Should i buy a 1997 honda perlude with 185000 miles? Does it have to many miles on it?

Question

I am looking at a 1997 Honda Prelude for my first car. I'm getting a great deal on it. But im worried about the high mileage, it has 185,000 miles on it. Any advise would be helpful. :]

Answer 1

Yeah, that's ridiculous. I'd never buy a car with more than 110,000 miles or so, even if I had a small budget.

I don't care if it's a Honda or any other brand. There are a dozen things that are a ticking time bomb on that car if they have not been replaced, and any one of them would be a $1,000+ repair. Unless the guy is giving it to you for under $500, take a pass.

Answer 2

preludes have a free floating head and because of this they have head issues frequently. any other honda I would say buy it but the prelude was conceived as a prelude to new ideas and technologies so there are usually new designs being used and new designs are not as reliable as tried and true designs. so if you want a prelude look for one with 70k or less and have it checked out.  good luck

Answer 3

pay a mechanic an hour's labor and find out the real condition of that car

Answer 4

I've bought cars with a lot more than that on the odometer. It depends on the price, and how much work you're willing to do to it / planning on doing to it. If you're planning on building an engine for boost, you're doing a rebuild anyway, so why not just start with a different block. If you just want a sporty looking car, and don't plan on driving it hard at all, and it doesn't seem too have been driven hard, and you do at least some of your own maintenance, you're probably ok too.

Just don't pay the same as you would pay for one with 70 000 miles. If the price matches up to the milage, go for it, in my books. Just know that some money's going out on parts anyway.