Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see May lease deals!
Options
Acura Integra
This discussion has been closed.
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
My main concern is that I will be having a baby soon and although the Integra is not exactly a family car, it will have to do for a bit. This is unless we keep my wife's Accord which I assume would be safer, but we really can't afford the payment right now. Sorry for the sob story, but we are stubbornly arguing over which car to keep... Of course my heart is with the Acura (and the wallet, since it's paid for) but if I know the car will be crushed in a rear-end collision, then that's a lesson that I don't want to learn the hard way... My baby and I thank you.
P.S. My Integra also has 200,700 miles on it!!! I know, but it's still such a strong car. Consumer Reports shows the Integra's to be some of the most reliable cars out there. But please let me know if anyone has me beat in the odometer, and if so, am I in for any real maintenance surprises? I've had timing done recently, brakes, master cylinder, tune-ups regularly... basically all the things a good owner would do for their ride. Thanks
carlady/host
p.s. I REALLY miss my Integra. Fight tooth and nail to keep it. I wish I had.
I'm glad your Integra survived the accident with minor injuries lancerfixer, but I bet the ice did help a lot. I live in Sacramento, CA so unless we have some freak weather coming our way my chances of an ice collision are pretty slim. But believe me...I'm holding my ground on keeping the Acura, she's just too good of a car to get rid of and I know she's got a lot left in her...even if my wife thinks the car's going to break down all the time.
However, it's a real toss-up for us...keep the Accord for the safety and longevity (it has 71,000 mi on it) but have the car payment and owe way more than it's worth, or keep the Integra with no payment, less insurance, and bank the money we save from not paying a loan off. The answer is obvious to me (financially) but I see it from my wife's point of view about the safety issue... AAaarrgghh...does anybody have a good SUV they can loan me for a bit?? hee hee.
We are in a very similar situation...except I would love to be considering shopping for a Volvo 850. Also, I don't think it would be the smartest choice (financially) for us to try to suck up this payment until she goes back to work.
We're just trying to decide whether or not to keep the Accord or the Integra for the "family" car.
Why do you say SUV is such a bad choice...besides gas mileage and some have the tendency to rollover, or have their tire tread just fall off? I swear I would not even glance at a Ford dealership. We were looking Lexus RX300, or 4Runner...but the Lexus is a much better value. Then we figured since we would have to put about $7500 down on the Lexus, that we'd much rather save up a few thousand more and put it down on a house... but anyway. If I wasn't looking SUV, it would be between the '01 Accord LX V6, or '01 Acura TL. Although in my dreams I see me in the 3.2 CL type S!!!!
P.S. Let the Cav. die and go for the Integra!!!!! But don't lease any car (in my opinion). I've never been really jazzed about the idea of "renting" a car from somebody, them setting my mileage limits, and in a couple of years, giving that car back so I can "rent" another one. In fact I got a deal for you. You say you want a used Integra? I've got a real reliable '92 LS hatchback, 200,000 mi., grey, that I can lease to you for, let's say $400/mo. and I'll only limit the miles to 20,000/yr or until failure. Heh heh, sorry for the sarcasm, but you get my point.
As far as SUVs not being safe family vehicles, well, it should be obvious. Sure, they're bigger than a good percentage of the vehicles one would hit, but often it's not a vehicle that you hit...plus, yes, the high center of gravity makes a rollover much more likely. Remember, most SUVs are built on truck platforms, which do not have to conform to the same safety standards as cars.
If your wife wants to keep the Accord, why do you need to get rid of the already paid for Integra? That part doesn't compute. And as far as the sarcasm, no, I don't get your point.
But thanks for all your info, I hope my explanation clears things up a bit. Sorry though, the lease thing just doesn't fly with me. I'd rather have a car of my own to drive and not be driving on borrowed tires even if they were under warranty and I could get new ones in a couple years. Don't you modify the cars at all? New stereo, tires, rims, alarm, etc??? No you're not able to with a lease, but that's just my opinion...although we definitely see eye to eye on the Integras!!!! I wish they wouldn't have gone to the neonesque/late 80's celica looking body style ('94-present) GSR rocks though!
Thanks.
I made a mistake about saying "we" bought the car...she bought it when we were dating (against all of my rantings about waiting a bit to research and not getting into debt). But now, WE are paying for it...And her supposed "friend" at the Honda dealership really took her for a ride!!!
I do believe that '93 was the first year of the VTEC system in the Acuras, but going to the '94 body style had to change the configuration of the engine a bit...somebody correct me if I'm wrong. Overall, GREAT choice of car, but I would look for a later year just to be sure that Acura had some time to fix most of the "bugs" in the '94's.
Acura/Honda cars are famous for reliability.
The only thing when buying a used car is, that you don't know if the person that drove the car before you was a maniac and redlined it every chance they got or at every gear shift.
Another fact is that the 1st VTEC from Acura was in 1990 with the NSX. The first VTEC Integra was the '92 GSR. RS/LS/GS models are not really VTEC. Only the GSR's.
BTW, I 've been on vacation for 2 weeks and the last few days of my vacation all I could think of was driving my GSR again. I really missed it. I 'm 34 & married and have owned many cars (about 15) so it's probably weird that I missed my car that much while on vacation It's not like I 'm 18 and this is my 1st or 2nd car. So either I 'm not normal (probably so) or this car is really something else because after 15 mos of ownership, I still feel like I just bought it and want to drive it constantly.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
However, your friends may have gotten some good '94's, but there ARE also a lot of bad ones out there. There are always problems with the first year of a new body style (big or small) because the long term effects on the car have not been foreseen yet. After a year or so, the company has time and data to fix many of the cars' glitches if you may.
The problems that I've read about are not engines falling out, or transmissions blowing too soon, they're little annoying things like the hatch making a constant squeaky noise, or the windows rattling while driving. All of which don't exactly affect the reliability of the car, they just annoy the $#!@ out of you for the next 100,000 reliable miles.
P.S. If I had a GSR, I would definitely miss it too if I were on vacation...If you need a carsitter for it, let me know!!!
If the seller has all the maintenance paperwork and is only selling b/c he needs something more "practical" now, I would say go for it!
Do you have auto/manual? Has the transmission ever needed replacement? What about your suspension? And I'm willing to bet you've gone through a master cylinder or two??
I know Consumer Reports shows that suspension, brakes, and I think A/C are a few of the problems with the Integras (in the looong run).
I had it for the past 5 months already and
i drove 7k miles with 0 problems.
Recently i changed the front pads and rotor
as well as the broken cv joint boots ... at
pepboys. When i left the shop i noticed than
when driving over 60mph and braking the car starts
shaking a little bit etc.
I went back to pepboys
and they said that it's nothing, the new rotors
have to adjust etc etc. Now, 4k miles after that
the car still shakes and i can gradually feel it
even at lower speeds, when braking at the
stop light for example. Is this a rotor problem ?
My "lifetime" with pepboys expired ;( ...
Also the other problem i seem to have is that at
speeds between 70 and 90 (pretty much the highway
range i feel/hear a certain rattling, (mainly when pushing the gaspedal) located somewhere near the cv joints ... is this something related
to the joints themselves ? (also the car shakes a little bit until i hit 85mph) do i need to replace them ? the car has now 87k miles.
I posted this here because i am sure that some
of you guys might have been through this at some point ... this is my first car in the US ... my european renault had WAY MOOOORE problems than
the integra etc
thanks,
sion@cs.purdue.edu
Also, if getting new CV boots installed, it's a good idea to just get the whole CV joint replaced. When I did the same thing for my Accord, it was onlt $50 more per side, and I got a whole new joint, instead of one that could fail sometime in the near future anyway. Also, I'd look around and find a reputable import repair shop instead of having major service like CV boots done at Pep Boys. Just my opinion.
Oh, and welcome to the US! :-)
Regards
I also have a Toyota P/U (2wd 4cyl) and put 92 in every fill-up. I've noticed that when a relative borrows this truck and fills it with 87 gas, that it really screams in the high end of the gears...like it's trying to work too hard. This is why I never use 87 gas.
Am I wasting my $$$$??
It seems that i was right and that the shaking
was from the rotors and the rattling was from the
cv joints.
I replaced the axles and now everything seems to
be great. It got back to it's original perfect
acura type shape ...
Oh ... and thanks for the welcome to the US
BTW. i use 87 on the highway for long drives
and 92 when filling up to drive in the city.
It seems to me that i have the same mpg with
a low-cost fuel on the high way ... and i also
try to minimize engine knocks when driving
harder in the city.
just MHO
radu.
sion@cs.purdue.edu
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
I actually kinda feel disappointed about the quality of my 99' Integra LS(auto). The car began to make cracking noise somewhere from the front with regular driving. And it become noiser if I hit a bump. The car has been in Dealer's repair dept. for two weeks, they said they fix one thing, but they still can hear the noise, and they are not sure where it comes from, they said sth at somewhere got broken. Dealers are being pretty nice try to fix it, but I just feel worried about the reability of the car, I only drive this car for a year, and "somewhere inside got broken all ready"?
About the alarm part, I didn't get the dealer's original installation cause they charge too much, I went to "Auto one" to put the alarm and autostart on. Dealer told me the feature" kill-switch( I think it can turn off the car engine if someone want to break into the car while the car is running)" can dry the battery out.The problem is I couldn't remote start the car if the weather is too cold, I don't know why. After I asked auto one to take the "kill-switch" feature out, I had no problem starting the car, but why??? Any comments?
Thanks!
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
You will also pay like $100 less in tax if you buy it from the private owner. Go for the better deal but have a mechanic or someone experienced look at the car. Dealers always ask for more than what the car is worth because they have to pay the salesman his commission. Besides, dealers get their cars from auctions and it's hard to get the history of the car that way. They also pay very little for these cars through auctions so they make huge profits. Talk them down if you can. If not, I would trust a private owner especially if he is the original owner and he has all the service & maintenance records. $9500 is a good for a '96. $11K is too much. A GSR should be around 11-12.5K. An RS/LS should be between $9-10K (in good to excellent condition).
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
Anyway, let YOUR mechanic take a look at it
if you are really hooked on it.
The car has for SURE well over 100k miles if
it is a 1988 acura. I estimate it probably
has somewhere around 250000 miles on it if it started burning oil.
Don't buy it !
If you do anyway, make sure that:
1. your mechanic checks the car, especially
the compression rates !
2. you check the car VIN through carfax.com
BEFORE buying the car. I assure you that
a 1988 integra that also burns oil has
over 250,000 miles on it, no matter what
the odometer says.
3. look on the engine SN and match it towards
the car SN.
4. don't buy it !
it's not good to be happy about a low price
on a piece of junk ! even if it's named acura.
my 2c.
radu.
Thanks
I just recently found this forum, and I thought I would share with you my experience with my girlfriend’s Integra.
She has a 1990 Integra (stick shift) with 197K miles on it. The car is still in an amazing shape! She replaced the clutch and the muffler at about 130K miles (the new muffler now has a lifetime warranty), the alternator – just last year at about 185K miles, and recently she had to replace the exhaust B-pipe due to some rusting. Other than that the car has never had any major problem. There were of course the small maintenance items, like tires, break pads, batteries, etc.
I am really impressed by the car. My girlfriend still gets 30-35mpg mixed city/highway driving. (Last year when we went on a long trip I got almost 40mpg with the cruise control set at 65mph throughout the whole trip.) The car is maintained by Acura only, and my girlfriend changes the oil every 3000 miles. The car burns absolutely no oil at all! My 98 BMW definitely burns more oil (about half a quart every 7-8K miles).
There are two issues that I would like to address at the next major maintenance, which is coming up next month:
1. The car vibrates a little, particularly the steering wheel, when in neutral and after it had warmed up. This has been the case for the last 3-4 years. It is consistent with an earlier post. I wonder what it is. Any idea/similar experience? Any help will be appreciated.
2. The car has become rather bumpy when going through uneven surfaces. It is almost like a loud bang every time real wheel goes through a pothole. I wonder if it is the shock absorbers or the bushings or something else that we need to replace. Has anybody done anything to improve the ride of an older Integra. Again your comments will be appreciated.
After calling Acura, the technician told me that it might have something to do with the tires on the car...ok never heard that excuse before. Shocks, struts, and inner cv joints are also suspect.
The vibration is probably due to a bad motor mount... however I know I've had them look at my car for this reason and everything checked out. They said that a free test drive with a technician would help so they can estimate if these problems are abnormal or not. I am going to take my Acura in soon to get an oil change and I'll definitely have all of these problems looked at...stay posted But it's good to know that I'm not the only one with these annoyances.
P.S. 201,200 miles on my baby now!!
Just to give you an example, my '99 GSR was starting to feel loose and the ride had started to get stiffer and I could feel all the road irregularities a lot more. I upgraded the shocks at 17k mi. with Koni adjustables and the car felt and rode like new again. Shocks play the biggest role in ride quality and unfortunately factory regular duty shocks don't last long. Not to say that they break and need to be replaced, but their wear & tear rate is fast and ride deterioration can be as soon as a few months or a year. CV joints could also be the culprit. But like I said it's usually a combination of many suspension components especially with high mileage. I don't know if I 'd go through the expense of replacing the shocks in an Integra with 197k mi. on it. Labor is kinda high because they have to take the springs out as well to replace the shocks. Figure at least $175 in labor at a regular repair shop, and $300 and up at the Acura dealer plus whatever the shocks cost ($200-300?). This is for all 4. The labor is actually about 3 hrs. with 2 mechanics (you need 2, one can't do the job alone because one has to screw the bolts in while the other holds everything in place) but I 'm sure the Acura dealer will charge you for 6..
Anyway as far as the vibrations go, they 're normal too. The motor mounts are probably old, although not cracked to warrant replacement which is why they don't find anything wrong when the inspect them. They 're just old and worn down enough to cause some additional vibration on the engine. Replacing them will probably eliminate 50-60% of the vibration but there are other things loose such as the rack & pinion steering, tie rods, alignment, suspension needs to be tightened down so your steering wheel doesn't vibrate as much, and the tranny or tranny mount is probably worn out somewhat. Again it's a combination of things but the engine mounts should help for sure. Then you also have to make sure the engine is properly tuned up to minimize vibration at idle. A lot of new cars have moveable engine mounts that are also hydrolic! This allows the engine to move back and forth an inch or so and smoothly that is transparent to the driver or occupants. My wife's '98 Mitsubishi Galant has this system and it works well.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
I realize there are a number of suspension components that have all aged and it will be impractical to replace them all. Also, the somewhat rough ride is not that bad, so I consider it a minor annoyance. I had Acura check all the components and they said everything was all right. I didn’t pursue the matter further and I didn’t get them to test-drive it. I still wonder, though, if I should replace the shocks. They are the original ones, and have almost 200K miles on them. Acura told me they can replace them, but they also told me they did not recommend it – they said they generally advise people not to touch them unless they are leaking. Now, I don’t mind spending a few hundred dollars to replace them, but it seems, I have no guarantee that the ride will improve. (I get a sort of a bang from the rear wheels when I go through potholes.) What do you think? It seems like 200K is an awful lot of miles for any shock absorber. Also, if I decide to go ahead and replace them, what brand would you recommend?
Engine vibrations – the vibration that I described in my earlier post occurs only when the car is in neutral. If I raise the revs to above 1000 rpm there are no vibration whatsoever. I guess it is an engine mount. Shall I go to Acura and ask them to replace the mounts? Are they expensive? Or can they raise the idle RPM?
Thanks.
Acura did not recommend adjusting the idle due to the fact that the idle is set by the computer, and if your car is not idling correctly, it's probably some other component that's causing that.
I do think you should have the shocks replaced. When I called Acura, they asked me how many miles my car has on it (201,200) and the guy was surprised that they had not been changed. (My front shocks have been replaced, but not sure about the rear ones). They recommend OEM shocks (from the manufacturer) because they give you the best ride comfort and performance for the Integra... but any good gas filled shock would do (Monroe,Kby). Others he said would be more performance related and hence give you a stiffer ride, which I don't think you're looking for.
I'd definitely have the motor mounts looked at and replaced if need be. As for the shocks, have them look at those while they're under the car and give you their suggestion, maybe they don't need replacement...but I bet once you're in there they'll definitely want you to get new ones since they're pretty old.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)
If anything, I'd at least ask under the $7k mark because $6900 looks a lot more appealing than $7000. Doesn't really sound like you're hurting for ca$h anyway...
"My Mercedes C-320 arrives in a couple of weeks..." Nice upgrade.
I'm curious though, you definitely paid $30k+ for that car...why didn't you just go for the 3.2CL Type S w/Navigation and get 45 more ponies for less money? Or was it just because it's a Mercedes? No offense intended, just curious...they don't seem like good values, but very luxurious, I can't deny that.
'06 Civic LX coupe
'11 BMW 335i coupe xDrive
'13 Honda Accord sedan (wife's car)