Hfreak

I totally agree and if power is needed, it is available. It really comes down to the purpose of the car, if you want something that you can be very confident on backroads and on the track(to a certain extent) carrying speed and connected to the car then there are not many cars that will satisfy this under a certain price point. A GT500 is fast but also built as a muscle car and not a 50/50 balanced lightweight X-bone framed work of art with a spectacular engine that has a 9K redline or less if the AP2 is chosen.

NDAZONE

"... under appreciated for sure when it was manufactured." O.P.

I agree in 2007 - 2009 the S2000 had become old news. However, this wasn't always true. This is my experience from owning the car over the years.

From 1999 - 2000 the S2000 was generally unknown by the public (not car aficionados) and was assumed to be a convertible Civic or the new Del Sol. People assumed they were slow (in 2000 they were fairly quick) and front wheel driven. However, buyers paid a few thousand on top of MSRP to buy them. In California, I remember hearing of one selling in $50k area.
In 2001 they started to become a known and respected car (The Fast and The Furious helped) and by 2002, with the help of the new rear window, they became very popular.
By 2004 they were still a hot car. Honda released the newly updated look.
In 2006, the current owners bashed the more civilized drive-by-wire throttle. Remember, this was before all the aftermarket engine management systems were common.
By 2007, most people who had to have an S2000, had one. They had been around for a while and nothing too exciting really changed over the years. Performance numbers were advertised and shown to be pretty much identical.

The best thing to happen for our community was Honda discontinuing the S2000. So yes, in the last few years Honda had them sitting on their showroom floors collecting dust, but it certainly wasn't always that way.

silverstone_f22

I think the S2000 is a very special car, to me and *most* owners. And I think like you say the prices reflect that. There is no other Honda that is like it, and I actually think it is perfect that they made it one way, with no options and no compromises, and sold it until it didn't sell anymore. They made slight and necessary revisions over the years, but nothing major. It was still essentially the same car. There are also a lot of unsuspecting people who ask me about them who love them and somewhat realize how special they are as well. It's definitely something I'm very happy to be able to own and experience.

PenguinS2000

Good luck with your search! I've been wanting a S2000 since I was 14 and finally pulled the trigger two summers ago. You won't regret it

Carnut12

WOW!!!! I am very fortunate, I actually had 3 incredible cars to choose from, it came down to 2 one owner babied S2000's. I nearly bought the Laguna Blue for sale on here from Bob (shades), what a car!!! Anyone looking needs to look at his car. In the end it came down to the Hardtop and the Classic Silver w/Red color combo that I absolutely LOVE!!!! It drove like it just came off the showroom floor. I can't believe how easy the Hardtop goes on and off. The prior owner had the HT on 99% of the time, the soft top underneath is brand new.

I look forward to learning a lot from this forum, I don't pick it up until next week, cannot wait!!!

Thank you Mike (2001e46) for taking care of this car, I will continue to do so for many years!!!

Cheers!!!!Attached Thumbnails

vortamock

Congratulations on the purchase! It looks like you got a really nice example.

rpg51

Carnut12 - gorgeous. What year? Miles? The driver's seat looks immaculate which is a very good sign in my book. Rare to find a driver's seat in perfect shape like that.

HwangTKD

Whistle!!!! The red really makes the interior pop. The hardtop would have been a deal breaker for me as well. Has all of the mainentance been done? Valve adjustment and fluids?

Carnut12

It is a 2005 with 22K miles, maintenance records were good, but all done by the owner. Im going to get all new fluids done, I guess I should get the valves done too???

The interior including the drivers seat doesn't even look like it has been sat in.

I am thinking about Enkei SBC RPF1's just to make it different. I don't plan any significant mods, it looks perfect the way it is.

rpg51

If it were me I would resist the temptation to make changes until you have owned it for a while. Its hard, I know. But, you will understand the car a lot better at the end of this summer and you will refine your thoughts over that time. I got mine last year, (ap1 8.5K miles at purchase). I have gradually come around to thinking that with a couple of minor exceptions the car is at its best 100% stock. This is certainly true for resale, but also just for personal use. What did I change that I am still happy with? Heavy round titanium short shift knob from Rick's (http://www.ricks2k.com/products/shiftknob.php), upgrade wheels and tires to 17", clear side markers, Alpine bluetooth compatible head unit, modifry cup holder (http://www.modifry.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=57_82), proclip iphone holder, full length floor mats. All of these little changes actually make a difference in my enjoyment of the car and all of these changes can be reversed 100% back to stock in no time with zero molestation of the car. I am resisting the temptation to do what many others do - intake and exhaust - and I think I will continue to resist that.

My recommendation is that unless you are doing all your own work, focus on finding a local mechanic who enjoys a good reputation working on sports cars and in particular the s2k. I would probably have the valves adjusted and change all the fluids with high quality stuff, (coolant, brake and clutch fluid, crankcase, transmission and differential). Examine tires - how old are they? Are they good tires or not? Maybe make a change depending on what you find. Then just drive the heck out of it for a summer and reassess. Check the oil level frequently at the beginning so you get a sense how much oil it uses. Adopt the philosophy of the old new england yankee - if it ain't broke don't fix it.

You are in for a great summer. You are going to LOVE this car. If you ever come up to Vermont let me know and I can suggest some fun drives up in the Northeast Kingdom and elsewhere. Where are you in Mass? Up here I find that if I use my iphone tom tom app, and select a destination and "winding roads," I generally end up having a lot of fun. Lots of good driving to be done up this way. Not much traffic which is nice.

The only other thing I would mention is this - my opinion is that in New England this car is best thought of as a fair weather car. Best to put it to bed covered in a storage shed before the snow flies, and resist the temptation (which is pulling at me real hard right now) to wake it up and get it out of bed until all the salt has been washed off the road surfaces by a few good rains. Salt will do real damage and shorten its life. Plus, it is a terrible car for driving in show.

You have a gorgeous example of an s2k. Congratulations and welcome to the family. This is an excellent forum. Lots of help and support from some very knowledgeable folks in these pages.