I purchased my S2000 in Nov. of '99. So, I have one of the very first to hit the road. Over time Honda recognized a number of problems and corrected them in later manufacture dates. Honda has had a number of recalls of known defects on my vehicle. Two different ones were for the seat belts. One was for the spark plug gaskets. One was for the boot.

I've also learned of a couple of changes that Honda did not publicize. Shortly after my initial breakin period, I discovered that my transmission would sometimes not shift from first to second at high revs. At first, I thought I was not executing the shift properly. But, then I realized that it was a defect in the vehicle. I was planning to take the car in for service. But before I got the time, my transmission locked in first and reverse at the same time. When I had it towed in, the dealer told me that this was a known problem with the second gear syncro. They rebuilt the transmission. I also learned that since my car had been manufactured, Honda had changed the clutch. I convinced the dealer to give me the newer clutch at no cost as well. I understand that the clutch was replaced mid year in the first year. I'm not certain when (or if) the second gear syncro problem was corrected.

If you are having shifting problems from first to second, take your vehicle in for repair.

 

Many of us had the TSB-054 & -055 dane, and what a relief it is. No mishifts or grinds, and no more clutch decelleration rattle...for awhile.

In addition to these TSB's, there are also a few more recognized problems that occurred on far fewer cars and thus were not widely publicized, most of which were not safety related, just build-quality related. Honda got a batch of headlight assemblies that experienced peeling of the inner black coating in front of the projected HID beam (yes, mine wer replaced), Honda also had a few dashboards that had a material defect that caused the surface to "dimple", (yes, had that too replaced),and finally, being one of the first cars, mine had some paint issues at the headlight (never fixed) and the plastic pieces between the rear window & trunk were unevenly painted.

Despite these issues, Honda has so far, stood by their product and taken care of me.

Now to tackle this roof wear isuue...