The seller of today’s Nice Price or No Dice Acura Legend claims to have only driven it when the weather outside was nice. As a result, it only has 86K on the clock. Let’s find out if this babied sedan can still drive a hard bargain.
In the 1982 black comedy, “Eating Raoul,” Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov play a sex-adverse married couple appropriately called the Blands. The story, which Bartel also directed and co-wrote, shows the couple being appalled by, and eventually bumping off, the sex party swingers that frequent salacious gatherings occurring in their apartment building, stealing their money in the process.
While maybe a bit of a stretch, the 1966 Ford Fairlane wagon we looked at yesterday would have been a fitting vehicle for the movie. It could, after all, accommodate several party-goers, either sitting in the seats or in a crumpled mass to be disposed of in the back. Even more appropriately, its Magic Gate tailgate both swings and lays down—it goes both ways! Of course, just like the Blands in the flick, money proved a problem for the Fairlane. Most of you concluded that the car’s milquetoast 289 engine offered insufficient appeal and, hence, unwarranted the $14,950 asking price. The result was the choice not to swing with the seller, and a 57% No Dice loss.
TGIF
Hey, are you all excited about the weekend? I don’t mean ‘The Weekend,’ although I think ‘Timeless’ off of ‘Hurry Up Tomorrow’ does slap. Come to think of it, that might, in fact, make for a solid set off song for a Friday night cruise or weekend day-trip. The question is, would you want to do that in a sports car or a luxury saloon?
According to the ad, the owner of today’s 1992 Acura Legend L has been doing just that, driving it on the weekends while keeping it safe from the dangers of workweek rush hour traffic, tucked under a cover in the garage. And like school kids, it stays in on snow days. The seller says it also has never seen rain, so its wipers have been wildly underutilized.
This sort of dedicated driving schedule means that the Acura has only accumulated a mere 86,000 miles over its 33 years. That’s an average of around 2,600 miles each year, or about 50 miles each weekend.
Sterling condition
The result of that careful curation of use has resulted in a car that, while three decades old, looks for all intents and purposes like new in the ad’s pictures. That ad also claims the car’s color to be ‘custom,’ although it looks like a standard Rosewood Brown metallic, a color that was popular on both the Acura and contemporary Honda Accord at the time. Based on the pictures, the bodywork is clean and free of any noticeable dings, dents or failure of the top coat. That all rides on alloys from a Vigor GS, which look like they’ve been kept well away from curbs. The car’s original 15-inch wheels are shown in the ad and will come with the car.
In the cabin, things are just as nice. This is the middle-of-the-pack L model, so it’s nicely equipped, but not quite as fancy-pants as the top-of-the-line LS edition. Still, there are leather seating surfaces, power windows and locks, and a moonroof. There’s also the traditional Honda build quality and material choices that make these cars feel special.
One hot commodity
A downside of the car is the climate control, as the seller notes that the A/C is the fritz. They claim to have been told that it would cost around $600 to fix, but you know, if that were the case, they would have just gotten it fixed before trying to sell the car. It is summer, after all, which makes working A/C a significant plus when trying to move the metal, as they say.
Everything else on the car is said to be working, with the seller claiming it to “drive like new.” Power is provided by a 3.2-liter alloy SOHC V6 that, when new, made 200 horsepower along with 210 pound-feet of torque. That’s not a lot by modern standards, but it’s enough to move the big sedan acceptably. Interestingly, the engine in this generation Legend is mounted longitudinally, like the five-pot in the contemporary Vigor, and not transversely like the motor in the first-generation cars. The succeeding RL kept this layout for its first generation, but switched to transverse engines in its follow-up. Behind the engine is a four-speed automatic shifted via a console-mounted lever. No provision is made on these ’90s cars for any manual-shifting monkey business.
A tough sell?
According to the seller, who has owned this Acura for a claimed 30 years, it’s tough for them to part with the car. They say that they want to sell it to someone who will appreciate it as much as they have, but they don’t give a reason for why it has to go. It does have a clean title and a Carfax report indicating it to be accident-free and having never been in need of significant repairs. That raises the question, though, of the car’s maintenance schedule, specifically whether age-related items, such as the timing belt, have been replaced despite not quite meeting the mileage requirements.
That’s to be hashed out between prospective buyers and the seller, but before they can get to that, we have to get to this Legend’s $13,000 asking price. The seller asks for offers, but has set that price as their starting point.
What do you think about that and this Acura’s time capsule-like appearance? Does that seem like a good deal on a luxury weekend cruiser? Or does that make this Legend a loser?
You decide!
Nice Price or No Dice:
Long Island, New York, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T Whatsupdohc for the hookup!
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