Faults:

Water pump died at 145K, easy fix.

C.V. joints needed replacing as well.

The back seats are tiny (but it's a 2 door, so its what you would expect).

If you're in Vtec, gas will be guzzled like crazy.

General Comments:

The Prelude is a seriously awesome car, I bought my car for 3K (NZ), which was a good deal.

The engine is simply amazing; the 2.2 DOHC VTEC pulls, and pulls hard from about 5000rpm all the way to redline. However if you change from 1st down to 2nd, you must take the car to 7800-8000rpm so you're not out of the VTEC range when you hit 2nd.

My car had a few mods done to it; intake, headers and exhaust.

Another surprising aspect of this car is the torque. A lot of people think it's the horse power that wins races, and it's not generally true. Horse power sells the car. Torque wins the races. And for a 4 cylinder engine, this car has a lot of torque; 217NM.

If you want to feel the true potential of this car, you have to be on the move; 3rd gear at 5500rpm, you can keep up or even beat some turbo cars. I have taken out many turbo cars that have a lot more power than me.

Brakes are fine; I had no issues with brakes. The handling in my car was a bit sluggish (I had factory springs), but it can be easily fixed with a set of aftermarket coil over suspension.

Overall the Honda Prelude is one of the fastest cars in its price range, and has no problem keeping up with some cars double its price. If you want a cheap car with a lot of go, the Prelude is the one to go for.

Faults:

The car had poor handling in winter. My 18 year old son wiped out around a corner, going 35km/h, rear end slid, car flipped and landed in ditch.

General Comments:

Awesome car in the summer for fun back roads and highways. Cheap, good on gas, sticks to the corners.

Faults:

Master cylinder went out on clutch, clutch went out, burns oil, loud when driving at 65mph and the RPM is around 3250. 5th gear is pointless on this car.

General Comments:

Quick...can beat my friends civic with a ZC motor swap, VERY nice seats, but small back seats, fits 4 VERY uncomfortably, fits 2 great! has a lot of torque compared to a lot of other hondas. I have added Tokico lowering springs, catback exhaust, NGK's, and intake (has that AMAZING DOHC Honda sound at 4500 and above). will definitely buy from Honda again, just NOT a Prelude.

Faults:

I've owned this car for 8 months now, I purchased it at a Auction for a total of $4450! The best deal ever.

So far so good this car hasn't given a single mechanical problem.

General Comments:

In case you're wondering my car looks like the 1993-1996 models even though its listed as 1991.

What can I say? It's a Honda. Which means quality over all. Since this is a V-TEC model I'll start with performance.

I'm not sure of how quick it is, but its definitely between 6.8 and 7.5 seconds from 0-100km per hour. My friend owns a 1996 Nissan Skyline sedan 2.5L automatic. On the straight he had the advantage for the first 20-25 metres, after I reach 7000rpm in second gear I caught up very quickly.

WARNING: V-TEC CAN BE VERY ADDICTIVE.

If I drive under 3000rpm this car can be pretty economical for a 2.2L engine.

On the inside it is very comfortable for the driver and the front passenger. The back seats though are not really suitable for people over the height of 1.5m tall. I'm just over 1.85m tall and If I sit in the back behind the driver's seat; after I adjust the seat so that I may drive and give maximum space for the back passenger; My head is uncomfortably pushing against the rear window. Not is it uncomfortable, but if the car were to roll adult passengers would likely die from severe head injuries. So basically the back seats are for little kids.

The boot space is reasonable for a sports car and has a hatch behind the right-back passenger seat that allows long objects such as fishing rods, skis, ski poles, snowboards etc.

Unfortunately insurance can be pretty pricey especially if your under 21 and living in New Zealand. At the moment I'm 18 and paying $78 per month for third party insurance including fire, and wind shield protection.

I was aware that some red cars built before 1993 may be prone to sun damage (red fades) I read about it, but this was information based on the Toyota Mr2.

The auction warehouse where I bought my car was in-doors and due to low-light I didn't notice the sun damage until a couple of days later.

If you are thinking about purchasing a Honda Prelude check for the following:

1. If it has a sun roof check the under the rubber seals for rust. This is extremely expensive to fix.

2. If the car is red, check for shades of pink.

Over all this is a great car for how much it costs.