Hi all,

Long time S2K fan here wanting to say hello. I'll try to keep this nice and short as I haven't found a definite answer for my question.

What is the max mileage you would be content with when shopping for a used S2000 (ap1 or ap2) that you will plan to track with?

It will be my weekend driver but my main goal is to eventually track with it. Any info is appreciated! Glad to be (hopefully) joining the fam!

 

Depends on a number of things. As always, how much are you willing to spend, is an engine rebuild/refresh in your budget and would you buy one with a blown motor?

Personally, if I were shopping for a track rat, I'd find a chassis with no motor or a bad motor. This way, I could shop a lower mileage motor without paying the "low mileage S2000" premium. If I came across a higher mileage motor for a steal, I'd snag it and use the money saved to rebuild it to suit my tastes (FI, NA, etc).

 

I'm being offered 16-17k CAD on a 91k km AP1. Has left rear damage on its record but I'm doing an inspection prior to committing. If it all checks out it sounds a little too cheap for me to turn down no?! Excited as well as little terrified to be joining the club knowing how much that might go into mods down the road! Haha

 

Well keep in mind that you can easily spend $5K on a used motor for this car. And besides a refresh you cannot rebuild them either (Aka cannot do much of anything with the cylinders beyond a light hone).

I love the motor in these cars, but if I were buying one with no motor or a bad motor and it were going to be a track only car, even I would likely just K swap it so you have plentiful cheap replacements down the road. And that is coming from me, who is semi keeping an eye out for a good prices used F20C in the case mine ever goes so I can stay with this motor.

 

That is about $13k USD I think? ... assuming the damage was repaired already? If so would be good to find out what said damage was and yes, get it inspected. I paid about $11k for my Ap1 with 103,000 miles on it in 2014 and prices have crept up a bit so if in good shape, engine is solid and repairs were done correctly that likely is not a bad price. But do check it out well of course. A compression/leakdown test on the motor would be well worth it.

 

Yes...if inspections go well I hope to have it locked down at 16k (about 13kusd). The car in my opinion is hideous and will need to turned back to stock (or my liking) which factored into my offer. Thanks for your advice!

 

What was done to it? Mods can change the whole game in terms of worth. If it has been stanced, then you need to REALLY look at stuff. Guy I autocross with learned a hard lesson on that. Bought a crappy stanced out Nissan because he was going to replace most of the suspension anyway (only to be used for autox) and ended up replacing subframes, driveshaft and a bunch of other destroyed stuff from the crap mods. All the subframe bolts had to be cut/drilled/ground because the heads were destroyed from contacting speed bumps, of course all bushings were ruined, etc. It ended up costing him nearly as much to fix all that extra crap as he would have saved buying a less molested car for more money!

 

It looks like it was made to be a car show car. The most it looks like that was done (from the onset) was stereo mods. I will get more information when Honda inspects it on Monday. I just think price wise if I can talk him down to that much because he knows he won't sell it for much more because of the car history, its too good of a price to pass up. Factoring in the price it will cost to get all the stereo junk out and the ugly body kit lol

 

I bought my s2k from a guy who posted it here on these boards. For me the maximum was not about miles, but wear and tear. I could have cared less if the car was modified or not I just wanted to have it in good enough shape for me to enjoy it. If you find a car in good enough shape for you and you want to enjoy it, why do you care about miles? Check the car out properly and deduct a few dollars from the deal. Then take the car home and enjoy it.