My 2004 S2000 is #0097. Does that number truely indicate that it was one of the first off the assembly line and if so will mine be more prone to some of the teething pains associated to something new. I figure if it really is #97 most of the units before it would be press cars for the likes of Car and Driver editors.

What is a good product to use to get some gunk off the dash with out damaging it. It looks like a dried goop spot from when the dealer put that touch of class on the inside of the car. I tried a sticker removing spray and it smudged it and then I started to worry that it could damage the dash. What would you guys recommend?

The last questions are this:

1) can a califirnia duster scratch or damage the dash or leather seats?

2) is a california duster safe to use on the outside of the car without scratching it

3) is using one of the Turtle Wax artificial shammys or an Absorber safe to dry the car with?

My car is Berlina Black and I am parinoid about damaging the finish.

Thanks,

Mike

 

i use the california duster before i wipe down the car... and so far it hasnt damaged any of the finish..i also use the absorber to get what the water blade doesnt wipe off.. i went to griots garage and ordered a whole bunch of those yellowwhite cloths they have to wipe the car down
http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog.jsp?SK...SKUupsell=11001
other then that i use zaino to washwax.. my berlina looks like a black mirror right now =P... good luck with the black and i hope this can help you out

 

oh sorry about that.. i have no idea about the vin number thing... one of the more experienced users can probably answer your question for you

 

Well, I would say for the VIN that the earlier models are test cars, and you got one of the first MY04's available for sale. If Honda wasnt sure about the car, they may have fixed the bugs before selling them to the public, but then if they didnt, they would recall them at a later date. If the recall isnt listed yet, that just means the problem hasnt been caught yet.

As for the Cali dusters, I have the outside and teh interior ones. I have used them on all my cars. I had a 00 Black (brand new) Celica GT-S. I only used on it the Duster and when I did wash it, I used the shammy. I never used the water blade since I heard any bit of dirt particles on it would scratch it. 1 yr later when it was totaled, the insurance agent gave me $1000 more then I paid since it was in pristine condition...no swirls or anything

 

You can use rubbing alcohol or mineral spirits on the dash - get it anywhere.

Of course you can use the Ca Duster - it is far less abrasive than your clothing.

My dealer told me that Vin#29 was my car - when it arrived, it turned out to be unsellable, with $0 on the sticker - it was an AHM "mule" en route to one of the tech training centers for Honda - so Low VIN may not be a good thing.

My actual car is going to be somewhere in the 1500-1700 range - I figure they would have all the assy quirks worked out by then.

 

What kind of problems could come up having such a low VIN , now I'm getting paranoid

The only thing I thought was that mine is not the 97th built but #97 built for US market. I would imagine that they have built others before mine to ship to other countries although the engine in the US model is different everything else is shared amoung all other countries.

The other thing I thought, to put a positive spin on it, was that maybe the quality is better than usual for the first few built especially if some will be press cars, they would want to make a good impression. I know with a lot of items that the first to be built are really good and then they slack later on I really can't imagine too many problems any way since this is not the first year that the S2000 is being built, by now they should have it down to a science, I hope. My 2001 S2000 was #9816 one of the last built and it still had all of the same problems that the earlier S had. Go figure.

Anyway I guess I should be happy to have such a low VIN and stop worrying about it.


Mike

 

personally i would not use the duster on the outside. if there's dust on the car a good wash is the best. moving the dirt, dust particles around is not good for the paint. that's how you get swirl marks and fine scartches.

 

Mike,

This doesn't particularly help, but I picked up my 04 on Wed and it is #499. Location: Hawaii.

Good luck,

Mark

 

Since Honda has been making cars for so long i wouldn't worry about it at all, i think they have it down by now And there is no way legally possible honda could sell a test car to someone, we're talkin HUGE LAWSUIT. Even if you think you have one of the first cars out, they have been tested for quite some time before they actually mass produce a vehicle...so think about it, if there was a bug they most likely would have caught it cause otherwise it could end up costing $millions$ for them to recall a car. So if honda puts the car on the market, since they are known to be very reliable, and dependable, i would sit back and relax and just enjoy my new car!

 

I am #460 and I