Faults:

In the original engine, a seal blew out at 120,000 miles and let all of the oil out of the motor while going down the highway.

I had the engine replaced with a used engine that had 55,000 miles on it.

The timing belt on the new engine broke at 145,000 miles and ruined the engine due to the engine being an interference engine and the pistons impacting the valves. A very costly repair.

The passenger side CV joint failed at 130,000 miles.

The radiator had to be replaced at 140,000 miles due to a crack in it.

General Comments:

Overall, this car is a great compromise. On one end, you get great performance, good gas mileage, and a very sexy looking car. On the other end, at higher miles components start to fail and the repairs for this vehicle are very costly.

This car is very fast for a four-cylinder car. It has a sophisticated system called VTEC, which means it has variable valve timing. At about 5200 RPM during hard acceleration, a hydraulic rod is forced into the camshafts and it changes the lobes to a higher duration, similar to a race engine. When this happens, it knocks you back in your seat and accelerates very quickly all the way to the 7400 RPM red line. The only downfalls of this technology are the high cost of repairs and the need to use premium fuel due to the high compression (10:1) of the engine. This greatly increases the cost of operating the vehicle.

The interior is tiny at best and will only fit two adults comfortably. I did on rare occasions, to the dismay of the individual, manage to fit one more adult in the rear, but they had to put their feet on the seat and could not use the seatbelt. The seats are made of top-quality leather and are very comfortable on long trips. The instruments are easy to read and all controls are easy to reach. The lack of rear-visibility is a real downfall at first, but after driving the car for a while, is not that big of a problem.

I live in a relatively quiet and safe neighborhood in Iowa, but somehow on three separate occasions' car thieves found my car to be attractive and decided to break into it and steal my CD player and CD's, even with an alarm. This car is very easy to break into for car thieves, according to the police that took the reports. Something to keep in mind.

My Prelude gets around great in the snow, for being a semi-sports car. It is front-wheel drive, which helps a great deal. The handling is extraordinary, due to the double wishbone suspension Honda used on all four corners of the car.

Even with all of the expense, I love this car. It is fun to drive and you don't see too many of them on the road. I plan on keeping it for a very long time.

Faults:

Alarm has a mind of its own sometimes, hardly the car's fault though.

General Comments:

This is without doubt one of the best looking cars Honda have ever produced. Even at nine years old, after some TLC, the car still looks absolutely fantastic. This is the first car I've owned that people have come up to me and commented upon.

The metallic silver finish looks wonderful on a sunny day and shows off the (some might say womanly!) curves of the bodywork. The standard polished alloys look good too - I had planned to replace them, but they've definitely grown on me.

Inside, it's surprisingly small - the backs of the comfortable front seats almost touch the rear seats which are a bit of a joke. All of the gauges and warning lights are set behind a dark, sweeping pane of perspex - which light up like a space ship when turned on. Even the ventilation/air con is digital - a super climate control system, which is also very easy to use.

Driving the car is easy when you just want to get from point A to point B - and yet it can also be extremely involving when you want to "drive". This is a Honda that doesn't need to be thrashed to make decent progress, although all hell breaks lose at around 5200RPM and up to the redline! My car is an automatic which I love, although many people prefer this car as a manual - to better exploit the VTEC engine. I suggest you try both if you're looking at one of these.

At low revs and cruising speed, the engine is almost inaudible. As the revs rise, it starts to make the most beautiful noise - I have been known to turn the stereo off just to listen to it!

Steering is sharp and cornering fantastic. Mine is a BB4 model, which does away with the four wheel steering system found on earlier (and UK) models. As a result, the turning circle is surprisingly large considering the car's size.

For a 2.2 sports coupe, the fuel consumption is not bad at all. 20 around town, a little over 30 on a run. This is just an estimate however - if I was bothered about MPG then I wouldn't have bought this car.

Excellent value for money these days.