S2000 Purchase - advice please

[MiloD]

Hi all,

I am currently considering buying an S2000 - I have a realistic budget of £12k.

I have been shopping around and ideally I would rather not spend quite that much but will go to that if needs be. My question being what should I be looking out for, particularly if I am buying a car that has 50k + miles on it, which is probably 6 years old.

Also I am currenlty unsure of the variants - when was the next facelift after say 2001? What were the differences?

Really any adivce on the subject would be great, I have run Audi's for the last few of years and will be sad to see my S3 go, but I fancy a rear drive 2 seater, which leaves me with a choice (basically) of an S2000 or an Elise. At the moment the S2000 is winning handsdown!!

Thanks all in advance for your help.

Miles

[normalbloke]

This has been done to death, try the search feature....

[TaylotS2K]

Go to the Uk forum on www.s2ki.com

All the advise you need in on there.

[MiloD]

Ok as you can see new to forum... thanks for the advice.

[normalbloke]

Good luck, you'll love it.My wife has one.

[Royden]

I had a 13k budget and looked at both the Elise and the S2000. For the money (and the fact it won't get you a 111s) I'd go for the S2k every time. Wouldn't bother looking for a facelift model as they are all going to be out of the budget, but to be honest, I don't believe there is that much in them anyway. A bit stiffer, a few refinements and a tweak to the engine (that said, once I pay mine of I'll be looking for a newer model!)

I tended to avoid the imports, although that's just my opinion, there don't seem to have been any issues with those that have bought them.

You should get a good one for 12k, most people have looked after them and you can get low milleage on older models. I paid 13k and got a spanking 2000 model with 28k on the clock. There bullet proof so milleage isn't too much of an issue. Reasonable to service (although quite frequently if driven often) and the insurance could be worse!

Take your time, have a good look around, the ones on this site are good examples, and go for red, has to be the colour of choice as far as I'm concerned!!

I haven't had a single reservation about buying mine......and I'm a tight Yorkshire ba?#ard.

Edited by Royden on Saturday 14th July 13:53

[MiloD]

Thanks Royden - good advice. I think that Black might have to be my choice!

[Royden]

If you get Black keep it clean! Dust always makes the black ones look a bit 'flat', but a clean one looks great.

Good luck with it, there seem to be a fair few to choose from at the moment, must be the rain!

[xander007]

Is it better to spend more on a S2000?
I've seen some S2000's for sale in dealerships advertised on Auto-trader around £8000, are these cars likely to be problematic?

[bga]

xander007 said:

Is it better to spend more on a S2000?
I've seen some S2000's for sale in dealerships advertised on Auto-trader around £8000, are these cars likely to be problematic?

When I was looking for mine, all in that category were Cat D. If they are high milage, don't let that put you off. I got mine on about 65k and have put another 8k on in 3 months & it feels the same as cars I drove with half the milage.

[MiloD]

Fair point, ultimately we all know that well serviced/cared for Jap engines will run on and on.

With regards to an £8k S2000 you are defo looking at an Cat D (smashed up enough for insurers not to want to repair) You will never get rid of the Cat D status and it seriously reduces the value of the car.

[Royden]

Completely agree on the milleage issue. No need to avoid any that have 60k plus. But it depends on how much you will use it and how long you intend on keeping it. If your doing the miles and want to keep it for a long time I'd still consider spending the extra grand and going for the lower milleage. There are enough good ones out there to avoid having to get a Cat D, especially with the weather like it is!

[schueymcfee]

Mine had 114k on it when I bought it, Cat D for 6k - now gone up to 130k in the year I have had it and I have had not one single problem ever, not even a light bulb - starts first time every time on the 3rd turn on the dot. It is the most impressive machine I have ever owned.

If you're not bothered about high mileage and write offs then they're the bargain of the century - As it cost me relatively little I'll be keeping mine forever I reckon.

[Royden]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Cat D's are always going to be a problem. But they are harder to sell on, and I still think it can be a bit of a gamble. If you can pick one up for 6k then perhaps it's a gamble worth taking but I'd make sure it is thoroughly checked out.

[bazzio]

Hi all this is my 1st post on this site!
Im looking at a 1999 s2000 and you all make some valid points on this car, one thing that creeps in my mind is, can the s2000 be "clocked"???
anyone out there with high milers? i know its prob been said before but im a new boy!!

[havoc]

bazzio said:

can the s2000 be "clocked"???

Any car can be clocked...and the electronic dashboards have in some ways made that easier. But it's a simple-enough check...you look for a car with full history!

s2ki has all the buying info you'll ever need...

[Royden]

I don't think it's a huge problem with the S2's. As the above mentioned, you can check with the history and can tell from the car seats etc for obvious stuff. It's not unusual to find low milleage on older cars. I bought an 00 plate which only had 28k on the clock and there are plenty more like that.

[bazzio]

so what do you lot think of jap imports?? anything i need to know??

[havoc]

A few differences to European cars, a few options we didn't get and as basic they didn't get some of the standard kit we did.

Plus the car's expensive enough to insure as-is. Probably best going for a UK or Euro import, to be honest. But again, S2ki is your friend and has a lot more knowledgable people than me...

[MiloD]

What are the service intervals on the S2k? And more importantly what are the big services?