Hi all,

I am currently looking at this prelude. It has rust around the wheel wells in the back and some around the taillight. Not a tonne though, not as noticable as some cars I have seen.

Interior is in good shape, only thing that doesn't work for some reason is the speakers in the back. It seems that when I fade them to the back, all I get is the tweeters. So no bass. I have checked the fuses and such, all is good. Attached an external speaker to them and got the same result. Maybe it's the actual stereo that's the issue?

The car also has 220k on it.. it's 10 years old, so around 22k a year or so. Supposedly it's half highway, but you can't take their word for it. I was wondering what are your guy's thoughts? I would get it inspected soon, to check it mechanically. Clutch has never been replaced, and I would need tires right away. That acustic sound system from Honda, that's proprietary. If I go to a third party and put a new deck and speakers in it, is that going to cause me more greif and havoc later on? This is my first car purchase, he's asking roughly 6700 for the car.. I am being told my grandpa not to buy because of the rust and the high mileage.

Has anyone been in similar situation? Should the mileage and the rust bother me a ton on a 10 yr old car? Is he asking too much? book value is from 5900-8900 apparently from AMA.

Thanks for ur input.. buying a car is exciting but so much to consider.

 

Don't do it.

For the same price, you can get a Prelude with no rust, in perfect condition, and has had proper maintenance done. (I have no clue how he has 200k miles on the original clutch.)

Speakers: The deck is fubar or the wiring is loose/melted/cut. Installing aftermarket audio pieces into this car is cake.

Keep looking and listen to your grandfather.

 

Thank you for your reply. What can I expect to pay for a prelude in good condition these days. People are sellin them for like 10 grand. for like 01s. Is that acceptable? Or they are just markin it up more than they are actually worth?

 

First, only purchase from private sellers. Second, KBB will tell you the price you should pay. On average a good/excellent condition 5G lude will run you about 6-8k. You really shouldn't pay any more than that unless there's something special about the car.

 

I sold my 99 Prelude last year before I left for college for 8k, and it was mint with 57k miles on it. I would pass up the one you're looking at and look for a better deal, because they're definitely out there.

 

Thank you very much for your advice. I'll take your advice and reconsider the buy. Is there things in particular that I should watch out for with the Preludes in general?

I will try and buy a manual, avoiding the autos. Honda's are prone to rust, but apparently there are ludes out there that in fact don't have rust. I will have to look hard for them. From '99-'01, there is a massive price difference. I feel that a good price might be 8k or so, agreeing with everyone else. Pppl are trying to sell them for like 10.5-14k lol. Thanks for the advice and such.

 

if you could bring it down to around 5500, it would be worth it imo