i have been looking for a 5th gen for a while now and have seen nothing but bad
deals.

well, now ive found a 97 base for only $10,995, looks great and runs great,

BUT with damn near 100k miles on the clock.
what do you guys think?
thanks.

 

Compression check, check all of the cv boots and suspension components for excessive wear, check the brakes, low mileage cars are nice, but if they've been taken care of high mileage cars are fine. A good friend of mine has a GSR with 120,000 miles on it and he races it regularly, not to mention its getting a turbo this winter.

 

100k is a lot..

 

Leak down test is a must. I am at 91,000 miles and I am getting done today. You never know how someone broke the car in. If it dosen't do well on the leakdown test it just gives an excuse to put pistons and rods and do a port and polish job.

 

yeah, i figured i would need to do the tests.
im not really worried about it too much because it would probably
get bored and honed, and get a lot of crower goodies.

oh, yeah, what kind of transmission checks can i perform?
its a SS tranny.
thanks.

 

I retract my previous statement. Don't get an automatic for Pete's sake.

 

JUSt buy it NEW i see all kinds of close out deals for them!!! I dont have to worry about a leakdown test, since i got mine new

 

i want an automatic, i love the sportshift.
i had actually thought about a brand new one, but
the insurance would be too high.
thanks.

 

The Prelude SportShift tranny is notoriously unreliable. The 97-98 model year ss trannys have the worst track record of all. I've met people with under 40,000Mi on their Prelude that are on their 3rd SportShift tranny... One guy on another board has has his replaced twice under warranty.

If it were a 5sp manual I would jump on the deal. Due to the SportShit, I would pass.

Andrew

 

well, i have also heard that the prelude's automatics were shitty,
so i was going to get the Level Ten PTS for it to make it stronger.
i mean, the kit is only like $300 or so, so why not?
thanks.

 

Not to mention the fact that I've seen numerous 5G SS Ludes get beaten by stock Civic Si's.

 

Don't buy an automatic. If you plan on racing, 5spd is the way to go, besides, I've heard those trannys go out easy. Thats too much for an autmatic anyways with a 100K miles

 

i bought mine with 96K on it, for 12K it was an SH and was in perfect, flawless condition, not even a single ding r scratch inside and out, i feel i got an awesome deal!