1998 Acura 1.6 EL EL Premium review from North America
"Good quality product, under-powered and noisy."
What things have gone wrong with the car?
At 20 000 KM- air conditioner had to be replaced. The dealership was fantastic. It was probably a leaf that got stuck in the fan, but the dealer decided to replace it before the warranty period ended.
At 25 000 seals on the windows had to be replaced-dealer said that this was a common problem with this car.
At 85 000 km-stitches for the leather seat were coming loose a little bit. Car was past warranty period however dealer was able to take out the seat and have it re-stitched.
At 125 000 km- manifold cracked.
- rear brake pads replaced (first time), front brake pads still in excellent condition.
At 140 000 km-seal for power steering is leaking a little bit. Dealership advise to keep an eye on things-no action taken yet.
General comments?
Advantage of this Car.
-Controls are all easy to reach and very intuitive.-good layout.
-great on gas. Get about 540 km on a full tank-$26 to fill up @ 0.63/litre.
-line of site inside the car is very good. Easy to handle in traffic and when parking.
-fairly reliable. Very few mechanical problems so far.
DIS-LIKES
-very noisy inside the car especially at highway speed.
-HORRIBLE cup holders. Bad location, and can't hold ANY mugs, or tall cups.
-tire noise is very noisy.
-tire size is 195/55 (I believe) They're performance tires, but this is certainly not a performance vehicle. EXPENSIVE TO REPLACE TIRES.
-does not handle very well in the snow. Quite dangerous actually. I bought a set snow tires: Pilot Alpines and the handling is much much better.
-the car is severely under powered unless you rev it a little bit higher, but then the noise becomes even louder.
I installed an air intake system and this seems to help boost the power a little.
Car is ideal for two people.
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| 1998 - 1.6 EL 1.6L Inline4 VTech Too Little for Too much, great overall on resell |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | Yes |
| Year of manufacture | 1998 |
| First year of ownership | 1998 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2002 |
| Engine and transmission | 1.6 Manual |
| Performance marks | 6 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 7 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 7 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 10 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 8 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 0 kilometres |
| Most recent distance | 140000 kilometres |
| Date of Entry | 8th November, 2002 |