Hello everybody, I am going to be buying a 5th gen Prelude within the next month and had some questions that I would like some help with. My dad will be there with me when I look at the cars and we both work on our cars but we're getting into a realm of technology that neither of us have much experience with.
Cars I'm looking at have between 69,000 and 89,000 miles on them.
Questions:
1st: I have never owned a sports car of any kind in my life, and my dad never had anything other than a Mustang, so my question is what should I look for, in terms of problems, regarding VTEC. I know how it works but I've never actually seen a VTEC engine in real life so any pointers as to problems that could be noticed from a quick general inspection.
2nd: Anything that you have experienced problems with at the millage indicated above.

Thanks to whoever would help me out.

 

Yes - I'm also in the market for a OEM Gen5 Prelude either Base or SH.

I'm aware of the technical differences between the 2. Is there any caveats about the ATTS on the SH going out on a OEM car?

I must say it's quite hard to find an OEM G5 Prelude.

Any hints!?

 

A prelude will be a typical Honda, so just check normal things. Check compression, look for oil leaks in the engine bay & underneath car. Make sure that the belts/maintanace have been kept up with, etc.

 

drive it and rev over 5200 rpm's. if the HP jumps when the rpm's hit 5200 then vtec works. if power falls off up top, then its not working. You should be more concerned with general car problems than vtec though. Like the motor burning oil, check engine light, bogging, look for signs of body work or frame damage, etc. Vtec is much easier to troubleshoot and fix than any of those.

 

because no one has said it yet but if you are going to buy a daily driver and not mod it very much buy a sh but if you want a mod able car buy the base way more options and the atts (active torque transfer system) does not get in the way because it does not have one. watch out for mods already done to the car ex. turbo, nos, supercharger stuff of that nature because you don't know who installed them and they can mess the engine up quick. the one thing that i notested when look for a car don't be caught buy the riced once the look good or ok sometimes but they hide the problems of the car.

ps do not buy a auto they are no good in the 5th gens not sure of the other gens

hope this helps alittle

 

Do people have opinions on the long-term reliability of the Type-SH with high-mileage? Does the ATTS unit fail or have an "expiration" date?

I'm looking for a daily driver (OEM, No mods) - so I'm debating between the SH and the Base. I like how the SH looks w/ the trim and wheels - and ATTS is really only used when pushing the car to the extreme.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Omi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hello everybody, I am going to be buying a 5th gen Prelude within the next month and had some questions that I would like some help with. My dad will be there with me when I look at the cars and we both work on our cars but we're getting into a realm of technology that neither of us have much experience with.
Cars I'm looking at have between 69,000 and 89,000 miles on them.
Questions:
1st: I have never owned a sports car of any kind in my life, and my dad never had anything other than a Mustang, so my question is what should I look for, in terms of problems, regarding VTEC. I know how it works but I've never actually seen a VTEC engine in real life so any pointers as to problems that could be noticed from a quick general inspection.
2nd: Anything that you have experienced problems with at the millage indicated above.

Thanks to whoever would help me out.</TD></TR></TABLE>

What others have said are good things to check... (VTEC engaging, check for leaks, don't get an auto).
I will add that if you get a car with 90k-105k miles make sure the timing belt has been changed, or bargain with them on price. This service HAS TO BE DONE, b/c is the belt breaks it going to do some damage. Just wanted to let you know since your new to the honda world... keep up with the timing belt.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tommyd &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Do people have opinions on the long-term reliability of the Type-SH with high-mileage? Does the ATTS unit fail or have an "expiration" date?

I'm looking for a daily driver (OEM, No mods) - so I'm debating between the SH and the Base. I like how the SH looks w/ the trim and wheels - and ATTS is really only used when pushing the car to the extreme. </TD></TR></TABLE>

ATTS is a pretty reliable system. i don't hear about alot of people's ATTS's crapping out on them. In fact, i can't think of anyone's failing.

the ATTS stops working once you're making a certain amount of hp though, and it becomes dead weight, but that's pretty far down the line, like 275 whp.