I’m a college student looking to get my first car, and my father has a line on a 1991 Acura Legend with “cosmetic issues”. There are some dents in the bumper (which I don’t really care about that much) and a history of leaking problems with the moonroof (which I definitely care about). However, the seller (a family friend) claims that there are no issues with the engine at all, and about 130,000 miles on it. A different family friend with a previous career
Any thoughts? He’s asking $1500. If the engine checks out, is it worth considering? Any issues specific to this car I should worry about?
I had a 1988 Acura Legend until October, when I got a new car. It was a great car and I loved it, but it had some problems with pick-up on hills and, since my new office is up a small mountain, I had to say goodbye. It also got crappy gas mileage (about 19 mph). The moonroof leaked, but all it took to fix it was a new gasket to replace the old worn-out one.
I loved the car though. It was very plush inside (leather interior) and felt like a luxury car–solid and soundless. I still miss it.
It’s probably a good deal at $1500, if it checks out okay. Things to look for: gas mileage, cost of fixing the gasket around the moonroof, the air conditioning (the sensor that figures out the temperature inside the car was broken on mine, so I had to play with turning on and off the air to get it to the temperature I wanted–the mechanics at Acura said it wasn’t worth the cost of replacing). The car had no other problems.
I had one, I think it was a '91. The only issue I had was with the locks, sometimes I couldn’t get the driver’s side to unlock and had to go in the passenger door. I read in some reviews that they were prone to some simple mechanical issues like this. It was a nice car, though I thought the automatic transmission was a bit jerky when changing gears.
I had a 1990 coupe with the same issue, but it was the passenger door!
Other than that, absolutely adored it and had no major issues (though I had to replace a number of parts between 87,000, when I bought her, and 117,000, when she died of neglect - I would check with your family friend to see which parts are new and which might be up for replacement). Agree that it felt like a luxury car, but also had a nice heavy/sporty feel on the road and loved high speeds.
A quirk that I wonder if they solved on the 1991 model - no cup holders. Very annoying. (Tip: wedge drinks inside the armrest.)
Timing belt every 60K - this is a MAJOR operation - was $800 in the early 90’s
Driver’s side window motor. The way it mounts make life easy for the assembly line, but, over time, it will pull OUT (as in “through the flimsy metal”) - the kit to re-inforce the mount was $80.
Don’t know if a '91 has the timing belt issue, but, if it’s a coupe, it does have the window - the service manage confirmed in the mid-90’s that they were still being made with the problem