Picked up a 2005 Honda S2000 with 51,000 miles from a Hyundai Dealership about 1 week ago...Label me a moron but I didn't have a pre-purchase inspection done...Simply went by the look, the drive, and the carfax report...

Loving this car thus far...Coming from G35 coupe and G37 coupe I can honestly say that I've been missing out on a true sports car drive for these last 8 years...

Anyways...Here is where I need some help...

In normal low MPH cruising is the S2000 supposed to be very "noisy"...What I mean by that is...I'm used to a very quiet ride from the G37 that hardly gives off any engine noise when simply crusing...The S2000 sounds like I can hear much of what is going on under neath the hood...Almost like it's coming from the steering column to give an idea of what I'm talking about...

Just want to know if this is NORMAL...Also, although too late to change the purchase...What if anything would you do to be sure everything is in great working order? Should I bring it to Honda and have them run a full inspection of the car? Or would any certified Honda mechanic do? Dealership claims I don't have to change oil or anything else as it was just done...But I'm not sure they changed brake fluid, diff fluid, clutch ect...

Any advice so I can really enjoy the car and stop worrying would be greatly appreciated...

 

Sounds fine to me the S is loud when compared to other cars ...no question ...u should hear more than when u had your other car . As for a test ..i'd first have all fluids changed "for piece of mind " ..then go out and drive it like u stole it ...then you'll see and feel what an S is really like . Advice ..track days help with this car alot ..it's not like other cars out there ...so don't think it will feel act or sound like any of em .It's an S2000 , which has a bit of a learning curve ...its take some time to get used to the unreal super killer awesome s2k ...hit 8k then ask yourself, how that feels ..

 

Solid advice...Admittedly I have driven it like I stole it...Which is why I was a bit concerned!

The pleasure of having this car row through 1st, 2nd, 3rd at 8k rpms is simply incredible...It might not be any "faster" then my G37...But it's 100 times more pleasureable...

Also, notice your location says Phila? I take it thats the Philadelphia area? I'm in the KOP area if you're familiar with it...

 

Congrats on your purchase Like the previous post said, changing all the fluids is probably a good idea (since it was purchased from a non-Honda dealer, who knows if they put in the right fluids), but chances are the noise you're hearing isn't an indication that anything is wrong. These cars are quite noisy (esp with the top up) and unless it's something drastic, my guess is that a mechanic would have a tough time finding a problem. Interesting that you said it sounds like noise is coming through the steering column -- I can never tell where any of the racket inside the cabin is coming from lol. Does the column shake or vibrate at all? Maybe you can get rides from some other s2k owners and see if their cars sound the same.

Also just my opinion, but I tend to think a full PPI probably wouldn't do much for you at this point, assuming you wanted to use it as leverage to have the seller pay for some required repair. Unless it found something majorly wrong that clearly happened a long time ago, you're probably not going to convince the dealership they need to fix something for you. You'll claim it was messed up before you bought the car, and they'll say it happened sometime after you bought the car. I dunno, that's just how I'd see it going. But I guess a more basic inspection (something that could be done while the car is on the lift for an oil change) wouldn't hurt and could clue you in to any imminent problems.

Also agree that auto-x or an HPDE event would be worth it (I haven't done any yet myself, but the HPDE is on my list). Other than that I'd say you should be good to go

 

Are the three of us from the same area? I'm in Phoenixville, PA...

 

It will certainly be much noisier than your G35 or G37 both in the engine and the suspension. The suspension is very taught and will transmit the sound of almost anything that the wheels go over, but the taughtness is part of the beauty of this car - you are supposed to feel the road literally.To keep the weight under control and improve the handling experience there isn't much sound deadening material in the car so this is probably why you are experiencing the sound of more engine noise in the cabin. At this mileage I would be listening more for the extraneous rattles that might be indicative of something amiss but you are not likely to even notice those until you have become comfortable with the "background " noise that the car makes all the time. Keep the RPM's relatively low initially to try and latch on to these extraneous sounds if any, cause if you're pushing 8000 you aren't going to hear much of anything except "pure bliss". Have fun, and yes get all the fluids changed and while on the hoist have a good look from the bottom up for any obvious untoward damage to the exhaust and the undercarriage. And then rest in peace of mind.