JWaldz

I've got my eyes on a bone stock, unmolested, white 1999 Base with (unfortunately) automatic trans. Only has 135k on it. Comes new tires, wheels, brakes, radiator, engine and trans serviced, new engine seals and gaskets with 0 oil leaks, full complete tune up with all new factory parts and compression test show all cylinders within factory spec. Only thing he states is wrong with the car is an occasional hard(ish) start when cold due to the primary 02 sensor failing. I've got him down to 4k and plan on seeing it this weekend (08/23/14). Appears to be a sound car and carfax checks out fine. Been in south 95% of it's life. Spent a year in Illinois. I don't know the guy personally but I've been chatting with him a while and he doesn't seem to be bullshitting me.

Anyways, what should I look for? I've done the typical research and know most the complaints (found here). I know the auto trans are crap. Even '99+ (after fix) they still run a chance of failure. What should be my deciding factor even if I'm ok with all the above?

Plans for the car: Keeping it mostly stock. Needing a better gas mileage vehicle. May do some comfort mods like interior stuff and maybe a few exterior aesthetics. NOT going ricer with this. Will keep up with maintenance as much as I possibly can.. I'm a big gear head to begin with so I like to keep my vehicles tidy and running as good as possible.

Thanks for any tips.

-J

Chaos2003

Having owned a few Preludes, there are a few things you need to ask this guy before buying. Ask him if the transmission is original or has been replaced/fixed, usually once they go, they just fail and fail again. Also, ask how much oil it is burning. All H22s burn oil, some very little, some very much, but they all do so watch out for that. I don't know what car you are transitioning from but, the 5th Gen Preludes do take 91 Octane minimum and are not that frugal in the city (20-21MPG in pure city driving), highway is significantly better. Other than these problems, they are fine cars. There are some good headers out there now for them, and you can mate that to a nice custom 3" exhaust (your choice of muffler) and have a nice fun car.

JWaldz

Thanks Chaos.. I ended up buying the car from him on Saturday. It seemed like too nice of a car to pass up. The motor is spotless, freshly tuned and not a single drop of oil leaks. I mentioned that they like to use oil like a dump truck and he said he was familiar with that. He said it's had regular synthetic oil changes every 3k and was never charged for extra oil. I did not ask about the transmission but if it had a replaced trans and he knew about it, he would have told me. It has been serviced though, I guess just for preventative maintenance. The carfax shows great up keep with multiple recommended maintenance services . Had a 60k and 75k service. He was a very honest straight forward guy in a line of work that's very professional. Which is also what made me feel comfortable buying the car. I don't have huge plans for the car but we'll see. I don't want to get too crazy with it.

I just made a introduction post. You can see pics HERE if you'd like.