Honda Prelude Forum - PreludeDriver.com

All that Spiff said - AND I would take it to a mechanic you know and trust and have him get it up on a lift and look at underneath as well. You can better see leaks that way, check for rust, check the drive axles for busted boots and slung/leaking grease (look around the inside of the front rims - if grease is being slung from the CV's it will show up caked and gunked inside the rims) and anything else that might not be visible when the car is on the ground.

Definitely have a compression check done. Probably a good motor, BUT, there are a lot of tricks that can be used to make an engine perform well in a long enough period of time to sell the car to an innocent buyer.

If he's hesitant to let you have the car to drive for an afternoon and to take to a mechanic - WALK AWAY.

Do a Carfax check on it. Best 30 bucks you can spend.

And just FYI - as far as I am aware, the US spec 95 Si did not come with the F22b engine. That model and engine are specific to Japanese domestic market ONLY. Only sold like that in Japan.

Check the VIN for engine code to see if it matches, and ask the seller how is it that he's got a 4th gen 95 Si with an F22b series engine? Did he replace it, or is the car not really an Si, but an S? The US spec S model came with the F22A series engine.

If it were an Si with an H23a, it would have to be in EXCELLENT condition to garner $3000 or more. That means absolutely NO mechanical issues, perfect paint and interior, no lights on dash, like new tires, etc.

$2700 for "good", meaning some minor flaws, minor mechanical, and around 2300 for "fair", meaning may need some mech work, has visible leaks, minor paint and cosmetic issues.

The mileage, if it really is only 100k on the car and motor, is what he's using to ask $3000 dollars, and that would be fine, if the car is in PERFECT condition. If there are other things wrong, things you can see right now and things you might find if you can get it to a mech for a couple of hours on a lift and check compression, etc., then you can easily get him to come down from the asking price IF you have proof that the car is not worth what he is asking. Use the angle of what amount you would have to invest in dollars to get it to "like new" condition. Make him come off that amount from his asking price.

Don't be afraid to haggle some. If he wants to sell the car bad enough, he'll deal with you.

You are so right!
I criss crossed the mans phone number before I went to look at his Prelude, and discovered he has had the car listed quite a few times previously on Craigslist.

That would be no big deal if the previous ad's were thew same as the one I read. The other ad's said that the engine light is on, that the motor has 100k miles but the odom has over 200k. I am not about to even go look at a car with an engine light on. Bet ya that's what why he said dirty egr, so he could say it caused the engine light to be on.

I give up on searching for a car,and having no wheels just blows! Tomorrow I am
buying a 2000 2door Honda civic that has a rebuilt motor for 1800. The same people that purchased my Prelude is who I am buying it from. They told me if for any reason I am not happy with the civic that I could trade it back to them for my prelude when it is fixed. Seem like pretty good people, so.... who knows.
Thanks for everything, you guys have helped me out a whole bunch.


Rani

It does blow indeed!

Glad you're at least getting some kind of transportation in the meantime.

One thing - make SURE you get IN WRITING any promises that are made - and get it notarized as well.

At least this way, if something goes wrong and you were promised a trade, you have some legal recourse if they were not telling the absolute truth.

I've bought and sold enough cars and boats that I've learned not to take people at their word. Not that all people are dishonest, but it's better in the end to have the verifiable PROOF of what someone said they would do.

GOOD LUCK! And we're always around to help if you need us.

~Josh

Thanks for the heads up. I will be back to visit!

2000 Civic.....last year of the good ones. You're going to like that car.

Glad to hear that you have wheels again!

just when ya thought it was over... the saga continues.

I really don't like the civic : ( but it is a car, just a regular boring, box with wheels that will never give me the feeling I got sitting behind the wheel of my Prelude. Deep sigh.

So anyway , when I picked up the Civic they told me about orrdering a Vtec motor to put in the prelude I sold them. OUCH, that stung just a little. Then I was reminded that when the Prelude was finished (before the 15th of this month) that I could still switch back cars with them for free. The added bonus is that they saqid they will get a new compressor and fix my a/c too.
Sounds like a win win situation, right?

So....essentially you're paying 1800 to have your Prelude repaired. That's a better deal than before. As Red said though, I'd get something in writing to make sure the deal doesn't go bad.

It's win-win from the standpoint that you get your car back for less money than you'd have to pay to replace it all together, and they get some money for doing the repair.

That is the way I see it also

Hello fellow prelude lovers~!
It has been over two months since my prelude bit the dust. I have driven a honda Civic, and a mirage (yuk!!!!) that the car lot had given me, to hold me over.

This car lot bought my 92 prelude without a motor for 500. They told me about the car lot t hey work at , said they had a white prelude. It went downhill from there.

Long story short .. I paid 2,000 $ for them to fix my red prelude and that was supposed to fixed by the following weekend. They never fixed my car and have been giving me loaners to drive til "they find me a good car". Over Two months later they still have not found a good car? Whatever!
I know that I should never of gave these the money upfront, but I did. Let me tell ya, I will never ever do that again.
After a threat of a lawsuit on the grounds of them telling me BS , I finally am getting a response from the car lot.!! Yeehaa!
Today I am supposed to pick up a 93 black prelude from them. I'm afraid to believe this is true, but still excited! So far nothing has ran smoothly with these people and today there will be some sort of quirk, just hope it has the right motor. Something tells me to check that first! Still I will take it , because it beats the shi! out of driving a 4 door mirage with over 200,000 miles.

Hopefully there will be good news and pic to follow : )

Great to have you back. Want to hear how this turns out for sure.

Good luck! Here's hoping it goes your way this time! Keep us posted.

Well, they had the car at the car lot. Dark blue 93 prelude but it had no front bumper at all. How can I tell if it is a si?
I asked them if I could take it until the bumper they (claimed) ordered comes in , he said "no, I haven't even checked the car out yet".
Is there any difference in a 92 and 93 prelude ?

Thanks : )

Oh.... having a red prelude is so much better than a dark navy blue one. It doesn't look near as awesome as the red one.

Do you have the VIN number? That would tell you pretty much everything you wanted to know. Else, you'll have to check the engine stamp.