Looking to buy a used s2000. What should I look for as far as examining a used one to see if it has been abused, or driven to hard. I know the obvious, such as body damage, tire wear, unusual leaks, ect.

Thanks

 

i think most everyone who has this car would want to drive it hard

 

I agree 100%. In addition to all of the obvious things to look for. I would look at the underside of the car. I know my car from underneath has many scrapes, bent tabs on the side of the frame and other tell tale signs of hard driving. My X-brace is very worn where the bolts are. My car is lowered so it tends to hit when driving agressively on bumpy roads.

But the topside my car looks beautiful...it has 40K miles and still looks great. Well maybe not the front bumper and chin spoiler but everything else looks great...would I buy my car used?? NO WAY!!! But I would never sell it anyway

 

Everyone that has this car has to drive it hard to get the performance out of it. That's just the way it was designed.

I see you're from Hawaii. You should get in touch with Colin. I think he's a Honda dealer. He might be able to get some more info for you on used S2Ks out where you are.

 

I bought mine used and it now has about 39K on it. It runs great and looks brand new. It is a Honda after all.

 

You might also want to go to "Carfax.com" to check a specific car.

 

vin1127,
Sorry, I though you were an owner. Anyway, yes, get in touch with Colin. He knows most of the owners on the island and can give you a hand in finding one for you. He works both at Pflueger Acura and Honda (his office is at Acura).

 

To start off with you can compare the miles to the tires. If they are the original tires (S02) then you can tell how hard they've driven it (in those tires at least). You can also casually ask how fast it goes and how fast the person has gone. Do it in a way that leaves it open for bragging. Ask him if there is some place around there to autocross. If he knows, most likely he's entered it in an autocross.

David

 

I personally think it's unfair to assume that every owner drives their S2K hard. Yes it needs to be driven hard to get performance but I'm sure some owners baby it and drive it hard once in a while or at least not all the time.