[Midnight_Wolf]

I drive a 1986 Z28 camaro. Car runs great, looks good, no rust. The problem is no air conditioning, black dash, killer in the summer to drive. I live in the Okanagan, which is one of the hottest, driest areas of Canada.

Hubby wants to buy me a Honda Prelude. I'm not real big on foreign cars. Does anyone know much about these? He thinks they are great, but I am going to be the one driving it. Should I, or shouldn't I? Any input would be much appreciated. Thanks

Midnight_Wolf

[EdPPCLI]

Wow a "head banger" classic :)
That thing must guzzle some serious gas. On the plus side it's prbably got more guts than most other sports cars out there (definitely more than a stock Prelude) and it's built like a tank so no worries about collisions.
I don't know what you are looking for in your new car, but my next car will definitely be taking the threat of peak oil into consideration. Diesel all the way, brand new your pretty much looking at a VW with the TDI engine. If you are buying used there are some great Mercedes and Volvos out there. Lots of new trucks with diesels but they are pretty pricey again you may want to look into used for Isuzus, Toyotas and Land Rovers.
Hope this helped.
Ed

[Midnight_Wolf]

Thanks Ed, but i am seriously not looking at diesels. They stink, and they are loud. I don't want one. I really do love my little head banger machine. She has been a good car, and continues to be one. For an eight cyl she really isn't bad on gas. She has a 305 engine. I don't do a lot of driiving. Oh look, I've talked myself right out of sellling her. I think I will keep her. Hubby can drive the new Prelude. Thanks

Midnight_Wolf

[FrmlyZ]

Midnight:

I went through this a few years ago. Didn't want to put up with the normal costs of a BMW. I went through Sub, Honda and Toyoto. That includes the Pra. My opionion matches those of the major magazines. The Japanese sedans are granny cars. The Prelude is better than many, but not that good. Very reliable but very boring. For me, I traded in my 3 series BMW for a 5 speed manual Focus ZX3 with 50 series tires. It handles the same and carries 8 ft lumber . So it goes. :)

You do what you want to do but you will be disappointed with the Prelude.

Best Wishes,,,,,,

Z

[Brihard]

If you want an economical, inexpensive, sporty car, I'd look at a Pontiac Sunfire. Great cars. They're all over the place; everyone can service them or gets aprts easily. They're good on gas, and they're not expensive, new or used. Just my opinion.

[FrmlyZ]

Brihard;

Don't know how it is in Candada. Here it may be different.. We have the largest Ford, BMW, etc dealer in the state. They have many cars. At present they can get 3 Z's. Tells you somethig.

Best Wishes,,,,,

Z

[Larred]

Really it depends on what your priorities are. My wife's Japanese car is an appliance. It does what it does well, with no passion (if that makes sense). My previous BMW, and my wife's previous VW Jetta were both drivers cars. They spanked the Jap cars in power and performance, and personally, I don't think they were anymore to maintain than the Jap rigs. My current vehicle a Chevy truck is, well, a hunk of Detroit Iron. Solid, heavy, but still expensive to fix.

If you want to live frugally, and want reliability (but they're still expensive when the break, especially Toyota and Honda) go Japanese.

If you want a car that's fun to drive, and is on par with the Jap stuff as far as reliability (if you can work on it yourself it's cheaper because it's better designed) get a BMW or a VW Jetta or Golf.

I would shy away from American rigs, though I don't have any experience with Y2K+ I've found that sub Y2K are not built well, and are not nearly as reliable and do not hold the value that the foreign rigs hold.

Hope this helps...

[cat-sass]

Right after I got out of high school I bought a Toyota Celica. That was the best car I ever had. When I got rid of it, it had 144,000 miles on it w/o a major problem. All I ever did to it was put in new struts and the O2 sensor when bad. This car was great to drive and got be some lovin to boot! Right now I have a Cadi and a Chevy Tahoe they are nickle and dimeing me to death! When the Cadi is paid off this spring im gonna trade it off for Toyota, maybe a takoma truck or a 4 runner.

[fruit loop]

Bought a car in April. I considered Hondas and Mazdas but finally settled on the Toyota Corolla. I've gotten them several times as rental cars and always loved them.

I've never looked back. The trunk space has been expanded on the Corolla LE sedans and is now the same as the old Toyota Camrys.

I average 45 miles per gallon on road trips.

Love it, love it, love it.

[Yammy]

I miss my Honda, was a very comfortable car that was excellent on gas and as long as you get a stick/standard you get some ZOOM too.

Current car is a chevy Z24, great on gas, nice looking (I've got all the accessories on it, bra, wind deflectors, sun roof etc...) fun to drive (again, stick/standard) and it's be very reliable and parts are cheap if you do need to get them. Air conditioning works great too, will freeze you out on the hottest day.

Mine looks like this but is silver:
http://www.eng.ysu.edu/~jmercer/z24.jpg

[CTCStrela]

Preludes are great cars. And as opposed to what Ed said, yes, the prelude, depending on it's age, will be much faster than your 86 Camaro.

Correction, if it's a new prelude, it's going to chew up the camaro for breakfast and spit little chunks of it out...

For that matter, so will a lot of new minivans...

[CTCStrela]

Chevrolet Camaro Z28
305 (5.0 liter) 4BBL
305 (5.0 liter) TBI
165 HP
9.1 or 9.4 0-60
16.80 or 17.13 1/4 Mile

Honda Preludes:
1994 Honda Prelude VTEC 7.2 0-60 15.1 1/4 Mile
1995 Honda Prelude VTEC 6.7 O-60 15.1 1/4 Mile
1999 Honda Prelude 6.8 15.4 " "
2000 Honda Prelude 6.8 15.4 " "

Newer ones are 14 second cars stock...

[Midnight_Wolf]

Thank You all for your imput. Hubby brought the car home yesterday. He said if I don't like driving it I don't have to. He will sell one of his Chevy trucks and use the car to go back and forth to work.

He also said if I do like the car, I don't have to sell my camaro. Ahh, life is good. I haven't taken the little Lude out yet. He is in the garage tinkering with it. His son and daughter both own one so he has done a lot of work on them. It is not a Vtec engine. The car is a 91 Prelude SR. Auto, cause I hate driving standards. I'm not real worried about horsepower. Speeding tickets are very expensive here. As are the points you accumulate. And I'm old now and don't need all that power. :D The lude has 140 hp, and I'm not sure what my camaro has. When I put it in overdrive it goes plenty fast enough for me.

Hubby has a 68 camaro 327, that he wants to turn into a beast. I don't need all that power. Once again, thanks for all of your thoughts. I'll let you all know what I decide to do.

[Yammy]

I was thinking of you the other day while driving Midnight Wolf.

My absolute favorite car was my 928S Porsche, and I regret ever selling it.

DON'T sell you car!

[CTCStrela]

Ah, it's a Prelude SI. Decent pickup just the same ;) Should still be faster than the camaro then ;)

[Robert]

I was thinking of you the other day while driving Midnight Wolf.

My absolute favorite car was my 928S Porsche, and I regret ever selling it.

DON'T sell you car!

I used to build Porsche racing engines as a hobby. Had several.
Favorite one -911 Carrera 4-.

[Shadowfane]

if you want a wolf in sheep's clothing look into the Vibe GT.....175 horses, 4 cyl, 6 speed, LIKES to be run around 3-4K but will simply WAIL out to 7500-8K (3K in 6th =70 mph...YOU do the math) And it's registered as a station wagon.....

[fruit loop]

I shopped around before I bought my car this year and looked at the Honda, but decided on a Toyota Corolla instead.

You can get options that make them look sportier if you want; I went for the basic Corolla LE sedan and I'm glad I did.

Gas mileage is UNBELIEVABLE. I average 45 miles per gallon on the highway. It rides great and the trunk space has been expanded; it's the same as the old Camrys.

Highly recommend. You can go to Toyota.com, find a local dealer, and go online and "build" your Toyota, print it out, and take it to the dealer. That's what I did. They found the car that matched my specs, ordered it for me, and I had it in two weeks.

[Robert]

I shopped around before I bought my car this year and looked at the Honda, but decided on a Toyota Corolla instead.

You can get options that make them look sportier if you want; I went for the basic Corolla LE sedan and I'm glad I did.

Gas mileage is UNBELIEVABLE. I average 45 miles per gallon on the highway. It rides great and the trunk space has been expanded; it's the same as the old Camrys.

Highly recommend. You can go to Toyota.com, find a local dealer, and go online and "build" your Toyota, print it out, and take it to the dealer. That's what I did. They found the car that matched my specs, ordered it for me, and I had it in two weeks.

FL,
I have a Corolla all Track wagon (1991). great cars! I've owned some very expensive cars and taken quite a few apart.(racing engines too). Toyota makes a very good machine!

[Hokey]

I bought a used 99 Corolla last march and we like it. Still tight as a drum with over 100,000 km but thats what I expected with Toyota quality. Gas mileage is awesome too but at the expense of power. But get up and go is not bad for a small car. The one serious criticism I have with this car is the suspension is very light to make it 'floaty' and quiet. I like some thing more solid.

My boss has an 87 Camaro as a second car that he's had to sink alot of money in over the last year. Seemed to be one thing after another. I don't think I could afford the gas for it let alone the repairs. Nice car though.

I like Mazdas and Honda too for their sporty feel (on sports versions of different models). My next new car, hopefully this year, will be a Toyota Matrix or Corolla. I've had enough cars that I've had to make repairs to and I won't sacrifice quality anymore.