Hello everyone,

I wanted to get some opinions on something that I have been pondering. First off I drive a 2008 S2000 in Grand Prix White with a Mugen style hardtop and red and black interior. I have owned in for 2 years and absolutely love it. This is actually my second S2k so I know the feeling of regret after selling. However I may be getting a new job that would require me to drive more and the S2k just wouldn't be practical. So I have come up with a couple of options. Just wanted to get some thoughts. Thanks for your input!

 

keep the s2000 and buy a honda element used

 

Keep the S2K and get a Fit. You know deep down that you couldn't sleep at night if you sell the S!!

 

As a second car I would suggest a hatch back of some sort. The Element wouldn't be my choice but it does fit the bill even though I'm not sure it's considered a hatch. For me the second car should be decent on the freeway. It should preferably get "acceptable" mileage and should be practical enough to haul stuff around.

Back when I was considering a new Prelude I cam to the realization that a coupe as my only car was simply not going to happen. That is why I decided to go the two car route. In the end it has served me nicely. Incidentally, because you don't need to depend on just one car you can consider a second car that might require more time in the shop (my garage in my case) but is otherwise more practical/desirable etc.

 

How are you defining "more practical?" Your alternate cars certainly do not fall into the common definition of a practical car. The S can get you 27mpg which is pretty good. The other cars you listed will get you worse mpg. They may be a bit more comfy, but that is certainly subjective. They are not much more utilitarian, you get a vestigial back seat and the trunks are not much bigger.

I'm with the others, get a "commuter" car with some utility, keep the S as the fun car. Considering you don't get snow in Atlanta, your S is a 4 season car, which certainly makes me jealous. Find yourself the "back road" to your new job and drive the S. You'll just get to enjoy it even more!

Naturally, we are a biased bunch towards keeping the S.

 

I guess when I say something more "practical" I mean something that's easier to drive around town for long periods as well. I would also have to drive people around from time to time but not much. If I added a second car it would most likely be my first automatic. I would be driving around the city a lot more and not just to and from work. Currently my work commute is less than 2 miles each way. But driving around town in traffic in the S is dreadful. A Civic would get mid 30's gas mileage on regular gas and fits the $15,000ish budget (wouldn't buy anything American or more than 30,000 miles).

 

I think a civic or a corolla would be a good fit for a commuter. You'll long for the opportunity to drive your s after commuting in a boring car to work lol.

 

Why not consider American or over 30,000? First, the American thing is dumb given how many very good cars that cuts out. The current Focus is an EXCELLENT option. Are you worried about reliability? In another thread I posted CR's data for 10 year reliability based on brand. GM was twice as bad as Honda. GM was expected to have 1.4 failures per car while Honda was expected to have .7. That means both round to 1. Ford was quite a bit better than GM. Basically reliability is no long a justifiable reason to avoid domestic cars. Now if you don't like the company's policy on some issue (some people refused to by Ford because they didn't refuse to advertise in gay/lesbian magazines) or if you were treated badly by Ford, GM and Chrysler in the past I might understand. I don't like Toyota in part because they screwed my parents 15 years ago.

The over 30,000 miles thing is basically the same issue as no Domestics. There are PLENTY of good cars with say 40k or even 70k on the clock. I wouldn't be afraid of driving a Honda just because it had 80,000 miles. Heck anymore we expect cars to be trouble free for 100,000 miles.

 

DONT sell the S!!!

I did, and I regret that decision every single day I get behind the wheel of a car other than the S.

 

rockville,

I would prefer not to buy a car with 30,000 miles or more regardless of whether or not its American or Japanese. I simply don't like buying cars with that much wear from anyone else. As far as American cars go I think Ford has come a long way and you're right that the Focus is pretty darn good. I just have a strong bias for Japanese cars with Honda in particular. I think they just pay attention to the details a little more (excluding the newest Civic). Just call it personal preference.