Im new to the preludes (i drive a lifted yota) but need something better on gas and fun to drive. Im looking at a 1997 Prelude that has 173,xxx miles and has the H22 motor. It is a 5 speed. It has aftermarket rims, aem cold air intake, aftermarket header, cd player, and some small odds and ends. The inside is looks really clean from the pics and the outside looks in good shape besides it has a black hood (Don't mind black hood) and driver side front fender is black (the car is silver) so i want to get it painted. Im wondering how much this car is worth due to the miles that is on it??? and is there anything specifically i should look for when i go look at the car??? Any input would be appreciated. Im suppose to go look at the car soon.
As little as possible. Seriously, go to the three online used car price guides, price out the car, avg. the three and go from there, i e you start lower and the current owner will start higher! Your starting point should be influenced by the intangibles, how long has it been for sale, do they really need to sell it or just testing the waters, blah, blah, blah. Easy.
As an example: I bought my son's first car (2000) this past Summer - guy was asking 3500 - I offered 2400 and we settled on 2500 - surprised the crap out of me, BUT, he had it for sale a couple months earlier and only got lame ass offers of trades and kids w/ no money, then time was getting short because he was starting school this Fall out of the country, intangibles!!!
Thanks for the info. He was asking $3900 which i thought was really high for that car with that many miles. and then i asked if he would take 3000 just to see what he said and he said he would tak that. and now i got him down to 2900 and he said no lower than that. im not for sure if that is still too much for the car or not. ive been looking around for a car like this and they are hard to find with miles less than this one unless there asking $4000+. and i only have $3000 to spend. Should i buy it for $2900 or keep looking around??? (i forgot to say that, he said it donesnt have any body rust but ill never know till i look at it)
Go look at it and if you initially like it start pointing out everything that's wrong with it and how much you'll have to put into it, you gotta work on him!
You realize that you're going to have to start putting money into the car to keep it on the road.. and you only have a $3000 budget. Keep in mind that while preludes are not expensive to maintain, they are not the cheapest.
yeah i know. i have my truck that i drive daily now that i could drive if the car went down. i want to get the car cuz i want something that ill have fun driving and still get good gas mileage. Im just wanting to know if $2900 is a good price for the car or not.
O.K.
KBB private party value in Fair cond = $2700
Edmunds true market value in Avg condition = $733 (they're always the lowest)
NADA trade in in Avg condition = $2200
mini- im not going for 30+ mpg. My truck gets 13-14mpg. Im obviously wanting better than that lol but im wanting a car that i can have fun in and it be my dd.
dlndjh- i know what your saying about the prices but since ive been looking ive never seen a 5th gen prelude for under $2700. unless it has alot of rust on it or 200,000+ miles.
Id rather buy a lude that has some small stuff on it like rims, exhaust, header. cuz if i bought an all stock one then i thats the stuff id first put on it (which would be more money on top of buying the car)
i looked up the timing belt kit and water pump at orileys and it would come out to around $300. I can do the work my self so i wont have to pay for labor costs. me and a buddy just replaced timing chain, water pump, and head gasket on the FI Toyota
^I wouldn't pay 1k extra just for recent timing belt, the dealer doesn't even charge that much and they change EVERYTHING behind those covers including the outer accessory belts.
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im new to preludes, so all i want to know based off the miles/year/condition i listed. Is $2900 too much? and anything particular i should look for or listen for if i go look at it.
The miles are pretty high, I would look for oil leaks. I haven't seen many Preludes over 200k that haven't had some kind of engine upkeep work. Have you inquired why it has a different hood and front fender? It could have frame damage that has been hidden. Either way I think it is way too high. I wouldn't pay more than 2500. The aftermarket header and intake are probably negligible also because most don't actually give any real gains. For the price you are at, you might be better getting off a Gen 4 Prelude.
im new to preludes, so all i want to know based off the miles/year/condition i listed. Is $2900 too much? and anything particular i should look for or listen for if i go look at it.
if the interior is mint and the exterior is almost mint, then just the shell with the interior is worth 2.5k.
You can always swap a jdm motor with low miles on it. Don't worry about the high mileage, that don't mean squat.
Look at the body and the interior. Preludes are rare in top shape.
i wasn't saying he should pay a k more for the timing belt being done, but he could pay up to that at a dealer to have it done, as a negation to get the price down further. if it hasn't been done recently, i'd try to get 5-600 knocked off the price for it.
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