This kind of thinking is what causes a lot of people to get into "financial worries" in the first place.

If you can find an AP1 in pristine condition the value you are getting compared to buying a 2009 S2000 is tremendous. 90-95% of the performance and features for 50% of the cost.

 

i've daily driven an AP1 for a year now through sun and snow without issue. i bought it with 90,000 MILES on the clock and it had cracked retainers. i replaced those with AP2 ones and am now enjoying a very reliable car that has needed nothing more than basic maintenance. i've VTECd in the rain and it most definitely is not a handful if you have a good set of tires and KNOW how much juice the throttle can handle in those conditions. if i had unlimited money, i'd find the cleanest example of an AP1. the 9k redline is too much fun

 

are you serious?

 

I know I am likely to receive some heat from the "my right foot is my VSA" crowd, but I must say that VSA, which is available in MY 06+, is a great safety feature in our tail happy cars.

VSA can be switched (fully) off at the touch of a button.

And no, no right foot can replicate what VSA does. And again, all right feet are subject to the "shit happens" rule, no matter how careful or experienced you are.

 

I would get the 04+ for the glass rear window because the plastic back window is really cheap looking.

 

2002 was the first year for the glass rear window.

 

...yes? when merging onto the freeway. you don't have to be flooring it and driving recklessly for vtec to engage

 

Ouch, that stung me hard lol

But in March Im getting a raise, gonna make tons more money and have a new job starting in a few weeks. Woo

 

I enjoy my 06. I have the best interior, best headlights/taillights, front/rear bumper covers, more torque and better gearing (shorter 1-4, taller 5 and 6 for highway). I can and will get a Flashpro to bump the redline to 8500. I'm fine with trading 500rpm for all of the above (vs. an AP1).

That said, 9k would be fun to have too. Either way I'd say at least get an 02. I would hate to have a plastic roof on a convertible again. My 66 Impala's window busted over a winter one year when I was just brushing snow off of it.

 

wasn't trying to down ya bro. There are a lot of people that think the only car worth buying is brand new. Fact is buying new is a financial mistake. I bought my S2000 for $19,000. It had 12,000 miles on it. I saved over $11,000 off buying it new and by today's standards it only had 7 months of mileage put on it and it looked like it just rolled off the showroom floor. That $11,000 (plus interest if you finance your new purchase) is sitting in my savings account....