Hey guys, I've owned my beautiful 00 s2000 since 2014. I've loved every second of it. Which leads me to my current dilemma. Should I sell her or keep her. I'm about to get out of the Air Force after 6yrs active. I'm currently in Idaho and will be moving to boise for Tool and Die schooling. Every winter I have had my buddies cars to drive since they were deployed. So she was never driven during the winter. But now that I'm getting out I need to figure out how to get through the horrendous winter here. So I've hit the point were I need to either sell her and get a good daily, or keep her and just get a beater car for the winter. Now it absolutely kills me to think about selling her but I don't want to be making a payment for her, my supersport, and a winter car. Money shouldn't be an issue due to me making pretty good money djing at the clubs here and me having the GI bill and so on with schooling being paid for along with rent. But there are those unknown factors that can kick in. Have any of you come across the same issue. My main idea is to just get a cheap EG hatch and use that and keep my baby and just store her for the winter. Or I could trade her in and get a new brz which I can drive year round. What are your thoughts on this. I have some friends saying to keep her, then others say to sell her so i'm more financially sound when I get out. But I don't want to be kicking myself down the road due to me selling it. The unknowns of civilian life is what's worrying me.

 

keep her and just get a beater car for the winter.
Levi

 

I second that...
BRZ is not going to be a very good car in the winter either
if there is any snow/ice involved.

 

Boise is high desert with little rain or snow. Temperatures can average in the low 20°F range in the winter so all season tires will be needed. I'm not a fan of daily driving the S2000 (or any roadster). Mine is a summer, occasional drive car. Hard to justify two cars in your 20s. May be time to let the S2000 go and pick up a decent all year car. There will still be S2000s when you're more established and want another.

-- Chuck

 

If you say money isn't a problem then why not just buy a truck or subaru for the winter and keep the s2000 and bike? I was also active duty in the air force for 6 years in chicopee, ma. So i kind of know your financial situation. I also had student loans. Bought my s2000 5th year in after selling my FD. Already had an impreza for the winter and also a sport bike. I then upgraded the impreza to a tacoma and just recently sold the tacoma and purchased a newer GMC sierra for my dd. Why not have all 3 if you can afford it?? They will be paid off eventually... The truck is the only thing left im paying on now...

 

My personal opinion - I had 2 winter beaters (one blew up, one I sold). They got me through the winter no problem! Might have to do a couple safety repairs but then you don't have to worry about another car payment. Overtime, I saved up enough money to buy an 07 Fit for a daily/winter beater. So I say just buy a beater or save enough money by winter to buy a somewhat decent car for 4-5k.

 

Yup, id do a beater for sure.

 

No one can tell you what to do with your finances. Only you can know if you can afford multiple vehicles and the insurance, repairs, maintenance and storage that come along with each vehicle.
If you can afford to keep it without scraping bottom each month then of course that is the best option, but given you are posting here asking for advise I'm going to assume it would be a stretch.

 

As a Boise resident I agree that if money is not a problem you should get a 4WD or at least a FWD with good snow tires, which works fine most years. Boise gets some snow, and ice a few times a year, and every year plenty of 2WD cars with all-season tires get stuck or smashed up.

I assume you spent last winter in Mountain Home and saw a lot of snow, but Boise got more. It was a worst-in-decades year and almost every day for a few weeks I pushed 2WD cars that were stuck. Many were high-centered on snow. Will next winter be similar? Who knows? The fact that Boise doesn't usually get a lot of snow is the problem--we only have enough plows to clear the main roads and they don't get to the neighborhoods at all, which is where all the cars were stuck.

Anyway, my S gets put away in November, and comes out on nice winter days which are very few. In the spring, the driving joy returns!

 

I daily and winter drive a 2004 TSX with 200K miles on it that's worth $2500 on a good day while the S2000 worth $14K sits in the garage for sunny drives and track days. I think you know what my vote is