I've been looking damn near forever for a prelude and finally found one without a hundred zillion miles. In fact the lude I'm looking/drooling at has only 94,000 miles!!! It is a midnight blue 1994 prelude Si, its got alloy wheels, H23, 6 disc CD changer, and two dents, one a quarter size in the hood and a little larger one on the drivers front fender. The wheels are not chipped/scuffed at all. The interior is THE cleanest I've ever seen, except for a small stain on the driver's seat. The engine has no oil on it, no leaks or anything. In fact its almost cleaner than the interior, I'd eat off the valve cover! Heres the kicker the god damn timing belt broke and messed up the valves and the owner had them "ground" down cause "thats what they are supposed to do." Is this true? What damage can came from a timing belt breaking?? Is is something the is easily fixed, it seems so because the engine runs sooo damn smooth. They are asking $6500 and kbb on a used car from a private owner says it would go for $5313 and retail from a dealer is $7375 and NADA says $6082 average retail. Would the little body damage merit the price being able to go down to $5900 maybe?? I really want this car I just don't wanna get screwed with the engine/price.

 

sounds like the guy is bs'ing you about the timing belt
if it breaks, usually the valves will bend. you dont grind down
the valves if this happens, you replace them
if the engine's toast, offer the guy 3500 for it and swap in an h22

 

Well he sounds like the kind of guy who has all the work, even oil changes, done at a garage, hes got all the recipits, and he did say it "had a valve job" so I'm pretty sure they all got replaced and the new ones were ground down the match up. This guy is an honest guy and he is the second owner and the guy he bought the car from, his daughter drove it and this guy's daughter drove it too, so I'm pretty sure it hasn't been rodded on. God damn I still can't get over how clean the car is. I'm gonna buy it, uhh as long as my parents let me;-)

 

the best i can give you in this situation, is to have a trusted mechanic you know of, come with you and take the valve cover off and look inside. Don't buy because you like the car, buy it because it works, at least to get to your house the first time.

my .02 centavos, got no more dollares.

 

Minot sucks. That's my brother's girlfriend's old car. Lookin into buyin a lude eh? good choice. I'm assuming you live in minot, let me know if you got any questions. You go to high school still?

 

Have it checked out by a mechanic, thats what i did, the mechanic will tell you every thing thats wrongwith it and he'll tell what'll need to be replaced, I was in the same boat as you about a month ago, and I finally found a very clean 92prelude s for $3100 , plannin on swaping in an h22

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fresh_rides &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Minot sucks. That's my brother's girlfriend's old car. Lookin into buyin a lude eh? good choice. I'm assuming you live in minot, let me know if you got any questions. You go to high school still?</TD></TR></TABLE>

wow talk about a small world. what are the chances of someone thinking about buyin a car and finding someone on honda-tech that knows where its been..

 

well i have a 92 prelude jdm h22 swap new paint lowered w/ couple of bolt ons i want to sell mine for like 6500 so that is kind of high. if your going to do a swap just find a prelude for like 3000 or so it wouldnt be hard

 

you can find 4th gens with a clean body and clean interior for a lot cheaper. all you need to do is swap a JDM h22a in and your set. just keep looking.

 

doin a timing belt on a 4th gen 'lude... basically look at how much space u got there... not a whole lot.....

i say pass by that 'lude 'n wait for a better one....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TruNinja619 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">doin a timing belt on a 4th gen 'lude... basically look at how much space u got there... not a whole lot.....

i say pass by that 'lude 'n wait for a better one....</TD></TR></TABLE>

i could have said that too, i didn't want to discourage the kid.

Good luck.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by naujcdl &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i could have said that too, i didn't want to discourage the kid.

Good luck.</TD></TR></TABLE>

he'll know sooner or later... but like i say... pass it for a better one.....

 

snapped t-belt? *ouch* i'd stay away from that. a valve job is a ton different than replacing them

 

I got my 92 prelude S for $4,000. It had 85K miles on it and the car was in PERFECT condition. Never driven in winter, never smoked in, never beat on.... a 50yr old doctor drove it. The only thing wrong with the exterior was a small "bubble" on the sunroof abuot the size of a dime.

 

I say hold off on that one and keep your eyes open for somthing else, I sold a very clean 92 lude with a swap for $4300, I could have asked for a lot more but I wanted the money for other interests.

 

Try to find a cheap f22, then swap in the h22 for 2-3 grand.... Or just buy a 4th gen with an h22, but chances are it will have high miles or be sort of expensive