My high school son wants to buy my neighbors 1989 honda prelude with 140,000 miles, of which about 110,000 were highway miles for $2500. It has the all wheel steering feature you said you didn't like in a video, but the car was well maintained and has everything working well on it. I thought it was kinda hard shifting (automatic) so I called a transmission guy who was referred to me by a friend who owns a European auto repair shop, who said that is who they send all their transmission work to. Over the years he rebuilt 2 chrysler van transmissions for me for about $1500 each. He said those honda transmissions always hard shifted, and that if it didn't it was slipping and probably going out. Worst case scenario he said it would be $2000 to rebuild the transmission if it went out. My son is a very cautious driver who doesn't push a car hard. What should I advise him to do?I really enjoy your videos and value your opinion. Thanks Matt PS: can the rear steering feature be disabled? Thanks again!
So $2500 for the car, $2000 for transmission. That's already $4500 into the hole. Undoubtedly there will be more expenses. $5,000 can get you a decent car which isn't 32 years old. I would pass on this dinosaur.
Not to mention that if it's a car for my kid, I'm buying one with some modern safety features and good ratings/reviews in that department. I never viewed Preludes as particularly safe in an accident.
The $2000.00 was if it needed to be rebuilt. But the transmission passed with the transmission guy so it doesn't need to be rebuilt.
Sure, Preludes were solid cars. In the COVID era $2,500.00 is nothing for a car. Plus the majority of the milage is highway so less wear. While those transmissions were no Aisin transmissions they were actually better than the Honda automatic transmissions of the late 90's and early 2000's. The four wheel steering was prone to issues but if it was a well maintained car it could be alright. Plus where it is the neighbors car you already know the history. That could be a good first car.
