As an owner of a 02 I can say I've not had any tranny problems.

 

Spend lots of time reading the info on this site. The S2000 book is a great read, added to this site, where you can find out about real-world situations people have encountered. The FAQs (not the Site FAQs) are a great collection of info ... the Library has good stuff, including the service bulletins (most of which relate to '00 and '01 models).

Keep in mind, you'll hear a lot of rants and complaints about people's particular problems because people tend to vocalize their problems and that shouldn't be interpreted as "the S2000 has problems." My understanding is that the vast majority of us owners have had an excellent experience with this car. It's a blast to drive, it's fast, it kicks ass on the track, and it's a Honda (reliable). Most of the fastest track drivers of this car have done very little in the way of mods, the biggest helper seems to be racing tires.

Get it, you'll love it!