I stopped by my local Honda dealership on the way home today. My friend works there and told me they are dying to get rid of their '04 S2000's (two black, one red). I mentioned trading in my ITR and the general manager and sales managers were unusually excited about taking my car in on trade. The red one inside was marked at $4000 off sticker! With only 10 minutes left until closing, I figured I'd just shoot the **** with them and stop by tomorrow...well, the manager asked if I wanted to go for a drive. Of course, about 5 minutes later I was sliding into a black S2000. I like the minor interior changes they made for the '04. I turned the key forward and punched the ENGINE START button. Everything I thought it would be. We sat as I adjusted the seating position and aqainted myself with the buttons and what not. He said to let it warm up, and then he would show me the special "S2000 run." Wow, definitely not what I was expecting...I checked the odo...37.1 miles. Awesome. I was sceptical on the new tuning of the chassis, and I was always wondering if they softened it too much. I roll out to the twisty back roads a few miles from the dealership. We come up to a stop sign and I turned left. He told me up ahead was a 25mph right and a 15mph left. Awesome, a co driver. Not wanting to kill a brand new car, I took it easy, the motor pulls a lot harder than any 2.0L S2K I've been in except Eugene's at SPL (Comptech supercharged S2K). The car is very neutral, but oversteer can still be provoked with some throttle. I like. We continue through a bunch of twisty country roads, 35mph being the slowest turn. I get used to the car more and more. The shifting is amazing, I guess the carbon synchros helped a lot. Heading back to the dealership, we talk about different mods, and how nicely tuned the car is out of the box. So, I may be returning my car back to stock and trading it in towards an '04 black S2K if I can get them to take a bit more off...or a bit more for trade in...we'll see. Just had to let my fellow R owners know...

PS: I suck at writing stories...but I'm still recovering from the test drive.

 

Boo!




Too bad you are leaving the R family, but at least it's to something worthy. Good luck with the purchase. Out of curiosity, how much did they offer you as a trade?

 

Personally, I like '03 S2k the best. '04+ 2.2L engine parts are hard to get (relatively speaking).

However, '04+ is a better daily driver than '00-'03. But, a lot of '04+ owners are trading their cars for '02-'03.

Theft on S2k also sucks... thieves go after the factory seats & steering wheel. I guess quite a few owners had their soft-top slashed.

ITR > S2k.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Cosworth &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Theft on S2k also sucks... thieves go after the factory seats & steering wheel. I guess quite a few owners had their soft-top slashed.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah, cause thieves never go after our factory seats or factory ANYTHING

nice kill man, get the S2K! How much are they going to give you for a trade in?


Modified by Curt941 at 7:45 PM 4/29/2005

 

go for it

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Curt941 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yeah, cause thieves never go after our factor seats or factory ANYTHING

nice kill man, get the S2K! How much are they going to give you for a trade in?</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

s2k plus snow = oh no!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Azcheron &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">s2k plus snow = oh no!</TD></TR></TABLE>

So, you speak from experience?




s2ki.com &lt;-- PLENTY of winter driven s2k's

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Azcheron &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">s2k plus snow = oh no!</TD></TR></TABLE>

i get around fine. its about getting snow tires and the driver. i got around 5-6 inches of snow in my summer tires. granted i wasn't always going straight but i got around safely

 

hell yeah go for it

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Curt941 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yeah, cause thieves never go after our factory seats or factory ANYTHING
</TD></TR></TABLE>

well, the problem is... OEM S2k seats = $9k retail. + OEM softtop = ~$1,250 + OEM steering wheel = $???. Your car could be totalled, because two seats & softtop & steering wheel.

correct me if I'm wrong on those prices. that's what I've been reading.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Cosworth &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

well, the problem is... OEM S2k seats = $9k retail. + OEM softtop = ~$1,250 + OEM steering wheel = $???. Your car could be totalled, because two seats & softtop & steering wheel.

correct me if I'm wrong on those prices. that's what I've been reading.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I've heard of ITR's getting totalled because of fully stolen interiors also...so i guess it's a toss up...but i have a feeling s2k's are less likely to get broken into then a Hype R...but who knows.

 

I haven't had my ITR appraised yet...being that there is are a ton of aftermarket parts on there, I'll probably put it back to stock before trading in. NADA lists avg. trade in at $14,950 or something, so that'd make for a fat down payment with whatever cash I get from selling parts...


still got the whole AP1 vs. AP2 thing...though I will do a lot of driving in it, and after actually driving an AP2...its looking more appealing, especially not having to beat up on it to get into the powerband...

 

you should try and sell your car then, if you think they'll only give you $14k-$15k for it...you could easily get more if you sell it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Cosworth &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

well, the problem is... OEM S2k seats = $9k retail. + OEM softtop = ~$1,250 + OEM steering wheel = $???. Your car could be totalled, because two seats & softtop & steering wheel.

correct me if I'm wrong on those prices. that's what I've been reading.</TD></TR></TABLE>

$40 seat locks take care of this. they replace the factory seat bolts so at most the thief slashes your top. the only times i have heard of stolen seats are in florida and cali. no where else

 

S2000 thefts aren't that bad anymore. My dealership is offering me a brand new 05 for 30,000. I think you can get a better deal than 4,000 off sticker.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Curt941 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you should try and sell your car then, if you think they'll only give you $14k-$15k for it...you could easily get more if you sell it. </TD></TR></TABLE>

its up on autotrader and here and itrca.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Curt941 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you should try and sell your car then, if you think they'll only give you $14k-$15k for it...you could easily get more if you sell it. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I agree and I'm glad that you're doing that cause the stealership is gonna turn around and sell it for like $19,000 - $21,000.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Nishant &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

$40 seat locks take care of this. they replace the factory seat bolts so at most the thief slashes your top. the only times i have heard of stolen seats are in florida and cali. no where else</TD></TR></TABLE>


What are these?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Try2Live4God &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I agree and I'm glad that you're doing that cause the stealership is gonna turn around and sell it for like $19,000 - $21,000. </TD></TR></TABLE>

He has a point. Good luck on the sale of the ITR and the acquisition of the S2K.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Cosworth &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Personally, I like '03 S2k the best. '04+ 2.2L engine parts are hard to get (relatively speaking).

However, '04+ is a better daily driver than '00-'03. But, a lot of '04+ owners are trading their cars for '02-'03.

Theft on S2k also sucks... thieves go after the factory seats & steering wheel. I guess quite a few owners had their soft-top slashed.

S2K &gt; ITR. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Fixed that for you.

I did the same and I'm a happier person because of that change. I can park out in the open again! w00t!