Dependable Sport Car With Japan Quality
I bought a used 92 Prelude 2.3 L 4WS in 2005 with 172,000 km, and drove it for 8 years to 255,000 km (5,000 km per year but some extra due to job). Well, it was a 13 year old car when I bought it, and it is 21 year old this year and still running.
Due to the old age, I spent $500 - $1,200 to keep it running. Some of them are preventive maintenance, e.g. brake rotor, radiator, water pump, timing belt, air cond dryer, wheel bearing, rusted muffler, rusted exhaust pipe. All of these are standard repair for cars more than 7 yr old, so I consider it as "regular maintenance"
There are common known issue specific to Prelude:
1. Cold solder for ABS controller causing 4WS warning light on
2. Cold solder in air condition on/off board causing intermittent air cond blowing warm air (turn off cold air cond mode)
3. Cold solder in main fuel injection relay under steering wheel causing intermittent startup problem, or auto shutdown
In addition, it has common known problem to Honda cars:
1. Rear wheel well easier to get rusted after 10 years. Replacing the metal body panel (cut) still will rust after 3 years
2. hunting idle due to Fast Idle Control Valve - I just adjust the plastic cap in MSF (http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=1564019)
3. power antenna failure - I just disconnect the power to it and let it always up
4. Dirty EGR port (not the valve) and trigger check engine light - clean it up
5. ABS wheel speed sensor replace every 7 yrs - for all 4 wheels
I wax it almost monthly to keep the paint intact. At 21 year old, the original paint is still shiny after wax (previous 2 owners garage keep it, so the original paint was excellent at 12 yr old when I bought it).
I love the exterior design of this car. It looks sporty and never feel the design is obsolete even at 21 yr old.
Trunk pass through is very small with flip down passenger side rear seat. Some times I really need a longer trunk, so this is a big minus for me