Anatonic

Hey guys!

Thought I'd sign up and say hello as I'm after a little bit of advice... I currently drive an 07 Civic Type R GT (FN2) and I love my Honda to bits! A few months back I got the opportunity to test drive an S2000 and I instantly fell more in love with the peach of an engine Honda have produced and particularly the drive of the S2000 compared with my Civic.

To cut to the chase, I'm now looking at buying a first home and as such I want to remove my current financial obligations on my FN2 and swap to something else with no finance. If I'm being honest, my car is probably worth about £8k in a private sale with around £3k left outstanding on the finance. So this got me thinking... is £5k a little low to find a decent S2000 these days, or should I be looking at saving a little and going for something nearer £6-7k?

Ideally for me I'd love to swap into an S2000 as I'd then be free of finance, fully own the car and be able to use the additional money each month to put towards parts and servicing the S2K to ensure it s brought back to, or kept in, tip top condition. The MPG seems not that dissimilar from the FN2 anyway so that isn't an issue and the freedom from finance would put me in a better position mortgage wise too.

If anyone has bought any recent bargains around the figure I'm looking at, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts - did you buy a car that was then subsequently requiring a lot of expense to bring back up to scratch, or are there some genuinely good high-milers out there that should be given a chance? I'm pretty sure with correct servicing and TLC those engines will go to the moon and back! I'm just always scared that a high mileage is going to mean big expensive bills on the way (though I've seen more issues with cars like my partners Mini Cooper S which needed a reconditioned supercharger at a big cost...!)

Cheers - hope to be in an S2K soon!

Matt.

Kitesurfer s2000

Im glad you have seen the light .I know off a good one for £6000 a my00 When you have the cash come on here and ask us :-)

simundo777

If you look around £5k will get you a good one. Dont be too worried with high mileage, just be very thorough when checking the car over. If its been well maintained then the mileage isn't too much of an issue.

There are loads of posts about the common faults with them so just study them hard and you'll know what to look for.

Just go and view a few cars to get your in eye in, theres loads to choose from so spend the time finding the right car.

I've got got mine and saw 4 previously, you can soon tell when you spot the right car and i am so glad i didnt get carried away and by the first one i saw.

Good luck with the search

Floppy

I'd say look carefully and take your time to see a good few cars and you should find a good one for that price now. What do you mean by high mileage though as what some see as high are not to others. From what I read some of the engines will go strong until about 175k miles but others can let go around the 120k mark and upwards. Dixon at Dixon Motorsport knows of one that has done over 200k miles and is tracked quite often on weekends but it is because it is looked after with regular oil changes etc. then it has lasted so well.

My first S2000 was an MY04 with 15,800 miles on the clock. I racked that up to 68,000 miles in just under 3 years before selling up. After a short stint of stupidity I saw the light once more and bought an MY00 with 78,000 on the clock in mint condition. It now has almost 86k on it and the only mechanical issue I've had so far is the air pump that pre-heats the CAT is on its way out - the bearings are grinding. I paid higher than the £5k mark for mine but it did come with some nice mods on it already so I was willing to pay the extra as I would have added those modifications myself anyway.

Apart from the air pump it drives just as well (if not better) than the MY04 that I had. Make sure its been regularly serviced, preferably owned by an enthusiast and check the geo has been done recently and the bushes are not seized (costs about £1400 to put right with polybushes).

HTH

Anatonic

Thanks guys!

I'm just sat reading through the Tech FAQs and there is some superb info in there - more than any other Owners site / club I've seen!

High mileage to me would be over 100k but it wouldn't bother me if I was buying from an enthusiast with a folder of receipts and proven TLC for the car. Most of the ones I'm looking at are around the 60 - 80k mark and with no rush to be buying an S2K, I'll be taking my time to try and find the right car from the right owner. The bushes seems to be a common issue from what I read so I guess that's one thing to ask as I'd hate to get a car only to take it for a Geo setup and be told the bushes are seized!

At least an enthusiast will be aware or be able to answer that question for me, where I suspect some of the S2Ks out there will be owned by caring owners and could be a great buy) but who have never considered a Geo setup and as such, bushes may be well an truly seized on there... Though it's much easier going in with eyes wide open to it and armed with the info I can't say I wasn't told or prepared for it...

A silly question but when buying does anyone check for leaks with the roof? i.e. get the owner to pour water on there? Or am I being a bit too fussy? I can see there are areas that may need or have been re-enforced and some people suggest greasing the seals to keep everything tip top.

No mention of FSH and hard to see where it has come from but you see this is probably what I'm looking at - £5 - £5.5k for something with 70k on it:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...29hn?logcode=p

I would most likely buy privately however, so I can see the previous owner and get more thorough answers on it's service history. I've always been a bit wary of independent dealerships and the only time I've bought through them, I had a good friend who had the same car come and do the test drive to see how it compared with his own, as well as someone to look around with a much sharper eye.