Im about to buy a 00' Honda Prelude with 161K. Owner seems legit, and the car has been well cared for. My question to you guys, what should I be on the lookout for? He says he has all service records, and Im going to test drive the car today.

Other than the typical things you should be on the lookout for, is there anything specific for this year and model that I should be looking for?

 

Timing belt for sure and say something like- just run regular gas right, to make sure he's been running premium, that's what I did and the guy was like no man you got to run premium. 5speed Or automatic? Watch out for automatic

 

If it's an automatic...keep walking. The 5th generation Prelude (along with most Honda's around that time) has a faulty transmission, and they are not worth the investment vs. the cost down the road you'll end up having when it goes bad (and it will go bad).

Just look for the typical higher mileage maintenance as mentioned above (timing belt, clutch (possibly), etc). Might want to take a look at the A/C system and make sure it's still functioning (many times this is a nice way to get some cash off if the thing needs a charge or whatever). Check for oil changes and asked how much oil he's burning in between changes...these cars burn a good bit of oil at higher mileage so that will give you a nice indication about how familiar he is with the car.

Good luck!