I'm about to graduate college and want to get an S2000 as a present to myself! I fell in love with the car several years ago when my buddy let me use his murdered out s2k to drive my prom date, and have longed for my own ever since. After driving an 01 tacoma which now has 231,000 miles on it, along with a ninja 250 mainly for commuting to school, I am ready for an s2000. I am concerned with mileage but I'm wondering just how concerned I should be. I'm looking for probably an 06 or 07, and I find many online with under or around 20k miles, but the price usually drops around $3,000 for one with 50-60k. Obviously it depends how well the previous owner maintained the car, not only the mileage, but I intend to keep the car for a very long time. Would it really be worth the money to get one with around 20k vs 50-60? And yes as a soon to be college grad money is obviously an issue.

Also, I am vehemently opposed to the addition of spoilers on the s2k. As in, if I bought one with a spoiler, I would need to remove it immediately. How intense and costly would it be to repair the damage done by adding a spoiler? Should I just avoid those that have spoilers all together?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

Mileage, especially on a Honda, is not as important as how well the previous owner maintained the vehicle. I would rather buy a car with 50k miles where the owner maintained the vehicle in pristine condition and has all the records, than one with 20k with no service records. That's usually why I prefer to buy from a personal seller as opposed to a dealership.

As far as spoilers go, removing one shouldn't be a big deal and any decent body shop could do it. Just keep in mind that the trunk lid will have to be resprayed, and there may be some issues with paint matching. It may be easier to find someone that is selling a trunk lid without the spoiler in your color.

 

Awesome you'll be getting into the S2000 scene.

I picked up my '04 with 50K on the clock. It's been flawless since, runs as smooth as ever. I expect it to go a very long time too. I'd say that there probably isn't a ton of difference between a 20,000 and 50,000 car operationally as long as both have been taken care of well (other than more miles = more wear). You would see a difference in resale value though - If you put 20K miles on a 50K car, you've got a 70K car (kind of seen as high mileage), whereas if you put that same 20K on a 20K car, you've still got a low mileage 40K car. All depends on whether you see it worth the extra $$ or not. I also intend to keep my car for a long time, so I went with the 50,000 mile option at a great deal. I'd recommend getting a compression and leakdown test done to evaluate the condition of the engine - mine had perfect #'s, and that iced the cake for me.

Most spoilers are attached by drilling 4 holes in the trunk. Removal would require unbolting the spoiler, then having the holes patched and painted. I'm not sure how much a body shop would charge for that, maybe someone else can chime in there. Some people I know have swapped trunk lids for one without spoiler holes, but if having all VIN tags is important to you (which it should be), you'd probably want to keep the trunk with the spoiler even if you purchased another trunk lid.

Welcome to the forum.
Hope this helps!

 

people use these cars past 300k miles with simple maintenance. I would look at the condition of the vehicle rather than actual mileage. congrats on graduation!

 

If you think you might want to sell the car after a few years, than lower mileage could mean something. As others stated above, you add 70K to a 20K car, you're still under 100K miles. Good for resale. You start with 60K, and add 70K, not as good for resale.

But if you are going to keep it a real long time, none of that matters at all. Just get one well cared for, as was mentioned. Miles on these cars does not = huge, snowballing maintenance costs (like on a German car, ask me about my 210K mile Audi A6 Turbo). Which was a major factor in me wanting S2K.

I just bought an '06, 75K miles. Its great, except for a few silly things done by a PO, that I didn't find on purchase inspection (my fault). The CAT was a weled in generic unit that went shortly after purchase. Had to source a whole OEM exhaust, CAT & CAT back. cost=$200. labor=free (me). Also they messed up some interior parts when putting in a new clutch. They didn't know how to remove console, so they hacked up the plastic surround for the shifter boot. Makes me scared to think what else they messed up doing the clutch. But it runs great, drives great. These are great, durable (if not abused) cars. Easy to work on too.

I was looking for 100% stock. Lowered suspension can be hard on ball joints, etc, and likely means car was driven hard. Engine mods lower value for same reason. So in addition to spoilers (I don't mind a a lip spoiler, but would run away from a Fast n' Furious lookin' wing), you should be cautious of cars with mods.

There aren't that many of these around, especially the newer ones you are looking for (Honda sold less and less of the newer ones). So you will need to be patient. Don't settle for one you don't like just because you aren't finding a good one. Be prepared to travel to find the right one. Be patient, and when the right one comes along, DO NOT HESITATE. Be ready with the cash and jump on it.

 

You'll be fine. When it comes to Honda, I like to buy them with higher miles. Mine has 200k+ and has NEVER failed on me.

Just get it inspected by a mechanic you can trust and you'll be fine looking for a higher mileage one

 

You like to buy them with higher miles?

 

I bought my 06 with 86k on the clock and it now has 97k less than four months later. I know I'm going to put a ton of miles on the car so I'd rather not pay a premium for a low mileage car that I'm just going to depreciate the crap out of.

 

You answered yourself. Don't overlook the prior threads on mileage on used S2000's. It's an extremely common question.

Worth is highly subjective on any topic. Only you can answer that. 50-60K is nothing for the S. Again, miles are just miles. You need to consider the entire picture. How the car was cared for and maintained matters more -- same as any car.

If that's the case then have you considered total cost of ownership? Make sure you price out insurance, maintenance, etc. You're going to go through tires much more often, need alignments more often (depending on roads in your area), etc. Make sure you're pricing out everything if money is tight.

Your call. Depending on the spoiler you may need to fill mounting holes. As stated above, color matching may be difficult especially on certain colors.