My mother has had her 2001 s2000 for what seems like forever. Shes a little older and as a result never drove the car hard. In fact i dont think she ever went WOT or past 5-6k rpm. She drove the car across a 30 mile highway back and forth every day at 62mph for years.

Well shes decided after buying a 2012 civic that she is giving me the car. He is the deal.

the car has 24x,xxx miles on it. Like I said, aside from me occasionally beating on it, its lived a rather timid life.

the car is 100% stock

it has a check engine light for a cylinder issue. I dont have the car so I cant tell the code yet. She has been running it on midgrade gas this whole time because she thought it got the best mileage despite my request for her to run 91 or better.

the car has had a lot of things replaced like some steering stuff, and the clutch.

the honda dealership says it needs 4 new struts and springs, tho the car handles how I remember it, stiff.

What should I be looking for in maintenance?

I dont plan to DD this car once I have it, more a weekend mountain road car. So i do want to be able to beat on it without worrying.

I see people make 7-800whp on stock motors, will this motor last forever with regular maintenance?

I have seen several coilover setups online for 6-700$. are these a worthwhile investment if the car really does need 4 new shocks and possibly springs?

tell me what to look for in a high mileage AP1...
yes I have done research, and no im not new to cars, just new to s2000 thing.

I had planned on a simple intake, catback upgrade and maybe a drop and new rims. nothing crazy. should I plan on rebuilding this high mile motor?

 

Ok, there is a lot going on here.

If first figure out the check engine light. Could be a number of things.

Also does she maintain it? Flush fluids, spark plugs brake fluid/pads ect. If the car has 240,000+ on the stock shocks, they are probably done. A lower mileage OEM set could be had for just a couple hundred.

Also look at the tires and other wear items.

If your neurotic get a compression test to see where your at. If a cylinder is low trouble shoot from there.

 

the car is 1900 miles away currently. having said that, it wears tires evenly, doesnt pull any direction very hard (more then a normal car on a slanted road). the struts are factory tho.

the check engine light is on, but the car still pulls relatively hard. like, if i didnt tell you it had 240k miles on it, you probably wouldnt know.

she didnt change the fluids by the book, but my father maintained the car, and she always kept it running correctly with adequate fluids. Ill do a flush and replacement on all before i drive it cross country.

 

My 01 has 256k on it and still runs like a champ. First thing I would do is find out wwhat the code is, especially before driving the hell out of it. Could be a simple fix, or a disaster waiting to happen. Like ddess said, maybe just check the compression and see where the motor stands. If it's all good, then you only need to start checking all the normal wear and tear items.