Hank Scorpio

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum, and I'm interested in getting a Legend as a daily driver/commuter. I've driven a few and I really like the style and the overall "feel" of the car - the nicer ones that is.

Here's my situation. I want to purchase a car for around 10K, since I'll be driving it everyday, I don't really want a new car since I'm just going to be piling mileage onto it (>55 miles a day, six days a week). I'm also expecting my first child with my wife in January, otherwise I'd go out and purchase a new Accord. Since I'm trying to save some money, I've opted for a G2 Legend.

I've been reading the posts on this forum and elsewhere, and this is the most informative forum I've seen thus far. Therefore, I come here to ask for advice and assistance.

A lot of the threads here seem to be against getting a high-mileage Legend. While I agree to some extent, I have heard that the Legend will last a long while (some 300K+ miles) with regular maintenance and some TLC. What puts me off a bit is the prices I've been hearing for maintenance and repairs! I don't want to be shelling out a lot of money (say $1000+ year for "regular" maintenance) since a big reason I'm interested in the Legend is because of it's mythic reputation for reliability and durability.

I've looked around and driven quite a few Legends, and thus far two stick out:

1) A black '91 standard sedan, tan interior, with 136K miles. Other than some nicks in the paint and some other minor problems the dealer says he'll fix, it's in good shape. Essentially, my gripes with this particular one are the mileage (but it's a 11/12 year old car, so that's a given), and the dealer's not knowing if the timing chain has been replaced or not. The dealer has agreed to replace the hood struts (the hood cannot stay "up" on its own), fix a broken button on the seat adjustment, clear the "code" from the stereo (supposedly he needs to contact the Acura dealer for it), and replace some of the door seals (again, supposedly). The dealer is asking 8K for it, which I think is a bit high. It drives really well.

2) A dark blue '92 LS sedan, grey interior, with 77K miles. I took a good amount of time to look this one over, and I couldn't find any nagging problems with it. The paint was fantastic, and the interior was immaculate. If you didn't know it was 10/11 years old, you'd think it was only three or four years old. Very nice. This dealer is asking 12k for it, which is a big enough jump over what I planned to spend to make me think twice. Since the mileage hasn't reached the point where I need to get the timing chain replaced (90k), I'll have that expense coming up. The problem with this car was that I didn't have the time to drive it - I was visiting my mother in law, and spent so much time looking over it while sales staff was busy with other customers that I had to meet my wife's family for lunch so I couldn't even fire up the engine. It looked superb, very clean. The other problem is that the car is about two hours' drive away, so I can't just drop in and look at it during the week.

Now, supposing that I can't negotiate a lower price (and I likely will), what would be the pros and cons of each vehicle, other than what I've pointed out? Also, I haven't run a carfax on either car (doing it tomorrow, when I get the VIN numbers), so assume until then that they are "clear."

Please take into consideration that while I make a pretty good living, I don't want to throw money into a pit. I don't want to be spending too much money (thus the 10k limit) since we're expecting rather soon. The Legend will be used as my car, and when I go out with my wife and child, we'll take her brand new Camry. In a few years I'll probably purchase a new Accord to supplement our stable of cars (I want to see what the year to year changes are), but for now I want a stylish, reliable and fairly inexpensive sedan.

So, should I swallow the pill and just get the '92? I don't think the dealer will want to budge a lot off that price.

Thanks a lot for all your advice. Hopefully by this weekend I'll be driving a Legend!

 

WhiteLegend

I'm going to give you my true honest opinion. If you're looking for a car for reliablilty and low maintainance costs reasons.

Then you're probably better off with an newer Accord. Maintainance costs for the Legend is definitely on the higher end side than most cars. And the Legend does have a few things to tend to break, (ie. Radiators, tranny mount, VSS and etc) and repair costs are hefty. Repair costs also depend on where you live, if you live in an area where there is plentiful import Auto repair shops, then the competetion drives the prices down. But if you live in an area dominated by domestic vehicles like here in MI, where we don't really even have a choice execpt taking the car to the dealer, repair cost will put a nice dent in your wallet.

Ever since I bought my Legend 3 years ago, I've put in well over $1000 per year in repairs. And the car has not stay trouble free for more than 5 month at a time, some little thing always happen to break.

So I think the mythic reputation of uncanny reliablilty is false, while there are a few people that have had their car trouble free up to 200-300k miles, but that's only a handful in thousands.
Most of us here got the Legend because of styling and luxury, and we pay the price with repair costs. But that's what makes the Legend such a great car, because people who owns them care. If it was another car, I probably would've sold it long time ago instead of repairing over and over.

But if really want a Legend, I would stay away from the earlier model G2 with high mileage. Try to get your hands on a 94-95 with moderate mileage.

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94 Milano Red LS coupe 6 speed
94 Pearl White LS Sedan (sold )
http://www.msu.edu/~weizhou/Mylegend/sig5.jpg

stevieray

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"King of Kleen"

"Know this. Being able to purchase a Legend and being able to afford a Legend are two separate things. Realize nothing post-purchase is cheap." - LegendGS

Zol

I dunno, I've had my legend for 7 years. and after all the abuse and punishment I've put it through. I think it's held its own. So for a daily commuter, I'd recommend getting a legend. try and find one with as low miles as possible. you can find em, there out there. I bought mine with 64 thousand miles on it, it was a 92, and now it has 187,000 miles on it. I've gone through a tranny, headgasket, brakes, two radiators and a couple cv boots. and that's not bad for a 10 year old car. plus it has a lot of race n nitrous miles on it too. *yawn* ok, time to go back to bed. good luck

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ZOL

Mckenzie93

I agree with you George, but I can say that if you find one that has a service history (preferably dealer maintained), a little newer, and that has moderate kms, you should be alright. My dads 92 sedan has almost 250 000km, and all he has done is the rad, the brake master cylinder, and CV joints/boots.

I also agree that maintenance is on the high side, but like I said, if it is well maintained that should not be a huge concern.

I would also be attempted to go with a newer accord if I could not find a decent legend...... Actually, I would not buy another legend if I was looking for one if it was not dealer maintained, and 1/2 owner(s).

Oh, and to find the service history of those cars, get the VIN numbers from the dealer and phone up the acura dealers in the area. They should give a long (or short maybe) history of everytime that car has come through the door.....

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ILOVELEGEND

Hi, Welcome to the forums. I don;t know where in CA you live but if you're in Bay area, the prices are on the higher side.

I presently own 2 Legends.
91 L Sedan with 134K miles
94 GS Sedan with 108K miles

I bought both cars in LA.

Legend is a good and reliable car, provided it has been taken care of in the past. Too bad they don’t make Legends anymore. You will find that most of the Legends on sale have high mileage.
My recommendation to you would be, (if you have time) wait patiently for the right Legend to come along. 10K is not a small amount and you should go in for a car that has been very well taken care of and has some maintenance history.

I personally would go for either a 94 or 95 model. I’m sure you can find 94/95 for about 10K.
However, you will have to keep in mind that these cars are getting old now and will require some maintenance as time passes by.

There's nothing better than a G2 Legend for daily commute.

Good luck and feel free to ask any more questions.

don2420

I agree with White Legend. I actually have an 89 Honda Accord with 298 k miles on it that I still use as my daily commuter. I also have my 94 legend that I love to death with 80 k on it and I have spent far more keeping that on the road then I have on my old Accord. If reliability and low maintenance are your main goal I would lean more towards a newer Honda. I like to keep both of my cars dealer maintained but for routine items I try and save a few $ by taking my Acura to the Honda dealer. Good luck with your decision I know it is a tough one.

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1994 Acura Legend LS

1999 Honda Accord EX V6 (Daily Driver)

Hank Scorpio

Thanks for all the replies, everyone. I appreciate everyone giving me their honest opinion on the subject. I think the general consensus is that the Legend is fairly expensive to maintain. I live in Northern California and my repair and maintenance costs would be fairly low - my brother in law is a mechanic - but I don't want to take advantage of that. Certainly the costs will be lower since he won't charge me exagerated fees and get me parts at his cost, but all that maintenance is going to be a pain. I think having him inspect whatever car I want to purchase will really help, but all the same, I'm more cautious after hearing all this feedback.

I think at this point, I'm going to keep looking for a nice, later model Legend (but I'm still keeping that '92 in mind) and looking at a couple of other cars that might be cheaper. I don't wan't to pay a stack of high society for a car, then spend 1000 a year to maintain it.

Thanks for the advice, though. I'd appreciate whatever you can tell me.

SushiLicious

I agree with the others. It's expensive to maintain the Legend. I am getting ready to have the 120K service done on my car and an independant they want $466 and the Acura dealer wants $769. That's alot of money for maintenance work, so I'm going to do some of it myself.

So now, the '92 that you are looking at would still require a timing belt change upon purchase. The service manual specifies that the belt be changed at 90K or 6 yrs, whichever happens first. I'd negotiate that into the deal if you were wanting that car. Also, if you did get the timing belt changed, have them do the water pump as well, as it is right there as well. The cost for the water pump is nominal if considering that most of the cost for the job is in labor.

Are you willing to go out of state for the car? Sometimes you can find great deals in other parts of the country simply because the car may not be in demand. I am thinking that the price for the '92 is still way high. I was trying to sell mine earlier this year and was asking $12K with only '90K and lots of mods and no one would bite, so, you should offer less. My car is a black '94L, loaded with aftermarket options and I'd still consider selling if it the right offer came my way wanna make me an offer? ....some members of the board can attest to the car as they've seen it

Anyway, good luck finding your car.

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Hank Scorpio

While your offer is tempting, SushiLicious, I'll have to pass.

Even if I get work done by my in the family mechanic, the parts are still going to be a pain. Who knows, I might end up getting a Legend anyway. The more and more I think about the costs involved with the Legend, the further it gets away from being a inexpensive daily driver.

My brother and I used to drive a 89.5 Accord sedan that now has over 320k on it, hasn't needed any major repairs (though right now it probably needs a new engine and tranny) but he still drives it regularly. That was pretty much the definition of reliable and inexpensive daily driving.

I am also starting to look at the 95/96 Accord V6s and the early TLs...not quite as stylish as the Legend, but in the case of the Accord, cheaper to operate.

LPB

Both vehicles will require timing belt and water pump replacement shortly after purchase. The 92 is over its time limit for the belt, albeit not the mileage.

For a vehicle whose purpose will be to "drive it into the ground", look for a used Camry, Accord, or Maxima. The frequency of "minor" repairs for the Legend is atypical for Asian autos. My wife has an 87 Maxima which has almost the same mileage as my 92 Cpe. The repairs on the Maxima have been significantly less than the Legend. If I could not perform my own DIY repairs, the Legend would have been traded long ago. I have kept the Legend because it is a full-size Cpe and there are few choices in this category.