Nessmaster

Hi all. I might be purchasing my neighbors 94 prelude within the next week or so. However, it's engine has ~170,000 miles on it. Now I'm not very familiar with the honda scene and honda motors, so I don't know if 170,000 miles on a prelude engine is considered "acceptable" or not. I don't know if it's the I4S, I4Si or VTEC (I have just been very briefly briefed on the car by the seller's sister). So any information or comment on whether 170,000 miles is acceptable on those engines or not would be very useful. I understand that there are other factors involved in whether such millage is acceptable or not, but I'm just talking in general here. Thanks.

BBYlude

no matter what motor it is (and it does make a little difference), it will ultimately come down to how well it was taken care of by previous owners.

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**Erik**

darkbluelude

^^^Very true.

Maintenance is key to a car's performance and reliability. The Honda's that have reached 200,000 plus miles and are still running are doing so with regular maintenance and fixtures/replaces.

170,000 miles on a 94 means the car has been a daily driver for the most part since, and has been averaging 12-13 miles a year, which really isn't bad at all, especially for a Honda. IF the owners have kept with oil changes, water pump/timing belt changes, brake changes, transmission flush, brake system changes, regular tire changes etc. You get my point.

It all comes down to the price....

Honestly, I would not get a prelude with 170,000 miles on it unless it had an H22, and was being sold for less than 2 grand...

At 170,000 miles you'll prob. encounter some tranny issues. It will probably need new rotors and calipers if they haven't been replaced already. Should def. already have a new water pump/timing belt and will probably be needing it's 3rd set soon. Not to mention the engine itself might need to be rebuilt or swapped in the near future.

I guess it all depends on how badly you want the car; How the car has been maintained, and what the price is..

Just keep in mind that you can find a Prelude with around 100-150,000 miles for around 3-4 grand if you shop around.

Nessmaster

We took the car on a test drive today and everything seemed to work fine. The Transmission was smooth it was easy to shift into gear. The only noticeable problem (which the guy mentioned as well) was that there is apparently some sort of leak in some hose which causes the engine to fluctuate up and down between 1-2k rpm at idle. Do you guys know what that could be about? The guy couldn't really tell us more as he didn't know the exact problem himself. Oh, and it's an Si so it's not an H22a VTEC.

P.S: I'm on a tight budget, have to keep it near 2 grand.

KB798

Could be a vacuum leak if it's coming from a hose. I'd check to see the maintenance records on the car, and if everything looks like it's been taken care of properly with nothing out of the ordinary, $2000 seems like a really good price for a Si.

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Brian

SNsLude

I personally wouldn't get it. You're going to wind up throwing so much money at it when parts start to fail. The idle fluctuation is just a common issue on our cars as they hit 100k and up on the odo. The fitv or iacv are ususally the culprits. Vac leak is also another possibility. Little things will start to go on the car and you're gonna wind up replacing them one by one as every single luder on here has gone through lol. Because of all these things failing is the only reason why I actually got a little basic knowledge about our cars

There are probably only a handful of ludes that have outlasted all those miles with just the basic oil / fluid changes. Also check for rust around the rear quarter panels and the sunroof area.

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-Steven