1988 Acura Legend LS review from North America

I've owned my Legend LS for 11 years. Regular oil and fluid changes, along with brakes when necessary, have kept me from running into major problems. At 202,000 miles it still has great compression and accelerates like a dream. The leather finally gave up because I didn't garage it, so I spent $800 last year for cloth upholstery. Just within the last two-thousand miles the anti-lock braking system and the cruise control went out. Fortunately, the car still brakes well without the ABS. The automatically retracting antenna died years ago so I replaced it with a standard rubber shorty. I wash and wax regularly and the paint is like new (gold). Last year I tinted the windows. I should have done this years ago because I live in a hot area and the heat reduction was dramatic.

I've never been completely happy with the air conditioning. When the temperature rises to the 90s and 100s it just doesn't cool well - adequate, but not comfortably cool. On the other hand, I've never had a problem with the car overheating even when the A/C is on max and I'm driving uphill.

This car is a powerful, luxury touring vehicle with an incredibly smooth ride and so much power you really have to keep an eye on the speedometer or you'll find yourself going 10-20 miles over the speed limit. I get 20-23 mpg. It runs on regular, not premium, gas.

Recently I had an opportunity to buy the same make, year and color, but an L series instead of LS (no pin striping, no airbag). This one only has 100,000 miles on it and has become my primary car. I'm selling the LS for just $800 less than I bought the L, which makes both the old and new one outstanding investments. I expect to drive my new Legend for another 200,000 miles.

Why would Honda discontinue the Acura Legend? I suspect they wanted customers to return more often than every 20 years.