LG John

I'd appreciate some thoughts and advice on my car choices. I forewarn you this could be a long 'un

I bought my S2000 about a year and a half ago and have had some of the best motoring of my life since. It has been, by a royal mile, the most complete and enjoyable car I've ever owned and it has given me hardly any grief.

For most of this period I was using the car as a daily runner and would undertake my 25 mile (each way) work commute with trips and fun driving on top of that. The car was a very acceptable compromise for this sort of driving being practical and comfortable enough for me but also quick, fun and good looking. I was starting to get a little bored with it though and I don't think this is unreasonable when you are doing 25,000 miles a year.

Recently my circumstances have changed and I now commute with my girlfriend to work using her Fiesta beater. The S2000 gets taken out for pleasure only or if we need both cars. This has radically altered how I feel about it - having not driven it in 3 days I nearly wet myself with excitment this morning when I pressed that red start button and the exhaust barked against the carport wall. Even pressing the button seemed to have a 'feel' about it that wasn't there when I used it every day.

The other part of the story is that I bought the car with a loan (just a lowly planner after all) and my game is to try to ensure my loan balance comes down at about the rate of depreciation on the car. My scooby let me down in this department but I recently got a settlement figure and was surprised to find I'd paid off more than I though. The S2000 is currently on the market and I could probably negotiate more on the price that I originally anticipated given that the loan value is less than I thought.

I've had some interest and expect to meet with an interested party soon but I just can't decide what I should do with it. Selling it would allow me to use the funds temporarily to do my flat up over the winter and then I'd look to buy a new car in the spring. The bonus of this is I have some cash in hand to deal with the likely 'problems' when developing a property and I'd not have a high value car taking the winter depreciation hit.

My big fear is that I get to next spring and don't know what to do with the money or worse still really miss my S2000. You could off course say, 'buy another one' but there isn't a massive amount of mint Imola Orange S2000's for sale at anyone time!

I really don't know whether to sell or not? If I do sell what the hell do I replace it with? I'd probably have £16,000 or so in spring to buy a new car with (perhaps less if there are probs with the flat). I'm not 100% sure I can think of any car for that kind of money that would be as special to me as the S2000. I have a craving for something a lot quicker/rawer for those weekend drives but I fear that whilst a modded 375bhp Evo would be fun it might not feel special in the way the honda does. I'm not putting down Evo's, it's more the colour and noise of my car. I've only seen one other IO S2000 in 1.5 years and mines is quite well known about edinburgh! I won't lie, I do sort of like that exclusivity and I fear I won't get that from an Evo or VX220 turbo, etc. Sure I'd get monster performance but would it feel 'special'?

Lol, at this point I'm moving towards 95% sure I'm going to get flamed for this post. Perhaps I just need to write this and put my thoughts down on paper? I don't know? Any suggestions? Can anyone suggest car(s) that might fill the S2000's shoes for £16k that isn't too old (i.e. no older than 5 years) or too tired (i.e. mega miles). Hmmm, TVR T350's might sneak into that money come spring - off to investigate

Your patience is appreciated

Varboy

I would get a Z3M personally (that's if you are thinking of a drop top??) but I think you would be knocking on the door of 5 years old for 16K.

They are great, fast cars that command a lot of drivers respect and there are some good Z owner clubs around.

scooby_matt

mmmmmmmm, this is interesting as i'm contemplating selling the scoob and getting an s2000 but I'm facing the same dilemma as you with selling the scoob because it has that 'special' feeling to it which I know i'd miss.

From reading your post, it seems that you heart isn't in selling it. Until you get bored of it or it loses it's appeal, keep it.

Dark Blue Mark

Hmmmm.

The car might take a hit over winter, but may recover by next summer - esp if you are keeping the miles off it.

You are either selling it to free up some money, and buying something as a daily runner, or selling it because you want a change. If you cant think if what to change to, then keep it. If you need the money, then sell it and buy another next year.

There will be other ones around if you are prepared to travel!

Alternatives? I know where you are coming from.

People really dont understand when you tell them how enjoyable it is to drive. Its easy to dismiss it as "only" having 240 bhp etc. It doesnt scare me like my scoob did but you drive it, and you know it can bite you!

I would look at stull like a Clio V6 or 182, which I know you will prob be keen on from your hot hatch days, and the V6 is a bit special.

VX220 T is a good shout, sounds bloody awesome.

Not sure an Evo or Scoob will float your boat anymore....

MB

Dark Blue Mark

Matt,

Its a bit of a shock going from scoob to VTEC as it wont feel fast for some time. If you stick with it for a few months you will start to get it It will keep up with most scoobs no probs.

MB

LG John

Sound as in spec or sound as in vroom-vroom? I was under the understanding that they sound pretty sh*t, even with a miltek system?

The TVR Tamora could be a box ticker? It comes in many interesting colours, is rare, is considerably faster, looks good(ish) and they will be in my budget come spring (perhaps with a wee top up). The only problem is reliability. Niggles I can handle but if I blew the engine up I'd be gutted to have to put £5k on a card to put it right and then sell the car, probably for a loss and spend a year or two getting back to £0! What's the Tamora's engine like? Cerbera's are in my budget range but I just don't think I could handle the pressure everytime I open the taps and the engine groans!!

I do like the Z3M's but my beef is that they aren't actually quick enough. My S2000 does 0-100mph in 13 seconds dead such that a Z3M would only be a car length or so ahead. It's not quicker enough, if that makes sense. For a performance upgrade I'd be looking for something that hit 100mph in the 10s (vxt would have to be a stage 2 for example)

HankScorpio

The wrong side of both age and budget but not by far, would be closer in the spring...

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/97763.htm

Bloke at work has just bought a 2003 and is over the moon with it.
And the sound is better than anything this side of 70k....

Hanslow

How about one of these. One or two within budget further down the page.

Dark Blue Mark

Sound as in spec Kenny. I just remember Clarksons reaction after driving one

MB

LG John

Yeah, I was thinking that too mark - he seemed impressed!!

OMG, I can't believe you can get a Maserati for that kind of money

Atom's are cool but I'd feel uncomfortable with it in the car-port (communal carports) as even with a cover the kids would still sit in it and pretend to be the hoff

LG John

Wow! Stuff'it, I can reset my loan for something like this!! They actually start within budget range but this particular example looks like a cracker. 350bhp, 1080kg...hmmmm S2000 doesn't look so good now

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

SB, how much is the S2000 worth ?

LG John

Most good condition 2003's seem to be advertised between £16000-17,750. I'd expect it could fetch between £15,500-16,750 if there is interest in the colour. I've not looked up a book price for it yet but I'd imagine they would have a good condition one at £16,000-16,500

carl

LOL Kenny. If you're on a budget you do not want one of the early Speed 6-engined TVRs. They are well known for going bang in an expensive fashion. I always remember the advert that said "TVR Tuscan for sale, 6,000 miles only (5,000 on new engine)".

That said, Tamoras are becoming really cheap now. But personally I'd steer clear unless you can get a warranty. And if you can, how much will it be worth when you come to sell it without a warranty? For some reason Tamoras are the great unloved: I think they only sold about 500 of them, if that. Everyone went for the T350 instead.

Get a Griff or something.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Tvr service schedule, 6000 miles

Plugs, Air filer, Oil filter, 5 l synthetic oil, pollen filter, new engine.....

carl

TBH, they reckon to budget on £3,000 a year for an AJP8-engined Cerbera, providing you're doing 6,000 miles a year (hence one service/year). About half that for a Rover V8-engined car (Griff/Chim/etc.) and more than that for a Speed 6-engined car.

LG John

Bah Such a shame - TVR's tick all the boxes but they just don't seem reliable at all!!

carl

That's so wrong though. If you get a good one, it will be reliable (look at simonsparrow's Cerb on PH with 120k on the clock). It's just that (a) it's difficult to tell what a "good one" is, and (b) I wouldn't buy a Speed 6-engined one unless it was 2006-spec with the 3-year warranty. Although I am led to believe that from 2003 onwards the Speed 6 engines are "sorted".

If you have enough cash spare for contingency in case it goes wrong, then go for it. If you don't end up spending the contingency cash, you could buy another small car with it

LG John

"If you get a good one, it will be reliable"

That's a big 'if'. Carl I appreciate you are a TVR fan (and I DO love them) but in buying the Honda its taken that engine failure is an exception to the rule. It seems with most TVR's if you make it through 3 years or 50k miles of motoring without a rebuild then you are the exception to the rule.

John57

.....unless you buy an older V8 engined TVR - I've had our 1999 'V' reg Griffith 500 for 18 months and the only thing that has broken is a fan relay which was simple to replace. It's at almost 41K and hasn't been a problem for us nor was it for the previous owners (though they managed to spend lots on nice mods to the suspension and brakes.....)

It is possibly easier to find a good Griffith or Chimaera 5L than an AJP based TVR - and the costs of keeping them on the road are considerably less.

carl

LOL! Honda to TVR will be a big leap of faith. I did Subaru (rear diff oil seal only thing to go wrong in 93k miles) to TVR and it was certainly a wake-up call. But I only use the TVR at weekends so it's not so bad, particularly as the wife has another car I can use.

TBH it was the big "IF" that I wanted you to be aware of. If you're prepared to take the risk (and life's all about risks) then you'll get a lot of smiles for your pound. If anything goes wrong you'll be at the depths of despair. I've been at both ends, and nearly chopped in the Cerb until I realized that anything else I could afford would be slower. And I've never bought a slower car than its predecessor

LG John

Are the Chimaera 500's a more reliable option - these seem to be well within my projected budget, seem to have the straight-line grunt I desire and I'm guessing with an exhaust system they would sound rather mean too

RichB

As you know Kenny, I nearly sold my S2000 last year but now I'm glad I didn't I love driving it more and more every time I go out in it... Although I do less than 5k a year!
I would never ever consider going back to a 4 door japanese tin box unless I suddenly needed 4 doors
TVRs look great, sound great but what's gone wrong on your S2000? I had a dodgy immobiliser that got sorted out under warranty when I first got it and thats it.

LG John

This is the problem. As an every day car it was getting boring and I decided I wanted something new. Now, I love driving it again and I'm completely stuck on the fence. I really can't think of any cars that can fit the following criteria:

* Be faster than the S2000 by a significant degree
* Still corner almost as good, as good or better than the S2000
* Look good and/or having something 'special' about it
* Be reliable with the likelyhood of major repairs being low
* Not be really old or really high mileage
* All this for around £16-17k or less!
* Sound good would be a big bonus!

As I see it the only car that seems to fit the bill is a stage 2 VX220 Turbo which can be had for around that money. With the same power and 270kg less than the S2000 it'll be a lot quicker in a straightline and will be better through the bends. They are rare and interesting and should be reliable save for niggles here and there. Maybe I need to hit the VX forum and see if anyone local has a stage 2 to take me out in

LG John

Hmmm One of these in black and properly swirl free and waxed would, I'm sure, fill the boots. Either that or I double my budget and get a noble

carl

The drivetrain is a lot more reliable, but you'll still get niggles (mostly electrical and cooling).

Plenty of straightline power (although nowhere near the 340bhp quoted), lots of low-down torque makes it the antithesis of a high-revving S2000. AIUI all the power has gone by about 5,000 rpm. The fat torque curve and lack of ABS, TCS, etc. makes it tricky in the wet. As I said in the note, most are binned on the exit of roundabouts.

It won't handle like the S2000 though, although you can make it handle pretty well with aftermarket suspension (GAZ, Nitron, Protech, etc.)

BTW most of them have already had the sports exhausts fitted, so no worries there.

Dark Blue Mark

Stick one of those supercharger things on the S?



MB

LG John

Weesht, stop putting silly ideas in my head

scoobynutta555

Lotus Elise with a typeR conversion. 0-60 in under 4 seconds 0-100 in 9 ish seconds. Should be able to pick one up for 15-16k. For a few grand more you could get it supercharged to 300 bhp.

The car will be ultra reliable due to the civic engine and gearbox and willastonish you handling and performance wise.

Dracoro

Lotus Exige (in black) yum.