Hi there,

Have just spent a good 15 minutes skimming though this forum, and its nice to see such an excellent looking community.. but I have a few questions i'd like answering and wondered if some of you would be able to help out. I have posted this in the UK forum, only really so I can get some opinions from UK members only (prices, dealership info, etc..)

Unfortunately, its not actually me looking to buy an S2000 (At 22 years old, I have a hard enough time running a VW Corrado 16v!), but a good friend of mine... he has been talking about getting one for some time now, so I volunteered to try and get some useful information. He has been driving a diesel for the past few years, and now his no claims discount is up to par he is seriously considering an S2000.

So firstly.. how reliable is the S2000? The Honda badge speaks volumes when it comes to reliability, but is the S2000 up to the job? Provided its serviced on time, and run properly, it shouldn't give the owner any enormous bills apart from the usual 'consumables' such as tyres and so on?

Secondly.. whats the fuel economy like? I assume the S2000 only starts to guzzle fuel once you start to take it 6000RPM and upwards? Or is it a generally thirsty motor?

Thirdly.. what are dealer experiences like? As an owner of a quite uncommon 8 year old Volkswagen, the VW dealer network has a terrible reputation for over priced parts and terrible service when it comes to the Corrado - how do Honda do with the S2000?

Lastly... are there any tell tale problems to look for, or any well known big problems to check for when out looking at S2000s? Or should a full dealer service history be more than enough backup?

I am sure a lot of these have come up before, but this forum is so vast I think it would take me a few hours to find any information

Many thanks!

 

Hi


The S is fairly cheap to run & maintain. A service is 200 - 250 ish I think. My advice would be to look for a S still within manufacturers warranty. A number of owners have had clutches & alloys replaced under warranty. Honda dealerships vary in quality. Tyres are fairly expensive

 

and welcome I will try and answer some of your questions.

QUOTE]Originally posted by Chicane-UK
So firstly.. how reliable is the S2000? The Honda badge speaks volumes when it comes to reliability, but is the S2000 up to the job? Provided its serviced on time, and run properly, it shouldn't give the owner any enormous bills apart from the usual 'consumables' such as tyres and so on? [/QUOTE]
I think most people find them very reliable. I have never had a problem but then I don't use the car every day. I have had the car serviced twice at a cost of just over

 

I've only had my car since december, so as far as reliability is concerned, I don't really know but I've had two other Hondas and had no trouble at all, I see no reason why this one should be any different. Fuel consumption, yes it's fairly thirsty if you give it some but on a recent long run, I returned 33 m.p.g. The thing is that it is not only a great car to drive, it is also beautiful to look at and it is not common. These are just my feelings, no doubt you will get more advice from people who have had ownership a lot longer than me, and are a lot wiser in the ways of the S2k. Tell your mate he'll really regret it if he never experiences VTEC, 'cause it is then

 

Thanks very much for the quick answers..

Yeah, the S2000 is superb to look at.. and again its a nice sight as they are quite uncommon on UK roads (one of the reasons I like my Corrado so much).

Keep the replies coming though.. want to try and build up a broad bunch of answers to hand over to my mate

 

S2000s and Hondas in general tend to be very reliable. Plus it feels very well built and the warranty appears to be excellent.

Fuel economy depends entirely on driving - last autumn when I was using it as a daily driver, I was getting around 200 miles on 40 litres. This winter, when I've only been driving it at weekends when the road has been grippy, it's been needing nearer 43 litres at 200 miles. The engine is very efficient for the power output, but honestly you shouldn't be thinking about fuel economy with this type of car.

Haven't had mine serviced yet. Trident at Weybridge were very helpful when I bought the car but preparation and follow up were very poor.

I've had no problems yet with my 02 model - I believe pre-02 models have had problems with corroding alloys, rattly clutches etc but all should have been fixed under warranty.

The big point to remember is not much comes close to

 

Welcome to the board - my thoughts on your queries...

Reliability-wise, I've only had the car a couple months but use it everyday in city driving. No problems whatsoever so far. It's a Honda so I'm not expecting it to misbehave.

Fuel economy? My engine is barely run-in at around 1100 miles but I'm getting around 20 mpg due mainly to the aforementioned city driving but not helped by large doses of VTEC administered liberally I believe others have got somewhere near the claimed combined 28 mpg figure with judicious use of the right foot, but probably not for long. Believe me, when your mate gets an S the last thing he'll be thinking about is fuel economy...

Ultimately I can't say for dealer experiences as I bought my car from an importer. However, before I decided to go the imported route I did place and cancel an order with a Honda dealer. Pulling out my own teeth would have been more fun. Honda dealers, in my experience, are generally well-meaning but useless. They have an ordering system where the dealers don't know what stage your car is at in the build and delivery process until three days before they are delivered. For a

 

Hate to keep pluggin my own work (honest ) but there's a full buying guide in the next issue of the Honda Revolitions magazine. (http://www.hondarevolutions.com).

There's also an article coming up in the "User Car Buyer" mag, which has had a helping hand from Honda-R.

-Brian.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by BigTed
[B] Honda dealers, in my experience, are generally well-meaning but useless. They have an ordering system where the dealers don't know what stage your car is at in the build and delivery process until three days before they are delivered. For a

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Lou.2k
[B]

As for buying in the EU I think that route is no longer viable. The pound has weakened against the euro that even at a good rate you're looking at around