Question about car Re-registration

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Question about car Re-registration

1 | 2

miamiheatfan

259 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#584479 21-Feb-2012 12:46

the prelude is pretty common though. Any words on it ? reliability etc ?
I know it's a "boy racer " car. ...but not ALL preludes were driven like that. The one i'm looking at is a normal red prelude with stock rim , bumber, and interior. 263k mileage.\
And it's pretty common I think cuz it's got it's own forum and website etc. Is it easy getting the parts from REpco and honda itself ?

xpd

Geek @ Coastguard NZ
13771 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#584484 21-Feb-2012 12:54

Honda geniune parts are expensive, but 3rd party stuff should be picked up reasonably easy.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

LinkTree

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek

#584488 21-Feb-2012 12:59

miamiheatfan: the prelude is pretty common though. Any words on it ? reliability etc ?
I know it's a "boy racer " car. ...but not ALL preludes were driven like that. The one i'm looking at is a normal red prelude with stock rim , bumber, and interior. 263k mileage.\
And it's pretty common I think cuz it's got it's own forum and website etc. Is it easy getting the parts from REpco and honda itself ?

If it hasn't been riced up at all (stock exhaust, rims, springs etc) then it should be fine.

Mileage is getting up there, find out if the cambelt has been done in the last 100K (if not, expect to possibly pay $500 or so to replace it soon). Other than that, if it doesn't blow (too much) smoke and seems to go ok, should be fine.

High mileage isn't _necessarily_ a bad thing if it's due to mostly long trips rather than lots of shorter ones. Preludes used to be popular cars for sales reps so most of the mileage was long trips between cities which is less strain on the engine.

@KnightNZ

scuwp

3888 posts

Uber Geek

#584517 21-Feb-2012 13:24

Threads kinda moved on but wanted to make the point that registration and annual licensing are two different things. Annual licensing fee is continuous so if its in arrears you will need to pay that as well and some in advance to keep it current. There is no ongoing cost to be 'registered' but if you don't pay the annual licensing fee for more than (2 years I think) the registration (plate) will be cancelled, and then you need to go through the re-entry process.

Legally to sell a car it MUST be registered, have a current license, and the WoF must be no older than 30 days (unless it is sold on an as-is-where-is basis). Like other comments buy a car with a current license and get the seller to drop a new WoF on it.

On the car front +1 on the cam belt. Every 80 - 100k mandatory for Honda's. Very free revving motors = lots of damage when they break.

Good luck on your purchase.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

Geese

1028 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#584532 21-Feb-2012 13:43

I owned 3 Preludes, which combined did about 100,000km over 6 years.

The only trouble I had was pin hole leak in radiator hose, window regulator stop winding up the last 30%, leaky rocker cover gaskets (all 3, very common Honda thing), left hand ball joint (all 3, very common Honda thing), and that is all.

I have had Hondas for 10 years, and as previously mentioned they seem reliable - BUT woe betide the owner financially when things go wrong. I got rid of my older Honda cars as wreckers no longer carry the parts, Repco and Supercheap no longer carry the parts and must be a special order, and the prices of some "cheap" parts are now enough to make eyes water. For example a Prelude non genuine lower radiator hose is $250, the rubber o-ring for thermostat cost double what the thermostat cost!

Not to mention all the vacuum hoses resemble looking at the map of the London underground. On a Legend I had the engine check light came on... it took the mechanics 3 hours labour to source the cause... a blocked vacuum hose. So now I'm sticking to the "boring" looking cars which are far less complicated under the bonnet.

Additionally with Honda cars there are many variants within same model/year and even chassis code which can cause heartache when trying to do repairs.

For example my Civic front brake pads wore out. I went to Supercheap. Looking for pads for 1995 Civic EG4 import, they said there are 5 possibilites for the EG4! I asked for an air filter, they have 3 different ones for the D15A engine in stock, mine was one that had to be ordered.

miamiheatfan

259 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#584829 21-Feb-2012 21:29

Thanks everyone for the replies.
I guess i'm just kind of in a dilemma right now.

Because it's kinda hard to find a decent vehicle for $2k and under. Even on trademe. It's almost always something's wrong with it dunno.

And dillemma is that , my dad will get a "new" car this year, probably a 2008 year car. Right now he has a 1993 Silver Toyota Corolla Ceres with 120,000 km on the dial and the condition is pretty good.

He said he can sell it to me later for around 2k

Thing is....idk when and he doenst know when, either.

And the reason i need a car is for jobs. For job interviews etc etc.
I'm out of college now (graduating from uni May this year ) , no job, looking for a pt or ft one.

So yea...
If anyone can help suggest or look.

Thanks in advance.

AKLWestie

641 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#584839 21-Feb-2012 21:52

I would suggest you talk to your dad and ask him to drop the price to around $1K. $2K for a 19yr old car is a bit deep.

Having said that, the Corolla should be a great first car. They are reliable, cheap to service and repair, and easy to get insurance.

I strongly recommend you get at least 3rd party insurance. Once upon a time, I was driving in start stop traffic and I got distracted by a fraction of second. So I hit the car in front.

The damage was just moderate, but it cost more than $5K to fix both cars (back in those days a big Mac combo is around $4.5 to $5).

Luckily I was fully insured. Yes, the insurance and the excess was not cheap, but it is way under $5K.

By the way, good luck with studies and job interviews and all that.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

lxsw20

3558 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#584894 21-Feb-2012 23:30

TO be fair, unless the ceries is in really bad shape it's probably worth at least 2k. Looking on Trademe, my sister has a 1990 1300 NZ new startlet with 140k, she will have no problem getting 2k and that thing is basic as they come (manual choke and points even!)

miamiheatfan

259 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#584895 21-Feb-2012 23:36

i took a pic of it once, before getting back in to drive:

lxsw20

3558 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#585021 22-Feb-2012 10:27

Does it say "Twin Cam 20" on the engine or "16 Valve EFI"

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek

#585038 22-Feb-2012 10:50

If i was in the market for a car of that era, I'd happily pay $2k for that if it runs well. 120k is pretty low mileage for a car that old.

But yes, definitely get 3rd party insurance. It doesn't cost much and could potentially save you a lot of misery.

@KnightNZ

miamiheatfan

259 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#585113 22-Feb-2012 12:19

@lxs : yea it's says "16 valve efi" , i know what it means , but not sure about twin cam vs 16 valve ...is that good or bad ?

@steve : yea i know i'd pay $2k for that too ....but thing is .....idk and he doenst know either when he's gonna sell it, because he's gonna be car hunting too (newer 2008 toyota model) and that will take a month or two and he hasnt even started yet because my parents are building a fence to keep the house safer.
And i kinda need a car soon-ish because i need to send applications or ask for apps to stores or say if i'm lucky enough to get an interview.
I've been taking the bus all my years at uni and...have walked to high school all my years there too. So i'm 21 and i dont even have my first car....i'm not that high-maintenance.

Yep, i'll try n get a cheap 3rd party insurance jst to cover their damage. My damage i can take care of.

lxsw20

3558 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#585337 22-Feb-2012 19:54

The 16 valve is still twin cam, it's just not the performance model, which is good from an insurance perspective.

1 | 2