Chr1s7ian94

Im new to the S2ki forums but so im currently in the market for S2000s. My budget is around $20k and I wanted a low mileage car but my buddy knows a guy that is selling his 2006 s2k with 115k miles for $8000. He ran the oil low sadly enough but the car still runs fine currently. At that low of a price I could buy a motor/trans for $5k and be no where near y budget still. Should I consider this or is it a dumb idea? Should I just keep looking for a low mileage?

Hfreak

Your decision will be based on your plans for the car.

Do you want an S2000 to drive and enjoy whenever you want or are you looking for a garage queen to preserve? Are you planning on tracking or modifying the car to a certain extent? Or are you looking for a near mint version that you can keep stock and enjoy on nice days?

$8000K for a 2006 is a fair price depending on the condition of the car and your $5K motor/trans estimate is spot on but you may not have to go that far, may just need a new set of main bearings if the car has future issues or pull it apart and inspect for wear. Heck, you may get lucky and still have a healthy engine in that $8K car.

Good luck in your decision.

NNY S2k

Levi

Chr1s7ian94

My current plans for whatever S2k I get are to drive it whenever I want (living in Florida) and maybe track it once or twice a year, while slowly modifying it but nothing insanely crazy. Im just wondering if the mileage and oil is enough of a concern to justify not buying it for $8000or possibly less. Ive always worked on cars so swapping the motor, if it came to that, is no problem. Ive also heard that S2k motors last to 300k if maintained?

vortamock

Yeah, 115k isn't even close to enough miles to scare me away. If you got it, you'd have more duckets to spend on track time & parts, you wouldn't feel as bad about driving it like you inevitably will, and you wouldn't be molesting a pristine example of an increasingly rare car.

Chr1s7ian94

I completely agree with being able to spend more money on parts, that's why I considered the offer vs. the low mileage s2ks I was originally looking at. My main thing, as weird as it is to say, I want this car to be the one I will have for pretty much the rest of my life. I want to look in the garage in 20 years and be happy that I still have it, all while still not being afraid to drive it. Im sure a low miles motor swap after the original goes would make that dream a reality but I wanted actual s2k owners opinions to make sure im not delusional about this. Thank you guys for helping btw.

Car Analogy

The trans is fine, right? So its just the motor. It still runs. Might be able to get away with polishing crank and new bearings. But if that is possible its paramount not to run the engine anymore, or it may get past the point of no return.

I would buy it.

Manga_Spawn

One thing to mention on the 06+ cars is you would need to find a 06+ engine since they are drive by wire and a 00-05 won't be a direct swap. You may want to look into availability of 06+ engines since they are less common than the earlier models and would likely cost more (not sure never really priced them out).

Car Analogy

Well he has all the parts he'd need to swap over. Intake manifold with TB, etc.

MemphiS2k

It's not that simple. The head itself is different.