1989 Acura Legend L review from North America

Both front springs cracked.

Front rotors wore out.

Replaced timing belt at 65,000 miles.

Galloping rust eventually consumed the car: leaks developed through the sunroof, front doors and trunk.

Perhaps because of the rust causing intermittent ground connections, I had an annoying variety of electrical problems, leading eventually to the car dying for no reason.

I bought the car largely for its V-6 engine and 5-speed gearbox. (I had been looking at a 4 cylinder automatic transmission Accord.)

The clutch was miserable in standing starts: grabby and imprecise, though the gearbox was smooth and snick-snick precise.

Handling was quite enjoyable, the smooth V-6 motor flexible, quick-revving and well-matched to the chassis.

Brakes were mushy and only so-so, and no one wanted to go near the anti-lock brakes to fix them.

Rust eventually devoured the car in the prime of its mechanical life and I had to get rid of it at only 90,000 miles. The car had the tell-tale rust-out of the gas filler door area that seems to be the badge of similar era Hondas. Since I had planned on keeping the car to at least 175,000 miles, its premature rust-out soured me severely on the car.