Why I purchased a Prelude

I purchased a new 2001 Silver Prelude in December of 2000 and have enjoyed it in many ways. This was my first new car and I test drove a lot of other vehicles and did a great deal of research on the net and by the opinions of friends. I decided on the Prelude primarily for the reputation of the vehicle's past incarnations quality, and fun.

All the people I talked to who had owned Preludes in the past absolutely loved them. And the reviews out here had nothing but good to say about the car. Since not much has changed in the last few years of this car, I felt safe buying a 2001. I haven't been disappointed.

What I like about the car

I was comparing the new Toyota Celica and strangely enough the Honda Civic Hatchback to the Prelude when I was making my decision. The Civic turned out to be too much of an economy car for me. The handling was not as solid and responsive as I wanted. And the fit and finish left something to be desired. When I drove the Celica, I was totally impressed by the power, handling and overall fun of the car, but the looks were a bit of a turn off, and at 5 foot 10 inches, I bumped my head in the model with the sunroof. When I drove the Prelude, it seemed docile by comparison to these 2 cars. It's a bigger, and considerably heavier car, so the bigger engine didn't make as much of a difference as you might expect. But I can't complain about the power of this engine.


Performance
Coming around corners, this car grips the road much better than the taller, and softer riding Accord. And the VTEC engine makes a Huge difference when you hit around 5200 RPMs. There are large groups racing cars with VTEC engines and it's no wonder why. This little 2.2 Liter engine produces 200 HP in a car you can get for around $22,000. If you have your foot to the floor in first second or third, your head gets thrown back when the engine changes valve timing for higher performance.

I didn't test drive the SH Model of the prelude because all the professional reviews I read said the feature was really far to expensive unless you planned on racing the car around sharp corners often and needed the extra edge. And the option was quite a bit extra, part of which was the spoiler addition.

Appearance
Before purchasing I asked a few women what their impressions of a guy driving the various vehicles would be if they knew nothing else. I worded the question like this:

"If you saw a guy drive up in a blank what would you think of the guy before knowing anything else?"

The overall consensus was that a guy in a civic wouldn't have much money, or was frugal with it. Perhaps a college student. The owner of the Celica would be immature or young, maybe a kid spoiled by his parents. And the owner of the Prelude would be a classy businessman, with a good job and quality tastes. Well, it doesn't take much to see where these impressions took my mind! While it's true that the car doesn't make the man, you can't ignore the power of first impressions.

I weighed the extra cost of the Prelude over the Celica and Civic against the quality of the workmanship, and the perceptions of women, and I decided it would be a worthwhile purchase.

What I don't like

While I love the exterior of the Prelude, there are a few details that really bother me inside the car.

I had read that the interior of the prelude had been made more conservative when Honda got too many complaints about the futuristic console of the prior model. And I have to agree that the interior is quite boring.

Some of the controls just don't feel right. For example, the Temperature control is the simple left to right sliding knob, and it is too hard to move when you want to change the temperature. The A/C comes on when you use the defroster, and then stays on even if you turn to floor heat. You have to turn it off every time you turn off the defrost. The cruise control has a button next to the moon roof control above the left knee, and must be turned on or explicitly before setting the cruise. Then when you want to unset it to coast, but not break or use the clutch, you have to turn it off which looses the speed you had set. Perhaps the biggest problem I have with the interior is that the center console takes up too much foot room. My right leg hurts when I have to have my foot on the gas for long periods because it's pressed against the console the whole time. And lastly, the floor heating vent blows directly on the gas pedal and has made my toes burn a few times before I realized my shoe was melting. (almost)

Also, this is a sporty car, and getting in and out of it is sometimes difficult because of the low ride height. It's only a problem when parked close to something where you can't open the long doors all the way. Some of my um, larger passengers have grunted and moaned a bit when squeezing in also.

Conclusion

Despite the minor complaints I have for the 2001 Prelude, I have been quite happy with it since purchase a few months ago. It's a fun car to drive. It handles well and is comfortable for longer trips. And it's great looks give me a feeling of confidence when I step out of it near on looking women.

Most everyone I talk to is surprised at how little I paid for this car. My friends love driving it, though I usually won't let them... And I often get comments on how gorgeous the car is from both men and women.

I would recommend this car to people between 20 and 50 who are looking for a reasonably inexpensive car that provides a good share of excitement in driving and the appearance of class and quality. A lot of my decision to purchase this car was based on the factors of "Class" and "Coolness" but it's no slouch in performance and the quality of Honda's workmanship shows in this model.

Amount Paid (US$): 21900
Condition: New
Model Year: 2001
Model and Options: 2001 Base Silver