lovehonda03

Ok, so I checked out a 2001 Prelude SH today with 123xxx miles. I talked the lady who owned it down to $6100 from her original $7000.

I have a couple concerns, however. The timing belt has not been replaced yet, and she said something about an intake valve being replaced. When I asked the lady's son who drove the car to let me see if vtec worked, he gunned it and burnt some rubber. I hope he hadn't always driven it like this. He said the engine burns 1 qt of oil every month.

Another thing is when he turned, I heard (and pretty sure I felt) a knocking coming from the rear. He said that it was a collar for the left rear strut. Does this seem reasonable to you.

Also, it is throwing the P0401 code, but I'm not really worried about that. Everything else seems pretty nice.

Does this seem like a good buy to you guys?

pIERCE

No. Only because of the 90k mile service not being done. That is a pretty penny if you can't do it yourself. It's not just the T-belt that needs replacing, it's the other belts, the water pump. Then there are the other things that are just good maintenance to do at the same time like the auto-tensioner and all of the seals on that side of the motor. Then you also may need other things to be replaced, like maybe the clutch depending on how it was driven in the past.

The price really isn't that bad, but the fact that it has 123k miles without that major service performed tell me that this person didn't keep up on maintenance very well.

Replaced valve? Man, you need to get some serious clarification on that, pronto.

EGR is easy.

In my opinion, price is too much for all of the things that need to be confirmed/performed.

LacedInSugar

Gonna have to agree with peirce. The price isnt bad if the work needed to the car was done. doing a timing job on your own isnt really expensive but if you have someone do it, it is. plus all those maintainence issues like the tensioner.

the 1qt of oil a month isnt really all that horrible at those miles.. the H motors were known for burning alittle oil and if this kid has been driving it chances are he has pushed it harder then most.

kbb.com isnt the best but it lists this car at fair condition $5,900. i'd aim 5 to 5500 honestly.

KraserK

The answer is quite clear. It is not a good deal

AndOne

i can't blame them trying to get what they can for if it's a "used car" but it's not any kind of good deal. If i shift b4 4k i don't burn that Q, if i Vtec it a lot then it does. so i'm say'n this kid does. If it's got some unique ups to it and u really want it i say price is fair if you have current owner take it to the dealer get the 90k and pay for a overlooking, at least if you can check the chassis and fluids and take note of driving conditions. for me i'd say 6k and get the timing belt done and it's all good. OR 5k and do the maintenance ur self. don't be a hero and try to save their financial situation by putting ur self in one...

I just bought my lude last year it's a 97 SH came with 86k got it for 5k no t-belt. it's sitting at 96k and i'm about to do it myself b4 100k. I also don't know where u live and how abundant the area is in Prelude but for that deal ur gonna have to work lot more out of it to break even.