Owners have filed 288 complaints on the Honda Prelude, covering 1981–2001. The system named most often is Power Train (78 reports). Worst years by volume: 1998, 1997, 1988; cleanest: 1981, 1983, 1984. 23 reports describe a crash, 9 a fire, 2 a death. On average the car was 7.5 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Honda Prelude
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 288 Prelude complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Power Train 78 Read
Takata recall any time I put my car in d4 (automatic) it gets to about 2500 RPM to 3000 RPM in 1st then I have to message the throttle so it will shift and once it shifts to 2nd it starts shifting very quickly no matter the rpms to 3rd then 4th. Also when it's shifting it jerks pretty violently
The contact owns a 1998 honda prelude. The contact parked the vehicle in her driveway, removed the key from the ignition, and exited the vehicle. When she returned to enter the vehicle, it began to roll out of the driveway. The contact was dragged by the vehicle, but she was able to let go and roll on the pavement.…
As the result of broken ball joint, the vehicle spun out of control causing damages to wheels,frame,alignment and the body. Yh
Engine And Engine Cooling 35 Read
Engine caught on fire
Engine compartment fire
Engine compartment fire
Electrical System 28 Read
Electrical fire in vehicle trunk
Soon after parking vehicle caught on fire. Fire department said it was due to faulty wires. Consumer contacted american honda, and they sent consumer to a dealer ship. But dealership said that problem was too serious, and that they could not do anything for her. Consumer called back american honda, and they said they…
No summary listed for above vehicle
Steering 27 Read
The power steering assembly was recalled in 1988 yet the orig. Owner did not recieve recall notice . Now this fire was caused by the defect, confirmed by my mechanic and costing me approx. 1500.00 dollars to repair with the fire damage. Hopefully honda will reimburse me for the cost. I have the documentation and…
My honda prelude 2001 vibrates severely after driving 2 hours at a steady speed. Have brought it back for service 4 times; no problems found. This is an extremely dangerous fault; I am planning to sell it but don't want to endanger someone else.can't understand why no other prelude owners have reported similar…
Driver lost power steering twice while driving. Yh
Seat Belts 22 Read
This head-on collision was investigated by the chp. Central division chp m.a.I.t. Was requested to examine the failure of the driver's side restraint. Upon examination sgt. Esmay determined that the restraint was being worn due to the signs of loading on the webbing and loop guide. The webbing of the belt separated…
Vehicle involved impact 1:00 position speed 5 mph lap/shoulder failed to retract. Tt
Seat belt appears to clasp when engaged, however safety light goes on, necessitating reengagement until light goes out
Fuel System 20 Read
Attempted to refuel vehicle when suddenly after an employee tried to repair dispenser gasoline exploded from the nozzle forcefully into my face especially my left eye, nose and mouth. The employee could not stop the gasoline from coming out so he threw the entire dispenser in my car floor board. My three year old…
From day one- idle fluctuation with tons of documentation and denial to problem by dealer & representative-first day car was purchased there was a code 12. All 4 fuel injectors replaced & egr tubes cleaned. Lived with unresolved problem all these years, but now I have sudden acceleration and am frigthened to death to…
Smells like gas fumes
Air Bags 18 Read
The contact owns a 2001 honda prelude. While driving approximately 15 mph a vehicle crashed into the front end passenger side of the contacts vehicle. The air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the body damage was repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000
While driving 35 mph had a frontal impact with a tree in which the airbag deployed 3 seconds late, causing occupant to hit the steering with seatbelt on, and sustaining injuries. Please provide further information
Driver traveling on a two lane road, two vehicles where in front, there was an abrupt stop, and the driver crashed into the vehicle in front and the seat belt did not lock, nor did the airbags deploy, the failure forced the driver into the windshield and cracked it. Driver sustained injuries
Tires 11 Read
As a result of tread separation car lost control and hit the median. Driver was whip lashed and her neck and back hurts.*ak (tiresize: 205/50r16)( DOT number: tire size: 205/50r16 )
Both front tires had tread seperate from sidewall on the entire inner side of tire, showing steel belt. The auto shop had never seen anything like it. The tires were original equipment on the honda prelude. The tires were correctly inflated and were subject to normal use. The treads on the tires were still in good…
Tire separation on inner side wall and cracking on outer wall. *ak (tiresize: p205/50r16)( DOT number: tire size: p205/50r16 )
Prelude years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Air Bags | 3 | — | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 1999 | Electrical System | 1 | — | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | 4 | — | |
| 1997 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 1996 | Electrical System | — | 1 | |
| 1995 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 1994 | Air Bags | 1 | 1 | |
| 1993 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 1992 | Air Bags | 4 | — | |
| 1991 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 2 | — | |
| 1990 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1989 | Electrical System | — | 1 | |
| 1988 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 1 | 4 | |
| 1987 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 1 | 1 | |
| 1986 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1985 | Fuel System, Gasoline | — | — | |
| 1984 | Steering | — | — | |
| 1983 | Electrical System | — | 1 | |
| 1981 | Suspension,fuel System, Gasoline | — | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 194 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.5 |
| Worst single series | 9 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 7.5 years |
A model average of 1.5 hides a worst series at 9. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Prelude?
By complaint volume, 1998, 1997, 1988 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Prelude years are the cleanest?
1981, 1983, 1984 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Honda Prelude have?
288 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1981–2001. Of those, 23 describe a crash and 9 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.