VTEConly

This is an '06 S2K with 5,600 mi. on it. The guy said he bought a left over '06 last October but now is selling it because he bought a C7.

Well I take it for a spin and first thing I notice as soon as we left the parking lot is that when I touch the gas, the car pulls to the right. I wasn't even smashing the gas, just moderately put my foot on it and started kind of slow and the car pulled to the right and had to grab the steering wheel with both hands to correct it. Then I hit the gas half way down to get some acceleration and it pulled again and kept pulling unless I eased off on the gas. But after I let off the gas, it jerked back to the left. This was dangerous and unerving. Then I 'm just cruising at ~35mph and the car pulled to the right with hardly any gas. The car always pulled to the right with or without gas, but with some gas it almost wanted to make a right hand turn.

I asked the owner if he hit any pot holes or something that possibly made the alignment go completely out of wack? He said no and that he didn't notice the pulling but now that I mention it he can see it. I said you gotta be kidding me! So now I 'm almost certain he 's hiding hiding something because there 's no way he couldn't notice that jerking and pulling..
He said he 'll take it to the dealer on Monday and have them look it over and do a wheel alignment or whatever it takes to correct it and call me back for another test drive. Fricking problem is I drove 1.5hrs to go drive that car.

What do you guys think this is caused by? Could it be a bent suspension component (LCA, hub, knuckle, bushing, etc.) from a pot hole? He says the car had never been in an accident. I got the VIN# so I 'm going to run a carfax report. I think Carfax shows accidents & police reports too.

The car behaved the same way my GSR did one time when a bolt came loose in one of the front LCA's. It had constant toe changes when hitting the gas and was pulling hard to one side and then would jerk back to the other side when off the gas. That's what it felt like. Still why would an almost new car have a loose LCA bolt?

So now I 'm thinking I have to take this car to the Honda dealer myself (my local dealer, not his) and ask him to pay to have it certified (or split the $$) and let the dealer check it over while I 'm there, even if its owner comes back and tells me it's fixed and I don't notice the pulling next time I test drive it. The reason is that it may have been in an accident and they replaced an LCA but didn't tighten a bolt all the way or something similar.

I 'm just suspicious now after he told me he never noticed it before. Oh then we went and had lunch together, and he told me that the other day, around 6,500RPM while accelerating semi-hard in a straight line, the rear felt squirrely and like it was going sideways and didn't feel normal to him, so he 'll mention that to the dealer when he takes it in. Why would the S2K fishtail or come loose in the rear while accelerating in a straight line? He was already moving when this happened. It's not like he launched at 6500.. What the hek would cause that? A rear diff. problem?

What do you guys think? I doubt it's a motor mount in the front.. Are motor mounts notorious for breaking on S2K's? I don't know anything about S2K's. Only that I want to get one. I only know stuff about Integras & Civics because I 've owned 5 of them. Thanks for your help in advance. I 'll be paying a good chunk of $$ for this used '06 and need you guys to help me not make a big mistake.

AlphaKennyWun

It could be something simple (tires, tire pressure, alignment) or it could be something more serious. Point is its not up to you to fix it, tell him if he fixes it then you will come back and test drive it again. If you really want this one put a refundable deposit on it in case he cant get it fixed.

VTEConly

Thanks .45ACP. First thing I did when I drove back was to get my tire gauge out and check the tire pressures. They were a little low in the front (28psi) but they matched as did the rear.

I 'm hoping it's something simple like a loose LCA bolt or the wheel alignment is way off (why would it be though, unless he hit something) but it's just worries me that he said he never noticed it because it was extremely noticeable and the car didn't drive normal with that kind of pulling and jerking when the gas was applied.

Yeah I 'm not going to pay for anything. I 'm going to ask him to bring the car to neutral Honda dealer (we are like 2hrs apart so we 'll pick one somewhere in the middle) and pay to have it certified. Is that an unreasonable request? How much would the dealer (stealer) charge to certify a car? Any ideas?

black92DA

i've seen s2k's pull cause the rear tires had nails in it

B serious

iTrader: (1)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by black92DA &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i've seen s2k's pull cause the rear tires had nails in it</TD></TR></TABLE>

????


On another note,

It's probably an alignment issue if you said the tire pressures match. S2s are pretty sensitive as far as alignment and tire pressure. My friend had a problem where his car pulled when he accelerated...and I ASSUMED he checked the pressure lol. We were talking about bushings, the diff, an alignment, crash damage....and then after 2 or 3 months of bitching,he was like "my tires were like 4 pounds apart". What a jerk.

You probably dont have to have the car certified...just looked over. Certification can cost some $$ since it comes with an additional 100k warranty on powertrain and 12k/12mos bumper to bumper. Just have someone check it over, and do an alignment check. You can get an alignment check anywhere(usually for free), and you can also get a frame damage check by going to carmax and pretending like you want them to buy the car. They will check over everything, and you'll reap the benefits. Unless ofcourse, the guy decides to sell to carmax instead of you.

Certification is going to cost $$ like i said...and it wouldnt be unfair of the owner to not want to certify a car he's not going to keep anyway. If you were paying for it, it'd be a different story.

LAS2K

could be crappy tires, slight offset in tire pressure from each side, low tire pressure, nail in the tire, allignment. my best guess would be a nail in the tire.

VTEConly

thanks guys.
I will let him take it to the dealer to have that checked and corrected as he promised. I 'm sure the dealer will resolve it even if they have to do an alignment first that may not be needed (rip him off in other words) and then find a nail or something wrong with a tire, etc. after testing driving it again. At least I 'll have peace of mind that the alignment is good anyway. We 'll see what happens.

I am glad to hear that the S2K is sensitive and would pull like that because of tire pressures and things like that. I 'm new to RWD and to S2K so I 'm learning as I go along.
BTW, another thing I noticed was that the steering wheel was a little too hard, like it had no or very little power steering. You had to put some musle into it to turn it. It felt worse than my '97 Civic HB that had no P/S. Is that how all the S2K's are? I 'm used to my '06 LX that has a very "loose" steering wheel and can turn it with your pinky. It could be that the tire pressures were all around 28psi. It would probably loosen up a little if they had more air in them (what's the factory pressures, 31/32?).

20ls01

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by VTEConly &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">thanks guys.
I will let him take it to the dealer to have that checked and corrected as he promised. I 'm sure the dealer will resolve it even if they have to do an alignment first that may not be needed (rip him off in other words) and then find a nail or something wrong with a tire, etc. after testing driving it again. At least I 'll have peace of mind that the alignment is good anyway. We 'll see what happens.

I am glad to hear that the S2K is sensitive and would pull like that because of tire pressures and things like that. I 'm new to RWD and to S2K so I 'm learning as I go along.
BTW, another thing I noticed was that the steering wheel was a little too hard, like it had no or very little power steering. You had to put some musle into it to turn it. It felt worse than my '97 Civic HB that had no P/S. Is that how all the S2K's are? I 'm used to my '06 LX that has a very "loose" steering wheel and can turn it with your pinky. It could be that the tire pressures were all around 28psi. It would probably loosen up a little if they had more air in them (what's the factory pressures, 31/32?). </TD></TR></TABLE>
i drove an 01 s2k, the steering wheel was not stiff at all. if i were you, look elsewhere.

b20integrapower

the steering wheel should not be loose. It should not be stiff either. id describe it as tight. the steering should be really crisp and responsive. The stiffness is probably do to low tire pressue up front.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

The steering effort is higher in the S2000 than other cars. I owned an S13 at the time of my S2000 purchase. The S13 has a 3 turn lock to lock rack and its pretty responsive. I was kinda blown away at how much forearm effort it took to move and maintain the line on an S2000 steering wheel. The payoff is a super resonsive system with no lag or play. I really like it a lot. Your tire pressures should be 32psi all around, BTW.

VTEConly

Thanks again to those who responded with info. I 'm glad to see the S2K steering is tight and takes some effort so what I experienced during my test drive is normal. I 'm sure another 4psi in each tire would make it a little better. They were all 27.5 and 28.0.

What also surprised me is that its owner did not have a tire gauge in the car! I own 2 and don't go anywhere without one. He also couldn't tell me or figure out how the spare tire comes out. He said he had the owners manual at home, but he did show me the "secret compartment"

typer_801

If you're genuinely serious about purchasing this car, then I would recommend having the vehicle inspected on your dime. Ask the owner's permission, then take the S2K to the mechanic of your choice and let them determine what (if any) problem exists. Then use that as leverage to get whatever needs corrected PRIOR to purchasing. The independent garage's identification of the problem is key and will bring recognition from the owner something needs corrected prior to selling. Insure the problem gets fixed, test drive and confirm, then if all is well, you can purchase. It's the only safe way to insure something really big isn't wrong and your getting sold of bill of goods. Good luck!!!

VTEConly

Thanks the car only has 6k mi. but I 've already called my Honda dealer and asked them if I could bring in to them to test drive and look it over and how much it would cost and all that..