1987 Honda Prelude 1.8 EX review from Belgium

Mechanically extremely little has really gone wrong. Nothing actually...

For the rest however:

*Driver's seat sagged and seat cover worn.

*Various bits of interior trim broke -the light switch stalk, the passenger door handle, the hazard warning light button gets stuck,...

*Boot lid lock broke.

*Rust, rust, rust and rust. I've driven a complete (wet) summer without rear seat, because water was leaking in 'somewhere'. Guilty one appeared to be a rust hole in the passenger door gap.

I bought this car in 1994 when it was seven years old. From the start I decided not to spend anything on keeping it in showroom condition -I was just going to drive it and enjoy driving it.

I did however have it serviced at a Honda dealership, which wasn't really expensive as mechanically nothing ever went wrong (and as I didn't care for interior trim wearing badly and those rusty patches appearing all over).

Bought secondhand, they're dirt-cheap and extremely reliable! They'll drive on and on and on and never break down.

Fuel consumption is very acceptable, starting at about 8l/100km and up to 12 if driven at really silly speeds.

The Prelude isn't a sports car. It's more of a cool cruiser with secure handling, smooth performance and excellent comfort.

Handling is fun, but more safe than sporting. It's not that handy through the bendy bits. It's completely at home on long fast curves.

Two months ago (oct 2003) at the age of 16, it finally went to Honda-heaven after failing MoT. It was still running on it's original shocks (!).

Mr MoT wasn't impressed...

Finally the reparation-costs would have exceeded it's emotional value.