Advice for a want to be owner
 

Hello,

I am a 22 year old looking for advice and words of wisdom in my quest to be an owner.

I have recently viewed and test driven a couple of S2000s, although I am cautious to purchase - what should I be looking out for when I am viewing the car and what future unforeseen costs/ issues am I likely to come up against.

I welcome any thoughts or advice you may be able to give me, in my pursuit of joining the club.

Thanks!

Ensure you can get insurance (no TC and early cars are snappy)

Look out for rust

Get a car with a strong engine

But genuine, not a car which was already lived well, they can be expensive. A good F20C is 4k

Rusty arches £2k and will return

Buy cheap, buy twice

There are entire checklists and sections of this forum on what to look for when buying a S2000. Take a couple weeks and review them. Posting a question like this and expecting us to spoon feed you doesn't work well for anyone especially since all the answers are already posted. Some for 20+ years. :)

If you have a specific question regarding a specific car give us more information than you think we need.

-- Chuck

I've had mine since new since 2002... Soft top cars suffer from corrosion more than hard top cars. The S2000 softtop has a design flaw in that there is a ditch/well at the rear bottom. Water will sit there when it rains heavily and will seep through the hood fabric. It will drip in to the boot as it has nowhere else to go, causing the dreaded rear arch corrosion. Ask to have the boot liner removed and check for rust at the bottom. Walk away if there is.

Apart from that, these are well built cars. On mine I am on the third soft top. Obviously tyres, brakes, calipers, discs won't last forever on any car. I did have to replace one of the thingies that sits on top of the sparkplug last year. And two rear drop links. That'ts it - 100,000 miles and 24 years later.
The VTEC does consume engine oil when used, so do check the engine oil level. Many S2000s now have seized alignment bolts - won't matter if the car doesn't noeed alignment.

Hi mate

It helps being handy with the spanners, but for the most part and echoing what others have said, they are straight forward analogue things.
If you require work done on the car, some garages will decline and suggest "specialist only'. It's not that complex, in fact it's a bloody easy thing to work on.
Have a look on YT at LHT Performance too, they perform lots of services they film, neat tricks and upgrades that won't break the bank. Also, DIY guys on YT are helpful at repairing stuff. They are reliable things generally.

If you are nearby, I don't mind assisting you if you are North West based. I've had 4 of them, so know them very well (had early and later versions).

Rust, a lot of cars will have it even those that look immaculate on the surface so its very important you know what to look for. If you don`t you should really get someone to inspect it for you who knows them.
Suspension geometry bolts seize up and rubber bushes wear so if its never seen attention then it will need some. Not an easy cheap job unfortunately and very few cars will have had the work done.
Make sure it has good service history, the engines don`t like to be neglected.