I hear you, but the information isn't going to help you much.

If I told you:

The odds of a major repair on an 02 with 80k miles on it were 5% of a $3000 repair in the first two years.

The odds of a major repair on an 04 with 60k miles on it were 3% of a $3000 repair in the first two years.

But if your car was abused, the chance could be as high as 10% on an AP1 and 5% on an AP2.

Your best bet is to look at "Edumund's True Cost to own" figures of yearly maintenance and repair costs. You're only going to get anecdotal reports here at best.

And if I told you that you had a 3% chance of a $3000 repair on an 02 with 50k miles on it within the first two years...

What good does that do you if you're one of the unlucky 3%?

 

On a 7-10 year old car, the odds of having to deal with a major repair shortly after buying are directly proportional to how good you are at inspecting and choosing a used car.

If you manage to pick out a solid car, then it depends on how you drive and maintain it.

 

And by "good" I include "thorough."

Some people would go as far as pulling the valve cover on an AP1 and looking at retainers. A lot of people would recommend compression testing. Both those things entail money that you (or the seller) might not be willing to spend.

It also doesn't protect you from a pinion gear losing a tooth or a catalytic converter chunking off.

What I will say, is that S2000s have a TREMENDOUS support resource in s2ki.com and the members on this site. If you do have a problem, you'll get lots of helpful advice either directly or via SEARCH that makes ownership easier than many other sports cars out there (except maybe Miatae).

 

If the odds are that low, Even at 10%, I would be happy. I am just use to domestic cars and when I sold my 04 it seemed like it was going to be having some problems soon. I also had an explorer that had a ton of problems and ended up needing a new transmission. That and I would assume that a sport 6speed transmission would be expensive and so would an engine that makes 120hp per liter.

but thank you for the advice about edmunds and after the last post it seem like if I get the car checked out before buying I should be good.

Also. Are cars with a rebuilt title that bad? I see A LOT of them and they are a lot less expensive. I mean 5k less then what they should be going for. Are they that bad or is it just because u can't get loans for them?

 

This may be because you're still in college, but the answer to pretty much all your questions is: YMMV.

Rebuilt cars follow the same logic that dammitjim said about used cars.

Just with a higher risk of badness.

How bad? YMMV.

But inspections can go a long way in reducing that risk.

Basic advice is if you're stretching to get a car so far that you're looking at salvaged ones... you're better off waiting until you can afford it with more cushion.

That being said, if I was building a track car and replacing a lot of OEM stuff anyway... I'd consider a salvage title if properly vetted.

 

Those are the odds for a car that is mechanically sound to start with. So this assumes you are lucky or good. If you aren't one or the other the odds go up dramatically.

 

There is a guy recently that bought an 06 with 60k miles and the motor blew up 3 days after he bought it. That car with those miles is a safe bet almost any day of the week, but a guy can still get burned. Please do your research and get someone qualified to inspect a used car before buying it.

Try to make it so any failures fall in one of these three categories:

1. I expected that or it was a risk I was willing to take.
2. I didn't expect that, but it was not possible/practical to test for that failure before buying.
3. That costs so little to fix it wouldn't have affected my buying decision anyway.

The S2000 is a generally reliable car with only a few quirks of significance. It's a very good choice for a reliable sports car, but you still need to be smart with any used car.

 

Thanks for that info.

Also any idea how much a compression test would run me and worst case how much a new engine would run me? Before I was looking at maybe getting an rx8 so i had already planned on an engine failure down the road.

 

Compression test - $100-200

New used engine on short notice that someone else installs - $3000-5000 installed.

 

compression test and leak down test wouldn't cost that much. You probably can ask seller to do that for you or make a half and half. If seller isn't lying or anything, i'm sure he will happy to do that.

Edit: Forget about DIY test when it comes to buying a car imo. Do it right at the shop or dealer to get a paper approve.