is a 1989 honda prelude with 174x km's with the timing belt, water pump, battery changed, rust thats not even visible yet worth it for 1900? or is it better to do a trade for a 1999 honda civic sedan (5speed) with 183xx (timing belt and water pump not changed)
Are you planning to upgrade your car? If so the civic has more stuff than the prelude.1900$ for a clean prelude with those miles ain't bad but i'd offer 1500$ and meet the seller in the middle, say no higher 1700$, and you would have a good deal on that one.
sorry i meant that i have a 1999 honda civic with 183xx km's (miles=113 miles) that i would want to trade for the prelude. what stuff extra does the civic have over the prelude?
You'll have to do maintenance on any honda thats more than 10 yrs old...just make sure you keep track of all of it. my lude has been the best. But when compared to a newer, more supported, 4 door civic, its impractical. Having said that, the lude is worth all of it and i would never trade it for a civic
A 25 year old car is probably not for you if you aren't willing to get your hands dirty. Part of the pleasure of owning a 3rd gen (for me) is that I really enjoy working on it. It's like therapy for me. Even so, I rarely ever have to do a repair on it. In fact, the last repair I had to do was replace the rear brake calipers 2 years ago. Most of the work I do on my car is maintenance or upgrades. As with any car, proper routine maintenance is the key to helping avoid the need to make repairs later. But, again like any other kind of car, things can and will fail.
The thing you should be looking at is that you have a car that is 10 years newer than the Prelude you are looking at. You compare any two cars that are 10 years apart in age, and the newer one will obviously require less attention than the older one. If you're looking for a car that you won't have to work on, then don't buy any car that's 25 years old.
i don't mind working on it but i really like the look and design of the 3rd gen which is why i want to trade for it…. would i be able to get more if i just sold my civic outright and used the cash to buy it?
could possibly get a decent price for your civic, its ultimately your call, look through our FAQ and you can see common problems with the 3rd gen, oddball tools you may need, all performance upgrades, check out prelude3g.com also.
If you do a lot of highway driving...be warned that the 3rd gen preludes have a high (numerically) final drive ratio. You will need 4,000 rpms to cruise at 80 mph.
Use your judgement, we can't tell you which car you should buy by the number of miles on the chassis and whether or not the timing belt has been changed. Do you have pics?
I've never regretted buying a Prelude other than the occasional wish for RWD. What I do regret is buying one with body damage, half-assed repairs by the previous owner, and neglected suspension. Maintenance is so important.
I have had to ride my bike to work a few days due to burst coolant hoses, dead alternator, stuff like that, you just have to know what you're getting into when you buy an older car for a daily driver.
This was Honda's flagship model at the time and it's a very good car in its own unique way.
^ lol you gonna start listing every single detail that COULD go wrong with his car?
the main point is the Prelude has limited resources for Parts. many parts are discontinued from Honda themselves so you have to rely on aftermarket replication and for those only the incredibly necessary to functionality parts are replicated (things for clutch/brakes/suspension/engine... ) NOTHING for the body (inside or out) can be sourced new, a junkyard is your only way and good luck finding a prelude in a junkyard that still has all it's parts lol.
So if you're ready to put some effort into a car then get the prelude cus it's loads of fun to drive.
My 78 Chevy truck is 36 years old. It runs as well as my lude, it'll go just about anywhere I want to go, and I can pull just about anything I want with it. Honda's have a good reputation, but just like any other type of car, if it's maintained well it will last a long time.
go online kbb.com or nadaguides.com and appraise the civic. If you can sell the civic and get more than 1900 then do that and talk the guy down a little then you have some cash for any surprises that you may find.
"If you are looking for a daily driver I would stay away. Most suspension bushing will need to be replaced. The rear swaybar links are broken. The exhaust manifold gaskets will need to be replaced as they are leaking. It needs a valve lash adjustment. Overall the car is in okay shape but it does need work. One thing it has going for it is mint interior. If you are looking for something to build over a period of time this is the car for you as it can be very nice with time and money"
I mentioned this to the seller and he obviously got pissed off about it lol and he said he would safety the car for me before doing the trade. should i just stay away… does safety look at those things even?
so an update on the situation…. i posted this question in my local prelude forum called Toronto Prelude Club (http://www.hondaprelude.to/forums/sh...-honda-prelude) and one of the members actually went and checked out the car and had this to say about it.
"If you are looking for a daily driver I would stay away. Most suspension bushing will need to be replaced. The rear swaybar links are broken. The exhaust manifold gaskets will need to be replaced as they are leaking. It needs a valve lash adjustment. Overall the car is in okay shape but it does need work. One thing it has going for it is mint interior. If you are looking for something to build over a period of time this is the car for you as it can be very nice with time and money"
I mentioned this to the seller and he obviously got pissed off about it lol and he said he would safety the car for me before doing the trade. should i just stay away… does safety look at those things even?
^Sorry for pissing him off. Was just trying to help you out. With some work and money the car could be a real looker. But the key thing is money and how much you are willing to spend.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Honda Prelude Forum
2.9M posts
61.1K members
Since 2002
A forum community dedicated to Honda Prelude owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, engine builds, troubleshooting, maintenance, VTEC, and more!