Chuck S

The front bumper was part of the 2004 "face lift" restyling and is a common change (or upgrade depending on your taste . The US cars got the bigger 2.2L AP2 engine at this time too so this is commonly called an AP2 bumper here and facelift in the UK (where they never got the AP2 engine). The rear bumper looks "correct" to me.

The early cars are prone to oversteer (don't lift the throttle in a corner) and bad tires won't help. Honda dialed some of the oversteer out starting in 2002 but there are guys who enjoy the challenges. Surprises FWD guys.

There's enough "AP1" things to check and possibly modify to keep you happy this winter.

We know this car was damaged seriously long ago. Lots of service records since. Each original body panel will have a VIN tag on it matching the car's VIN. Original cars have ten (10) of them.

-- Chuck

A.O.

So should the body panels have a vin, and should they match the car?

Chuck S

The VIN itself is stamped on the firewall on the passenger side behind the battery. Original body panels will have a VIN tag matching the VIN of the car. Replacements will not have a tag and these are sometimes painted over long after delivery. If I can recall then all (someone will correct me if I'm wrong).

Under the hood:
1. R fender
2. L fender
3. Bumper
4. Hood

5. L door
6. L door jam (rear quarter panel)

7. R door
9. R door jam (rear quarter panel)

Trunk
9. Lid
10. Rear bumper

-- Chuck

TsukubaCody

You shouldn’t be lifting mid corner while near the limit, AP1 or not.

Liftoff oversteer is not unique to a 2000 S2000.

OP, are you trying to stay under a certain mileage? Personally I would not hesitate to buy a higher mileage car, these cars seem to have handled being driven quite well (bc its what theyre designed for)

Jub

I was under the impression that this issue is more likely on all 06+ cars. Is there something known to limit it to 06 and early 07?

A.O.

I'd like to stay under 100k but I dont have to.. seems like a lot of high mileage cars out there. Not a big fan of 6-8-10 owners though.. but these guys are getting old.

TsukubaCody

My 5 owner, 135k mile when bought car drove best of the ten cars I looked at prior to buying it. Including single owner cars with half the mileage.

A.O.

Hey... Is there a spare tire in these things? looks to be a compartment in the back of the trunk for one.

Chuck S

There's a space saver spare tire -- or should be.

I'm not sure all these "owners" are real owners and not just the various dealers this car went thru.

The DBW AP2 cars run lean which makes their valve clearances critical. Pre-06 have less problems but an adjustment is good preventive maintenance.

Let us know what you think after viewing and test driving the car.

-- Chuck

robb

I used to ride and I have found my S is a good replacement for a bike. Lots of good advice here I'll add I have had mine since new and it has been very reliable. I've just done maintenance, fluids and filters, and had no issues. I had to retorque the rear axle nut which is common, it doesn't come extremely loose you will hear a click going from reverse to first or first to reverse and it is just a 36 mm nut that needs to be retorqued. If the alignment is off they can go through tires quickly especially rears but that is an easy fix. Like Chuck said mixing tires will affect the cars handling, through a series of uncontrollable events I have different tires on my S and it is squirrelly, so check the tires on any car you look at. The roof's on the AP1's (not sure about AP2's) tend to tear over time on the passenger side top near the back so something else to check for.
If you end up buying an AP1 make sure to check the oil as they use a little bit, mine has since new, not a crazy amount after you have it for awhile you will get to know how often to check. Mine has been consistent since new the usage hasn't gone up.