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I have had my car since Sept. 99 and have about 32K miles. Certainly not as many miles as some but... The top on my car and been down and up countless times, down for days at a time, been through 2 New England winters and the rear window is just fine. I don't keep it as clean as it should and there are some scratches but I can see just fine.
If you have to have a glass window then go buy an '02. Pushing the "Safety" button is a pretty weak excuse. Just say in your best 6 year old voice; "But I want a glass window!".
As you may guess, I'll not be participating in your suit.
Thanks to everyone who has taken a moment to comment. It is fascinating to see the enthusiasim for and against. Regardless of which side you lean consider that the real issue is not the roof or the window, it's the solution Honda has offered the owners, to the problem with the roof / window.
If you're content installing and removing a noodle then more power to you - I hope you will continue to be as content in the years to come. It usually makes for an interesting conversation piece to the unknowing - that's for sure!
Perhaps try not to sway the topic comparing it to bigger engines or tires or traction, the price of a Porsche, or comparisons with a Jeep. If you interpret the topic of this 'sad thread' with this perspective, please try reading the original thread, then re-reading this one and the hundreds or so others in this site alone, regarding the many S2000 owners who are not content with the results of the S2000 rear window 'for what they are worth'.
True... the plastic window is a pain. But you knew that you were getting a plastic window right?
Anyway's, here's the rear window of my S2000. It became a pain to look through. It was all hazy and had yellow splotches over it. Then I went and bought some "Honda Plastic Cleaner". After 10mins the plastic window came out basically better than new, and almost "glass-like".
As you can see this cleaner really does wonders, and is made by Honda. I can assure you the window was shocking prior to cleaning it. I'd tried hot water, and car wash on the window and found that it did nothing. I almost gave up. The Honda cleaner is amazing. The crud and "yellowness" just disappeared, and some of the fine scratches also disappeared with it.
I can't see how a class action can be raised against Honda w/ regards to the rear window issue.
Here's the stuff I used to clean the window flanked by a couple of meguiar's products:
Add me to the list of owners who will NOT participate. When I was looking to buy my car, the one thing that I didn't like was the plastic window, but I decided that it was just something that I was going to have to be careful with. My car is 1 1/2 years old, and my window is crystal clear. I do have a Muz mat in the roof well (that wasn't installed immediately) and I do have a "Miata tube", that I have used ALL of the time since I made it. I also ALWAYS use the boot cover. How many of those with the problem always use the boot cover? It really does keep a lot of the leaves, dust, etc out of the roof well - all of these can scratch the window. The Muz mat and the Miata tube are not necessary for the top to operate or the window to fold - therefore I don't think that Honda should be held liable for anything. However, those accessories do make it easier to keep the window clear.
It seems ironic that some people will spend all sorts of time/money on materials and special cloths to keep prevent swirl marks in their paint, but don't spend the same amount of effort on their back window.
I admit - being as careful as I am on the window is a real pain in the ass, but it seems to work. On the other hand, there have been many cases of the window delaminating, and that is an issue that Honda should take care of.
The earliest road test I have is dated 12/14/98 by Phil Scott in the Sydney Morning Hearld (Aust) after his drive at Honda's Tochigi circuit. He has many raves to say about the car but he also noted there are some compromises and I think he nails the roof stuff correctly: "The power operated roof mechanism is fast but requires manual latching. When folded the stack is covered by a rubber tonneau, which is difficult to store when running with the roof up. The plastic rear window has no heater or demister element. Over time, the plastic will scratch and yellow. None of that will matter much if Honda can get prospective customers behind the wheel."
This was one of the first reports of many that came out well before the car was available in the US. I think it's safe to say we all knew the window was plastic. But I'm equally sure many of the buyers had no idea that the manner in which it's folded and store would cause the warping and scratching issues to occur so quickly.
Having fought with raising and lowering the manual top on my forty year old sportscar I can assure you I love the power top. However, I will say this, the plastic window on that same car is not as distorted by bad folds as my new one. I have a Muz mat for the inside and protect the outside before lowering. Also, I'm very familar with and have a complete series of plastic protection stuff - cleaner/polisher, fine scratch remover and heavy scratch remover. I have not tried the hair dryer, etc. to remove the wrinkles.
I'm not in favor of a class action suit. However, I would like to see AHM do something on its own. A "product update" in which AHM splits the costs of the glass kit and installation would be a welcomed solution that could resolve the issue and create good customer relations.
Will it happen? Based on their current position -- probably not. Would a class action suit bring that about or something better? IMO its unlikely but maybe - the fact remains it wasn't Honda's greatest engineering achievement.
Some of you are really ridiculous. Geez, every time a product enhancement is made, do you expect it to be given as a hand out? Would you like trim rings around the rear tail lamps too?
I can understand where you're coming from on the rear window. I, after all, owned a '00 Berlina Black S2000 and the rear plastic window was never an issue. I kept it clean and waxed the interior and exterior of the plastic at least once every two or three months. It was crystal clear.
Everyone who bought this car in '00 and '01 knew it had a rear plastic window. We all knew this would conger up more maintenance than a regular glass window but I don't think anyone truly complained (in fact, some of us, present company included, paid a handsome amount over sticker). But now, after two years of manufacturing, Honda releases an updated glass rear window for the '02 models and suddenly some folks with the rear plastic windows are outraged?
Give me a break!
Honda is not to blame. What about minivan owners that only have one sliding door? There are tremendous benefits to having two sliding doors. Should Daimler-Chrysler call back all the old minivans and retro-fit another sliding door because NOW they are standard.
Originally posted by ghubbell If you're content installing and removing a noodle then more power to you - I hope you will continue to be as content in the years to come.
My car is over two years old, and my rear window still looks good. BTW, I have never bothered installing any noodle when dropping the top, but I did place a cotton towel in the roof well to protect the window. In my opinion, using a noodle would be a total waste of time with my top (with no added benefit) -- maybe you just got a defective one.
Originally posted by STL maybe you just got a defective one.
That is something I've wondered. Most of the windows I've seen were in pretty good shape, others weren't. My car and cdelena's were almost built back to back and we had many problems in common including the rear window not holding up at all. Could it be that our windows came out of a bad batch of plastic? Cdelena and I are both pretty anal about our car care so it seems to me that a bad batch may well be the cause.
Then again this may be the same problem we had with the second gear grind. Once we learned to use a clutch the problem was solved.
when i first saw this post i didn't even bother to read about a bunch of winers complaining about something they accepted when they bought their '00 and '01 s2k's.
now that i see most of us are against this c.a.s. it gives me hope that not all americans are jumping on the lets make lawyers rich scheme.
honda gave us a great car, that has its fair share of faults, the plastics top being in my opinion not the worst.
if you bought your s2k uninformed, then shut up, sell it, and move on. that's just my opinion i could be wrong.
btw, our '01 spa yellow has close to 25,000 miles (of which i can be seen wearing a huge smile).
no tube, no muz mat, top down often, a few scrathes, no hazing, no creases, and clear as any very well cleaned plastic window can be, i use plexus.
Geez, every time a product enhancement is made, do you expect it to be given as a hand out? Would you like trim rings around the rear tail lamps too?
