Champagne Beige Metallic C reg Honda Prelude 1.8 EX. 12 valve, dual carburettor with 5 speed manual gearbox.
The car has power steering, electric windows, electric sunroof, electric ariel, dashboard dimmer switch, dash warning lights (for fluid levels, brake light bulbs, etc), warning alarm when lights are left on.
I have owned his fantastic car for the last 3 years and I really cannot speak highly enough of it in terms of reliability, comfort, daily usability, and pure enjoyment.
(SIDE NOTE - Although this is my daily driver, I don't use it for commuting so it has had a relatively easy life)
Here's a bit of history on the car:
3 Former keepers prior to myself. The previous elderly owner owned the car since February 1993. In around 2003 he had the car fully resprayed in its original colour, had a new Bosal exhaust fitted & new brake discs & pads all round. He never drove the car after the respray, and dry stored it until I bought it in August 2014.
It comes with 3 keys including red key with original id tag stamped with unique code, but he misplaced the history file over the years. I've built up a quite a comprehensive and exhaustive maintenance & service history during the 3 years of my ownership - it has been maintained regardless of cost & it has wanted for nothing. I've replaced & renewed many parts (most of which weren't even required) to ensure it runs as well as it looks. The main parts are detailed below. Soon after buying the car I managed to find a used owners handbook in original case which are included.
From the previous owner I the only paperwork I have is an MOT from 2003, where the stated mileage was 82,928, and the MOT certificate prior to my buying the car, dated 21/08/14 where the stated mileage was 82,950 so the car was not driven between 2003 & 2014.
Here's a summary of maintenance during my ownership:
(unless otherwise stated, parts were sourced by myself - all invoices have been kept - & work was carried out by one of 2 family friends who are mechanics, both of whom have decades of experience & know these cars very well, and they both have my 100% trust):
SEPT 2014 - 83,289 MILES - FULL SERVICE by renowned Honda specialist APB Motorsport in Crewe. Included resetting valve
clearances, replacing all fluids & filters, belts, remove, flush & thoroughly clean radiator, spark plugs,
thorough check over & road test of vehicle. The bill for this service was £800.
MARCH 2015 - SUSPENSION - [oem KYB Excel-G gas shocks & top mounts, Spax 30mm lowering springs, upper & lower ball
joints (Delphi), tie rod ends (Delphi), steering boot, cv boots, front & rear brake pads (Ferodo & Mintex)]
- IGNITION - New ignition coil, ignition leads, distibutor cap, rotor arm (all Beru)
NOV 2015 - 86,615 MILES - FULL SERVICE - Including oil & filter, fuel filter, NGK Iridium spark plugs, air filter
- BRAKES - Both rear calipers fully stripped & refurbished, new handbrake cables both sides, handbrake
mechanism recalibrated
- CARBURETTOR - Carburettor fully stripped, cleaned & rebuilt with rebuild kit. Professionally carried out by
Carb Care in Litchfield. Alan is an expert, having been rebuilding & tuning carburettors for over 40 years.
FEB 16 - CARBURETTOR - Professionally retuned & balanced. Wheels also on car balanced. Work carried out by T Mullin in
Warrington, again he is an expert with decades of experience in this field.
AUGUST 17 - 92,489 MILES - just received a service - including oil & filter, fuel filter, air filter. Earlier this year I was in a
sling & cast and couldn't drive for 4 months, hence it is late being serviced this year.
Thanks to being dry stored for 10 years prior to my ownership the current mileage is 92,500 which is low for the year, averaging approx 3,000 miles per year. When I bought the car in August 2014 the mileage was 83,000. This car should be less than half way through it's life.
In fact I have probably done nearly 2,000 miles this year alone as I've been travelling a lot more than usual, so prior to this year (including the servicing delay) the car had a very easy life covering around 3k per year, and between services.
I have meticulously kept the paintwork & wheels clean, shiny & protected. Including a regime of a prewash, wash, 3 coats of polish & 3 coats of 100% pure carnauba Harly Wax which is amazing stuff. The exterior black plastics & rubber have also been treated regularly. The paintwork has a really deep shine and has that glass like effect.
The interior is also in excellent condition, including herringbone sports seats.
The car drives flawlessly, engine is so smooth & strong and it drives much more like a modern car than one would expect, it glides around the road effortlessly. It has been such a reliable car & has never come close to letting me down. In winter it starts first time every time with no hesitation. I have done a number of motorway journeys between Manchester, Birmingham & London and it is good as gold on the motorway, the engine doesn't miss a beat & it's entirely comfortable at 85mph and has no problem whatsoever keeping up with traffic. Reliability has never even crossed my mind or been a concern with this car to be honest.
It is a fantastic car to drive - the combination of such a light nimble car, upgraded/renewed suspension and such a smooth, torquey engine (as this 12 valve dual carbed model is known for). The midrange acceleration takes you buy surprise at first - in second, third & fourth gear especially it can really shift and what's more the car feels a lot faster than it's actually going. It takes some getting used to when you're used to more modern cars.
My previous car prior to this was an E36 318is 1.9l 16v and the E36 was a superb car - smooth, enough power to get by, handled like it was on rails & felt incredibly well put together, but honestly the Prelude puts much more of a smile on my face. It actually feels more torquey & sprightly, the E36 felt very heavy until it got going and the Prelude is definately a more engaging drive, and is still incredibly smooth & refined when pootling around at 30 mph. It really is a peach of a car (for want of a better word), & a peach of an engine.
The engine & exhaust note sounds lovely at mid / higher revs. The combination of Bosal exhaust, no cat & dual carbs make for a lovely deep rumble at mid / higher revs. It is not in any way obnoxious or droning, just a nice deep rumble which is virtually inaudible from inside the cabin. It's a direct replacement for the oem exhaust, not a stainless steel sports exhaust.
It really does not lack anything required for daily use. Nice large boot with a full size spare wheel (for both sets of alloys). Back seats have room for 2 adults of regular height. Pop up headlights are in full working order.
The car comes with both front original Honda floor mats, but I bought a made to measure set of 4 rubber floor mats so I use them & keep the originals stored away.
NIGGLES:
The radio hasn't worked since I've owned the car. Crucially the cassette player works, & I play music / radio etc through my phone through a Sony cassette adaptor which goes in the car stereo & has an aux lead which plugs into your phone / mp3. It works superbly & cost only about £5 from Amazon.
Passenger side electric window - the motor works fine but the window comes off the rail when winding down so I just stopped using it.
Twice I reversed into short bollards found in supermarket car parks. These left 2 patches of paint damage on the rear bumper, roughly either side of the number plate. I can send more photos on request.
There is the odd patch of surface bubbling, around the front & rear windscreen and a couple of the wheel arches. It is just slight surface rust and is a minimal amount for a 31 year old car. Around the sunroof & fuel filler neck are both completely rust free. The 'worst' arch is the driver side front - and this is just surface bubbling and underneath is completely solid. The bottom corner of the driver side rear arch (where it meets the rear bumper) has a spot of rust but I'm quite sure this is from a car park ding or similar prior to my ownership, because there always has been an imperfection there and that edge of the rear bumper where it meets that rear arch does not sit completely flush if you look at the pics, it's very slightly hanging down. That spot of rust was caused by an isolated incident and is not indicative of the overall condition of the wheel arches.
Overall the condition of the paintwork, interior, engine, exhaust & suspension are superb. I think one would struggle to find a 2nd gen Prelude in this good mechanical or cosmetic condition. And with a manual gearbox.
The original suspension springs are included should you wish to return it to 100% original condition. I also have a brand new Aisin 3 piece clutch which is included, & 1 or 2 other spares.
Reason for sale is I now need an estate, and I'm feeling the need for an inline 6 BMW, so an E46 or E39 Touring beckons!
The car is located in Birmingham B45.
The car is MOT'd until 8 March 2018. I have the V5C which is in my name. FYI the original registration from new was C79KOP (can be seen etched in the corners of windows & windscreens in some close ups), & as it was transferable I sold it to a friend who's a Liverpool fan a couple of years ago
) I have a photocopy of the previous V5C showing the original reg which I made before sending it off to DVLA, & also still have the original number plates.£2,400 ono.
The pictured wheels are no longer with the car & I've put the original wheels are back on.
Feel free to ask any questions.
Contact me on: zero 78 three five, 5 nine 5, zero 3 two.
Thanks
