My almost 18 year old is interested in buying his first car. It's a 1988
 

Honda Prelude 2.os Coupe 2.oL L4 FI It seems to be in good shape body wise other than a little rust around the gas cap and the same side on wheel well. Seems well maintained and we are getting an Esso check on it. My question is ....is this a good car and what are the hidden quirks to it. IS IT WORTH $1150.00?

honda is the best car to get the body cancer is ok shows signs of normal wear but caution on speeding tickets those cars haul

Here's what I would do.... Honda is a good car but you are looking at nearly 20 year old car. The car is older then the child who will drive it - rather hard!I would take it to a mechanic and pay him for one hour worth of his time and go over it on the lift - before you pay for it.As to rust, there is one thing to have a surface rust, but there is quite another to have rust on structural members and suspension/steering components. These cars are before galvanizing process was in common use. When they rust, they rust badly! Hondas are well made cars but remember, parts are rather expensive if you must fix them, and no 20 year old product of any kind will be trouble free. Preludes were the Honda's technology show piece, so they are relatively complex cars. That means there are more to break and more to fix when they do.A car may look pristine from top of the engine, but they will reveal its true self once on a life and looked at from under neath by a qualified mechanic. It will be the best 100 dollars well spent. Ask him to put his finding on paper and give you a quote to fix them. Use it as a price bargaining chip, too.Ask the mechanic if he would be willing to pay $1150 IF he was buying it. It all depends on the condition.I did this with my car purchase and narrowly escaped from buying one very abused car (and odometer turned back) that looked just fine from casual observation.

Honda's are very reliable cars, and if if runs well, $1150 is a little high in my opinion, seeings how it is an '88, but the owner will thell you that it is a Honda, and that it will run forever, which, more times than not, is true. Chech Kelly's Blue Book on line to get an idea of what the value of the car is. With that said, I could see a few problems here. If he were to get it, first off, teenage boys tend to be a little wrechless and heavy footed when they first start driving, and remain that way until probably until their early 20's. I know because I was one of those kids, and my mother had a '98 prelude, and I was lucky that I didn't kill my self a few times(for example, passing a friend of mine on the left side, on the shoulder which was gravel, with on coming traffic in the other lane, and we still talk about that move!) Second, if he was to get into and accident, Preludes are very small and offer very little protection. He would probably be better off getting a 4 - door Sedan that is larger, heavier, and doesn't have as much get up and go! Good Luck!