Prelude advice needed!!!

[TotalControl]

After a lot of consideration, i was thinking of purchasing another car alongside my current celica st202. I have thought about purchasing a generation 4 2.2 vtec prelude as they look cheap enough and the h22 block seems reliable as anything. The only thing is, i need a bit of info on the ownership costs and details of performance from you guys (just generally) and what can be done to improve performance. Have seen some good value for money ones that seem a little too good to be true at £1500 odd.Is this a good price? Any thoughts are welcome guys.

[Holst]

TotalControl said:

After a lot of consideration, i was thinking of purchasing another car alongside my current celica st202. I have thought about purchasing a generation 4 2.2 vtec prelude as they look cheap enough and the h22 block seems reliable as anything. The only thing is, i need a bit of info on the ownership costs and details of performance from you guys (just generally) and what can be done to improve performance. Have seen some good value for money ones that seem a little too good to be true at £1500 odd.Is this a good price? Any thoughts are welcome guys.

You can get a quite decent car for £1500 these days.

I have had mine for 3 years and its been very reliable. There are a few very common problems that these cars have, but most are easily fixed.
Insurance on a UK car is quite cheap, but slightly more on an import car (im paying £286 on a UK VTEC at 27 years old and 4 years NCB)

The major things to look for are
Rust on the rear arches (this is very common)
5th gear syncro is a weak point in the box, so look for a smooth change into 5th gear.
Regular oil services are important, and the cambelt needs changing every 60kmiles.

Many cars have 4WS (four wheel steering) which can be difficult and expensive to fix if something goes wrong. I love having 4WS, it makes slow speed turns much tighter.

Its definately a buyers market at the moment so make sure you go and see a few different cars before you buy one, and be prepared to haggle on the price.

For more info check out www.preludeuk.co.uk
Very helpfull forum with lots of technical articles, there are also cars being broken for spares all the time so parts are very easy to find.

As far as tuning there isnt a huge ammount you can do to get more power. the engine is pretty highly tuned as it is and you wont get any major increase in power without spending lots of money. There are lots of bolt on parts avalable but the ECU cant be easily remapped.. so major mods need aftermarket mapping which is expensive.

Edited by Holst on Monday 9th June 06:04

[Eddh]

The Post above pretty much covers everything they can be pretty expensive to repair when they go wrong (learnt that the hard way)

Mine is currently parked up with a buggered drive shaft

[TotalControl]

Wow, didnt imagine the engine to be weak for tuning. Will check to see whats available. Thanx for the help guys.