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Potential Legend Buyers Please Read This First "buyer Beware"

56K views 94 replies 64 participants last post by  leem4883 
#1 · (Edited)
You are looking for a 2nd gen Legend and you think you have found one at a great price. You go look at it and it looks great, better than you thought, a great combination of luxury and power at a fair price. You test drive it about two miles down to the local grocery store and back. That's all it takes to know that this car is special. What a deal. Why would anyone want to sell a car like this? you ask yourself. You buy it and proceed on your way.
About a week later while out with your favorite girl or "other" and notice the temp gauge acting erratic. The next day you get on the internet and look for an answer. You find www.acura-legend.com and make your first post. It will look something like this: :eek2:

"I recently purchased a 95 Legend LS and have been searching the forum for misc. repairs I may need to do if the previous owner didn't take care of their car properly. I have been reading alot of threads about BHG and I think I have one but I'm not sure. My temp guage sometimes reads overheating and the RPMs go up and down. There is no coolant leak. Also, usually when idling, my heater sometimes blows cold air. From what I've read it sounds like a BHG, but I'm not sure. I was wondering what you all thought."

Over the past few months I have read a new post simular to this one at a rate of about 3 per week. Unbeknown to the new Legend owners, These cars have HEAD GASKET PROBLEMS. Owners/dealers are selling these cars with known problems. The problem is not very noticable and most "excited new owners" think it is a simple fix. It's not! You will spend a lot of $$$ trying to diagnose it only to find out it's got a bad head gasket that can only be repaired by removing the heads-$$$$-$2000 + and replacing the headgaskets.

If you are looking for a Legend to buy you must:

1. Do a complete test drive. Drive it at least 10 miles or more on the interstate at highway speed. After the test drive let it run for 5-10 minutes at idle. "MONITOR the temp gauge constantly during the test drive". Once it reaches normal temp it should not move any. Any movement of the temp needle after reaching normal temp is a "RED FLAG". Normal temp is about 1/3 up from the bottom of the range. If it doesn't come up to normal temp it could be an indication that the thermostat has been remove to relieve the overheating symptoms enough to sell it.
2. ASK the tough questions. "Has this car had ANY overheating problems?" Tell them you are aware of the headgasket problems with this model. Watch their reactions to the tough questions. Ask for a 3-5 day warranty on any overheating problems, write it in the bill of sale. Take it on a long trip within those 3-5 days.

I'm not making this up or being "paranoid". It's real. You will find yourself on the Headgasket Highway if you don't heed this warning.

BUYER BEWARE

2/13/06-
ok, need to ask a question. I just got this 93 LS legend a few weeks ago. Ran great. 171k miles, leather, all power..etc..i paid 1,250 for it from a guy i work with. Well, i go to start and drive from work parking lot and it now started over heating, this is the first time it overheated.
 
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#5 ·
I second this! I would recomend that potential buyers follow these instructions.

Blown Head Gaskets are very expensive to have replaced. I am an experienced ASE master tech and I repair alot of headgaskets. The Legend is a tricky one to diagnose, so taking it to a mechanic for a check over will not guarentee that the car does not have a BHG. Being hard to diagnose the BHG is one thing, but repairing them is another. It is a long process and books out around 10 hours + parts + machine work usually ends up being around 2 grand.
 
#80 ·
I will also be willing to replace Head Gaskets at this price. Would normally do it a little less expensive but I don't want to undercut Mike. Just throwing this out there if anyone needs repairs and can't make it to Ohio and I may be closer. Again, it does include a complete gasket kit from Head gasket up as well a machining the heads. Just send a PM to Mike or Myself.
 
#7 ·
duck said:
Who'd you sell it to, and did they drive it at interstate speeds and then let it idle?

:giggle:
Transmission died, we didn't sell it. We gave it to cars for causes. Lol we're not as mean as car dealers. :giggle: :giggle:
 
#12 ·
You can add me to the list, bought an otherwise mint 93 legend last week and after putting around 400 miles on it I have discovered it pushes about a cup of antifreeze into the overflow every 100 miles or so. I was pretty thorough on the test drive and personal inspection and could not even tell. Its was not bad enough to notice on a 25 minute test drive and the temp only climbs after idling a few minutes after driving it around all day, no smoke at all or any other red flags. The only way I would have been able to tell on this car is to empty the overflow or mark it carefully and drive around for several miles and then there will be at least a few tablespoons of water in the overflow. I should be able to handle the headgaskets myself once the weather gets a little warmer but it is a pain because I have two turbo civics that already take up all my free wrenching time and the only reason I bought this car was so I would have something that did not need any work. I am guess I am getting the full legend experience:) .
 
#81 ·
where you at in the big O man me and a buddy have been doing legend HG jobs the past couple years, it seems like you know what your doin but if you need any help give us a shout...
 
#13 ·
I bought a Legend like that,my first one I bought it from the dealer and he gave me a warranty and then didn't want to fix it,I had a 15 day 500 mile warranty on the car. It was a 91 with 200k miles on it. I should have known not to buy it when the salesman turned it off right away. I spent over $1000 trying to figure it out and then just got tired of it and traded it in to a dealer in Tucson and bought this 94 that I have. Never again will I buy another car from Bell Acura and the dealer in Tucson Arizona.
 
#14 ·
I'm currently interested in a 93 coupe, 6sp. The owner seems to have maintained the car meticulously and says he has all records. There are 190k on the motor where the clutch & timing belt have been replaced twice already. When I meet the owner, we are meeting about 15 minutes out so if he does not shut off his car and I test drive it right after to check for fluctuations in the temp gauge, will that be sufficient to test for a BHG? Of course I will be asking him if there have been any overheating problems, but if not, should I be paranoid about problems arising? TIA! =)
 
#15 ·
When I bought my 93 LS , it had 115k miles on it. The price was good, but not great; a good bit below KBB but WAY above what some people in these forums were paying for higher mileage but newer Legends. But now, I think I paid a little extra for a car that was really maintainted well....previous owner was an elderly couple who maintained it. So...not saying paying more is better, but I think I got what I paid for.
 
#20 ·
coupe_6spd said:
if one were to have a BHG, wouldn't it just require that item to be fixed? i mean, i couldn't see it doing as much damage as lets say a broken timing belt.
no because
A) if you drive with a BHG and overheat your car, you will most likely warp your head
B) it will cost just as much to fix as a snapped timing belt because most likely in both cases youll have to replace the engine
 
#23 ·
im glad that there are forums like this. i am in the process of purchasing a 92 LS coupe. im within a couple of weeks of picking it up. it was owned by my cuz who really didnt know much about the car and just fell in love with the appeal of driving a legend (previously owned a vigor). things like this are good to know, especially when i have to drive fron NY to GA. thats not exactly a situation u wanna deal with!!!
 
#24 ·
ALoneR said:
no because
A) if you drive with a BHG and overheat your car, you will most likely warp your head
B) it will cost just as much to fix as a snapped timing belt because most likely in both cases youll have to replace the engine
I have replaced a few BHG on Legends and none of the heads were warped. Only a severe overheating will leave the heads warped. My experience is that people replace the engine in a case like this as the engine costs less than machine work and head gasket set. Felpro gasket set is around (250 - 350) and machine work (resurface, valve job and seals) $200 - 250 per head. A good used 40 - 60k mile JDM Type I is around $600 and Type IIs seem to start around $700.
 
#25 ·
I am hopeful that mine is ok then...only once have I seen the guage move...and then it was sitting at idle for almost twenty minutes.

and the dude I bought it from had it idling for almost a half hour when I was inspecting it...but I think I may replace these babies anyways.


thanks for the tip!
 
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