:16 pm
Wow top secret, I know what you’re trying to say. I just don’t think you took the time to word it correctly. It make you sound like a real A$$ and I’m sure you weren’t going for that.
Maybe you were.
on Jul 22nd, 2011 at 4:26 pm
To anyone thinking of selling a sports car they love, my strong advice is don’t.
I sold my 2 year old Morgan +4, [the S2k equivalent in that day], in 1965, to buy a family thing that could tow a trailer.
For 44 years I drove a boring succession of sedans, utes, pickups, light trucks, & more sedans. I forgot how to drive properly, & more importantly, I forgot how to enjoy driving.
In that Morgan I would drive 20 miles to the beach for a coffee, & 50 miles up the mountains for a hamburger. You know, the S2k has found some of those coffee shops are still there.
If you want to get me out of my little Honda, you had better have a long wrecking bar, a good fulcrum, & be pretty strong, it’s going to take a lot of levering.
on Jul 22nd, 2011 at 4:34 pm
Nice story mate. Cheers on the wedding bells as well
on Jul 22nd, 2011 at 9:42 pm
Great write up, and a great lady you have there.
on Jul 22nd, 2011 at 10:30 pm
Thanks folks!
mattias: its an APR splitter with custom mounting. my blog at http://racings2000.blogspot.com has a few more details.
slusoccer00: funnily enough the missus wanted a GTI as well but due to budget considerations and potential reliability issues we decided against it. She had always loved the driving feel of the Type R so we got that instead.
Top Secret: Practical is as much as our interpretation of it. We both hate driving large slow MPV’s (our roads are pretty tight so its kind of chore squeezing large cars around all the time), don’t see a need to fetch a large group of people and the Type R has all the space we need. I know what you mean by practicality but we simply choose to live our lives a bit differently from the regular choices. Nothing better or worse, just different.
on Jul 22nd, 2011 at 10:32 pm
You put $900 enkies on a 100k car… hmm…
on Jul 23rd, 2011 at 1:52 am
btw mattias: my wife drove the 6 speed Euro S and she found the drive rather less exciting than she expected. You might want to do a thorough test of the Euro S to figure out if thats really the car you want. Keep the S if you can!
on Jul 23rd, 2011 at 5:57 am
Hi man,i’m in the same case here,when i bought my S,my wife was pregnant,and i just didnt know that..was a big shock for me!because i finally got my dream car,and now,i have more 2 years of loan to be payed for the S.I was planning of got a K-Car and keep my S,or just change my S to a Sti/Evo or even an Altezza RS200,New Civic Type R”Japanese version” . But i use my S fir daily drive to my work,and that car have a nice fuel economy for his power.if i buy a Evo.i going to spent tons of money with gas,since my work is 20km far from my work..
Sell an S2 is definely not the easyest thing in the world!Since all owners keep this car,like his a part of family.
on Jul 23rd, 2011 at 2:41 pm
THIS is the ultimate keeper test. PASS.
on Jul 23rd, 2011 at 8:00 pm
That’s pretty funny – similar thing happened to me. I rented an S2000 twice in SoCal back around 2000, hoping that i’d drive it and realize that it wasn’t such a big deal. Well, i can still clearly remember the rpms hitting 6K while I was dropping down an exit onto the 10 freeway-i was hooked. We have a kid though, so when the time came for a new car (to replace my ’87 CRX) i was going to “settle” for the subaru WRX. My wife said, “if you’re going to buy a new car, get what you really want, we’ll make it work.” I got my S2000 in ’02, and love it. Other women frequently ask my wife why she let me get the S2000 – heck, she talked me into it!
on Jul 24th, 2011 at 5:51 pm
I sold my S2000 out of impraticality. I miss her everyday. As soon as I can afford two cars again I will be first in line for another S2k. Its like breaking up with a hot girlfriend. I loom back and don’t remember why I gave her up.
on Jul 27th, 2011 at 6:04 am
I had a feeling that as soon as I bought an S2000 my wife would fall pregnant…
on Jul 27th, 2011 at 7:01 am
I’ll hold and drive my s2k forever and when all’s been said and done … I’d like to be buried in it … with the tach @ redline, so I continue to be in heaven even after my demise and no matter what. B-.)
on Jul 27th, 2011 at 9:07 am
Do what I did: buy a used first-gen Honda CR-V on the cheap.
I got mine for $3,800 USD and its my daily driver now, while my S is my weekend car. My CR-V has AWD and a 5-speed manual and makes me smile just as much as my old Acura Integra did.
I actually hauled around both my young sons in my Integra GS for several years but decided I wanted an s2000. So I sold the Integra and used the money to pay for my CR-V and then bought an s2000. They’re the perfect compliment to each other.
on Jul 27th, 2011 at 11:16 pm
During the economic down turn many times I had consider selling MY03 as a way to leverage myself in this economy. But every time I asked myself what else at this point in my life that could bring me so much joy and pride, and that has worked every time. I plan to keep this car one day for my kid ( although he will only be able to look and touch) to be able to go out with him on a nice sunny day top down and vtec away into the sunset.
on Aug 10th, 2011 at 10:29 am
I know how it is. My S will cost me a nice big payment every month and im going to have to cut back on other things to make ends meet. But to me its all worth it because im so in love with a car that i will keep for the rest of my life…
on Sep 4th, 2011 at 8:04 pm
Great that you get to keep the S2K. I wish I still had my first car, a ’73 Datsun 240Z, although my ’02 S2K is a far superior machine.
JH
British Columbia, Canada
on Sep 6th, 2011 at 9:36 pm
Thanks for sharing that personal anecdote, and I am so happy for you that your fiancee is cool! I’ve heard of many situations where the man wasn’t so lucky