There are only two areas the S2000 stands out imo:

Tires - last anywhere from 10k - 20k mi based on driving, and will cost you roughly $700 for a set of four. If you drive 20k mi a yr, that could be $1,400/yr.

Soft top - after 5-8 years, you could need a replacement - thats $1k.

Everything else is just normal car maint., and if you do it yourself its basically free.

One benefit of our car's low torque is parts last. Unless you get stupid with your car, it won't break.

 

25k miles in 4 yrs.....zero problems, and i drive it pretty hard.

 

My Diff went out around 90K miles. I never launched the car. The diffs are not bulletproof for these cars and will go out in time. Unfortunately, the dealer installed mine and I payed an arm and a leg for it.

Clutches go out around 60K to 70K and will run you just over a grand if you do your shopping right. Tops can go up to close to $1900 if replaced by the dealer. Tops can wear pretty fast if you don't maintain them.
Fluid changes can cost up to $15 dollars if you do it yourself.

 

Insurance can be WAY more expensive than an Accord.

 

I'm at 66k miles, 8 years, and I haven't had a single thing break.. only thing replaced has been fluids, cabin filter, tires. Hell, I drive pretty hard and I haven't even needed to change brake pads.. maybe because my foot is always on the gas It's been the least expensive car to maintain I think I've ever owned.. tires aside.

 

If you are mechanically inclined in any way, the S2000 is not so bad to maintain. I had to replace the clutch and the transmission in mine about two years after I got it (whoever had it before me beat the shit out of it) and that was at about 50k on MY2001 in 2005 and it cost less than $900 (300 for the clutch and 600 for the used transmission). The service manual tells you everything you need to do. I would stray away from any car with engine trouble, b/c that is when it gets more mechanically intense and costly. Having said that, it is a much more reliable sports car than most and after having driven and worked on porshe's, Z3s, Z4s, corvettes, 350z's, WRX STis, M3s ect- It is above and beyond more reliable and the easiest to work on. If reliability is your biggest concern, it would probably be the least of your worries on the S2k if you are looking for a sports car. Just my .02

 

Was he on the original diff???


Perhaps this was a early model 00, or 01 car. From what i understand, they fixed a lot of small things the first 2 years that solved alot in terms of reliably for the 03+ year cars. I dunno if they did any changes to the diff/rear end though since MY01...

I'm looking forward to my used s2000 (I dont own one yet, but soon to!!!), i will probably get a low miles 2003 (last year of AP1!!!) and I'm sure it will be civic reliable, IF maintained properly.

The only other thing i've heard of is oil stains on the motor, leaking oil, ext. I'm not sure how true this is, all s2000's under the hood i have seen are clean enough to eat from, but i heard one guy complaining it looked like an old mustang under the hood, this kinda worries me, but i've never heard anyone else say this before. Perhaps someone else can clear this up.

Peace,
-mark

 

Amen to that!
-mark

 

I seem to remember that he put a blower on at ~40k miles. I believe he did a lot of auto-x, and other hard driving.

 

i'm pretty sure it was an AP2, (04 if i remember) but i got the impression the car literally spent 75% of its 50k miles between 6k and 8k RPM. it was not driven in at all normally. can anybody find that thread?

anyways i thought it was a testament to how hard it is to ruin the engine, not the opposite! the same as modifry's engine--a testament to honda engineering! (btw i have no idea about the diff on modifry's car, you'd have to ask him to comment)