Ok I've been driving for 8 months now, dunno why but I went mad for the golf for whatever reason and now I'm not so keen on it. It's slower than a vauxhall corsa on lauch and is a great practical car but not much fun. Also I don't ever carry passengers, about 20% of the time I carry one passenger, but the rest of the time I'm driving alone.

So I'm going to research the s2000 like mad here and ask a lot of questions, hopefully I won't be too annoying and actually read the archives first. I made this mistake when buying the golf, I didn't ask enough questions and bought a car which felt amazing due to my inexperience driving but within 2 weeks I was bored.

Some questions to start off with:

1) there are some s2's doing more than 100K, 2002 build and cost around £4000, are these bad buys or can they be driven without too much hassle?

2) does the s2000 have decent stereo compatibility? does that go all go out the window due to the engine noise, or can you enjoy music once on a while.

3) what's the minimum upkeep spend on an older sk? Do they need looking after? after how much mileage do they start to become "botehrsome" with regards to maintenance.

4) is it a decent daily driver?

 

reply would be appreciated.

 

Welcome! Sorry for the lack of replies.
1) IDK. Maybe someone from the UK can chime in on that one. Generally though, it depends on how the car was maintained. AP1s (pre-2004 models) tend to consume a lot of oil and can develop problems due to oil starvation if neglected. If it was ever over-revved and the valve spring retainers weren't upgraded, it could be a ticking time bomb.
2) The stock stereo pretty much sucks. They're fairly easy and affordable to upgrade though. Lots of options as far as compatibility.
3) Again, it depends on how the car was maintained. It also depends on how you drive it, e.g. if you force the car to slide around every turn, expect to replace tires frequently.
4) Lots of people daily the S. I chose not to and have never regretted it.

What to look for when buying a used S2000

Hope that helps!

BTW, we do have a UK section.

 

Definitely drive one if you haven't already, I've always known I wanted this car even though I didn't drive one until 2 or 3 years ago. For me too I don't need more seating and I was tired of driving band gear around. One comparison I can make between the S2000 & the Golf is the solid feel. Everything feels just right like the engineers tweaked until they were happy.

1) Mileage is important but history even more so. The car will run a long time with proper care. First thing to check for is accident damage. Definitely take in everything from the what to look for when buying thread.

2) The stereo isn't bad like I expected. Mine is on 05 so it has a bit more wattage (40w) the radio sucks for sound quality but mine came with an aftermarket ipod -> cd changer cable which sounds really quite decent with a fair bit of bass. At highway speeds or high revs no it doesn't keep up but regular cruising in traffic I'm perfectly happy with it. I haven't checked that the speakers are stock but it's an ex-lease car so I imagine they are. I've got some older Polk Audio Momo MM6 separates I might install (probably the same vintage as the car) but then I might be forced to upgrade the deck as well which I will only do if I can maintain the audio controls.

3) I can't answer this since I'm a new owner but I do know being a performance car expect to change the fluids more regularly or at least you will want to. Coming from a Nissan pickup truck I know I'll have to be less lazy with this sort of thing not only because it's high performance but also I'm going to be driving it like it is high performance. Also to go along with this not only might you wear out the tires quicker but you don't want them to be too worn because it's much more dangerous.

4) I bought mine as a DD it's half a preference thing and half a weather thing. Some people simply cannot drive the S year round due to weather. I'm from a part of Canada that sees very very little snow and when it does snow a lot it's usually only bad for a couple days where I can either decide not to go in to work or make other arrangements. I have yet to drive in our usually very wet winter and I imagine it's not going THAT pleasant but in these parts there are a number of S DD's and the weather in the UK is quite similar. Some people just don't want to drive the S every day or don't find it comfortable enough for that, this you have to figure out on your own. I'm really good at getting use to something, shutting up, and enjoying the good =)

 

Thanks for the replies. I'll have to do a bit more research on this, I'll also get a test drive. Roadster seems perfect in theory. But I'll have to drive one to get a feel of how practical it is to be so low on the road for day tp day driving. Also the weather thing is an issue. Doesn't the s2k come with a hard top? Does the hard top make much difference. I'd like to just stick a hard top on all winter and then replace it with the soft top for summer.

 

Some come with a hard top. There are different styles of hard tops too, OEM and various aftermarket brands and styles. With most hard tops, you simply put the soft top down and secure the hard top over it. In other words, most hard tops don't require that you uninstall the soft top in order to install the hard top.

 

Thanks. I read into this a bit more. the initial outlay financially isn't too hard. It only costs a few hundred pounds more to insure compare to my 1.6 which has 100hp!! Which is surprising and s2000 can be had for around £4000 for the high mileage ones. So the cost is not that much. But judging from the responses it seems that maintenance can be high and people are spending money on their s2k constantly. So I may end up paying £10K with all the little issues that may come up on a high mileage s2k. So I'm going to hold out until I have plenty of money.

In the mean time. I got myself a pocket s2k.

 

i dont know where your getting that maintaince is high on an S2000. So long as the car your buying has been well maintained then it should be as reliable as a honda civic. Your looking at fluids and filters and thats it. There should not be any major problems so long as the car hasnt been overrevved.

The only big factor is tires. They do wear out faster than your standard passenger car. But thats part of the price you pay for a car thats a blast to drive.

 

True, but that's the point isn't it? Which s2k hasn't been over-reved like mad? Especially ones which go for £4000 have passed through 2-3 owners and have 89K mileage.

 

overrevved, as in mechanically forced reved past 9k...theres plenty, my S just turned over 100k miles and my retainers are perfect...why? because im the second owner and know for a fact my car hadnt seen over 6 grand from the previous owner...it was fun to watch his reaction when i first poped VTEC on the test drive...the poor guy had never experienced it ( he was an older indian fellow who was a doctor so i assume he just drove it to drive it)