S2000 advice for a friend please (drop links / corrosion)

S2000 advice for a friend please (drop links / corrosion)

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thetapeworm

Original Poster:

11,720 posts

244 months

Tuesday 27th April 2010
quotequote all
Hello,

I don't think I've been in this section before so please forgive me for the sudden appearance, I was just hoping you might be able to help me out on behalf of a friend of mine.

She has an S2000 (GT pack I think) which she bought new around 2004 (I think), it doesn't do many miles, has probably only seen VTEC a few times and generally gets pampered when possible.

On a recent service she was given an inspection report which highlights ~£2000 of work that's apparently "needed"... see below:




Underside - steering suspension - Both lower arm bushes starting to come away (drop links) - £1121.16

That's the big one.

The other, cheaper, parts are:

Underside - Exhaust system/catalyst - Both front to rear B/pipes just starting to corrode - £450
Brakes and hub - Hoses/pipes/cables - B/pipe just starting to corrode - £125

There are a few other things priced at £30 each, one of which i can do myself, so I'm not too concerned
about those.

So, basically it adds up to whatever plus VAT which hits around the 2000 mark.




"Starting to..." doesn't sound as though it's necessary to me at all but not being too familiar with the S2000 I'm not sure if these are regular points of failure or items that need replacing within 6000 miles if exposed to the odd wintery jaunt in the UK.

Based on the above report would people advise replacing the above bits with any alternative parts from a non-Honda source (either as an upgrade or a pattern item) or would you just ignore them for now.

I haven't seen the car for years to judge this for myself and I realise it's difficult to give a diagnosis on this based on what I'm said here but any help or advice you can offer would be appreciated.

On a related note if she does get the work done are there any trusted specialists in the Leeds area that she could consider instead of the main dealer?

Thanks in advance.

mikey k

13,014 posts

221 months

Wednesday 28th April 2010
quotequote all
I've had four S's over the last 7 years.
My current car is a pampered 05.
From experiance it looks like they are trying to milk remedials from the car.
Drop links are ~£40 for copies on ebay and are ~1 hours work for a mechanic to do all four
Having said that the inner bushes on the wishbones and control arms (no where near drop links!) to seize and are VERY costly to replace.
The brake lines on the S do corrode and are costly.
Get it MOTed to find out what it "really" needs wink
If it is in the Leeds area I strongly recommend you get Rob @ Garage R in Barnsley to look at it. He is a very competitive S2000 specialist and will give you an objective opinion on what needs doing!

www.garage-r.co.uk

thetapeworm

Original Poster:

11,720 posts

244 months

Wednesday 28th April 2010
quotequote all

Just the kind of answer I was hoping for, thanks very much.

mikey k

13,014 posts

221 months

Thursday 29th April 2010
quotequote all
You are welcome!

A mooch around the FAQ here would be worth while

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

thetapeworm

Original Poster:

11,720 posts

244 months

Tuesday 29th June 2010
quotequote all

Just a quick update to pass on the thanks from my friend - based on your suggestion she visited the specialist in question and had the car looked at. The work needed came to a mighty £30 and that included an oil top up as the main dealer hadn't bothered with such trivial things.

The work Honda quoted £2000 may need doing in a few years apparently but it's not something that needs doing at the moment.

Thanks for your help!

mikey k

13,014 posts

221 months

Tuesday 29th June 2010
quotequote all
Glad to see Rob sorted it!

thetapeworm

Original Poster:

11,720 posts

244 months

Tuesday 29th June 2010
quotequote all
mikey k said:
Glad to see Rob sorted it!
She's very pleased, they even speak the same language, she's from the area originally smile

Cheers!

joe_90

4,206 posts

236 months

Thursday 1st July 2010
quotequote all
Also you NEED (really) to vtec the cars regularly.. They just do not like being driven around slowly all the time.