cgarrett23

This is so true. I almost put mine into a guard rail ON THE TEST DRIVE with the owner in the seat next to me. I had driven them before too. After that, I had mad respect for the car and am really careful how I drive it. It was damp out (fresh rain in August when it hadn't rained in a while) but still...

Car Analogy

I ran out of patience to read all 6 pages of thread. Apologies if my advice is redundant or if the thread has already diverged from actual buying advice.

My advice, buy condition, not miles. When buying a reliable, Japanese car, on a budget, I find it helps to look for well maintained cars with HIGHER miles. That keeps the price low. You can get a great car in great condition.

Its kinda silly to buy a low mile car to use as a dd. You are just going to rack up miles and and quickly reduce its value.

I use mine as a 3 season dd. I find it plenty large enough. Even make Costco runs on the way home from work.

In areas that snow, it makes sense to have a winter car. It would be really dumb to buy a low mile car, only to rack up miles dd AND using it in winter.

IA-SteveB

I agree. Buying a higher mileage, well maintained car is the way to go if you want to keep driving it guilt free. The previous owner has already depreciated it for you so it is now affordable.

Jub

^^This. I sold my 03 AP1 with 112k miles on it last year for 11k. It was in great shape, no accidents, all original. I had done all the sorting on that car, swapped to AP2 retainers, billman TCT, ALL maintenance. It was ready to go and I'd say a great buy for whoever picked it up. I bought an 06 LBP AP2 with 88kish for 12k. It was not quite the condition I'd like but it can be cleaned up pretty easily. It was owned by an older gentleman who seemed to care about it but not know how to really care for it. He also likely didn't drive it very hard. I took a risk and it worked out pretty well. Car didn't really need anything except to seal up a crappy top replacement and some detailing. I'm in it close to your 13-14k number when all said and done which is pretty sweet for an 06+ in good condition and a desirable color. Both the car I sold and the one I bought were good deals IMO for different reasons. If I'm being honest, my AP1 was still in better condition than my AP2 but I autocross the car and think the 06+ is a better platform for my longer term purposes (mods). That's really just to demonstrate what type of S2k you could get in your price range with some patience. I found the sweet spot on both of my purchases to be stock, good condition, private sale, 70-90k miles. I think you should plan about the same, to pay 12k and use the rest for taxes and anything that comes up with a new purchase. I advise checking your trunk under the interior for moisture based on both of my cars.

I learned in previous car purchases to buy for condition above all else. Best advice you could get as explained above. Weed out the colors that you absolutely wouldn't do and buy the best condition car you can afford regardless. Year and sub-gen of s2k also have a place in your considerations but prioritize what you want.

lane_viper

B serious, are you serious?

My Z06 gets 22MPG in mixed driving and has ever since I bought it. Base models get better than that! On a road trip/highway cruising C5's can get over 30MPG. This is coming from an authentic owner. Obviously if you are doing the 0-60 times in the 4-5 sec range, and launch it every time, or drive it around in without ever shifting past 4th, you might (and I say might) hit the 10-15MPG you claim here. Any car you do this to won't last very long, no matter what it is, though.

The Z06 is on par if not better than the S2k in MPG. Base C5's would beat the S2k in MPG.

Sorry this is just false.

B serious

Do you live near even like...1 stop sign?

And 30MPG on the highway as long as you maintain a steady 65-70mph cruise with 4 dead cylinders. 22mpg mixed? Ehhh...that's a pretty highway-heavy mix, bruv.

The Z06 is an excellent car overall. But it still has a V8. Driving in populated subrurban areas in a normal fashion will REALISTICALLY net a pretty low MPG. In the mid/low teens. No clue where OP lives, though. Maybe out in the sticks.

The S2000 isn't really a MPG queen either, I'll admit. I get like 23-24 around the burbs and up to 31 on the highway. 18-20 in the actual city isn't far fetched for the S2000.

lane_viper

Lots of stop lights where I live, not very many stop signs. C5's don't have cylinder deactivation either. I think that was only put in recently in the c7.

VashTheStampede

I can vouch for this. My Z06 would get better mileage than my S2000 does. It's slight, but the big old V8 has a 6th gear that's 0.56:1. lol Fifth is also overdriven. The S2000 is intentionally high-strung, and the Z06's V8 doesn't exactly have to work very hard at all. I think with the Z06, driving the same roads and ways that I drive the S2000, I would get about 25ish MPG... the S2000 will get around 23.

B serious

S2000 gearing is pretty much exactly correct for a production car with that set of characteristics.

Highway MPG has never been below 28, using between 80-90mph cruise.

Y'all maybe right on the Z06, though. Both friends that owned one claimed to get quite bad MPG around town, and it seemed to make sense. But both those people were not very good at most things.

While we discuss LS based daily drivers....why not throw in the GTO or Caprice (SS)?

lane_viper

Hell, why not a GTO? Not my cup of tea, but I've heard the interiors are nicer than C5's, and there is a back seat, although not very practical.

The LS engine platform has proven to be pretty bulletproof just like the F20 and F22.

If OP loves the S2k, why not. I love my AP1, and would probably sell the Vette before the S2k if in a pinch. You can't go wrong with either choice in my book. I'm just lucky that I have a wife that puts up with me having both, plus the dream car.