[Sam91]

Well I just got done adding up all the receipts that the PO of my Prelude spent on it. The total comes out too: $15,982.52. That is insane! The time period is 1994-2021. And none of these were performance or aftermarket parts. They were just parts to make it reliable and to drive good. I bet not many of you guys have spent that much money on your lude. My car has 183,000 miles on it. I think it has had around 3 exhaust put on it, 5-6 alternators in 2 years, and all sorts of stuff done to it.

 

[Stub]

$16k over 27 years is about $600/yr. You would have spent less if you owned a Civic, but that's inexpensive. For comparison, the average car payment for 2022 is $7800/yr for a new car and $5400/yr for a used car.

I haven't beaten that figure (yet ) but I haven't owned a Prelude for that long.

 

[Sam91]

$16k over 27 years is about $600/yr. You would have spent less if you owned a Civic, but that's inexpensive. For comparison, the average car payment for 2022 is $7800/yr for a new car and $5400/yr for a used car.

I haven't beaten that figure (yet ) but I haven't owned a Prelude for that long.

Yeah I guess $600 a year sounds a lot better.

 

[Wing8806]

You'd be surprised at how much some of us have put into these cars over the years. Most (like myself) don't want to consider the exact amount.... but man do I have an idea and it's not pretty.


The way I see it, if you enjoy the car, the cost isn't a concern.

 

[Sam91]

You'd be surprised at how much some of us have put into these cars over the years. Most (like myself) don't want to consider the exact amount.... but man do I have an idea and it's not pretty.


The way I see it, if you enjoy the car, the cost isn't a concern.

Yeah you are right. For my opel gts I keep putting money in them, but then again they have been abandoned for 20 years. But man do I like them. Same with my lude. I am planning on keeping it forever and maybe engine swapping it way in the future.

 

[MommysLittleMonster]

The last time I tallied up the receipts for my car, I got to the $8,000 mark and then stopped counting. That was 7 years ago, and I've owned my 5th Gen for 15 years.

Ignorance is bliss.

 

[geonit]

All pretty sad I must say. Owned my base prelude since 2010. Had 100K roughly 235K now. The most I spent was to overhaul the engine 1600. Brand new wheels and tires 1100. Regular maintenance maybe 200 a year. Total $5,100.00. After the engine was overhaul brand new Lude. You have to change rings. Oh I did put in Yonaka Coilovers 500. Still worth it. The car used cost 10K.

 

[stereo]

I lost track on my 86si bought in 91 it's got over 500k with timing belts due @60k and high cost of California being reliable enough for a daily driver is expensive and the mods like S2k cluster swap does add up!

 

[ttcheung97]

I bought my non-running '91 Si in January 2020 for $1000. Three years later, my tally (excluding the car and cross-country transport) is around $3k. I've put in a new head gasket, resurfaced the head, new hoses, new seals around, new plugs, new shocks / springs, new tires, new radio speakers, new radiator, replacement alternator, VSS, IACV, OEM JDM lip, and probably some other tidbits. Obviously not a year-round car, but it will see mileage during non-winter months.

 

[Indaba7]

Any idea as to why the alternater keeps breaking?

 

[ttcheung97]

My guess is it's just a wear item that's seen over 30 years of abuse. Rotors and stators are inevitably going to wear out.

 

[Sam91]

Any idea as to why the alternater keeps breaking?

The battery kept on dying. I think it was because she wasn’t closing the drivers door all the way. You really have to slam it and it is heavy. She was in her 70s when this happened. And I am guessing the shops knew that she would keep on spending money and they just kept buying alternators for it. Before I bought it she would start it up every morning so the battery wouldn’t die. Well that was because she didn’t close the door all the way.

 

[Sam91]

My guess is it's just a wear item that's seen over 30 years of abuse. Rotors and stators are inevitably going to wear out.

Yeah but 5-6 alternators in a 2 year time frame is pretty crazy!

 

[Faulcun]

im not trying to compete for any rewards or anything... theres probably a few guys here who will outbid me, but my story is a little more rough.

I purchased my SH for about $9k.
I put slightly more than $20k in parts (upgrades and performance) in the car.
Car was stolen and recovered in 2009, nothing left but a chassis.
Insurance paid back $11k (felt like getting stole from twice)
spent $9k fixing the body and paint (still not totally finished actually)
Another $10k in suspension and parts to make it a rolling chassis again
$12k having a new motor built and sleeved.... again

So im around $50k in a car thats nothing more than a glorified painted rolling chassis atm.