Well here's my dilemma. I have been looking forward to ordering/owning one of these little gems since mid 99. Now that my current lease is up I can. However, after reading many many posts in this GREAT forum over the past 3 months I'm beginning to wonder. Why, because of several posts regarding MY 00 differential problems & MY 01 cylinder #4 problems. Not minor problems either mind you. It's nearly impossible to determine what kind of drivers/owners these people are just by reading these posts. I myself will be a commuter & Sunday "fun in the twisties" driver. I can afford the car but not to have to write $3000 checks for differential or short block replacements because the DSM thinks I abused my pride & joy to avoid a dealer from having to perform expensive warranty work. Unfortunately I do not trust dealer service techs to tell me the truth on their track record on reliability issues with this particular car. What's a guy to do? Any info./advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks for the plethera of information provided here!

 

I would highly recommend that you buy one as soon as you can get ahold of one, you will not regret it. Car has a 3yr/36,000 warranty, and if, big IF, you have any of the reported problems as you noted, it will be covered. I doubt that if you had one of the reported problems that it would occur after the warranty exprired, based on what I have read here. Most people here are enjoying trouble-free mileage (some with over 30,000 miles), and although it has not been determined yet the cause of the problems (for people who have experienced problems), I would not forgo buying this wonderful car because of what you read online, especially, with your intended use of the vehicle. There are numerous people on here that, in my opinion, abuse the car, and yet they have had no problems...that just makes me feel more confident in mine since my use of the vehicle is more along your lines.
Good luck on whatever you decide to do.

 

GET

 

I have an '01 with 4k+ miles on it with none of the problems related here. Don't forget that many problems *can* be self-induced - it's not necessarily a design problem. That said, it *can* also be a design problem but they aren't being reported by the vast majority of owners. The folks doing real racing (as opposed to the many boy racers you'll see posting here) have had minimal problems. Taking care of the equipment and not trying to impress your friends can add years of service to any vehicle.

Statistically, the problems are very small. Remember that you're hearing of problems here that you never would hear about in other vehicles since this is a collection of owners. You'd need to find similar lists for other makes/models to find out that they, too, have seemingly serious problems. There have been recent threads here about Porsche Boxsters that you could search for which report Boxster problems. There's no such thing as a trouble-free car given the vast range of driving styles and design decisions. Revving the engine to 7k RPM and dumping the clutch time and time again begs for clutch and diff problems. Clue - respect the capabilities and limitations of the design and you will generally not have problems.
And, as pointed out before, there's a warranty for those possible REAL problems...

 

My son's 2nd grade teacher, after explaining as answer always asks the kids:

"Get it, get it, get it?"

At which point, they reply:

"Got it, got it, got it!"

So - I expect you to reply the same!!!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by JTS2K
[B]...because of several posts regarding MY 00 differential problems & MY 01 cylinder #4 problems.

 

Anyone having a problem with their car is more likely to represent a minority of owners. Hardly anyone not having problems will come to this forum and report, " No problems at all with my car today."

After 15k miles I have no major problems to report.

 

Do you like like to drive? Do you want a car that has a certain feel to it that lets you reach your maximum potential as a driver? Then buy this car! This car could cost twice what Honda sells it for and would still be a bargin. Just remember, if you race it in timed events you may void the warranty. Other than that you are safe. Like was mentioned in a prevoius post about Autoweek's review of the BMW Z8, there are few cars that can beat it in the Slalom. The S2000 is one of them.

 

Ok, my mind is eased somewhat. Thank you! I should have my 01 White/Red July or Aug. Only mod's will be 17's (OZ Superleggera) & Speakers. I'm still going to drive the TL Type S "just in case". I had a deal with a dealer for $300 under MSRP & was to fax buyers order last Monday. I called him Friday as I hadn't heard or seen anything from him. Guess what, he fed me some line of BS about the dealership hiring a new GM over the weekend & couldn't do $300 under only $1K over. I'll get mine elsewhere for no more than MSRP, probably a little under. Thanks again fellas! The forum is just great. Thanks to the Mod's too. You'll be the first to here, I got it! I got it!!!

 

JT,

Go to your local liberry! Find an issue of the April 2001 Consumer reports.

Xerox pages: 6, 29, 45, 82 and the red blur on page 14.

Place them under your pillow.

Get a good nights sleep.

You'll wake up MUCH smarter!!

And in a few short weeks you'll understand why we say driving was never so much fun!!!!!!