Hello, I've been reading a lot of forums on various 2 seat roadsters and have been trying to find the pros and cons of each one to narrow down my search on which to buy.
So far the leading one has turned out to be the S2000. It seems to have about the best balance of performance and looks in what I'm looking for.
I'm trying to now find out it's long term reliability and what problems to look for and what year car is better or worse noted for problems.
So what do people find is the most common problem with this car? One that I picked up on and wonder if it's a early year problem or consistant through all the years of production is the Gear poping out problem. Is the tranny a weak point with this car? Is it more of a problem with early years or thoughout the whole span on production years? Is this something that I will run into on all of these cars no matter what?
How well made is the soft top? Is it prone to tears of holes from poor workmanship and how well does it hold up? I've also noticed a lot of mention about the chain tensioner and is this also a part to keep a eye on with all years? That part seems easy to replace though so it's not as important as the tranny gear popping issue.
Have anyone noted using synthetic gear oil in the tranny has any effect on helping the gear popping issue as I tend to have all oils changed to synthetic when I buy one.
I'm probably going to get a 2005 or maybe a 2004 model depending on the miles it has on it. Has anyone found one year to stand out better than other years so far?
I really do like these cars, I've found problems with the other roadsters that turned me off of them pretty fast. And I've not really liked the Miata enough to consider buying one and though for an American car I like the Solstice's looks but it's way to soon to consider buying one of those. I'll wait till people own them for awhile and find out how well they hold up. The main seal's on the Boxster have enough people complaining about it to turn me off of those and for the price that shouldn't be a problem so that car is def. out. And the pre-cat's on the MR2 are a problem looking to happen with those and it just looks a little funny anyway. To bad as it's a very good handling car. It was one I considered for quite some time.
I've been a long time Datsun Z owner, have airport raced them and did general engine builds on those and want to get back to a 2 seater that has enough stock performance to keep me happy and a look that doesn't need changing to make it look better. Also had a AH 100/6 many years ago and wish I never sold that one.
What is the chance of these cars making it to 200k without any major work being done with just modest pushing it's performance. I mean not redlining it everytime I take it out but not being a granny driver either. I'm buying it to take out on mountain roads and having fun, not seeing how fast it goes from one stoplight to the next (if I did that I'm looking at the wrong type of car anyway) and want something that can do that for many years to come. So feedback is very welcome on reliability points with these cars and much thanks for anyone's feedback on this subject.
Once an estate house sells I'm going to be buying one, probably in the next 4 months or so and so I'm doing as much homework as I can on it. Thanks

 

Well i do not own an s2000 but i can give you some info............. The gears popping out is not that common on the s2000, maybe on the acura rsx-s but I haven't heard many if any complaints about gears popping out. On the 2000 to 2003 many s2000 owners had issues with the differential, mainly from many clutch dumps and their driving habits which many owners say it's from improper clutch dumps (not reving high enough and causing the car to bog which places a tremendous amount of strain on the differential). Also the 2002 and up have a glass rear windows as the 2000-2001 have plastic which seems to lose it's clearness and tends to wrinkle and needs high maintenance to keep clean. They also upgraded little things from 01-02. As for the 04 and up the whole suspension went through a big change to calm down the rear and a less harsh ride, they come with bigger wheels 17, different rear lights, rear bumper, front bumper, and if im not mistakened different head lights. Also there are really not any known problems for the 04 and up differential, as it also contains a device which a clutch drop will put more strain on the clutch instead of the differential in which the clutch is much cheaper and easier to replace. SO thats all i can think of right now, I may not be 100% correct but I just gave you an idea of what i know and wanted to be some help. good luck with you purchase! I should be getting mine soon!!!!!

 

The S2000 is a quality machine and under regular or spirited driving conditions should give you years of trouble free driving. They are well put together and well thoughtout. If left stock, I can see 200K happening no problem.

 

I believe you can't go wrong and most of the cars if well maintaned will last long-term no problem. Some of the older ones (<02) had some transmission grinding issues and had the old plastic rear window. But I have found the car to be almost bulletproof in terms of reliability. It has only been to the shop for oil changes (mobil 1) and routine service intervals, thats it. I don't really race the car or redline all that often but some on here do it everyday and I hear little about it breaking down. The car can bite you in the ass if you miss-shift or drive to hard in less than ideal circumstances. (ie rain) My opinion is the car has the best technology Honda can place in a car at each year the car is made. One thing to keep in mind is the engine changes between the 03 and 04 which were significant and controversial. They lowered the redline by 800 rpms but built an engine just as strong and maybe a little more liveable. I have never driven one but will soon drive an 06. My 03 is a lot of fun on the twisty roads but can be a bitch in heavy traffic so I avoid the traffic if I can.

 

I'll constrain my answers to AP2 models ('04-'05.)

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