Owners have filed 84 complaints on the Honda S2000, covering 2000–2008. The system named most often is Engine And Engine Cooling (13 reports). Worst years by volume: 2000, 2005, 2001; cleanest: 2004, 2007, 2008. 12 reports describe a crash, 4 a fire. On average the car was 4.8 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Honda S2000
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 84 S2000 complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine And Engine Cooling 13 Read
I purchased a new 2005 honda s2000 in august of 2005. I drove the car summers until august 2009 accumulating 13,700 miles. The car was serviced exclusively at porter honda in cambridge, massachusetts. On august 28, 2009 the vehicle caught fire as I was driving it near my home in watertown, massachusetts. Flames…
When car was 8 months old with about 25,000 miles on it, it began stalling. Only premium shell gasoline was ever put in this car. Injector cleaner was put in a few times with no results. Car was taken into one dealership to be told first that "she must not be pushing the clutch in all the way" at which time they did…
Engine siezed, honda refuses to honor warranty. Alternately claims low oil which is incorrect, and no oil light was indicated, or aftermarket air intake system in clear violation of magunusson - moss. Escalation to honda hq has resulted in no response.*ak safety issue: if this had occured at highway speed, the rear…
Power Train 11 Read
I had my master cylinder replaced when my car was at 40,000 miles in the clutch. Now at 68,777 miles the clutch has something wrong but still shifts into gear at this point. Now they are guessing that the clutch fork is wearing out which is over $2,000.00 to replace. I was also told by another mechanic that my master…
My car pops out of 6th gear intermittently + times in 3700mi. When brought to dealer they couldn't mimic problem. Dealer told me to wait till problem gets worse or breaks. This doesn't seem right
Gears grind from 1st to 2nd at any speed. Though this is not happening to all honda s2000's american honda insists that it is a "characteristic of the car" and will not repair the synchros. Probably because it is an 8 hr process
Exterior Lighting 8 Read
The contact stated while driving 65mph flames erupted from the hood area of the vehicle. The fire started without warning. The fire and police department filed a report at the scene. The vehicle was towed to the dealership where it currently remains. The insurance company inspector determined the fire began in the…
The plastic rear window on the convertible top wrinkles and creases when the top is lowered. This causes a safety hazard in that car headlights are distorted during nighttime driving. The distortion causes the headligths to show an unknown number of vehicles in back of you. It could be only one, but appears to be many…
I am the original owner of a 2000 honda s2000...this past month I replaced the headlight assemblies for both headlights because the plastic shields which protect the lights had deteriorated so much that virtually no light was emitting from the headlights and the part which was the problem (the plastic lens cover or…
Air Bags 7 Read
The contact owns a 2006 honda s2000. While driving approximately 20 mph, the contact swerved to avoid a deer and crashed into a tree. The front air bags failed to deploy. The insurance company stated that the vehicle must be traveling at 35 mph for the front air bags to deploy. The contact sustained injuries to his…
The contact owns a 2002 honda s2000. The contact stated he lost control of the vehicle while driving at approximate speeds of 50 mph around a curve. The rear tires would not grip the roadway and caused the vehicle to drive off the road into a nearby forest. The vehicle crashed with an unknown object and the contact…
While driving at higher than prescribed highway speed another car cut in front. Honda either swerved to miss the car, or the other vehicle left the road, and then came back and hit the honda. Honda was airbourne and hit another vehicle traveling in the opposite direction. Upon impact, neither airbag deployed. Consumer…
Visibility 7 Read
I have a 2001 honda s2000, which has just 30,000 miles on it and came with a plastic rear window. I am the original owner. About a year ago, the rear window began to develop pock marks and it became so bad that it is now impossible to see out the back. The car been maintained well and I was informed by the car wash…
The vehicles rear window is made of plastic which made it impossible for the consumer to see out of the rear window. *ak *cb
I own a 2000 honda s2000 convertible. Since I purchased the vehicle, the rear window has steadily clouded to the point that I can no longer see through it. My local honda dealer (jones honda, 1335 manheim pike, lancaster, pa 17603 717-394-0711) tells me the entire roof would need to be replaced in order to replace the…
Steering 6 Read
The contact stated the steering column locked causing an accident. Prior to the accident the steering column locked twice for about three seconds each time. Three minutes later, while entering a curve, the steering column locked and the contact lost control of the vehicle, and it hit a concrete barricade on the left…
I was driving my 2001 honda s2000 to work like any other normal day. I got on the on ramp to the freeway and at the end of the ramp I was up to highway speeds and suddenly the car began to spin I tried to counter steer into the slide to no avail. The car spun around violently crossing three lanes of traffic and ended…
While driving my s2000 and turning on curvy roads the vehicle would not turn correctly and ended up in a field to the side of the road. We noticed the upper control arm spot weld broke free meaning the upper suspension mount was not connected and caused the incident. Honda knows it's an issue with 2000-2003 model year…
Structure 6 Read
The convertible top on my honda s2000 has ripped for the second time. The first time the top was replaced under warranty. Under independent examination the top was found to have an engineering defect where the fabric top rubs against a sharp metal component of the top frame causing a tear
The contact owns a 2006 honda s2000. The contact stated that the metal link on the convertible top was placed directly over his skull. In the event of a crash, his head would strike the metal link and cause injuries. The manufacturer advised the contact to take the vehicle to the dealer to check if the issue was due…
Honda s2000 soft top tears due to frame rubbing against vinyl. Honda has not admitted to this being and issue, although there are many people that have had there cars fixed a part of warranty
Seat Belts 4 Read
The seat belts have never retracted properly. Over the years they have become much worse. This is a huge safety concern
Recall 00V016000. The parts are not available
NHTSA recall 00V016000 and manufacturer's recall 00V016000/ seat belt retractor. No parts were available. Dealer is having a hard time getting the parts from manufacturer
S2000 years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Engine | — | — | |
| 2007 | Fuel System, Gasoline | 1 | — | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | 2 | 1 | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 2 | 2 | |
| 2004 | Power Train | — | — | |
| 2003 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 1 | — | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 2001 | Electrical System | 1 | 1 | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 3 | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 53 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.6 |
| Worst single series | 6 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.8 years |
A model average of 1.6 hides a worst series at 6. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the S2000?
By complaint volume, 2000, 2005, 2001 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which S2000 years are the cleanest?
2004, 2007, 2008 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Honda S2000 have?
84 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2000–2008. Of those, 12 describe a crash and 4 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.