2000 Prelude VTI
Discussion
In need of a semi interesting and reliable shed for a year or so between a lease XF returning and (hopefully) the purchase of a nice V8 cruiser next year, I came across an ad for a 2000 Honda Prelude back in January.
Having been a fan of Gran Turismo on the PlayStation I was keen to see if the car I used back in the day on the game was any good in real life.
Owned by an older chap in Wrexham, it had covered a mere 87000 miles, has a (so far) non chocolate auto box, working 4WS and the all important 2.2:
Also a stack of receipts including a record of the cam belt being changed at 60000 miles about 5 years ago.
Seemed ok if a little ratty around the edges. Major bits worked, it had a few niggles but I decided to take it off the owners hands. It the 100 or so miles back home without breaking a sweat. In general it’s been great over the time I have had it, but a couple of issues have become evident over the last 3 months or so- a bit of water leaking into the boot, a sticky bonnet latch and a bit of an oil leak which looks like it’s coming from the sump.
In the spirit of cheap motoring I haven’t quite got these looked at but post lockdown I think I’ll get it booked in with a local Honda specialist to get sorted. It also needs a couple of tyres as the rears look past their best; and the wheels are horribly kerbed. Still it’s faithful service combined with a bit of lockdown boredom earned it a a clean yesterday. Given the fact that it’s a cheap runaround I stuck to using whatever old cleaning products I had lying around the house:
Gave it a clay with the remnants of an old clay bar I found in the shed and got a fair bit of crap off the paint
Bit of elbow grease and I managed to get it looking a bit more presentable
The H22 loves its revs and the gearbox works ok for town driving, the tiptronic is sort of enjoyable but I don’t use it much given the reputation for problems. The previous owner had stuck a stainless steel cat back exhaust on which makes a decent noise, but it isn’t blessed with the pace or handling of modern cars. The 4 wheel steer is useful in tight spaces though. Thankfully it’s still in working order.
Other than the niggles I mentioned there are no real plans other than to drive it. The wheels might get a (cheap) refurb later in the year but as a stop gap car I’m hoping I don’t end up throwing too much money at it!
Having been a fan of Gran Turismo on the PlayStation I was keen to see if the car I used back in the day on the game was any good in real life.
Owned by an older chap in Wrexham, it had covered a mere 87000 miles, has a (so far) non chocolate auto box, working 4WS and the all important 2.2:
Also a stack of receipts including a record of the cam belt being changed at 60000 miles about 5 years ago.
Seemed ok if a little ratty around the edges. Major bits worked, it had a few niggles but I decided to take it off the owners hands. It the 100 or so miles back home without breaking a sweat. In general it’s been great over the time I have had it, but a couple of issues have become evident over the last 3 months or so- a bit of water leaking into the boot, a sticky bonnet latch and a bit of an oil leak which looks like it’s coming from the sump.
In the spirit of cheap motoring I haven’t quite got these looked at but post lockdown I think I’ll get it booked in with a local Honda specialist to get sorted. It also needs a couple of tyres as the rears look past their best; and the wheels are horribly kerbed. Still it’s faithful service combined with a bit of lockdown boredom earned it a a clean yesterday. Given the fact that it’s a cheap runaround I stuck to using whatever old cleaning products I had lying around the house:
Gave it a clay with the remnants of an old clay bar I found in the shed and got a fair bit of crap off the paint
Bit of elbow grease and I managed to get it looking a bit more presentable
The H22 loves its revs and the gearbox works ok for town driving, the tiptronic is sort of enjoyable but I don’t use it much given the reputation for problems. The previous owner had stuck a stainless steel cat back exhaust on which makes a decent noise, but it isn’t blessed with the pace or handling of modern cars. The 4 wheel steer is useful in tight spaces though. Thankfully it’s still in working order.
Other than the niggles I mentioned there are no real plans other than to drive it. The wheels might get a (cheap) refurb later in the year but as a stop gap car I’m hoping I don’t end up throwing too much money at it!
Nice buy!
Looks good in red, good spec to.
I'd suggest an oil change and then check the oil every hundred or so miles for the first few months to get an idea of the oil consumption as it can vary a lot on H22. 1L per 1000 miles is not a problem and doesn't mean the engine is on its last legs, even 500 miles per L if you regularly thrash the hell out of it is considered acceptable, just.
Looks good in red, good spec to.
I'd suggest an oil change and then check the oil every hundred or so miles for the first few months to get an idea of the oil consumption as it can vary a lot on H22. 1L per 1000 miles is not a problem and doesn't mean the engine is on its last legs, even 500 miles per L if you regularly thrash the hell out of it is considered acceptable, just.
Cheers all. I’d have loved a mk4 but they’ve vanished, at least the reasonably priced examples have. My little brother had two JDM BB4 examples back in the day and I’d have happily had one over the mk5 just for the futuristic dash alone but alas none were for sale when I was looking to buy.
Thanks for the tips about the light gaskets and the oil- will look into both!
Thanks for the tips about the light gaskets and the oil- will look into both!
ali_XF said:
In need of a semi interesting and reliable shed for a year or so between a lease XF returning and (hopefully) the purchase of a nice V8 cruiser next year, I came across an ad for a 2000 Honda Prelude back in January.
Having been a fan of Gran Turismo on the PlayStation I was keen to see if the car I used back in the day on the game was any good in real life.
Owned by an older chap in Wrexham, it had covered a mere 87000 miles, has a (so far) non chocolate auto box, working 4WS and the all important 2.2:
Also a stack of receipts including a record of the cam belt being changed at 60000 miles about 5 years ago.
Seemed ok if a little ratty around the edges. Major bits worked, it had a few niggles but I decided to take it off the owners hands. It the 100 or so miles back home without breaking a sweat. In general it’s been great over the time I have had it, but a couple of issues have become evident over the last 3 months or so- a bit of water leaking into the boot, a sticky bonnet latch and a bit of an oil leak which looks like it’s coming from the sump.
In the spirit of cheap motoring I haven’t quite got these looked at but post lockdown I think I’ll get it booked in with a local Honda specialist to get sorted. It also needs a couple of tyres as the rears look past their best; and the wheels are horribly kerbed. Still it’s faithful service combined with a bit of lockdown boredom earned it a a clean yesterday. Given the fact that it’s a cheap runaround I stuck to using whatever old cleaning products I had lying around the house:
Gave it a clay with the remnants of an old clay bar I found in the shed and got a fair bit of crap off the paint
Bit of elbow grease and I managed to get it looking a bit more presentable
The H22 loves its revs and the gearbox works ok for town driving, the tiptronic is sort of enjoyable but I don’t use it much given the reputation for problems. The previous owner had stuck a stainless steel cat back exhaust on which makes a decent noise, but it isn’t blessed with the pace or handling of modern cars. The 4 wheel steer is useful in tight spaces though. Thankfully it’s still in working order.
Other than the niggles I mentioned there are no real plans other than to drive it. The wheels might get a (cheap) refurb later in the year but as a stop gap car I’m hoping I don’t end up throwing too much money at it!
Lovely car; great colour too. Don't see it in that colour much at all. Saying that, rarely see any Lude's on the road now to be fair Having been a fan of Gran Turismo on the PlayStation I was keen to see if the car I used back in the day on the game was any good in real life.
Owned by an older chap in Wrexham, it had covered a mere 87000 miles, has a (so far) non chocolate auto box, working 4WS and the all important 2.2:
Also a stack of receipts including a record of the cam belt being changed at 60000 miles about 5 years ago.
Seemed ok if a little ratty around the edges. Major bits worked, it had a few niggles but I decided to take it off the owners hands. It the 100 or so miles back home without breaking a sweat. In general it’s been great over the time I have had it, but a couple of issues have become evident over the last 3 months or so- a bit of water leaking into the boot, a sticky bonnet latch and a bit of an oil leak which looks like it’s coming from the sump.
In the spirit of cheap motoring I haven’t quite got these looked at but post lockdown I think I’ll get it booked in with a local Honda specialist to get sorted. It also needs a couple of tyres as the rears look past their best; and the wheels are horribly kerbed. Still it’s faithful service combined with a bit of lockdown boredom earned it a a clean yesterday. Given the fact that it’s a cheap runaround I stuck to using whatever old cleaning products I had lying around the house:
Gave it a clay with the remnants of an old clay bar I found in the shed and got a fair bit of crap off the paint
Bit of elbow grease and I managed to get it looking a bit more presentable
The H22 loves its revs and the gearbox works ok for town driving, the tiptronic is sort of enjoyable but I don’t use it much given the reputation for problems. The previous owner had stuck a stainless steel cat back exhaust on which makes a decent noise, but it isn’t blessed with the pace or handling of modern cars. The 4 wheel steer is useful in tight spaces though. Thankfully it’s still in working order.
Other than the niggles I mentioned there are no real plans other than to drive it. The wheels might get a (cheap) refurb later in the year but as a stop gap car I’m hoping I don’t end up throwing too much money at it!
Although one did pass me on the bypass outside of Preston the other week; that looked well.This was my old BB8 Lude, did quite a lot of work to it and then got bored and sold it
It got written off not long after unfortunately
Loved my old manual 2.2 VTI. Amazing engine, well matched gear box and I thought they looked great, even if not everyone agreed. Mine was written off when it had all the glass smashed in during the night by someone a few years ago, no idea what it did to offend them.
I'd be seriously tempted to get another one, but they all seem to be either rusted through at the arches, chavved up, autos or non-vtec 2.0s.
I'd be seriously tempted to get another one, but they all seem to be either rusted through at the arches, chavved up, autos or non-vtec 2.0s.
drtom said:
Loved my old manual 2.2 VTI. Amazing engine, well matched gear box and I thought they looked great, even if not everyone agreed. Mine was written off when it had all the glass smashed in during the night by someone a few years ago, no idea what it did to offend them.
I'd be seriously tempted to get another one, but they all seem to be either rusted through at the arches, chavved up, autos or non-vtec 2.0s.
I've been thinking the same; initially started looking at original EF8 CRXs but then thought the room is better in the Prelude for me and my fat arse... There's a few Jap imports on eBay, but high money & more than I'd want to spend / more than they're worth IMOI'd be seriously tempted to get another one, but they all seem to be either rusted through at the arches, chavved up, autos or non-vtec 2.0s.
Still; would be a great car to work on, modify and use as a weekend driver
Lovely car, that engine is a real peach. I had the same in a BB4 manual, epic noise at full chat. Still regret selling it but the rot was getting out of control, 4ws had an intermittent fault that made it track the road camber and change lanes on the motorway which could be a bit hairy at times.
d_a_n1979 said:
Greendubber said:
How much do the rear wheels 'steer'?
Not a lot and under 20mph IIRC; but they do help.Something like 2 degrees?
A must is the RWS locking pin; soemthing that actually came with the Motegi BB8 I had!
I think I read that a long time ago - in a galaxy far, far away.
MightyBadger said:
Lovely car, that engine is a real peach. I had the same in a BB4 manual, epic noise at full chat. Still regret selling it but the rot was getting out of control, 4ws had an intermittent fault that made it track the road camber and change lanes on the motorway which could be a bit hairy at times.
Had the same car in Silver and got rid for the same reasons. Really enjoyed that car till the rear arches got out of control.castex said:
d_a_n1979 said:
Greendubber said:
How much do the rear wheels 'steer'?
Not a lot and under 20mph IIRC; but they do help.Something like 2 degrees?
A must is the RWS locking pin; soemthing that actually came with the Motegi BB8 I had!
I think I read that a long time ago - in a galaxy far, far away.
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