The First Gen Legend Buyer's Guide

[sam o nela]

This thread will be dedicated to buying tips for anyone looking into buying a First Gen Legend. Remember that the Coupes and Sedans are almost mechanically identical, but there are some slight differences. Unless the asking price is already rock bottom (like less than $1000) here are the big items to look for and be aware of when inspecting a potential G1 to add to your garage:

~Have the Timing Belt AND Water Pump been changed?? If not, then take off some cash from the sale price because you will need to pay to have that done asap and it costs about $500-$750 (dont let them know you will be doing the work yourself )

~Any leaks from the valve and side valve covers? Oil Pan gasket? Oil cooler? Oil ANYWHERE? Take off some cash bc you will have to pay to have that fixed ()

~When was the last time the transmission was serviced (if auto)?? This is VERY important...if not recent, or ever, take off even MORE cash OR walk away...if manual, when was the last clutch job, oil change, and clutch fluid flush?

~How are the suspension components? Any creaking from the ball joints or control arms? Any clicking CV joints (easy to test this on the test drive)?

~A/C and heater work properly? Does A/C Condensor fan come on??

~Do both fans come on at appropriate times?

~Any check engine light?? Click the ignition to the II position without starting the car to be SURE that ALL of the lights come on...I have heard of unscrupulous sellers taking out the CEL bulb and the buyer not realizing until months later

~Any ABS noise? By this time, there are most likely more cars with non-working ABS than working ones......use this to your advantage and take some cash off for that....

~When was the cooling system last flushed and serviced??

~Has the car EVER had a Check Engine Light?? If so, what was the problem and was it solved???

~BE SURE that you get to see the car started for the FIRST TIME in the morning!! This will reveal any funny noises, fuel injector leaks, and valve tick that disappear once shes been warmed up.

Remember to ask WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME XXX WAS DONE?? (Replace XXX with any of the common maintenance stuff that I mentioned above). If they state that they were done, ask to see receipts and records...if proof CANNOT BE PROVIDED, then you need to go on the assumption that they were NOT done....and that should be reflected in the final sales price....

Common parts for the G1 Legend are pretty readily available (brake pads, filters, suspension components, alts etc.), its when you get certain stuff that commonly fail like the TDC Sensor, Crank Angle Sensor, Igniter unit, etc. that you have a hard time finding them for a reasonable price...

Remember that common points for water leaks are the sunroof drain holes (easily cleaned), the trunk seal, the top of the front windshield, and the tail lights.

As with most Hondas of this era, rust is very common on the undercarriage, rear wheel wells, gas tank, and the metal body panel the runs below the tail lights.

Thats off the top of my head....anyone have anything else to add??

If the car has trouble starting (long cranking with no fire) see the G1 FAQ sticky for help with replacing or repairing the Main Relay.

[l4zy415]

Nice write up.

[18 characters long]

Great Gabe! I'm glad you put this out there. I will have to take time to read through, and see if I have anything to add, so basically reserving one of the first few spaces, but from what I see, this seems to be a good thorough list.

[LegendLand]

Wow. That's great. I now feel equipped to go out and buy a G1

[LtownLegend]

Thanks Gabe, this'll come in handy!

[drok149]

i miss my 90 ls coupe i loved how that car handled and the steering wheel turns so easy

[korrupt1]

I have a question regarding g1....found a coupe and while certainly pretty looking enough...it has some issues that the owner disclosed freely...mainly posted that it is blowing through vacuum hoses constantly....and that is claimed reason on it currently NOT running...also some smaller things like windows not working and such, yes the AC is out, I kinda figured on that one.
The NOT running issue is obviously my BIGGEST concern here. Owner has replaced some of the vacuum hoses, upper and lower rad hoses, rad and some other things.......but this going through vac hoses is a concern of mine...is that pretty common? I didnt remember it being so....but then I was a g2 owner and followed Tysons example and replaced ALL my hoses to insure.

I am wondering if I should even go look at this one or not :dunno:

[sam o nela]

Depends on the asking price...if he's disclosing all of these problems but the exterior and interior are in great shape, I can't realistically see this car going for anymore than $750 as is...

What exactly do you mean by blowing through vacuum hoses? That it has a vacuum leak somewhere?

[korrupt1]

Originally Posted by sam o nela

Depends on the asking price...if he's disclosing all of these problems but the exterior and interior are in great shape, I can't realistically see this car going for anymore than $750 as is...

What exactly do you mean by blowing through vacuum hoses? That it has a vacuum leak somewhere?

is a she...I usually try buying cars from women...generally they arent as hammered on...usually.

But yes, the ad says vacuum hose leaking and she thinks thats what causing it to not run.....and ad says its the 4th hose its blown. She has replaced some, rad and some other things....but currently not running car.

I am getting a sedan that is running just fine though for $800...just gotta charge up the ac which she has (again, woman owned..imagine that) has had converted to r134a....and I have 12 cans of that stuff so should be good...tune up time coming!!!

and I been THINKING I might go get the coupe regardless for like $4-500 maybe as my side toy

[JKLedbetter]

How hard would it be to set up some sort of online spreadsheet where we could input the mileage or age at which various components failed? That might yield some useful information on the average lifespan of said components.

Kennon