What's your biggest gripe with the prelude?

[rexracer29]

As I said earlier, my mileage per year is so low, and I only ever keep cars for 3 or so years at most, that the problem won't be mine, but I am a little worried that if it gets out that these engines are indeed ticking timebombs further down the line, then selling it could be problematic. I'm wishing this detail had come out a bit earlier as with hindsight I probably would not have spent a considerable amount of money on something that potentially could turn out to be a problem, Honda are already in big trouble financially due to pursuing EVs that nobody bought, this could be a hammer blow to them, it's a shame as to be honest the Prelude is a lovely car to own drive and look at. Thank God, if I do break the habit of a lifetime and actually keep a car for longer than 3 years, then at least if I get it serviced at a Honda dealer, the problem will be theirs.

I feel the same way. I like trying different cars so I rarely keep cars more than a 2-3 years. I wonder how widespread the head gasket issues are and how the problems will affect resale later on.

 

[Alex_Waverley66]

I think it is easy to overstate the severity of this issue. Given the number of hybrids that Honda sells each year the failure rate is very low and with proper maintenance a catastrophic failure is very unlikely. As with any engine observing the proper service schedule and procedures is critical to long-term reliability. And, let's face it, a lot of owners ignore this or do maintenance on the cheap. Taking the time to look under the hood once in a while is just common sense but it is also ignored by many owners. Visual inspection will catch many issues before they turn into a bigger problem. This is true of any vehicle and it always has been.

My wife is 70 years old and drive less than 6000 miles a year. She sticks to the maintenance intervals and I inspect all of our cars every few weeks. I am not concerned with this in the least.

 

[pillred44]

I think it is easy to overstate the severity of this issue. Given the number of hybrids that Honda sells each year the failure rate is very low and with proper maintenance a catastrophic failure is very unlikely. As with any engine observing the proper service schedule and procedures is critical to long-term reliability. And, let's face it, a lot of owners ignore this or do maintenance on the cheap. Taking the time to look under the hood once in a while is just common sense but it is also ignored by many owners. Visual inspection will catch many issues before they turn into a bigger problem. This is true of any vehicle and it always has been.

My wife is 70 years old and drive less than 6000 miles a year. She sticks to the maintenance intervals and I inspect all of our cars every few weeks. I am not concerned with this in the least.

My last car I PX was my Civic for the prelude it had 6749 miles on the clock after over two and a half years so I'm not ever expecting to have any problems during my ownership with the Prelude either, when I had the Civic there was a so called sticky steering problem but it affected only a tiny percentage of cars worlwide, but the people it did were very vocal so everyone thought it was a widespread problem but it actually wasn't, I'm expecting the same with this issue as you said strict adherence to the service schedule changing the oil and coolant should mean no troubles.

 

[rexracer29]

My last car I PX was my Civic for the prelude it had 6749 miles on the clock after over two and a half years so I'm not ever expecting to have any problems during my ownership with the Prelude either, when I had the Civic there was a so called sticky steering problem but it affected only a tiny percentage of cars worlwide, but the people it did were very vocal so everyone thought it was a widespread problem but it actually wasn't, I'm expecting the same with this issue as you said strict adherence to the service schedule changing the oil and coolant should mean no troubles.

I would not expect any issues after only 2.5 years and less than 7K miles on any car. Not even a Yugo!

 

[GoZoner44]

I keep all my cars for 10 years or more; the last 5 being where the investment starts paying off. Integra sold at 220k; Rav4 at 170k; CR-Z at 125k. I'm not worried in the least. Of course, I run my gas tank down to 0 - where all the gas-dirt is and I only change my oil when the maintenance-minder says so (currently trending to 12k miles); so, what do I know...

And, I'm only 1/2 way through my life; figuring I'm going to live to 120 or so. Thus I'll be around if the head-gasket blows; I'll let you all know. Until then... S+ and pull and hold the left-paddle, get the revs up and go!

 

[nyon19]

I keep all my cars for 10 years or more; the last 5 being where the investment starts paying off. Integra sold at 220k; Rav4 at 170k; CR-Z at 125k. I'm not worried in the least. Of course, I run my gas tank down to 0 - where all the gas-dirt is and I only change my oil when the maintenance-minder says so (currently trending to 12k miles); so, what do I know...

And, I'm only 1/2 way through my life; figuring I'm going to live to 120 or so. Thus I'll be around if the head-gasket blows; I'll let you all know. Until then... S+ and pull and hold the left-paddle, get the revs up and go!

Off topic and probably a dumb question, but does holding the left paddle during a drag run stop the power blips and do anything for 0-60 time? Traveling and won’t be back to my ‘Lude til Sunday.

 

[rexracer29]

I keep all my cars for 10 years or more; the last 5 being where the investment starts paying off. Integra sold at 220k; Rav4 at 170k; CR-Z at 125k. I'm not worried in the least. Of course, I run my gas tank down to 0 - where all the gas-dirt is and I only change my oil when the maintenance-minder says so (currently trending to 12k miles); so, what do I know...

And, I'm only 1/2 way through my life; figuring I'm going to live to 120 or so. Thus I'll be around if the head-gasket blows; I'll let you all know. Until then... S+ and pull and hold the left-paddle, get the revs up and go!

It is not a great idea to run so low before filling up with gas. Not because of dirt in the tank. The fuel filter catches everything. Running to near empty can cause premature fuel pump failure. The pump is cooled by the fuel. It can overheat and fail prematurely.

 

[PGH218]

If I purchased one I would not be too concerned about this issue although it does raise a concern about Honda quality and long term reliability. Look at the 1.5- Fuel dilution, and again head gasket issues.

 

[rexracer29]

If I purchased one I would not be too concerned about this issue although it does raise a concern about Honda quality and long term reliability. Look at the 1.5- Fuel dilution, and again head gasket issues.

I wonder about Honda quality and long term reliability also. Having back to back issues with head gaskets first with the 1.5 and now with the 2.0 engines is kind of surprising to me. Any brand can have a bad design but to have two back-to-back is kind of surprising for a Honda. Honda was/is definitely one of the top 3 automotive brands that are considered benchmarks for reliability and durability.

My guess is Honda was cost cutting. Other car brands are finding ways to save money. I just read BMW is going to start using aluminum instead of copper wire for electrical wiring to save money. Who knows if there will be issues with aluminum wires in an automobile?

 

[Alfettaman84]

At the risk of repeating what I wrote on Facebook, the speed warning beeps only three times when you exceed the speed limit, then it shuts up.
So the solution is to never slow down - so I have been told….

I've found the answer to the overspeed warning.

Bolt this sign to the front of your bonnet/hood, mounted vertically so it's facing towards the driver and is therefore visible to the camera behind the windscreen. It might spoil the aerodynamics a bit and will also obscure your view of the road, but at least you won't be troubled with that beeping noise quite so often...