After reading through several posts in this forum, it seems that quality control on the S2000 was lax. If I were to purchase the 2000 model today, what are the chances that I would get the grind problem or seatbelt problem? Is this like a 50/50 thing? Or is it like 50 cars out of 5000?

 

I don't think anyone could really give numbers, especially since it's intermittent...just gotta buy and pray, I guess. Some people speculate that the higher VIN cars don't have the problem, but then again, I don't believe there's any real evidence of that just yet. As for the seatbelt...I have no clue. Best bet is to buy a 2001!

 

I'm not sure I would consider the grind problem a quality control problem. I believe the specs entered into the CNC machine that cuts the gears and synchros were of a sloppier tolerance than that required. So as far as the machines were concerned, everything was within specs. I'll forgive them for this one.

As for the seatbelts, well, it happens...I'll forgive them this one, too.

 

The problem is stacking tolerance and it can be considered an engineering problem (failure to anticipate the sum of component tolerances) or an assembly quality control issue (failure to measure the tolerance of assembled components), but all the individual parts are as designed.

There is no evidence that any individual parts were not machined properly or out of spec.