Hi All,

I'm thinking of buying an s2000, I researched all the good info on this topic but still like to ask for some opinions. I'm currently looking at two cars:

#1. MY00 with 53K, asking $18K (silverstone/red)
#2. MY02 with 33K, asking $21K (sebring silver/black)

I'm going to test drive the cars this weekend, anything in particular I should look for in the test drive (tranny noises)? They are both from dealers (not Honda). I know that people recommend knowing the service history along with doing a compression test. But how can I get them to do a compression test? When I buy cars from dealers usually all I can do is test drive, would they even have the service history?

On paper it looks like the 02 is the better car (all the updates, lower miles, etc) but it carries a $3K premium. The silverstone/red combo of the 00 is my favorite, I don't want to overlook this car just because it has the plastic window, higher miles, etc. Also I saw the thread about these cars going 100K w/ not major problems, that makes me a bit more confident to consider the higher mileage car. If I go with the 00 I should also take it to a Honda dealer and check for the TSB on it.

Money wise I can afford either one but of course the 00 would leave money for other things (track days, mods, etc). So the 00 lower price makes it even more attractive to me.

If they are in similar condition and everything seems ok I'm leaning towards the MY00 just because its my first color choice and is easier on the wallet. Or is the MY02 really worth the extra cash? Decisions, decisions!!

 

02...get the glass window.

 

if you can live without the updates that othe 02 has, then go for which one you really want. I had the choice between an 01 and an 02. My situation was different because the 01 had less miles and they were priced the same. I went with the 01 because it was my first choice in color combo and even though it had far fewer miles then the 02, i was able to work out a better deal because i used the fact that it didn't have the "updates" (which i didn't mind at all) as leverage to get a better price.

I wouldn't worry about the mileage too much. an 00 with 53k is pretty good (less the 10k per year). These cars are very solid and reliable. In the end, just go with your gut and which one you prefer. After all, it is the car you will be driving so make sure it's what you want!

 

Welcome to the site!

Go with what YOU want. If the color is what you want in the car, go for it. Either way you go, enjoy your new car! Just don't settle for something that you don't want, you'll regret it. Just my $.02.

 

Thanks for the replies. The MY00 would be my first choice, got the carfax on it, clean accident record but check out the vehicle history.

This car had two owners, both drove the car for about 20K, the fist time it was offered for sale on 4/02 and didn't get registered as sold until 1/03 and extra 7K miles. Then it had some service done at 48K (looks like by the selling dealer) then a year and only 5K miles later offered for sale again at the current dealer. Looks like they've had it for 5 months already.

So, I'm not sure how accurate this info is (there are some jumps in the milage from it's offered for sale to being registered). It looks like it was driven unregistered and that "service contract" at 48K does not sound like a simple oil change, then 5k later is for sale again

I can use the fact that they had it for a while to talk down the price but something doesnt not look right. What do you make of this info?

Anyway I'm not goign to speculate more until I check out the car.

 

If you are serious about the car, see if you can get a compression check done on the motor. It's always good to have that under your belt.

Best wishes on the choice. Either way, I'm sure you'll love the car. Extra mileage really shouldn't be a concern on these vehicles (for you, that is)... It's a good bargaining tool. You could probably negotiate that MY00 down further (I think).

 

I would rather go for the 02. The 02 has the glass window which the 00 doesn't. I've seen some very fugly looking plastic windows for the 00 already and personally it would be a strong enough factor worth not choosing it over. I think you would have less things to worry about since there was a transmission problem involving MY00's. I personally would go with the 02 or wait until another S rolls along.

 

Don't forget to check out the tires. Replacing tires is expensive so make note of the tread left on both cars. And you will need to get down on your hands and knees to get a good look, all the way across the tire, and not just on the outside edges of the front tires.

 

Thanks for the replies. I looked at the 00 today and now I see why people keep mentioning the glass window. The plastic window had marks where it folds over and look a bit faded. Then when we put the top down it kind of folded in a bad way and left a really bad imprint when I put it back up. It distorded the vision out of it quite a bit, it can only get worse from now.

Unfortunately the rest of the car was not that great either. It rode very rough and there were rattles everywhere (one loud knocking from the top, right behind the driver. It did not rev very smoothly either it vibrated quite a bit. Of course the salesmen said the car had been inspected and everything is ok.

I know the car is not supposed to ride like a lexus, but it seems to have a lot of noise and vibration going on (not to mention the rattles). It also had an aftermarket stereo and they did not do a very good job with it. The car just felt worn out at only 50k, it was not taken care of very well I think (it had numerous scratches and wheel had cub rash).

I'm going to look at the 02 tomorrow to compare. Hopefully that one is in better shape and is closer to the S2000 driving experience!

 

I just bought my first after having driven two nearly identical cars (miles, color, year, etc.): one at a used car dealership and the other at a honda dealership (as a certified pre-owned). The first car made some strange noises and did not seem to run that well, while the one at the honda dealership ran like a champ and was free of strange noises. I'm not saying that the Honda pre-owned route is magic, but they do seem to stand behind them to some extent and it ended up not costing much more (for me approx $1000). Anyway, that was my experience. Good luck to you!
ps-on carfax I learned that only certain things get reported so that it is of limited use (ie many people crash cars and go straight to the body shop and there is no record). In any event, I saw strange things on a lot of the ones I looked at and so I was questioning the reliability. Perhaps others know more about how these are compiled.