okay, so i found a 01 prelude for sale and the guy will take 6500$ for it, its in like great condition... but the guy told us and its on carfax that the car has water damage. they said that water got up in the intake and it wouldnt run... BUT they got a new motor and put that in... and it might have gotten in the interior but they said that it could mold or whatever but, if so cant you just replace the like carpet and seats and door pannels? what about the wireing and all that fun stuff... but im just curious weather its worth it or not? has anyone else car on here had water damage and they were fine or did you replace most of the interior.. and wires and such. HELP !!


Modified by kerrisaysss at 11:12 AM 8/13/2008

 

keep looking, you should be able to find 5th gen preludes for around that same price that do not have damage of any kind

 

yea you can never be to careful when buying a car with water damage...it will probably turn out to be more of a headache than anything else

 

its water.. find out where it was flooded. salt water = walk away. fresh water = fine. if the motors been replaced and he can prove it, theres no reason why anything would be wrong. at most, when u get it.. pop off all the interior panels to bare chassis and give it a good wash + dry. same for trunk.

and lowball the guy and say even though the cars been restored, its not worth 6500 cuz u can get a clean one for that much with no incidents on record.

 

well we went back up and looked at the car today and like looked all in the engine bay, looked in the trunk looked under the backseats and in the air vents (in case the water got up in there and molded) and under some of the carpet, all was clean and good. we're going back up tomorrow to put it on the lift and look at like the brakes, roters, and brake wires and all that stuff under it to see if anything looks funny. but everything else looks good. but i dont think it was salt water... but thanks for the info guys !!

 

haha inspecting brakes? c'mon u can change those out for cheap

 

well yeah thats what im saying. haha, but its not really ME doing, its more like my parents doing it which is really lame bc theyre like flippin out bc it has "water damage" but i think the car is perfectly fine, to be honest.

 

Its actually a good idea, since water can get in everywhere!!! The ecu could be going bad, wiring can corrode from the ends in and cause huge issues etc. Personally I would walk away and find another car.

 

Get an actual mechanic (3rd party) to look at it indepth. Unless you and your parents know alot about a honda, than I'd atleast get a few pointers off people from H-T on to what to look for in a 5th gen.

The sound will almost tell you everything Listen to how it runs. Watch it idle. Make sure it idles around 750 evenly and steadily. Than take her out for a couple WOTs and make sure it hits vtec properly (if its vtec). Check oil, make sure its almost translucent (not dark or black). Check all fluid levels at that. If its stick, make sure there are no grinds. If its auto, don't buy it period. Their trannies suck *** (typically). Search for more. There's lots of good info regarding what honda's are going to be lemon's.

My personal opinion is your 01 honda is over priced considering. You could get a mint prelude same year, without water damage for similar price. I would look around and wait if you have to. Or you could buy a 4th gen for probably 3 grand and put 3,000 into fixing it up.

OBD1 setups are in my opinion the easiest to work with and I'm sure you, me, and everybody else knows that they did build things better back even in the 90's when it came to Honda cars.

My 4th gen is 15 years old (second motor after 180,000 kms due to a harmonic balancer shearing off the keyway in the crank) but even to this day how many 5th gens will last 15 years basically only going through 1 motor. All I've done aside from regular maintanance and 1 motor drop is one radiator, 1 set of rear calipers, 1 set of clutch components, and 1 fly wheel. I've had the car for about 160,000, and only sunk about what... 3000 or so?

Good luck though, and don't rush into anything. Don't bother with power train warrenties if the motor sounds like its in good shape and tranny works properly without grinds. The power train warrenty (if its offered) is the biggest waste of money period. But I guess if the motor and tranny didn't run properly you wouldn't buy it nor need the warenty

P.S. you better boost whatever lude you get though either way. Nothings more sexier than a chick in a turob'ed prelude

 

okay well turns out, the only problem with it, was that the guy that had it before went over like a huuuge water hole and water got up in the intake which was aftermarket so it was like close to the ground and water got up in that and it got in the engine, so there really isnt any water damage at all, and they replaced the motor so its brand new. so its all good. but thanks for the help guys !! im sure ill be back on here some more when i get ittt !

 

thats what i figured would be the worst to come as long as it was fresh water. good luck, read the FAQ's when u have the time.

 

yeahh but everythings all good and thanks

 

doesn't mean you shouldn't read.

be prepaired. Lots of things are gonna go wrong lol

 

yeah, I would walk away from that car. Well see you back here within the next few months asking for help with you car haveing problems... Water damage sucks because it is super hard to track the problem, after you get one.

 

yeah, ah well. we warned her

typical women, won't listen to men

Why would anybody wanna drown their prelude anyway? Thats not coo!

 

haha well thanks for the info and tips guys but the cars fine. it wasnt water damage in the actual car. it just got in the intake bc the dude had an after market intake and water got up in that and messed up the engine, but they replaced the motor and its got a new one in it. so its all good.