Hi All, cheers for stepping into my intro thread! I've been a long time fan of the S2K for almost 5 years now (or longer) and recently I've come under the realisation that I should probably buy an S2K before they step up in value anymore and I regret not pulling my finger out and buying whilst I could.

I currently have the following cars in my ownership:

My Daily VRS running around 200bhp:



My track/sprint car Citroen Saxo 1.1 (with 1.6 8v fitted):



But I think for the S2K to come into ownership I'd have to let one go for space in the garage and as I've not used the saxo in the past year it'd probably be this old legend.


My questions as a newbie to you lovely users is:

1. What primary problem areas should I look at when buying an S2K?

2. How do you find your S2K on long runs? I plan to take the missus to Cornwall each year and to Switzerland next year and the ring this year.

3. Can you forsee the value increasing further in the next year? I have been watching year in year out and it only seems to be going up.

Cheers all.

 

Get one. You know you want to...

1. When I got my AP2 I just took it to two different shops and had them check for any engine/frame issues. I think the valve retainers [looking for cracks] and a compression test.

2. For me, after about 2 hours it gets old. It's loud from the inside and I'm 6'1 so the lack of leg room gets to my back after long drives.

3. If I had to guess, I would say no.

I love this car however.

 

1. Can't speak to what needs to be checked with any authority but there's a very nice checklist type thread here in one of the sections. Newer cars in good condition have various mechanical improvements over early cars. Obvious areas like wheels/tires and the roof should be verified.

2. "Touring" with this car is what I call age-dependent. I could take 1000+ mile 20-hour drives in a roadster easily when I was younger. Heck, 500 miles on a motorcycle wasn't beyond capability. Even with the stock exhaust and intake the wind noise in these cars is noticeable and wearing after a few hours. Conversation is only possible at speed with the roof up. Still not sure why these cars have radios, they're inaudible at cruising speeds. Good fitting hard top is better, but if you want a coupe buy a coupe. You won't get the same acceleration performance from a FR-S or BRZ but you don't get the wind noise either. I wanted a roadster. A couple hundred miles roof down is fine for me stock or with a mild intake and exhaust tweak. I had to remove my first aftermarket exhaust (Q300) to keep my wife in the car.

3. Prices paid, at least in North America, seem to be rising. Someone here recently paid US$33,000(!) for one with a hard top. (See the ripped off thread.) As the low mileage cars get rarer their prices increase purely thru lack of supply. But the car ain't gonna put your kids thru college in 10 years.

-- Chuck

 

1. The first and really key item is making up your mind regarding model year / mileage / budget. There are no bargains with this car, what looks cheap will probably be troublesome.
A restyling in good condition, low mileage and no crashes will undoubtedly be expensive (and you are lucky there is much more market in the UK with RHDs than in the rest of Europe with LHDs.

Then the usual stuff, check for possible repaired crashes, how many previous owners, history availability and eventually compression test for the engine.

2. It's definitely not a car for long distance cruising but for 2 long trips a year it's fine, you may need to stop now and then for stretching your legs but that's it, and in 6th gear at legal speeds the noise is bearable.

3. Don't think about it as an investment, you buy it to enjoy it, not to keep it in a glass showroom, but if you maintain it properly it will not loose much value, certainly much less than most other cars.

 

Cheers guys for all your replies.

I typically love both the AP1 and AP2 generation released here in the UK but typically I'd like to keep out of the later models as the tax is more expensive for essentially the same power. I do worry that the huge torque difference between the turbocharged 1.8 20vt I drive everyday will become tiresome but I do love the driveability of rev happy NA motors so I don't think this will be too much of an issue.

The S2K will be a second car so probably not doing much more than 4K a year so again it won't be in a glass house as such but it will only be driven for a blast every so often; taken to car shows; taken on holidays; and driven on the weekend to Rugby, family, friends, trips etc. it'll also only be taxed for half the year.

I'm not overly worried about older models and high mileage (unless it's been ragged around, not serviced and badly modified) and the noise in the car won't be too much of an issue.

I'll be honest I was looking at 350Z's some time ago as alternatives but I'm not that fussed by them as I honestly believe the S2K will be more agile (but I guess I need to test drive both).

 

Welcome.

Check out the link in my signature.

 

So the thread above came in alot of use! Cheers for that. I went to see an S2K the other day and on thorough inspection I noticed a few bits and pieces needed doing all of which the dealer confirmed would be fixed if I bought. Now I went to view this car with the intention of only test driving, but the car won me over instantaneously. It didn't miss a beat on my 20minute test drive, and the dealer let me drive it right into the powerband; I can honestly say that I've waited long enough and have placed a deposit with collection this friday. I don't usually buy from dealers anymore but this was just exactly what I was looking for.

Tyres on the car were awful that the dealer put on (Zeta ZTR10's or some other rubbish) so on Saturday I'll be popping along to a local tyre shop for fitting of 4 toyo T1Rs; I've done a bit of research and due to the slightly softer sidewall people state to use a higher PSI so I'll bare that in mind on driving.

To say I cannot wait is an understatement; always nervous about the handover process but touch wood it all goes well; the S2Ki forum has been a big help so far, long may it continue!

 

So... I did it. I gave in to my heart and the missus was happy that I finally shut up. Last weekend I picked up my AP1 S2K! And I love it. Every single thing about it. It's snug (I'm a tighthead prop for my local rugby team) but everything I expected and more. I could not be happier with it.

I was so excited on Friday that I felt something had to go wrong. Inevitably I went to get my Toyo T1Rs fitted on Saturday morning and whilst at the tyre shop I was waiting to leave the forecourt (thing) an old woman in front of me was waiting to leave. Realising she had blocked the footpath she wacked her Chevrolet Spark into reversed and went full speed into my front end

I was close to tears! I'd owned one of my dream cars for less than 24hours and it was already getting attacked by old women!

Thankfully she admitted fault and it was sorted fairly quickly. The bumper has cracks in the paintwork but not much else. Just a pain.

I'm taking it to a specialist resprayer in Northampton and the whole bumper is being resprayed.Sadly they're so busy it'll be the 26th when it's sprayed!

For the moment I'm just enjoying learning the new car. I want to just keep driving it but musn't neglect the daily. The capabilities of this car are huge. It feels nothing like anything else.

I'll get some proper pics soon!

P.S. MX5 drivers love waving at me. Not sure if they're confused?