1999 Acura Integra LS review from North America

I had some paint peel and some trim peel, but only after the car was about 9 years old. Paint peeled due to light front end collision and a cross-country trip. Trim peeled due to automatic car wash.

The only problems other than that occurred because I lived in Chicago where they dump a lot of salt on the roads every winter, so some parts rusted out underneath the car (radiator, muffler, etc). Despite the stigma of foreign car repair prices, all repairs were inexpensive.

The tranny had a slight skip in it when I bought it, so I thought I would have to replace it. But 30,000 miles later, it was still going with just barely more of a skip. Most people say once the tranny starts to go, it goes out quickly, but this one has lasted a long time despite not being in perfect shape.

The car is a workhorse. If the backseats are folded down, there is some road noise, and I get some noise from the front wheels, but it's what I would expect from a small car. The car's comfortable for people in the front seat (you don't buy this car for backseat people... even though I have had four adults in the car for over an hour at a time, it's not an ideal situation).

The car is easy to drive, handles well, doesn't break, and looks great. I got about 26 mpg on a ten year old engine, so I've got no complaints. I never gave it a tune-up other than changing the air filter.

I bought this car mostly because I expected reliability, and I haven't been disappointed at all.