Faults:

Only one thing ever went "wrong," meaning other than ordinary maintenance for its age and mileage. The automatic transmission had to be replaced twice during the car's first year, both times under warranty. It's third has worked flawlessly since.

Apart from that, the major repair items have been as follows:

- Front half shafts replaced at 8 years/48,000 miles due to noisy constant velocity joints (replaced the axle boots as well)

- Rear muffler replaced at 8 years/50,000 miles

- Front right ball joint replaced at 10 years/60,000 miles due to it drying out and squeaking

- Alternator replaced at 15 years/79,000 miles due too bad voltage regulator

- Water pump and thermostat replaced at 8 years/50,000 miles for preventative maintenance purposes at the same time the cam belt was being replaced as part of the standard maintenance schedule

- Rear quarter panels refinished at 15 years/78,000 miles due to rust behind rear wheels

- Minor rust (about 2-3 inches wide) above windshield area

- Roof liner started to come loose, beginning at 8 years, each time it was easily fixed with contact cement and never recurs in the same place

- Air conditioning temperature sensor replaced at 12 years/65,000 miles due to compressor cycling off prematurely

- Trunk leaks sometimes in heavy rain. Has done so since new. Can't figure out where it's coming from so I live with it as the car's one quirk.

General Comments:

The Prelude Si is the most reliable car I have ever owned. It starts first time, every time regardless of the outside temperature. On a -10 degree morning, my Volvo -- the car from hardy Sweden -- wouldn't start. The Honda started with one crank!

It's easy to maintain for a do-it-yourself mechanic -- tune-up, valve adjustment, brakes, belts, etc. At 16 years/82,500 miles the engine performs every bit as strong as when the car was new. It doesn't burn a drop of oil.

Faults:

The Honda "H" emblem on the steering wheel came off.

At 191000 K'S I needed new wheel bushings.

The Heater control knob has broken twice. It's broken now, too, but I'm not fixing it.

General Comments:

This is a powerful car, especially when you are in sport shift mode. It handles like a dream, although mine is lowered. The leather seats are very comfortable in the front, but I feel sorry for anyone who has to squeeze into the back. The back of the back seat is metal, so now they rattle if I face my Sub woofers toward them. My trunk rattles if I face them the other way, because My trunk lid and rear bumper is from the '91 Prelude Si.

Faults:

The only problem I have had with this car has just happened. The electric fan is dead and the clutch is going. The valve seals in the cylinder head are going too.

General Comments:

I have put an average of 30,000 kilometers a year on this car since I purchased it. I have drag raced it and red lined the gears on many numerous occasions. In other words I drive the bag of it and it still runs great. What a great car. You have to give Honda credit. They make indestructible cars.

Faults:

Things that were not my fault:

Power steering hose (was odd, and expensive,) power steering pump at 222,000 miles, most recently was the rear upper control arm bushing wore out. I change ALL (and I stress the word all) fluids regularly, and have not had a lot of parts wear out without my help... replace your timing belts!! I can't stress that enough! I didn't, and it cost me a new top end. Replace it at every 70,000 or so, and you'll be fine. I had that repair, and minor repairs you'd expect. At 180,000, my car began burning oil due to cylinder wear, and I was losing 1/2 quart every 3 or four tanks of gas - not too bad, but then drive it at 110 mph for an hour without checking the oil...ya, so I had to put an engine in and it was all my fault. It still drove, though, on 3 cylinders for more than a month, and actually still had a lot of power... an amazingly technologically advanced in design, and modernized older car.

General Comments:

This is the best car I have ever owned, and is as fast as anything out there on a winding highway. My family has owned 4 Honda Preludes: I have inherited two of those. The first one, a 1981 Prelude, I inherited (and partially paid for) when a lady hit me in an intersection. It was a dependable car, but not really high performance engine. The two 1985s were higher performance engines, but not the precision handling machines I want in a prelude. The 1988 prelude si with fuel injection and 4 wheel steering is the best Honda Prelude that Honda ever made. It can outperform a corvette (I know this from experience) on the right roads. I'd put its handling characteristics in the same class as a Porsche, and maybe even better, because of the low center of gravity.

I drive the hell out of mine, on winding desert highways at speeds in excess of 120 mph for extended periods of time (in between towns - I slow down for you small town folks in your neighborhoods, of course) and you just can't do that in any other car I ahve driven... the low center of gravity, the engine is plenty fast and strong.. this is a fast car not because of its engine, but because of its handling characteristics, which makes it a dream car for people who like to feel the road, yet have total control. Watch out for deer! At 3 am in the middle of the desert, you can easily lose track of speed in this car and find yourself at speeds over 110 mph without really feeling it in a corner. The steering and transmission are tight, small movements, and you have control with this car. The engine is like a Honda motorcycle engine, and doesn't redline until about 7,000 rpms. This means you can rev it way up, and the higher rpms is where you get your horsepower with this engine/transmission combination. This car flies out of corners, and brakes responsively before them. The superior handling characteristics and high rpm power is the secret to this car's speed. People who like to drive will enjoy this car. I can't say enough good things about how much I love this car.