S2000 ownership costs

[mat205125]

Everywhere that I have read, the S2000 has got a reputation for being a bullet proof and entertaining sports car.

Are there any things that I need to look out for when viewing one? Expensive service internals when the chain gets done? Common faults?

I heard a rumour that the percentage of cars with repaired accident damage is very high on the earlier cars (that I would be limited to due to budget) due to them being "a little twitchy".

I'd be doing about 20k a year in it if that matters.

Ownership experiences and opinions much appreicated.

[scoobiewrx]

Yep....the bigget fault with this car is that it runs on petrol. Apart from that i haven't heard much

[Mattmeister]

mine was no problem, did have an electric window pack up and an alarm/immobliser fault but thats all in 2 years ownership of a 2002 model. Servicing pretty cheap too -£150 ish.

If you want to get ALL the info try

www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showforum=25

very helpful chaps on there.

(I think early cars have had some probs with suspension bushes or something but the above site will have all the info youll ever need!)

[MrFlibbles]

I've had mine for less than a week, so cant really comment on ownership costs, but I love mine - its an excellent handling car (mines a facelift, cant comment on the early ones) and quick enough.

Seems to be a bit heavy on fuel and I reckon you'd have to be pretty hardcore to do 20k a year in one.

[douglasr]

Have a look at my profile. Cheap as chips for what it is apart from insurance.

[Famous Graham]

Quick overview of my expenditure on my 73k 03:

A tank (50litres) generally runs to 250 miles on average (depending on how you drive it - I've got 300 from a motoroway run).

Mine will take a litre of oil every thousand miles or so, but that does vary with the age of the vehicle.

Just had the 72k mile service - 220 quid. 54k was a biggie at around 380. 63k £120 or so. (9000, 18000 and 27000 mile service intervals, ie 27ks most expensive, 18ks less so, 9ks cheapest) Most dealers will be happy for you to provide own consumables (oils/fluids/sparks etc) should you wish to, which can drop the price a fair bit.

Pre-04 cars have Bridgestone S02s as OEM which generally work out about £100 each for the rears and £85 for the fronts. Ish. I tend to get 7k out of a set of rears, 10k out of the fronts. (There's a possibility they have been discontinued though- still trying to get a definitive answer on that one).

[mat205125]

douglasr said:

Have a look at my profile. Cheap as chips for what it is apart from insurance.

Thanks for that. That was the kind of ball park that I was expecting. Haven't got an insurance quote, but I'm sure it'll be fine.

Do the S2000's have the indicator stalk on the right hand side of the column like many jap cars? As a 99% euro driver I find this a little distracting, however get used to it quickly enough.

[MrFlibbles]

mat205125 said:

douglasr said:

Have a look at my profile. Cheap as chips for what it is apart from insurance.

Thanks for that. That was the kind of ball park that I was expecting. Haven't got an insurance quote, but I'm sure it'll be fine.

Do the S2000's have the indicator stalk on the right hand side of the column like many jap cars? As a 99% euro driver I find this a little distracting, however get used to it quickly enough.

Indicators on the left.

[Lurking Lawyer]

Mattmeister said:

(I think early cars have had some probs with suspension bushes or something but the above site will have all the info youll ever need!)

Not just early cars - there have been cars no more than a couple of years old that have had problems with seized suspension bolts and bushes. It's possible to preventative steps to avoid them, or at least minimise the chance of it happening, but only if your car hasn't already been afflicted. If it has, it can be an expensive replacement job....

Of course, seized suspension is only an issue if you need to re-do the alignment. If it seizes when it's in alignment, it's not going to be much of a problem in practice

[mat205125]

MrFlibbles said:

Indicators on the left.

Yes! One less obstacle / hurdle.

Starting to really like the look of one of these.

[Bibbs]

MrFlibbles said:

Indicators on the left.

Imports are on the correct (right) side.
So you can indicate and change gear at the same time.

[mat205125]

Bibbs said:

MrFlibbles said:

Indicators on the left.

Imports are on the correct (right) side.
So you can indicate and change gear at the same time.

..... so long as it's not raining

[Bibbs]

mat205125 said:

..... so long as it's not raining

Ha ha ha, I couldn't imagine the number of times I've wanted to change wiper speed while changing gear

Edited by Bibbs on Tuesday 22 May 13:21

[mat205125]

Bibbs said:

mat205125 said:

..... so long as it's not raining

Ha ha ha, I couldn't imagine the number of times I've wanted to change wiper speed while changing gear

Edited by Bibbs on Tuesday 22 May 13:21

I can't think of a time when I've not had enough vision of the road ahead, and planned my manoever badly enough, to need to change gear and switch the indicators at the same time



touche!

[JohnG1]

I had an S200 for a year. Fantastic car. Two of my friends also had them. There is one thing to watch for beyond the obvious mechanicals. The car revs to 9300 and needs to be run-in properly.



If it's not run in properly it can become a bit of an oil burner - one of my friends was using about a litre of oil per month. Still, if that's it then go for it. Just take it easy in the wet until you get used to it...

[havoc]

Bibbs said:

mat205125 said:

..... so long as it's not raining

Ha ha ha, I couldn't imagine the number of times I've wanted to change wiper speed while changing gear

Edited by Bibbs on Tuesday 22 May 13:21

I'm still only just getting used to the 'push down to switch wipers on' operation of the stalk. Otherwise the driving position is as near-perfect as I've encountered in a car...everything feels very instinctive and you're nice-and-low.





Costs...insurance is the only hefty one, otherwise it IS as cheap to run as it appears. Fuel-wise, I've got between 24 and 31mpg out of mine, depending on journey. Repairs and maint'ce...not aware of any big bills beyond wishbones if the bolts seize, and clutch as-and-when due (even then it's not THAT much more than a run-of-the-mill car).

[Bibbs]

mat205125 said:

I can't think of a time when I've not had enough vision of the road ahead, and planned my manoever badly enough, to need to change gear and switch the indicators at the same time



touche!

Shows what a bad driver I am .. I'm always indicating and changing at the same time. Probably doing it "because I can".



That and when driving hard in the S, you are always up and down the gears.

[Lurking Lawyer]

JohnG1 said:

If it's not run in properly it can become a bit of an oil burner - one of my friends was using about a litre of oil per month.

Not sure that running in has THAT much to do with it - the 99-03 cars were notorious for using quite a lot of oil and needing it to be checked frequently.



This is far less of an issue on the facelifted 04+ cars - Honda did something to the engine to substantially reduce the oil usage. My second S2000, an 04, used a hell of a lot less oil than my first one, an 02.



(Not sure it revs to 9300rpm either. The gauge is calibrated to 9,000 and the redline indicator flashes after that, but I think it actually kicks on at 9,000 rpm. Still, that's probably enough to be going on with, eh? )

[havoc]

My '03 isn't using a huge amount of oil...so far about 1 litre/6,000 miles, at a guess. Not sure how that compares to the '04s, but it's not that different from my old 'teg.

[mat205125]

Couple of topics mentioned above that I have a query about:

Oil Consumption

When viewing a car, what could be the signs that a particular car consumes an "excessive" amount of oil? Dirty tail pipes? Black plugs?

Seized Suspension

I'm assuming that we are referring to finding the bolts and bushes seized when it becomes necessary to adjust the geometry. Is geometry adjustment quite regular? Are there any obvious signs of mis alignment - worn tyres? When we say "expensive", what could be the worst case price?