Opinion on prelude

[drunkenmaster_vic]

Hi i've have just spotted a fantastic looking car on carsales. its a nighthawk black 97 lude vti-R..

cons its semi-auto.. and its done roughly 189 000 k's. but the car itself looks absolutely immaculate and is the ideal style for what i'm after!!!!!!! i luurrrv it

just wanna know if any1 here drives a semi auto lude such as this one?? and if its still the shit in comparison to a manual..also one more, is 189 000 k's pushing it for this particular car. its 13k btw.

man i would love this.

Cheers for your time.

[Hans Bond]

uh.. beware of 97 lude with auto transmission.. especially the kms quite high..
there is high possibility you will need to rebuild it when it reaches 200k..

But if you insist a lude with auto trans... try to get 99+ and change the tranny fluid at least every 20,000kms

test drive it first.. if the transmission is not shifting smoothly.. better wait for another one to come :)

[Mrkrooz]

^^ x2....spot on....

[Tarks]

Id say go manual.

Ive owned an auto 5th gen vtir and it was fun for awhile but the gearbox started shitting itself and gear changed werent smooth, it was very jerky and it leaked alot of oil.

So I did the best thing and swapped it for a manual 5th gen VTIR, best move i made in terms of the lude.

Feels much better to drive, goes harder, no jerky gear changes, and no probs with the tranny.

And yeah, as a general rule of thumb, try finding a car with less km's. The more there is on it, the more the engine and all the parts have gone through.

Theres plenty going around and your quite lucky the average price of the ludes has dropped quite a bit this year. I wouldnt go near it with that many km's and at that price, id say get it to 9k it would be more worth while.

Goodluck on your search buddy :)

[drunkenmaster_vic]

hans bond.. your info was like a stake through the heart. tis probably also why its so cheap i'm guessing, u have opened my eyes, thanks

btw i don't insist on auto-trans, i really want a manual but was just wondering how the auto's go in comparison..the car just looks so good thats all, sitting there in its gorgeous black black paint in the tapering sunset. man i have a newfound hard-on for ludes.. never used to. i wonder why.

[Tarks]

Check out my sig for a SEK551 black 5th gen haha

[drunkenmaster_vic]

hey tarks thanks for the quick feed back and your useful knowledge..clearly u have had some experience. manual really seems like the way to go then, just haven't come across one that looks as good as this. I'm probably being a bit shallow sounding... but yeah your answers are valid and will certainly be taking them on board throughout my quest for the perfect lude.

[drunkenmaster_vic]

Tarks omg mate!.. that is the shit! the number plates say it all. You probably don't want to hear this but i was at half mast now i'm at full.. i wanna nice lude so bad man!! its killing me. all in time....... I WANT ONE NOW!!!

[Tarks]

hahaha relax tiger

[Hans Bond]

^^ yep.. it takes time to find a good one. Agreed with tarks, manual 99+ is the best of all series.. join www.preludeaustralia.com and keep your eye on 'Prelude Watch' thread :)

[gReY-oNe]

yeah man
take there advice
get a manual prelude

my auto box actually did shit itself LMAO
ended up costing a bundle

manual is actually alot better to drive too ":D

take ur time dont rush into buyin a car or ull end up regretting it

[est1989]

x2 :)

[drunkenmaster_vic]

Yeah I've got a habit of just jumping in and buying things. Its not good. I'm still looking for a lude and am definitely favouring the manuals now. So you all reckon 99+ lude.. awesome, will just have to wait patiently for now, its best to do it right the first time.

THANK YOU PEOPLE FOR YOUR ADVICE.

[QuintessentiaLs]

I brought my lude on impluse as well hahaha but I don't regret it lol

[Hans Bond]

what year is your lude? what is the kms when you have to rebuild the tranny?


yeah man
take there advice
get a manual prelude

my auto box actually did shit itself LMAO
ended up costing a bundle

manual is actually alot better to drive too ":D

take ur time dont rush into buyin a car or ull end up regretting it

[theseven]

mine is triptonic... previous owner had it rebuilt before... so nothing worries me atm... hehe

but yeah... if got the money.. it is easy to say go get newer ludes... but if it's on tight budget... i guess it's still okay as long as you triple check everything and know the full history of the car...

[kelviN]

take your time and find a bargain. I waited 7-8months for mine

[Jonald]

I actually went and took that car for a drive the other week. The guy looks after it so well.

It drove fine but i agree with the other guys when they say manual. If you were deadset on this car thou, you could haggle him saying it'll cost this much and this much when the gearbox goes etc etc.

He's a really nice guy btw :P

[drunkenmaster_vic]

Hahaha. thanks for the heads up Jonald lol. Yeh judging from the pics he keeps it in pristine condition ey. But yeh, i'll be taking everyone's advice on manual.. i don't want to be burdened with gearbox issues regardless of how good the car looks. Thanks for that man! :thumbsup:

[SXC-84K]

hey dood im selling my 98 vtir lude 5 speed manual its got 147000km on it and its silver mist(the pearly coloured silver) pm me if ur interested and ill post u pictures im asking for 15,900 negotiable!

[La0styl3r]

hey dude. goodluck wit buyin the car.
i got my 99 blackhawk lude 3 days after the dude took it to service n busted 3-4k on a new tranny! hahah
so who noes? this nice guy mite jus giv u a good deal!
enjoy man

[gReY-oNe]

what year is your lude? what is the kms when you have to rebuild the tranny?

mine is a 97

umm abou 105000kms?? i needed a rebuild
i just did the manual conversion and its been great ever since

[Tarks]

.... and its been great ever since

u sure its been great bao? :P

[kimdrift]

Def go manual.

[paylo]

i think 97 tiptronics in paticular have really weak gearboxes... I'm sure there are some decent condition tips out there, u just have to be extra careful and make sure that it's not a 97' lolz... good luck