I am not a conservative driver and yet, like many others, have never had one single failure of anything on my car in 24k miles. They just are not fragile cars, and don't have to be driven conservatively to be trouble free.

 

Ive had the unfortunate expierience of driving behind a large truck on the freeway kicking up all kinds of pebbles, lots of dirt but no scratches!

Its pretty relaible, no problems ('cept for that damn gas cap and pretty bad mpg even keeping it under 4k rpms!)

Great transportation!

 

get one

 

I'm not a conservative driver , and my car has had no significant problems after 40,000 miles, 3+ years, ~17 track days (but no drag racing). It sounds like you would enjoy the S2000, although it might eventually seduce you to a little less conservative driving.

Check out the Pacific Northwest forum here, and drop by a Taco Tuesday evening to meet local owners and check out the variety of drivers and cars.

Ted

 

Smokee: You will never find an unbiased answer to your question here Your best bet is to do a search, it'll take a lot of time but that's the only way. Good luck!

 

My feeling is that the car is absolutely reliable when not abused. Personally, I have gotten 14,600 miles out of my MY02, and absolutely nothing has broken. The rear tires will need to be replaced soon, and overall mileage is about 24 mpg - have gotten slightly better than 28 mpg on extended highway trips. I will admit that engine break-in has not been perfect, and I estimate that oil consumption is in the vicinity of 1 quart per 3,000 miles or so. I get plenty of thrill out of engaging the VTEC from time to time, and do not miss the 'thrill' of laying down black rubber stripes pulling away from stop lights.

 

i am a very conservative driver, and i maybe use VTEC once or twice a day. i get 26-27 mpg average and never drop the clutch. it burns no more oil and runs stronger than other s2ks i've driven. my car puts down 205.XX WHP on the dynojet. i am pretty confident this car will give me no problems...respect the car and it will respect you.


the most important thing is to take it easy during breakin, which is the first 600 miles. do lots of engine compression braking to help seat the oil rings and you'll be fine. remember not to exceed 5500 rpm during this time period.

 

Thanks for the reponses so far. I currently drive a '91 Jeep Wrangler. Sun and fun also but hitting a button and watching the top come up is like a dream. It's a good 15 minute wrestling match with the Jeep.

I test drove an '01 with 24k on it I believe. Somehow my friend manuvered herself into the driver's seat while I was talking to the salesman and she got to hit the bright red start button. But I finally got my turn and vtecd down a couple straightaways. Shifting was out of this world. I didn't even know something like that existed in an automobile.

The nearest dealer (Kirkland, WA) says no more '03 coming to them. I haven't started looking seriously. It's a stretch for me which explains my concern that I at least have a chance to get a fairly reliable car. And I do realize you all are biased but at least you own one. I've been researching other places too and haven't found any info that would stop me from buying one.

Thanks again.

I'll keep Taco Tuesday in mind.

 

I'm an aggressive driver, but I do not abuse the car. It has been incredibly reliable for me, so with your conservative intentions, it should be a dream.

 

Smokee

I'm not sure what you mean by conservative, but I think I'm probably the type that you mean. I've never driven the car above 95 MPH (only to this speed once), I don't street race, I don't think the stop light is a drag strip, and I've never tracked the car. I do enjoy driving it. I love the "quickness" and "tossability" of the car. I don't push it to the limit, not even close, but I do sometimes push it. It is a weekend, nice day to work car for me too. I too am a member of the S2000 Vintage Owners group.

In the 1 year and 5,700 miles that I've owned it I've never had a problem with it. It has been, so far, as reliable as any of the other Hondas that I've owned. It has also been more fun.