1987 Honda Prelude, to buy or not to buy?

[undisclosed]

Hello there!

My name is Jonathan, I'm completely and utterly new to these vehicles and I know absolutely nothing about Honda's other than the fact that the CRX is my least favourite car EVER. Erm, that being said, I'm not your typical 21 year old who loves to mod his car to death, I like to keep my cars bone stock original and in good running condition. I'm very car savvy, I do most of my repair work myself.

Down to brass tacks, I've found an 87' Prelude and I'm wondering what you guys think I should do.

http://roanoke.craigslist.org/cto/2906743691.html

Edit: I noticed in another post links to other sites were a no no, so here are the ad contents in case the link is removed.

1987 Honda Prelude 2.0 Si 4 cylinder automatic with 140K miles in pretty good shape. PW, Sunroof, AC, CD radio - Just passed inspection (03/12) with many new parts - new tires, brakes, exhaust and more. Well maintained car runs and drives good with 30+ mpg mileage. Body has no dents or rust. The interior is pretty good too - drivers seat is covered due to wear. I have a few other cars and don't drive this much so its time to let her go.






What should I expect from something like this? Would all the gadgetry such as the dash clock and cruise control still work? Teach me a bit about these cars.

[spiffyguido]

Looks like not a bad car. The paint has certainly had some sun damage, but the mileage isn't too high for its age.

I had an 86 Prelude for years and still consider it to be one of the funnest vehicles to drive I've ever had. The engines in these are very reliable and the whole car is well put together.

On the interior, you can expect most everything to be working. It's common for the headlight selector stock on the left side of the steering column to snap at the base making it difficult to turn the headlights on with one hand. It's not hard to replace these if needed though.

Rust will almost always attack around the gas filler cap, inside the rocker panel and along the bottom edge of the trunk. If you see little rust in these areas, the car is likely in very good shape body wise, despite the need for a new paint job.

The engines are nearly bullet proof. The cruise should still work. Watch for a leaky head gasket (common, but again, not a giant issue because the leaks are usually slow and the gasket isn't hard to replace anyway). It's also common for them to develop the bouncing idle problem that almost all Hondas get at some point...again, an easy fix.

Make sure the e-brake cable hasn't seized.

Overall, these are very good cars. I still miss mine dearly.

[undisclosed]

Is he being serious about the gas mileage? What can you expect in that department from these cars? I'm currently driving an 86' Isuzu Trooper and gas mileage isn't one of it's concerns heh. Fuel is going up so I want to make a move to something a little more economical. Also, the sunroof on these cars, are they the powered sliding type, or the manual pop up type? Hah, and one more thing, how bulletproof are the automatic transmissions in these?

[spiffyguido]

No experience with the automatic transmissions. I had two 86 Preludes, both with manuals. The manual transmissions are very tough.

The sunroofs are powered. They open with the press of a button.

Not sure in MPG. My fuel consumption in the city was about 60L/500KM which works out to 8.3KM/L. That works out to about 20mpg. Not bad for an old car.