my first car bought in june was a 93 prelude just found it in good condition, bought it from a mechanic selling it for a girl he knew, he drove it to the train station and back once in a while. only 60 thousand miles!

if you buy any car of this nature just try to avoid a car that was beat on previously by other kids, you dont want a car a kid revved high and pulled hard all the time. MIne was a one owner, so there wasnt much to worry about there.

and if you cant afford a 5th gen, or worse can just afford it, consider running costs and insurance, in MA w/ a clean driving record annual insurance for me 16yr old) is 3500 w/ a 500 deductible for full coverage
I like the look of the 5th gen better than the fourth ina lot of respects (except for size) and I only planned on looking at this older prelude to get a feel for them, and ending up buying it. for 3800, he didnt know what he was selling.

so if you can afford the 5th gen, go ahead, but if all you can afford is a 5th gen w/ 160k miles that is in tough shape, just take the step down and get something older.

you dont want to have to barely make it w/ the cost of the car, insurance and repairs.

wouldnt you hate to know that if your car were to break down, you would have no money to fix it?

good luck