I'm looking to buy a 5th gen Prelude, and have found a really nice '97 SH that's caught my eye. I'm hesitant though, as I seem to recall there being some minor problems with the 97's (and maybe even 98's?) that weren't ironed out until the later years. Someone was telling me that the paint was more prone to flaking, but I'm not sure if that's true or not.

At any rate, if I'm able to get a '97 with low mileage and a decent price, do you think I should go for that, or opt for a more expensive model later on in the generation? Reliability is a big factor for me.

Thanks guys. Any other random buying tips about this car would be great too.

 

Just stay away from the automatics and you'll be fine. If you plan on big power down the road, don't get the SH.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by McLude2nR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just stay away from the automatics and you'll be fine. If you plan on big power down the road, don't get the SH.</TD></TR></TABLE>

x2. Make sure the car was well maintained, also.

 

I bought my 97 SH with 128000 miles on it, haven't had a single problem so far at 140000 miles. Just make it was well mantained like said above.

 

I'm looking at BB6's as my first car...
If I end up getting a BB6, SH or base?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ECX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm looking at BB6's as my first car...
If I end up getting a BB6, SH or base?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Base if you want to build it heavily, as in high horsepower and torque.
SH if you aren't planning to build it up extensively in terms of horsepower.

Make sure to get a stick shift if you get a Base, because the auto trannys are known to fail.

 

I bought a 97 sh last summer with 93k. It has had a lot of problems but it was also not well kept by past owners. The clear coat is flaking around the gas door, there is a minor leak that builds up water in the spare tire well and there is a small amount of rust on the rear wheel wells. I replaced a lot of parts but it is a ten year old car so what can you expect. Plus a lof of parts are covered under a super long warranty on the 97 models, look into it because honda charged me $250 for something that was under warranty. I went to them and they refunded me once I found that info out. Besides that man get a lude I love mine to death. Make sure you get a clean one that was well taken care of though, learn from my mistake.

 

I bought my 97 SH back in 2003 with 85000 miles on it and now it has 148000. The only major thing I changed was the clutch. Other than that its been all normal maintanence. (tires, brakes, oil, etc)

So like, everybody has stated just fine a well maintained prelude and you will be fine.

good luck

 

Where can you find out about this long warrantys on the 97's ?