97 prelude Type SH H22a VTECH DOHC

[85supra15]

So tomorrow I am hopefully going to be looking at a 1997 Honda Prelude Type SH. I have never had an issue with rocking the reliability and longevity that Honda has put into many of it's vehicles.

I have recently been reading all about them and researching them.

It is a 2.2L I4 making 190-195hp and roughly 150-155 lbs/ft of torque. It weighs a little over 3,000 lbs, so not the greatest but should be pretty rev happy, like most hondas.

The one i am going to look at is supposedly in near mint condition.

Talked the the guy that owns it today. He is 51 years old and is looking to buy another road bike.

The previous owner had the oil changed once a year during inspection because she lived 3 miles from work. She was 46 when she bought it and never beat on it.

It went for 26,200 when it was first driven off the lot. It currently has 81,500 miles on it.

It is a 5 speed with the ATTS system. Active Torque Transfer System. Takes power from inner wheel and transfers to the outer wheel.

The current owner has a full history of work done with tons of dealership work. a $687 timing belt change sounded unreal.

It is black in case anyone was wondering

If anyone has any tips or knows these cars personally would love to hear what you think of the car.


Thanks,
Tyler

[dannymk2]

i like them, though i have a friend whos into hondas that said that parts for the motor are pretty pricey, and its more of a pain then your typical honda.

[discoelk]

I'm gonna second danny on the complication thing. However, they certainly don't feel as thin and dainty as a integra/civic/crx. They're much more refined. I've ridden in a few and they're very nice. SH was "car of the year" from what I recall. They're supposed to handle really well, especially for a stock FWD.

Hope that helps.

[zilvias13]

I had a 97 prelude DOHC VTEC about a year and a half ago did not like it to much. I sold it 3 months after i bought it. Make sure the timing belt, water pump and timing belt tensioner was replaced (or see when it needs to be replaced) I have heard there weakest link is the cooling system, check that out too. Make sure before you even start it, the engine will go through a automatic diagnostic, the check engine light will show up, and then dissapear before it is even started. Make sure the check engine light DOES exist, alot of people before the try to sell you there crap will remove the bulb from the cluster, hence the CEL not coming on. also a common problem on Hondas is the exhaust manifolds, make sure it is not cracked or welded back together. also since it has vtec, make sure it hits at the certain rpm it is suppose to, i believe the prelude cracks at 5200 and redlines at 7or 7.5. also since the car has vtec, make sure when you go to test drive it, you start it from a cold start to look for smoke, if it smokes on its start up, then its prob the valve seals and or rings ( hondas rings go out before valve seals typically speaking) because people abbuse the shit out of the engines (always racing it,etc). also when you drive it, have someone fallow you to make sure when you are under heavy acceleration to make sure there is no blow by (typical honda crap motor) anyways, not to go on and on about hondas, I used to be into them very heavily, infact I sold my roomate my H22 (prelude engine) accord. Hope it works out well and you find a realiable mode of transport.

-Chris

[dannymk2]

I'm gonna second danny on the complication thing. However, they certainly don't feel as thin and dainty as a integra/civic/crx. They're much more refined. I've ridden in a few and they're very nice. SH was "car of the year" from what I recall. They're supposed to handle really well, especially for a stock FWD.

Hope that helps.

yea, they are nice cars, which is why i looked into buying one. id probably still buy one though. just do some more research on the car, price out some parts, make sure you know what you would be getting into if anything was to break and need to be replaced. if your comfortable with it, then go for it i guess.

[85supra15]

Apparently the guy has $13,000 in receipts on all the repairs that have happened. All rust was professionally taken care of at a nice shop apparently. Hope all goes well tonight looking at it.

Thanks for the responses my buddy will be following me in his car so he can see how everything looks as well.

Tyler

[MK2mikeDC2]

h seris motors. the vtec doesnt pop as hard has as b-seris motors...sense this thing is totaly stock you might not hear the vtec pop as loud...so listen carfuly..should be a nice grab.....80k on a stock honda with a vtec motor non abused or riced is almost as rare as are cars......

h seris motors in my eyes are the best wheater you want to go boost or N/a...
less options on parts... unlike b-serris motors were you can swith and inercharge mostly everything....

[85supra15]

Just got back from seeing the vehicle. Absolutely beautiful and the guy has a lot of body work and paint work to get it back to a rust free shell. The doors had rust on the bottom lips in the middle. Underbody coating,new clutch, water pump, timing belt. Rear panels replaced with new metal. New rear shocks.

He was asking 7500. KBB for a car that has had body work said 6,195. Offered the guy 6,200 cash. He said "are you serious". I said that was my offer. He said alright, see yah.

Beautiful car smooth ride. Nice tight car.

Look for another one

Tyler

[MK2mikeDC2]

62 was a good offer....guy should have taken it

[dannymk2]

you offered more then i would have.

[zilvias13]

Just got back from seeing the vehicle. Absolutely beautiful and the guy has a lot of body work and paint work to get it back to a rust free shell. The doors had rust on the bottom lips in the middle. Underbody coating,new clutch, water pump, timing belt. Rear panels replaced with new metal. New rear shocks.

He was asking 7500. KBB for a car that has had body work said 6,195. Offered the guy 6,200 cash. He said "are you serious". I said that was my offer. He said alright, see yah.

Beautiful car smooth ride. Nice tight car.

Look for another one

Tyler
oh and did i menchan i bought mine for 3000 with 112k and sold it 2900

preludes are kinda 'janky' not my type of car, specialy if it has rust and stuff. just buy 96 celica, a fraction of the price, looks cool, reliable, probly better rear seating than prelude ( prelude had horrible rear seats)

[zilvias13]

dont buy it man. trust me, there is always going to be somethin better for your price range. 6200 can buy a good car. in San Diego, Preludes are very inexpensive. plus, why would you pay blue book for something? todays market is not in favor of the kbb.

[zilvias13]

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/cto/1323259864.html 2k cheaper, and no rust
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/1322943872.html alot cheaper
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/1319994191.html 5k obo
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/1318631964.html debody kit it and ur good
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/1318564565.html 2500?

[85supra15]

See unfortunately here in new york rust free cars are hard to find. The only rust is on the lip of the bottom of the door other than that it is rust free.

Went looking all day at cars.

Nothing has topped the prelude for price, looks, reliability, mileage. a honda civic EX with no rust and 133,000 miles goes for around 5 grand around here.

Thats upstate new york.

He put a good $6,000 in body work just to get it back to mint. Has never been beat on.

I just really want a car that is worth my money.

Regular prelude 5th gens go for a lot less than the Type SH's as well.

San Diego they might be a dime a dozen, here they are not.

So I believe i am giving him 7,000 for it. It seems to be worth it with the amount of work that has been done to it.

Will post pics when I get her on the road.

Tyler

[zilvias13]

shipping?

[85supra15]

Damn near all of the other preludes i have found are more mileage than i feel like having.

If zilivias you are saying get one shipped from CA, there is no way i wouldn't trust a vehicle i haven't at least seen first hand.

It would be a hard sell if i never got to drive it.

When i drove this car the other day it was one of the tightest vehicles i have ever been in. The suspension was just smooth and tight. Granted i am not around cars that are heavily modified. Clutch grabbed well. All gauges were functional. Fluids looked good. Just looked like a car that hadn't been driven much just kept clean.

It will end up my summer car while the supra takes some more down time to really put the money into it right.

All the cars posted about are high high high mileage plus when i know a kid has owned a vehicle i guarantee that it has been beat on, and i don't feel like dealing with that.

It is a nice clean honda with reasonably low miles for a 97 that has had a lot of work done to it.

Hopefully I won't have issues with it.

[jjbenzo]

So tomorrow I am hopefully going to be looking at a 1997 Honda Prelude Type SH. I have never had an issue with rocking the reliability and longevity that Honda has put into many of it's vehicles.

I have recently been reading all about them and researching them.

It is a 2.2L I4 making 190-195hp and roughly 150-155 lbs/ft of torque. It weighs a little over 3,000 lbs, so not the greatest but should be pretty rev happy, like most hondas.

The one i am going to look at is supposedly in near mint condition.

Talked the the guy that owns it today. He is 51 years old and is looking to buy another road bike.

The previous owner had the oil changed once a year during inspection because she lived 3 miles from work. She was 46 when she bought it and never beat on it.

It went for 26,200 when it was first driven off the lot. It currently has 81,500 miles on it.

It is a 5 speed with the ATTS system. Active Torque Transfer System. Takes power from inner wheel and transfers to the outer wheel.

The current owner has a full history of work done with tons of dealership work. a $687 timing belt change sounded unreal.

It is black in case anyone was wondering

If anyone has any tips or knows these cars personally would love to hear what you think of the car.


Thanks,
Tyler

This thread def. caught my attention. I bought a 97 Prelude Type SH back in 99 with 16k miles. The car was junk! Nothing but trouble. I swear it was at the Honda dealer 2-3 times a month. I bought the car with the assumption that all Hondas were suppose to be great cars. Maybe I just got the lemon, I don't know. The whole lower end of the engine had to be replaced ONE week after I bought it. I fought tooth and nail to get Honda to cover it under the warranty. After several phone calls with the selling dealer and Honda Motors Corp. they did end up paying for it. For the remaining three years that I owned this piece of crap, the car always had running issues. For some reason the car would bog down all the time. It was dangerous. I could pull out of a parking lot and not be able to pick up speed b/c at any given moment the car would bog down, sputter and do nothing. I could have the accelerator pedal all the way to the floor with no response! This was a problem that never seemed to be able to be fixed during my time of owning it. I had check engine lights on ALL of the time. Take it to the dealer, and like I said, they could never get the car fixed right. I finally gave up on the car and sold it. The new owner called me a few hours after buying it saying that the check engine light had come back on. The next day he calls me again to inform me that he was in an accident and that the car had been totaled on his way back home from someone t-boning him. Thankfully the car was totaled by the new owner on their drive across the country back home, so I wouldn't have to keep hearing about all of it's problems. In conclusion, I will never buy another Honda for as long as I live and I do not recommend them to anyone. Even if I happened to get the lemon of the bunch, its just not worth it too me to ever give them another shot.

If you are looking for a small Japanese sports coupe, I suggest the Celica or 240SX as they tend to be very reliable.

[MK2mikeDC2]

If you are looking for a small Japanese sports coupe, I suggest the Celica or 240SX as they tend to be very reliable.

really 240sx over honda....no way :laugh:

[jjbenzo]

really 240sx over honda....no way :laugh:

I'm talking from my own personal experience. Have you had a Prelude Type SH or a late model 240SX to actually know? Keep in mind I owned the Prelude when it was only two years old with 16k and I had all of those problems, imagine all of the problems now that its 12 years old! My sister had a 98 240SX that was a great car and my mom bought a brand new Celica back in 98....which is still in the family and running perfect. The Prelude is junk. Take if for what you will, buy whatever you want.

[MK2mikeDC2]

i think you must have had a bad seed...cause a buddy of mine bout one with 30k on it....it now has 110k no big issues....and he beats on that car...and i mean beats...but i dont blame you...im sure if i was you i'd feel the same way