Hi, my name is Colton, i am 18 years old and i drive an S2000. I have been on this forum for a month and a half and i have been seeing a lot of people complain about the fact that a younger crowd is now able to afford used S2000's and it is giving the car a bad image and hurting the resale value. I don't want to be accused of being one of these sterotypes so here is my reason for buying my 2001 S2000.

- January, 2005

When i turned 16, i was fortunate to have my parents buy me my first vehicle. It was a 1999 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer with a 5.0L V8.

Yes it was a nice first car, although I had been wishing for a sporty car instead because i have always been obsessed with fast cars since i was a child but of course the parents want something big and boring. Well shortly after i got my Explorer a became an avid member of ExplorerForum.com. They have a community just like the one here and i became interested in a lot of the mods that people were doing to their Explorers. I wanted to make mine stand out from all the others on the road, so i started with an exhaust system, then an intake and the next thing you know i have a 6 inch lift on it with 34'' tires and projection HID headlights that i retrofitted from a C6 Corvette - and i did all the work, including the lift, myself (except the exhaust welding)....check out the pipes,
99' Explorer O/R X-pipe (no cats) Mac Flowpath mufflers




- June, 2007

I work at my local Chevrolet dealership detailing cars. I also have always loved Mustang GT's as well (ever since my mom's now sold 01' GT convertible that i got to drive while i had my learners permit). Well one day last summer our dealership got an 01' Mustang GT traded in and i HAD TO HAVE IT. Now that i was 18 and old enough to be a cosigner on an auto loan, i talked my parents into allowing me to finance the car.

I loved it, but that was VERY short-lived. A week after i got the car the upper intake manifold cracked and blew coolant all over the engine. $400 to replace. Next, the car was an automatic....4-speed automatic. I hated it. The car didn't even seem very fast and on top of all that i was only gettin 12-13mpg!!! I put the car on a car lift to change the oil and noticed the transmission had a 2 leaks in it and the rear diff was leaking fluid as well. I finally decided i had to get rid of it when one night i raced my buddy in his 03' G35 automatic sedan. Heres how pathetic my car did against the Infinity's V6.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n1QiA8cTLk

- Novemer, 2007

I was completly ready to trade in my POS gas drinking Mustang GT. My criteria for my next car was 25mpg or better, manual transmission and no sacrifing performance. I was dead set on getting a 2007 Cobalt SS Supercharged which i was able to get at my work with a great discount. I got all the figures printed out and my dad just laughed when i showed him the $23,000 price and told him i wanted to finance a Cobalt for 6 year. The Cobalt was no longer an option at that point.
The next weekend, I traveled to Pensacola, Florida to go watch the Blue Angles fly. My parents had gotten a hotel room for the night so i stayed with them for the weekend in Pensacola. I knew that Pensecola had more used auto dealerships than anywhere in the southeast so i knew that if i didn't find a car THAT weekend, one that i could convince my dad into letting me buy, that i would be stuck with this Mustang forever. My parents brought their laptop on the trip and our hotel had free WIFI so i began searching the local used car dealerships. I found a dealership that had a 2000 BMW M5 and just being the car nut that i am, i had to go check it out and i am always good at talking the salesman into letting me test drive the cars (even though i couldn't afford the BMW).

- I meet the S2000

I pull in to the car dealership and park. The first car that catched my eye is a 2001 Silverstone S2000 with $14866 on the windshield. Only $14866?? Forget the M5, this thing is NICE! The door was unlocked so opened it up and sat in the drivers seat. WOW, this is a Honda? Digital gauge cluster? Leather Recardo style seats? Short throw six speed gearbox? 9k rev limiter?? What??? It had 86,000 miles on the odo but like i said, its a HONDA....STILL ONLY $14866??? I already knew the stats on the S2000 from my last 7 years of Car And Driver subscriptions. I knew it had a 4cyl, i knew it had 240hp, and i already knew about most of the things that suprised me, i just had never seen them all in person. I get out of the car and the next thing i know, the salesman is walking up to me with a set of keys in his hand. He tells me to take it for a drive. WOW, i was SOLD. I had to have this car. Why didn't i consider it a long time ago?? It outperforms a Mustang GT, gets 20-25mpg, is rear wheel drive, has a 6 speed manual trans, my God was it fun to drive and......ITS A CONVERTIBLE!


I call my insurance company first to get a quote. I was surprised to find out that it would be $15 a month cheaper for the S2000!. I call my dad and tell him all about it. I tell him "It's a Honda so its reliable, its a 4cyl so it gets good gas mileage and the insurance is cheaper than the Mustang. PLUS i have just started college so i need a VERY reliable car that gets better gas mileage. I finally convince him to meet me to drive the car. As soon as we take off, he's already reving it to VTEC, going through the gears like a race car driver with a big smile on his face. He was SOLD as well. We go back to the dealership and work out a deal getting the price down to $12,900 plus my trade-in (The Mustang) and next thing you know im driving back home in my S2000.

- Two more S2000's later and....

A week after i got my S2000, my uncle falls in love it. He has always driven Honda's and always loved the S2000. Next thing i know, he buys a 2004 S2000.

A week after that, my dad finds a great deal on EBAY on a 2003 S2000 and he was surprised when he won the bid on the car that only had 22,000 miles on it for $15,200.



Now it has become a family affair. My dad has already done the airbox mod and both my dad and uncle have had their resonators removed for a meaner sound.


MY SUMMARY......
I opted for the S2000 because i am an 18 year old car enthusiust who demands a rear-wheel-drive high performance "drivers" car that can handle whatever you throw at it with precision (only the S2000 can do this), yet being a broke college student, i needed something that i could afford to finance while still being reliable and getting good gas mileage.

Thanks for reading my S2000 story,
Colton

 

Try not to street race it on busy public streets while holding a video camera.
Please.

 

i know, that was very stupid of me but NO ONE would believe that i could beat him so i had to get it on film, yet it ended up losing so it was a completely unneccesary risk.

Colton

 

before you drive it hard, try to do a track day or autocross so you can learn the limits of the car.

 

so why did you consider the M5 if you knew you couldnt afford it?

 

have fun and drive safe.

 

Congrats on the car. I've had mine since I was 19yrs old. Just be careful and respect the car and you should have nooo problems man. I had that generation explorer too...was suure comfy.

 

congrats, and welcome to the community!

 

I wasn't considering it to buy it, i just wanted to test drive it, and none of the other cars that i saw on the internet interested me so it was also a reason to get out of the hotel and down the some of the car lots to see the cars in person so it would spark some intertest in the ones that i could actually afford.

Colton

 

I've already done the "empty parking lot" thing and i am really getting comfortable with the way the car handles. I know i will get flamed for this but today it was raining and i was able to drift the S around some turns flawlessly on my way to the doctor. So far i have put on an Invidia V3 cat-back and Invdia 70mm test pipe. Next is the intake.