Hi all
My first post and I am hoping it won't be my last!

I have been looking around at many possible cars to buy as a bit of a weekend project/run around/(mid-life crisis?) for some time now and I've gone from TR6's, to Lotus Elans and now come round to looking at the S2000. I've always loved the look/design of these cars and unlike most they are pretty timeless. Watched the wheeler-dealer episode on the S2K last night and thought wow, this could be a really good option. Prices are pretty solid, build looks amazing and the engine is as good as it gets.

So the reason for the post is to find out the following:

1. Want to spend around 5-8k, is there any particular model/version/colour that are more desirable?
2. At this price point, what should I be looking out for when it comes to inspecting the car? What are its Achilles heel?
3. With limited mechanical experience, what can I do at home to make the S2K a little faster and sit a little meaner on the road? I know it is already a quick car but i am quite interested in getting in my garage and getting the hands dirty.
4. Anything else you think I need to know as a very inexperienced S2Ker?

Really appreciate any help you guys can give and look forward to possible joining the rest of you as a S2K owner.

 

Good luck! "5-8K" (in either pounds or dollars) will get you a hoopty S2000 at best. Very high mileage, body and paint damage, rust, crappy modifications, etc. Read as much as you can here as there are more than just the differences between the 2000-2003 and 2004-2009 models other than the body styling and wheels. The newer cars are indisputably better road cars.

-- Chuck

 

You should buy 2 at that price,time to get your hands dirty...

 

Thanks for the reply Chuck, and yes it was in ££.

So you are saying that the later ones are a whole lot better?

And is there a mileage that i shouldn't go over?

Also better if they are unmodded?

 

What kind of price range are you seeing these cars selling for in your location? Here in the States it is very doubtful that you would find a halfway decent S2000 for that kind of money. If you do manage to find a car in that price range you will more than likely end up spending a lot more money bringing things up to snuff because the seller chose not to deal with maintenance / repairs / upkeep themselves, moving the car on for cheap instead.

Overall condition is more important than total mileage on these cars as they are very capable of racking up hundreds of thousands of miles. However you can expect that with higher mileage comes the need to replace worn items, just like with any car.

Honda made continual changes to these cars over the course of production. Some consider them improvements while others do not. It really depends on what you are looking for out of the car. This is a topic that you will want to research more. Generally speaking , all other things being equal, later model examples sell for more than earlier model S2000's.

 

thanks for the reply GuthNW

Here in the UK you can find quite a few sub £10k on autotrader and ebay that seem to be in good condition and 60-90k miles on the clock.
Take this one for example https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-S20...edd7%7Ciid%3A1

Seems ok but just need a bit of paint. of course hard to know before you get behind the wheel. Could be a completer shitter.

 

Like everyone said above. Your price, will net you a crappy s2k at best. As for "whole lot better", its a bit subjective. Bet let me see if i can narrow your search a bit.

You mentioned above that you want to get your hands dirty, maybe make this car a bit faster? I'm assuming you want to either tune the car with full bolt ons or add forced induction. In that case i would suggest a 06+ model year. Those all came with tune-able Factory ECU's. All other years you are required to purchase a secondary ECU to tune. Also 06+ MY came with traction control.

Higher mileage isnt so much an issue as is overall condition. Think about how much work you want to do. Do you care about replacing body panels? Are you going to do a lot of body work? Well then you can save some money by choosing a car that doesnt have all VINs intact. I personally bought mine stock, but i am a big modder and i wanted to start from scratch. if you are already planning on modding, maybe trying to find a seller with a car that has mods that you are already leaning towards might be in your best interest.

 

I was thinking simple bolt-on like exhaust manifolds, and air filters, making the engine bay look nice and tidy and possibly some bigger rims but as i have a pretty quick daily car, its mostly for weekend cruising with the roof down.

 

If you're going bolt ons i definitely recommend a tune to take full advantage of the new airflow. If you're not too concerned, you can always look for a salvage title that was salvaged due to vandalism. That way you can get a decently nice one for the price youre looking for without the fear of the car being structurally questionable.

 

The example you posted looks a lot better than I expected for that kind of money. They must be a little cheaper over there. That's only $8600 US. I would expect a slavage title and over $150k miles for that price here.