We all love our cars, there is no doubt about it, let us share with each other our headaches but more importantly, our heartwarming journey(ies) into what lead us to be behind these amazing automobiles. I'll start;

Mine was:

It was mid-July of 2012, my old 06 infiniti g35 coupe was going through it's third motor, suspension creaks, and interior rattles.. lots of joy, tears, and sweat kept me going with this machine.. but while the car was still running fine, the exterior immaculate, the memories of this car inside had caused me to want to live life... happily again. I proceeded to go to the Infiniti dealership where I've been a customer of for many years. I spotted a 05 red s2000 on the lot with only 14k on the odometer, mint condition. I spoke with a new guy I've never seen before, agreed on a price, and I proceeded to go home to get my checkbook to put on a downpayment (I didn't have my card on me at the time). Family things came up so I couldn't go in until Monday (this was on Friday). I called up the salesman and I told him I would be in first thing Monday to pick it up - he reassured me "I already put a sold tag on it, it's all yours" Fast forward to the following Sunday, I called him to ask him a few questions about the car, and all of a sudden he said, "I forgot to tell you yesterday, the car was sold.."

All I could muster out was "#$@(%*@&)%^*Y%)TYWRILUT !!%#$%(*$)#!!!!!" And hung up.

I've never ridden in a s2000 in my life except for that test drive I took with the red one, but I knew I just knew in my heart - I wanted a s2000, with low miles.. my search continued, 18 straight hours later I located a 04 yellow s2000.. only 7000 miles in Indiana, about 1.5 hours away from me with clean carfax, one owner (80 year old retired doctor).. sitting at a family dealership.

I proceeded to go into the office and worked hard the best I could - I casually called the dealership owner during my lunch break to ask if the car was still for sale and he said "yes, it's just sitting pretty in my garage here". I quietly said "Hrm, not bad.. decent miles but price is high and I know there's just a specific audience for this type of car.. I may swing by.."

I proceeded to leave the office early (by 3 hours). Drove out there, looked it over, traded my car in (they gave me a higher trade in value than my long-time Infiniti friends did!!).. financed a small a mount.. and..

I turned the key on, put the top down.. pushed the clutch in.. put it in first put the e-brake down.. and hit the Engine Start button. .. left off the clutch and gave it a small amount of gas... and then...

__

At current, with 13,8xx on the odometer, my journey still continues with each and every one of you on this forum, though I usually ghost- reading your stories and seeing your pictures, your progresses, all make me smile with fondness and contentment knowing that happiness is shared mutually - from coast to coast, and all over the globe.

- Jeff.

 

Hi Jeff,

I'm sick, super tired, and about to ktfo, so sorry for the cliff style story:

- needed DD badly in 09
- grabbed 4DR EM2 off dealer lot
- a "voice inside my head" (ap1 gods) decided 4DR EM2 was not for me
- went back to dealership where 4DR EM2 was
- saw 02 AP1 SSM S2000 that wasn't there when grabbing 4DR EM2 (just came in 1-2 days ago)
- took test drive
- salesman told me to put top down and hit vtec
- returned EM2, got s2000 (my "dream" car since 1999)
- the rest is history/in progress

DD four years and counting...

The s2000 is special. To some people it's "just another car", but what I see whenever I drive is the heritage of a car purpose built just for racing. No auto, paddle shift, creature comforts, etc.

Just a pure automotive driving experience.

 

I raced cars for years, Lotus, Brabhams, F1s & F2, mostly open wheelers.

There is nothing that gets the adrenaline up quicker than sliding into an open wheel cockpit. You step over the body, onto the seat. Standing there you stick your backside against the top of the seat, slip your feet under the wheel, & slide down into that small, narrow cockpit. You are cocooned in there. Supported & confined, you're part of the car. Hell back in the 60s we didn't even use seat belts in them. Didn't need them, & in those old space frame things, you were better off falling out in a big prang.

I wanted a convertible. I had never even seen an S2k, out in the Oz bush where I'm retired. I tried a BMW, a couple of Miata, a Peugeot, & a Mercury Capri, even bought a couple, & did not like them. Then I saw an S2k parked in a near by town, & thought that might be what I wanted. We'd had a few Hondas & I liked them, bit of a hassle with the nearest dealer two hours away, but nice cars.

I found a very low mileage 2001 S2k, about 3.5 hours drive away & went to have a look. It was in their garage, hood down, under a sheet. When the sheet came off it was immaculate. My back was playing up a bit, & to get in I stood facing forward beside the doorway. I put a foot in, & it found the foot rest. With my backside against the seat back, I brought my other foot in, & slid down into the seat.

That was it for me. It was so close to that old feeling of sliding into an F1 Brabham, I was gone. The fact that it ran nicely, & drove beautifully, & sounded fantastic was all very good, but the feeling of sitting in that great cockpit was all it took. I had to have it.

I picked it up next day, after 5 hours on public transport. Everything is so natural in an S that within a couple of miles it felt like I'd been driving it for years.

A couple of years later & just getting into the car brings back that great feeling, every time. Sometimes you're running around, very busy. You jump into the car, & it hits you all over again. God I love that car.

 

I wasn't really even looking for one when a bought mine. Saw the clean SSM AP1 for sale privately and said to myself, "I gotta check that out." Didn't see it again. Damn. A few weeks later I'm at work (I work at a dealership) and I see this SSM AP1 pull into where we put the new trade-ins. Asked the salesman if I could see the keys and check it out. He said sure. I look at it and took it for a small drive around and went right into the used car manager's office. Asked what my price would be on it. He pulls out his paperwork on it and shows me what they gave him as a trade. He said $500 over this number. I said I'll bring in a down payment tomorrow. The rest is history. Bought it 4 years ago with 81K on it for $10K out the door. It now has 98K and I'm still smiling.

 

My 2nd S was a mistake ..the best Ive made in yrs . I owned an 03 S2k with 98k on it when I went to go buy an SUV for my wife "Pilot of course"Long story short this Pilot didn't fit the bill ...bought one a few weeks later that did.
As I'm leaving the guy says well I understand u didn't like the Pilot ...to many miles huh ?? Well I have another "honda" with such low miles , but you wouldn't be interested in it ..its a "sports car" ...Really I said , is it a convert? Yep its an 2000s Honda May I ask how many miles on it /? ....27k I then asked how much they wanted ...he looked shocked and said I think they want like 15 for it , so I went to buy a car for my wife and found my next S2k ...needless to say I had much explaining to do when I got home that night.Best part about my upgrade was that this S was the same color , my twin with 70k less miles on it .I sold my S to the dealership, bought this new one ,swapped the wheels and intake on the spot and drove it home ...and I'm still living with this "mistake" to this day ...long live the S2k

 

Last week in August, 2000

I was with a girlfriend driving my Z and saw a red S2000 drive by. I had known about the car but never saw one in person. I had my Z for four years and still loved it but the idea of something brand new was tempting. The dealership we went to only had a Silverstone w/ red interior. My girl had red hair so she didn't approve. I asked if they had black and was told, "No. These are only being made for two years and every dealer only gets a few a year. I can order you a 2001." After hearing the two year story I figured I'd see if I could find a MY2000 in black. When I did I was blown away.
It was in the center of the showroom full Honda body kit - beautiful! Then I saw the price, $41,000! I put a deposit on it. Since I was only 21 at the time I had to wait for one of those parental loans. While we negotiated I asked for a test drive. The only way I was able to get one was when the deal was almost done and the drive was only a quick jot around the parking lot. Of course the car couldn't hit Vtec until it had 500 or 1000 miles so I had no idea how the car really drove.
The first day I visited my girl at college. As we are walking to the parking lot I pointed out an S. She was like, "Yeah, Will, it's an S2000." She was in total disbelief when I unlocked the doors for her. lol
Good times.

Here she is with the temporary plate next to my old '86 Z.

 

You paid 41k 13yrs ago ...

 

No, I think it came to $38 or $39. They had all the options included and a Market Value Adjustment of a few thousand dollars. Without the MVA the MSRP of the car was probably $36k. I have to say, it was worth it for us. The first few years of ownership (2000-2002) were quite an experience.

 

Some background story about me, I've been a "car" fan all my life. Ever since I was a kid I loved cars, especially Ferrari's. I could point out and name basically any car on the road from the age of 9 and on. In Middle School I fell in love with a NA Mazda Miata that one of my teachers had, and ever since then I've been a fan of open top motoring. After High School my first "sporty" car was a '95 Mustang GT Convertible, and I was in love.



When the S2000 debuted in 1999, I remember reading all about it, and even had a picture of a SSM S2000 as my desktop wallpaper for quite a while. After owning my '95 Mustang GT for about 5 years it was totalled in my driveway (were it had been parked) by a drunk driver. I was despondent, the Mustang had been my favorite car. I loved everything about it. I went to a local CarMax dealership with the intention of replacing my old Mustang with a '01 Ford Mustang Cobra or a '99 Corvette C5. I test drove both cars, the Cobra had a bad transmission and was grinding gears, the Corvette was nice but the interior was really underwhelming. As I am walking back into the lobby I see a 2001 Honda S2000 in Silverstone. As I had always loved the car, and love to drive anything, I asked the salesman if I could test drive the car. He said sure... and that was all she wrote. I bought that S2000 and kept it for 4 years.



After my daughter was born I decided to get rid of the S2000 for something with a back seat, I wanted a nice car that I could take my kids in, and I still had a soft spot for Mustang's. I bought another '95 Mustang GT convertible that was virtually identical to my first Mustang. Strangely I never bonded to this Mustang like I had with my first Mustang, or my S2000.



Late last year I made the decision to start looking for a new (to me) car. The Mustang wasn't really doing it for me any more. Being a car guy, I was interested in many different cars from 335i to the G37 to the C6 vette. Still, part of me wanted another S2000. After deciding that I wanted an S2000, I also knew that for it to be the "perfect" S2000 for me it would have to be GPW and an '06 (for the all black interior). After some searching on Auto Trader and on here, I found a local S2000 for sale by an S2Ki member. I went with my wife to look at the car, and I was sold on the spot. It was everything I wanted, I had to wait a few days for the funds to be wired from my bank to his, but in September of last year I became an S2000 owner again. I hope to own this car for the rest of my life.

 

I was only 18 driving a 99 Prelude SH when i bought my S2000. Atleast a year prior i had decided that i wanted an S2000 and searched the classifieds daily. I was slowly saving until i could get the "right" s2000.
Luckily one day at work i won $2000 dollars in a raffle. Although not a ton of money, i finally felt comfortable about pulling the trigger on a new car. I went and looked at a low mileage yellow AP2 and test drove it. It was nice but i wasn't quite ready to buy and it sold before i had the chance to make an offer. A local Honda dealer had a SSM AP2 with red/black. At the time this was my dream combo, unfortunately it was a little out of my price range. That was the first time i had ever driven an S2000 with the top down. It was such an amazing feeling.
One day i was bored and found a sebring silver s on Craigslist. The pictures werent that good, but i figured it was in my best interest to look any s2000 i could. My brother and i drove down to the dealership were it was at and was immediately shocked by this beautiful S. it had a little more miles on it than i wanted (65k. ideally i wanted one >50k) but was in nearly perfect condition. i test drove it, but wasn't ready to buy just yet. A week later i went back to the dealer with my dad to check the car out. Of course we were harrassed by car salesmen who wanted us to buy right then and there. as much as i wanted, I knew i needed to wait and not act on impulse.
A week later i finally decided it was time to buy it. We went back to the dealer one Wednesday afternoon. I get to the lot and much to my surprise....... the car isnt there. i swear to god i started to cry i was so bummed. The car salesman we talked to before walked out and assured me that they still had the car, it was at their other dealrship up the street
Long story short, my dad is a crazy negotiator. We left once because they didnt give us the price we wanted. On the drive back home, they called me and said they would lower it. Once we got back we noticed that they had added some $500 security fee. Basically it was insurance for when the car is on the lot. My dad got pissed again. We were getting in my prelude leaving for the second time when they finally agreed to get rid of that fee. Finally we came to an agreement, wrote a check for the car and left with the keys in my hand grinning the whole way home and admiring the beautiful gauge cluster. 3.5 years later (3 sets of rims, hardtop, 3 different exhausts, 2 intakes, spoiler, multiple front lips, etc...) she runs just as good as ever and sits with 120k on the ODO