YACT: S2000 as a daily driver?

[thedarkwolf]

I didn't mean to come off against the s2000 if thats what people are thinking. I seriously thought about getting one myself but couldn't find any used for under $14k and didn't want to blow that kind of money on a toy car. Figured I'd be better off buying a nice lower mile miata for around $4k and super/turbo charging one to get the same kind of performance but then I found 94 miata that was already turbocharged and had a hardtop for $4k 🙂. I never looked to see what insurance would cost me for a s2000 but it isn't bad on the miata. If I had the money for a new s2000 I'd also look at the pontiac solstice GXP and it's Saturn clone. 260hp AND 260ft-lbs of torque sounds pretty nice for around $27k.

If there is one thing the domestics do really well its RWD v8s. There fit and finish may not be as nice as some of the imports but the drivetrain are fine. Besides the GTO is from Australia and not domestic.

 

[sniperruff]

Originally posted by: Xyclone

Originally posted by: sniperruff
i think the boxter would be a much better every-day driver than the S2000 from the same category.

I need something reliable, and under $25K used. The S2000 is on par with the Boxster S, not the Boxster.

just $1k over-budget... you can easily find something cheaper locally.

 

[skyking]

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
I didn't mean to come off against the s2000 if thats what people are thinking. I seriously thought about getting one myself but couldn't find any used for under $14k and didn't want to blow that kind of money on a toy car. Figured I'd be better off buying a nice lower mile miata for around $4k and super/turbo charging one to get the same kind of performance but then I found 94 miata that was already turbocharged and had a hardtop for $4k 🙂. I never looked to see what insurance would cost me for a s2000 but it isn't bad on the miata. If I had the money for a new s2000 I'd also look at the pontiac solstice GXP and it's Saturn clone. 260hp AND 260ft-lbs of torque sounds pretty nice for around $27k.

If there is one thing the domestics do really well its RWD v8s. There fit and finish may not be as nice as some of the imports but the drivetrain are fine. Besides the GTO is from Australia and not domestic.

A friend of mine from FS/FT has a GTO he is selling. The mileage is bugging him, he has a 70 mile round trip commute and gets 21 MPG at mostly freeway speeds. I'll get him to post over here when I find him.

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
An S2000 for a daily driver is stupid. I don't even consider the STi and Evo to be cars for daily use, why would an S2000?

You won't enjoy an S2000 in the winter.

As with any sports car, I recommend leaving it to be a second car. You might want to tinker with it, try different parts, etc. or it might just need some time in the shop at some point. Basically, there are a horde of situations that you'll want to avoid. Let's not even get to the part where you have others in the car - more than one person will be tough. I love sports cars, but they are more purpose oriented and don't make good daily drivers.

He lives in California. Winter won't be a problem. I disagree it won't be good daily driver for someone like him. He's young so he doesn't have worry about transporting kids, buying bulk grocery for family, and hauling home improvement stuff to fix the house. It's when you're older with families that you need bigger cars or multiple cars. I remember when I was 17, I was still borrowing my mom's old Cavalier and was happy with that. I would've been thrilled with a Yugo if it meant I could drive.

Purchase money and insurance is going to be killer. I don't know about you but I didn't have 25k for a car when I was 17. Plus hundreds of dollars a month for insurance.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Originally posted by: Naustica

How old are you? Insurance is very expensive on S2000.

no. insurance on the S2000 is about on-par with the Accord . in other words, it's cheap. compared to something like a WRX, it's DIRT cheap. i cross-shopped my accord with the S2000 and insurance was something i looked into.

as for the S2000 as a daily driver? well, if you literally never carry ANYTHING, and you never carry people, then sure. but otherwise, i think you may need to face the fact that this cannot be your only car. however, you might consider buying it in addition to a used Civic hatchback or something else that you could get cheap and use when you need extra space or seats, and still drive the S2000 most of the time.

i eventually decided that although the S2000 is amazing and easily as fun or more so than a 911 convertible, it was a poor financial decision for me to buy a weekend car at this point in my life. but one day there will be one in my driveway! one day!

where did you get that info? The fact that it is a convertable will jack up insurance.

BTW 2200/year is alot for insurance.

 

[overst33r]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Originally posted by: Naustica

How old are you? Insurance is very expensive on S2000.

no. insurance on the S2000 is about on-par with the Accord . in other words, it's cheap. compared to something like a WRX, it's DIRT cheap. i cross-shopped my accord with the S2000 and insurance was something i looked into.

as for the S2000 as a daily driver? well, if you literally never carry ANYTHING, and you never carry people, then sure. but otherwise, i think you may need to face the fact that this cannot be your only car. however, you might consider buying it in addition to a used Civic hatchback or something else that you could get cheap and use when you need extra space or seats, and still drive the S2000 most of the time.

i eventually decided that although the S2000 is amazing and easily as fun or more so than a 911 convertible, it was a poor financial decision for me to buy a weekend car at this point in my life. but one day there will be one in my driveway! one day!

where did you get that info? The fact that it is a convertable will jack up insurance.

BTW 2200/year is alot for insurance.

I'm 19 with a clean driving record and was quoted 1100 for the S2000. So yeah, about the same as an accord.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Originally posted by: skyking

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
I didn't mean to come off against the s2000 if thats what people are thinking. I seriously thought about getting one myself but couldn't find any used for under $14k and didn't want to blow that kind of money on a toy car. Figured I'd be better off buying a nice lower mile miata for around $4k and super/turbo charging one to get the same kind of performance but then I found 94 miata that was already turbocharged and had a hardtop for $4k 🙂. I never looked to see what insurance would cost me for a s2000 but it isn't bad on the miata. If I had the money for a new s2000 I'd also look at the pontiac solstice GXP and it's Saturn clone. 260hp AND 260ft-lbs of torque sounds pretty nice for around $27k.

If there is one thing the domestics do really well its RWD v8s. There fit and finish may not be as nice as some of the imports but the drivetrain are fine. Besides the GTO is from Australia and not domestic.

A friend of mine from FS/FT has a GTO he is selling. The mileage is bugging him, he has a 70 mile round trip commute and gets 21 MPG at mostly freeway speeds. I'll get him to post over here when I find him.

Automatic?

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: mariok2006

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Originally posted by: Naustica

How old are you? Insurance is very expensive on S2000.

no. insurance on the S2000 is about on-par with the Accord . in other words, it's cheap. compared to something like a WRX, it's DIRT cheap. i cross-shopped my accord with the S2000 and insurance was something i looked into.

as for the S2000 as a daily driver? well, if you literally never carry ANYTHING, and you never carry people, then sure. but otherwise, i think you may need to face the fact that this cannot be your only car. however, you might consider buying it in addition to a used Civic hatchback or something else that you could get cheap and use when you need extra space or seats, and still drive the S2000 most of the time.

i eventually decided that although the S2000 is amazing and easily as fun or more so than a 911 convertible, it was a poor financial decision for me to buy a weekend car at this point in my life. but one day there will be one in my driveway! one day!

where did you get that info? The fact that it is a convertable will jack up insurance.

BTW 2200/year is alot for insurance.

I'm 19 with a clean driving record and was quoted 1100 for the S2000. So yeah, about the same as an accord.

...on your parents insurance. That is not the same. Try having it quoted under your own policy with it being your only car.

 

[overst33r]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82

Originally posted by: mariok2006

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Originally posted by: Naustica

How old are you? Insurance is very expensive on S2000.

no. insurance on the S2000 is about on-par with the Accord . in other words, it's cheap. compared to something like a WRX, it's DIRT cheap. i cross-shopped my accord with the S2000 and insurance was something i looked into.

as for the S2000 as a daily driver? well, if you literally never carry ANYTHING, and you never carry people, then sure. but otherwise, i think you may need to face the fact that this cannot be your only car. however, you might consider buying it in addition to a used Civic hatchback or something else that you could get cheap and use when you need extra space or seats, and still drive the S2000 most of the time.

i eventually decided that although the S2000 is amazing and easily as fun or more so than a 911 convertible, it was a poor financial decision for me to buy a weekend car at this point in my life. but one day there will be one in my driveway! one day!

where did you get that info? The fact that it is a convertable will jack up insurance.

BTW 2200/year is alot for insurance.

I'm 19 with a clean driving record and was quoted 1100 for the S2000. So yeah, about the same as an accord.

...on your parents insurance. That is not the same. Try having it quoted under your own policy with it being your only car.

He's 17. Why would he want to do that? Unless he lives on his own.

 

[Captante]

Fun car to drive & I wouldn't mind owning one as a toy, but theres no way I could live with it as a daily driver.

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: Cabages
Can I just ask, S2000's seem ridiculously expensive, is there some reason for this, or are they just price gouging you?

Expensive compared to what?

FYI, in terms of performance and driver feel, it's not in the Solstice/Miata class; it's in the Z4/SLK/Boxster class

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
Figured I'd be better off buying a nice lower mile miata for around $4k and super/turbo charging one to get the same kind of performance

The S2000's performance is about much more than its power

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82

Originally posted by: mariok2006

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Originally posted by: Naustica

How old are you? Insurance is very expensive on S2000.

no. insurance on the S2000 is about on-par with the Accord . in other words, it's cheap. compared to something like a WRX, it's DIRT cheap. i cross-shopped my accord with the S2000 and insurance was something i looked into.

as for the S2000 as a daily driver? well, if you literally never carry ANYTHING, and you never carry people, then sure. but otherwise, i think you may need to face the fact that this cannot be your only car. however, you might consider buying it in addition to a used Civic hatchback or something else that you could get cheap and use when you need extra space or seats, and still drive the S2000 most of the time.

i eventually decided that although the S2000 is amazing and easily as fun or more so than a 911 convertible, it was a poor financial decision for me to buy a weekend car at this point in my life. but one day there will be one in my driveway! one day!

where did you get that info? The fact that it is a convertable will jack up insurance.

BTW 2200/year is alot for insurance.

I'm 19 with a clean driving record and was quoted 1100 for the S2000. So yeah, about the same as an accord.

...on your parents insurance. That is not the same. Try having it quoted under your own policy with it being your only car.

I'm going to guess that at 17, he won't be paying for the insurance -- let alone the car -- himself.

That said, the MPG discussions are also sorta moot...

 

[Xyclone]

Originally posted by: sniperruff

Originally posted by: Xyclone

Originally posted by: sniperruff
i think the boxter would be a much better every-day driver than the S2000 from the same category.

I need something reliable, and under $25K used. The S2000 is on par with the Boxster S, not the Boxster.

just $1k over-budget... you can easily find something cheaper locally.

A simple Google search reveals that it's a very expensive car to maintain (the parts and service are really expensive). Even if I install the parts myself, I still have to buy the parts.

 

[Xyclone]

Originally posted by: mariok2006

Originally posted by: iamwiz82

Originally posted by: mariok2006

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Originally posted by: Naustica

How old are you? Insurance is very expensive on S2000.

no. insurance on the S2000 is about on-par with the Accord . in other words, it's cheap. compared to something like a WRX, it's DIRT cheap. i cross-shopped my accord with the S2000 and insurance was something i looked into.

as for the S2000 as a daily driver? well, if you literally never carry ANYTHING, and you never carry people, then sure. but otherwise, i think you may need to face the fact that this cannot be your only car. however, you might consider buying it in addition to a used Civic hatchback or something else that you could get cheap and use when you need extra space or seats, and still drive the S2000 most of the time.

i eventually decided that although the S2000 is amazing and easily as fun or more so than a 911 convertible, it was a poor financial decision for me to buy a weekend car at this point in my life. but one day there will be one in my driveway! one day!

where did you get that info? The fact that it is a convertable will jack up insurance.

BTW 2200/year is alot for insurance.

I'm 19 with a clean driving record and was quoted 1100 for the S2000. So yeah, about the same as an accord.

...on your parents insurance. That is not the same. Try having it quoted under your own policy with it being your only car.

He's 17. Why would he want to do that? Unless he lives on his own.

I live with my parents, and I'll be under their insurance.

 

[overst33r]

Originally posted by: Xyclone

Originally posted by: mariok2006

Originally posted by: iamwiz82

Originally posted by: mariok2006

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Originally posted by: Naustica

How old are you? Insurance is very expensive on S2000.

no. insurance on the S2000 is about on-par with the Accord . in other words, it's cheap. compared to something like a WRX, it's DIRT cheap. i cross-shopped my accord with the S2000 and insurance was something i looked into.

as for the S2000 as a daily driver? well, if you literally never carry ANYTHING, and you never carry people, then sure. but otherwise, i think you may need to face the fact that this cannot be your only car. however, you might consider buying it in addition to a used Civic hatchback or something else that you could get cheap and use when you need extra space or seats, and still drive the S2000 most of the time.

i eventually decided that although the S2000 is amazing and easily as fun or more so than a 911 convertible, it was a poor financial decision for me to buy a weekend car at this point in my life. but one day there will be one in my driveway! one day!

where did you get that info? The fact that it is a convertable will jack up insurance.

BTW 2200/year is alot for insurance.

I'm 19 with a clean driving record and was quoted 1100 for the S2000. So yeah, about the same as an accord.

...on your parents insurance. That is not the same. Try having it quoted under your own policy with it being your only car.

He's 17. Why would he want to do that? Unless he lives on his own.

I live with my parents, and I'll be under their insurance.

I thought so, that means your insurance should be in the $1400 area

 

[thedarkwolf]

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
Figured I'd be better off buying a nice lower mile miata for around $4k and super/turbo charging one to get the same kind of performance

The S2000's performance is about much more than its power

Like what handling and braking? Yeah miatas sure do suck there. The s2000 looks better/manlier then the old 97- miatas but the 99+ ones come fairly close in manly looks and still aren't expensive. Sure I can't rev to 9k rpms but who give crap as long as I still make the same power and have decent power band.

 

[isekii]

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
Figured I'd be better off buying a nice lower mile miata for around $4k and super/turbo charging one to get the same kind of performance

The S2000's performance is about much more than its power

Like what handling and braking? Yeah miatas sure do suck there. The s2000 looks better/manlier then the old 97- miatas but the 99+ ones come fairly close in manly looks and still aren't expensive. Sure I can't rev to 9k rpms but who give crap as long as I still make the same power and have decent power band.

MazdaSpeed Miata looks hot! Turbo, agressive looks, the works, but even used is the same price as the used S2k or more

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

With all due respect, IMO your parents are crazy to even consider buying you an S2000 at your age.

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
Figured I'd be better off buying a nice lower mile miata for around $4k and super/turbo charging one to get the same kind of performance

The S2000's performance is about much more than its power

Like what handling and braking? Yeah miatas sure do suck there. The s2000 looks better/manlier then the old 97- miatas but the 99+ ones come fairly close in manly looks and still aren't expensive. Sure I can't rev to 9k rpms but who give crap as long as I still make the same power and have decent power band.

Hmmm...I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic, but I never said Miatas suck. I think 1st-gen Miatas are probably the best bargain out there in terms of fun-to-drive, reliable cars.

However, the Miata is not in the same class as the S2000.

 

[thedarkwolf]

The 2 seater convertible sports car class? The s2000 is a higher end one but I wouldn't say they are that far apart as far as class goes.

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
The 2 seater convertible sports car class? The s2000 is a higher end one but I wouldn't say they are that far apart as far as class goes.

Heh. There's lots more to it than that. Roadsters are a subclass of convertibles. Within roadsters, you have standard, premium, luxury, exotic, and so forth...

Standard: Miata, Solstice
Premium: SLK, S2000 et al
Luxury: SL...
Exotic: SLR...

Of course, it gets hazy in spots, but based on price, purpose, performance, and so forth, the Miata and S2000 aren't in the same class.

 

[thedarkwolf]

I get that but the s2000 is at the bottom of the premium class and the miata/solstice can be configured to the upper end of the standard class. Of coarse some of that just opinion.

Miata/solstice $20k-$30k
S2000 is $34k and doesn't look like you have many options to push it much higher
SLK is $43-$62k

The miata is a lot more common of coarse but that has its positives and negatives.

 

[Xyclone]

Originally posted by: mariok2006

Originally posted by: Xyclone

Originally posted by: mariok2006

Originally posted by: iamwiz82

Originally posted by: mariok2006

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Originally posted by: Naustica

How old are you? Insurance is very expensive on S2000.

no. insurance on the S2000 is about on-par with the Accord . in other words, it's cheap. compared to something like a WRX, it's DIRT cheap. i cross-shopped my accord with the S2000 and insurance was something i looked into.

as for the S2000 as a daily driver? well, if you literally never carry ANYTHING, and you never carry people, then sure. but otherwise, i think you may need to face the fact that this cannot be your only car. however, you might consider buying it in addition to a used Civic hatchback or something else that you could get cheap and use when you need extra space or seats, and still drive the S2000 most of the time.

i eventually decided that although the S2000 is amazing and easily as fun or more so than a 911 convertible, it was a poor financial decision for me to buy a weekend car at this point in my life. but one day there will be one in my driveway! one day!

where did you get that info? The fact that it is a convertable will jack up insurance.

BTW 2200/year is alot for insurance.

I'm 19 with a clean driving record and was quoted 1100 for the S2000. So yeah, about the same as an accord.

...on your parents insurance. That is not the same. Try having it quoted under your own policy with it being your only car.

He's 17. Why would he want to do that? Unless he lives on his own.

I live with my parents, and I'll be under their insurance.

I thought so, that means your insurance should be in the $1400 area

That's not bad at all. My parents pay about $1200 a year for my 2003 Toyota Tundra to insure me. Maybe our insurance company is screwing us?

 

[Xyclone]

Originally posted by: DonVito
With all due respect, IMO your parents are crazy to even consider buying you an S2000 at your age.

I never said "S2000" to them, just "two-seater convertible," and my mom said it's a good choice and that practicality is not important at my age. But, when I first started driving they were paranoid and made me drive my dad's Tundra (full size pickup) for protection against So Cal's SUV predominance. I was actually very surprised at her reaction to me asking about the sports car. They probably think I am experienced enough to handle a fast car, but I don't want them to start thinking of an SUV rear ending a small car like the S2000. That would totally kill the whole plan/idea.

Anyways, the AP1 generation of S2000's (MY2000-2003) were known to come with no factory understeer or oversteer, so losing control would mean big, big trouble. The AP2 (MY2004-present), however, come with some precautions, so losing control would probably result in a spinout, or 180 degree turn instead of sliding off the freeway or smashing into the center divider.