anyone have a guide on what to look for when buying a used S2000? im about to purchase one within a month and im very afraid of buying a lemon, so any help would be much appreciated.

 

Carfax to start.

 

where is it good to check the frame to see if the car was in an accident? any typical spots where they reweld parts of new frame on?

 

pull a carfax and get an independent inspection before buying.

I did that -- great plan for piece of mind.

Also, pulling a carfax should tell you how much factory warantee is left. Buying a car still under factory warantee is another good insurance blanket.

Best of luck!

 

The quarter panels are welded inside the trunk, as you'd probably expect. I was suprised to find welds on my old one there. Another place that had repairs done was the "stuff" under the car. Take the car to a body shop. They really know what to look for.
If you are intent on inspecting the car yourself, take a look at a "known-good" car and note all of the places Honda slapped VIN stickers. They're all over the car and their absence will speak volumes. Good luck.

 

(Excuse the commercial. I'm new here and apologise if this is out of order.) There is a Honda S2000 Buyers' Guide in PDF form available from www.sportscarguides.com/. It is written from a base in the UK.
Chris.

 

M5150,
I am in about the same boat as you, looking for an '02-'03, very concerned about problem areas. If you go back to the '00-'01 it gets even more compicated. Honda did quite a bit of work to improve the '02s after they had a couple of years of road testing to evaluate and unless price is a big factor (you can probably get an '00 for around 20k) I would not go back any further than that. The checklist I have put together so far is as follows.

- Save this for last but the most important should be a professional inspection by a mechanic and body shop with particular attention given to the valvetrain (pulling the valve cover, inspecting retainers, and doing a leak-down test) to detect overrev.

these you can check for yourself before paying someone to look at it for you:

- the 1-2 shift grind
- clutch engagement and disengagement

- unusual noise (clicks, thunks, grinds, vibration, etc.) while going thru a series of starts, stops, and turns, this will help evaluate the differential, c-v joints, hubs, spindles and axle nuts, and just about anything else turning back there. I would get in a wide open (emphasis on wide open) lot and do the following as some of these only pop up during one type of activity:

- do a slow forward start, stop, then a slow reverse start
- accelerate, cruise, decel in straight line
- some slow circles, both left and right
- accel thru right then left turns, gently!!!! (unless you want to go for a ride sideways)
- decel thru right then left turns, again, gently!!!
- and about anything else you can think of that would mimic normal driving

(no need to thrash the car doing this, just a gentle series of excercises)


- cv boot damage leading to cv joint damage
- top wear, inside and out
- faded tail lights (some turning pink)
- spark plug TSB (I believe the 2002 1/2 include this and the following banjo bolts)
- late 2002 or 2003 production including banjo bolts
- clicking or tapping from engine (signs of overrev)
- slight "dimples" on front and rear fenders above wheel well (believed to be the result of people lifting the car by hand at the wheel wells to fit floor jacks under the car)
- window operation
- carfax

These are the issues that seem to be more popular from what I have seen on the board and I have been accused of being a little anal and excessive in my hunt for my S, so use your own judgement. Good luck.