1998 Honda Shuttle 2.3i SE from UK and Ireland - Comments

Nothing.

Handles well for a people-mover but no sportscar.

Remarkably quick with a brilliant engine and smooth auto box. However, the engine can be a bit noisy when pushed.

Roomy and comfortable.

Rear seat folds down into the floor - good idea!

Panoramic views out of the large windows make it easy to drive in traffic and manoeuvre in car parks regardless of its size.

In two years/23000 miles-total reliability. Smooth and quite most of time but engine can become loud when pushed. Superb gear-box. Feels more of a luxury car than MPV. Without doubt, this is the best car we have ever had. Much better to drive than a Galaxy or the Previa it replaced. It is also more comfortable, spacious and versatile.

I agree with all of you that this is a brilliant car!!! It was VERY spacious and comfortable. Had a racy engine and had many close races with the boy racers. Much better than all its competitors. Great effort by Honda!!!

Honda Shuttle:

I have run a Shuttle 2.3i ES (the 6 seater one) for 3 years / 78,000 miles. It has been totally reliable, comfortable and practical - I agree that it provides perfect family transport. My local dealer, Johnsons of Wheatley (near Oxford) have been friendly and helpful. I wouldn't hesitate to have another one except Honda have stopped making it. The replacement Honda Stream drives beautifully, but simply isn't big enough for my growing family.

Colin Buggey.

Have just bought a 1997 2.2ES Shuttle with 73,000 miles on the clock.

First impressions are good; it handles and performs better than expected, in fact pulls well at all speeds up to 110mph. More comfortable and better ride than the 730i BMW it replaces, and just so much room, which is the reason for buying it. Compared with the opposition it is so cheap at just over £5K. Should be less thirsty than a Previa and more reliable than the Galaxy (especially the VR6 Sharan I had which ate auto gearboxes).

Will post a full report when it has done a few thousand and more is known.

Phil Griffith.

I have now owned two Honda Shuttles over a period of seven years. My daughter is still running the first with 100,000 miles on the clock. The second now has 60,000. Total repairs other than usual consumables is one ABS sensor. They are so versatile and the seats come out so easily unlike my earlier hernia inducing Chrysler Voyager. It's a shame it came on the market at too high a price, otherwise it would have been the market leader. A great second hand buy if you can find one. I'm hanging on to mine because the Stream just isn't big enough.

Driven many medium and prestige cars including the Jaguar and of course Mercedes, I had an obsession with these luxury cars, so when family became 6 I had no choice, but a 7 seater. Chrysler Voyager, which I drove was the one I had my eyes on obviously for the executive drive. But wait a minute when I recently bought a Honda Shuttle 2.3i ES,it was the answer to my passion. Drives like a German motor for those with a heavy feel taste. Yes I read one of the comments which was not surprising, the ABS sensor. They may be common faults. Keep you updated after a few 1000 miles. And yes I forgot, it is easy to deceive anyone by claiming the engine is not running, when it is. (figure that out)

I have recently bought an R reg 1998 2.3LS FHSH 50,000 miles for £4,400.

I've done 3,000 miles so far and no surprises the car has been completely reliable. A check through the history revealed nothing other than service items. I had the timing belts and auto box fluid changed at Honda for about £260 but as I intend to keep the car for a long time I have decided to do the oil changes etc myself. I was pleased to discover that I could do this without jacking up the car! I treated it to a Honda oil filter at £8.88 as opposed to Halfords etc at around £4-6 because the other makes were a variety of different sizes, none the same as the Honda - any comments?

One fault I have noticed is that in hot weather two small dimples form in the roof just behind the front of the roof bars. They aren't particularly noticeable and I can hear them go ping as the temperature increases only to disappear as it drops down again. I have checked the car for accident damage etc - nothing, it's in near immaculate condition - anyone experienced the same?

I have been driving fairly smoothly and managed to achieve at worst 27mpg and at best 30.5mpg. I was pleasantly surprised.

Does anyone know how long the autoboxes last?

Overall very pleased with the car it's definitely the one to buy.

I bought my Honda Shuttle in 1998 with 6K on the clock, it was an import. The Shuttle has been brilliant, it now has 126K on it and has been all over Europe. I use it every day for my business. It has had a new Exhaust a Battery and a rear brake light bulb. I had the 120K service done at 123K, new Timing belt Etc. I hope I never have to change this car. It has never let me down never failed to start and has been a credit to Honda Engineering. I only wish Honda had continued to make it so I could treat myself to a new one. Even so I wouldn't part with this one.

Bought a 2.3i LS new in March 1998. Coming up on 97,000 miles.

This car has been excellent and has run the family around the UK and abroad for over 10 years.

Only one serious fault - the taper roller bearing in the final drive had to be replaced at about 60,000 miles (Honda contributed towards the cost!). The cat was replaced this year and a new battery a couple of years ago. Apart from that only routine service stuff.

The vehicle has never let us down. It always starts, runs like the day it was new, is very comfortable and spacious and we don't want to sell it despite its age.

This is why we buy Honda's - the quality of the engineering and the components means that they keep going when other manufacturer's vehicles are coming apart at the seams.

Think we will take this one round the clock again.

We have a P reg Honda Shuttle 2.2 ES. Great car. The interior is in excellent shape for a 12 year old with 107,000 miles on the clock. Ditto the bodywork. Agree the air con is underpowered but that's it, everything else works well.

We have just spent on a new exhaust, timing belt and suspension arm, engine mount. Expect it to carry on great service.

Excuse me for my English, cause I'm French and my english is not so good, so I try to do my best.

I had bought a Shuttle 2.2 I ES, and think that it is still the best if you compare it with all its opponents, including the most recent ones.

Roomy, excellent engine, easy to park it, and good sensations on every type of road.

The only problem is the gasoline consumption.

But anyway I would not change my Shuttle for any other car, except if one day, Honda would restart building the same one for the European market.

You still have the Shuttle on the Japanese market, but by import and for a reasonable price.

All my best for all Shuttle owners.