Prelude for long distance commuter - Honda Prelude Forum

cstamm81 · 05-06-2008, 09:12 PM

Here's my dilemma: I am an IT field tech who drives anywhere from 500- 900 miles a week. I expense every single mile at 50.5 cents a mile. I have been trying to come up with a car that is fun to drive, comfortable for long highway stretches, decent fuel mileage, reliable, and affordable. I have considered everything from Yaris' to BMW's; VW TDI's to old beater Hondas. I have always been a fan of Honda, and of the 5th gen Ludes in particular. They seem like a good bit of fun to drive and get decent fuel mileage. Couple that with the fact you can buy a used one for quite cheap and you see why I'm considering one. So, any reason not to use a Lude for big miles driving daily? Are they comfortable enough to work for this purpose? Would you drive yours that much? Thanks in advance.

Solid · 05-06-2008, 09:24 PM

Mine is very comfy and I have about 135k on the odometer. It is a 2001

It gets 25.5 mpg average. 21 city driving and 28 highway.

Very quiet and stable on the interstate.

hondatune32206 · 05-06-2008, 09:28 PM

I have a fourth gen, and besides the loud exhaust it would be quiet. And besides the dropped suspension w/stock shocks it would be a good ride.

The stock seats in the Si's are Recaro's and are really comfortable. Get around 20-26 mpg

ark86 · 05-06-2008, 09:44 PM

The stock seats could be better, but I still like them (I felt pretty good after a 1.5 hour trip). The stock ride is nice (slightly firm but very nice for everyday use). The engine will likely burn oil, so you will have to keep some spare quarts in the trunk and keep it topped off. With that amount of miles per day I would check it every few days!

I would definitely recommend one, very fun to drive but makes a great daily driver as well. Keep up with the maintenance and it should last you a long time.

BBYlude · 05-06-2008, 09:58 PM

The prelude is pretty quiet with good tires (mines suck, so hello road-noise!). IMO the driver's seat is very comfortable. The stock suspension is soft enough for commuting. If I were driving as much as you do, I'd go with a car with better MPG, but that's just me.

dudeIgotaLude · 05-06-2008, 11:40 PM

I have a 5th gen and it gives really decent as mileage on the highway. I would drive it all day long. Just be sure to take care of it and keep up with maintenance

pIERCE · 05-07-2008, 12:02 AM

yeah man, A Prelude would be nice, but at 25-30mpg, I would just get a corolla or something like that. Not to mention you'll be givin the car a tune up or at least an oil change every 3-5 weeks, or at least should be... aLude would be cool, but mpg isn't awsome, and you won't find one for cheap with low miles. And the insurance will be more than on a little corolla, yaris, or civic. Thats my .02 cents. Good luck.(..and enjoy the massive commuting!!!)

98auto · 05-07-2008, 12:03 AM

for just a commuter, a prelude is kind of a waste in my opinion. The handling is good and the power is pretty good (for a honda anyway) Id get a civic. something that gets 30+mpg. Gas will only get more expensive. no reason to drive a nice car to and from work. my opinion

cstamm81 · 05-07-2008, 06:44 AM

Thanks for everyone's opinions. The problem with a little Civic or Yaris is the fun factor to me. I feel like I would be bored to tears in a car such as that. I need something I want to climb into everyday and drive, you see my point? But, everyone from various forums keep telling me to get a super high mileage car. I have found Ludes that look to be nice and well kept with somewhere around 120K miles for around 7 grand. I can get a decent TDI with 100K for about 14K, which gets 45 mpg on diesel. Problem is, it will still take a long time to make up the purchase amount in gas savings, not to mention I will have to finance a more expensive car thus higher insurance.

BBYlude · 05-07-2008, 07:35 AM

I bet you could find a civic with about 100k for a good bit less than 14k. I doubt the TDI would be more fun that a civic. They're both pretty mundane vehicles.

pIERCE · 05-07-2008, 10:49 AM

I'm just sayin that with the amount you claim to be being paid for milage every week, you mine as well get a crap booring car and save the money for a nice fun weekend car that your not goin to put so much wear and tear on. 300+ miles per week is extremely rough on any car, especially a hi-po car (relatively) like the lude, which hits 3k rpms at only 60 mph. Get a car you can easily drive for 2 hours constantly at 75 mph. Not to mention if your car falls apart because of the abuse of so many miles per week whether you take care of it or not, at least if its a cheap crap car you wont care. Dont pretend to think that the car your gonna drive wont fall apart, and spending 7 grand on a car that isn't very economical and has relatively high insurance(cause its a sports car) rates is kind of a waste...Boordom is sort of a bad reson to spend anything more than 2 grand in my opinion.....unless your a millionaire. Enloy your possibly future lude.

98auto · 05-07-2008, 12:16 PM

exactly what I was saying...a car to drive back and forth to work is just that. a commuter car. commuting is boring, even if you are in an NSX. roll out in a civic for work, then have a nice car for the weekend. theres no sense in putting 300 miles per week on a nice car....

Speed Stick · 05-07-2008, 07:37 PM

I wouldn't get a Prelude for driving that much. Thats one of the reasons why I moved closer to my work was because it was not good enough on gas. Yeah it ran fine and performed well but if I were to live that far again (40km one way) I would never get a Lude for it. And besides, Ludes are too nice to drive that much.

cstamm81 · 05-08-2008, 07:29 AM

I understand if I was just commuting to and from work, but driving is 80 percent of my job. Drive all over the state of PA on service calls. Hence the reason for not wating to get a boring car. It's not uncommon to drive 5 hours in one day. Having a dull car makes the day well dull. Everyone must surely understand why I wouldn't want a no frills econo box that could quite literally put me to sleep during the day. I have seriously considered noth TDI's and Mini Cooper S'. They both can get much better MPG than a Lude. The problem with each is they will equal a loan, which will equal more insurance and interest. At least with the Lude I can buy outright, saving thousands of dollars. I can buy a lot of gas with a few thousand bucks. It would take a long time to make up in gas savings the difference of a $8K Lude and a $20K Cooper.

harmonichonda01 · 05-08-2008, 07:54 AM

your math is correct with getting a cheaper car, but can still get a civic for half price of a lude with 5-10+ mpg. It seems as if you've already made up your mind on getting the prelude so what are you wanting to get from us?

Before i started working on my car this semester I was driving about 100 miles a day for a commute from school, work to home 6 days a week. It was fine, if you can afford it go for it

cstamm81 · 05-08-2008, 08:43 AM

I'm not set on anything yet and truly appreciate everyone's recommendations. I'm just trying to come up with a decision I can live with. I've done this job with beater cars before, and everytime I climb into one of them I cringe. Thought it would be a nice change of pace to actually enjoy driving something that much. This is the reason I have considerd a Lude, low cost purchase price, Honda reliability, decent mileage, decent power, good handling, sharp car. I can't come up with too many other cars in the $8k range that can offer so much. Getting a 2nd car for weekend fun is not an option, as I already have two other toys. The vehicle I pick for this needs to walk the fine line of being enjoyable and livable with on a day to day basis.

H22_PWR · 05-08-2008, 10:20 AM

I must say that the prelude (mine is a 4th gen) is more comfortable than most people would think. I drove to Orlando and back to Chicago. The ride was fun, mileage was very good considering I was cruising at around 4k rpm. Although, I do prefer to have another car for long trips, and keep the prelude for the "fun" days.

Kompressor · 05-08-2008, 10:34 PM

At the low end of your mileage per week estimate you would drive 26,000 miles a year.

That's over $13,000 per year for car allowance at $.505 per mile (subtracted, of course, is the cost of fuel, insurance, maintenance, etc..)

If that is true, with a car with a 25 mpg avg. you'd have enough left over to pay off an $8,000 loan in a little over a year.

That opens up lots of possibilities. The Prelude is nice. Personally, I'd want something with a more vertical seating position for comfort on longer trips. I'd also go with 4 doors.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

ThatPreludeGuy · 05-09-2008, 06:02 AM

There was about 3-4 years in a row where I averaged about 22k a year and never once regretted driving the Prelude. It's a car you like so why not drive it as much as you can? Mine had 175k (did a motor swap at one point though for my own reasons) and it was dead reliable. I made countless trips from NJ to Pittsburgh as well as a bunch of trips to NH. I was getting 27-30 mpg on the highway and the only thing I did to make it easier was look for tires with minimal road noise and put about a good 100lbs of dynamat in the car. I just came back from doing about 5k in a month on my S and really missed the practicality of the Prelude on long trips.

Also, there was a comment about lots of maintenance with that kind of miles but I was running dino oil and doing changed at 7-9k with no problems. My Blackstone labs were coming back perfect so dont go wasting money changing the oil every 3-5k.

luuser · 05-09-2008, 12:31 PM

why not the civic si?? it has better mpg and the fun factor is almost the same. that's what i would do!