Faults:

Transmission shifts rough, head gasket problems.

These cars are prone to cooling system problems. Replaced a seeping head gasket. Had heads re-surfaced and put back together with new water pump. Only lasted 4000 miles. Babied it as much as one humanly can. These cars are too sensitive to head gasket issues.

General Comments:

Head gasket problems keep this from being the nice car that it tries to be.

Faults:

The car is luxurious, and comes with all the bells and whistles. I love the beauty of the car, and how smooth it drives.

Now to the bad part: Acura Legends are famous for having a cracked head gasket, something I wish I had known before buying the car. The car would often overheat, or the needle would rise all the way up, and then come back down to the center.

If you buy this car, check under the motor cap and see if you have any white or gray residue; this can be a sign of a crack head gasket. Acura are also famous for the water pump going bad, something else I wish I had known prior to buying the car.

Overall, if you a college student like me, then this is not the car for you; if the car has a problem, you're looking to pay at least 100 dollars to fix it.

One good thing I will say about the car is that, it attracts attention, and is very easy on the eyes.

General Comments:

This car handles well until the head gasket cracks.

Faults:

Replaced radiator at 140,000 miles. $450.

Replaced clutch master cylinder and thermostat at 180,000 miles. $800.

Replaced a rear arm, not the axle due to hitting a very very large pothole at about 85 mph on a remote Arizona highway at around 178,000 miles. $1200.

Replaced fan blower motor, all new belts and hoses, A/C lines, O rings and tie rods at 248,000 miles. $3600 because it was done at the Acura dealership.

I am about to replace shocks and struts and the first actual clutch replacement at 270,000 miles although the clutch is not even out, so I may wait another 10-15k miles. $650 for shocks and struts.

Normal tire replacement.

Other than the small repairs this vehicle has had absolutely no problems and still does not burn oil. Original engine and transmission and it runs as strong as the day I bought it, which was in mint condition day of purchase.

General Comments:

I am the second owner of this excellent car and most of the miles on it are highway (80%), I travel for work and so did the previous owner. I bought this car because I did not want to have a car payment as I was going back to college and did not want the added expense. That being said, I have grown to love this car. I am more of a sports car kind of guy, but the sports cars I have owned are higher caliber and are luxurious inside as well as having performance (1 94 and 1 96 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 and 1 1993 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo), so I wanted a luxurious feel. I have been more than pleased by the ride inside as well as the performance of the vehicle, even though it pales in comparison to what I am accustomed to driving.

This is a rare manual 5 speed LS sedan, which has all the creature comforts inside that compare to any Lexus LS400 or BMW 740I of comparable years up to around the year 2000, such as 10 way power leather seats, heated seats, heated mirrors, automatic LED climate control, sunroof, Bose stereo and a pretty spacious back seat as long as you are not a giant.

I have driven all of the Lexus and BMW models at the time I purchased this car, and can say that for what this car was needed for, it has earned a 10/10 rating from me. It still has very good pull on the highway in fourth and can accelerate from 60-90 MPH very quickly, although I have to downshift to fourth or third gear to get good acceleration. For its size, it handles very well and can be pushed through corners, although it does have body roll since it is the original size tires and no high performance suspension set up. With the A/C cranked, the car eats up gas and is a lot slower but I don't drive this car fast, except on the highway and I do it safely, going with the flow of traffic.

I have taken very good care of this car with regular oil changes and very rarely go above 4800 RPM on shifts in the city, although she does love to go the redline and will with ease. I gave it a 9/10 on performance because this car will keep up with just about any non-sports car up to this year, except some of the newer 5 and 7 series BMW's and of course the V-8 540i, but I don't race people around town so I don't care about that in this car. If I want excellent performance, I pull out the twin turbo VR-4.

I gave dealer service marks a 9/10 because the service was excellent, as expected, however I could have reduced the $3600 cost to around $2000 had I serviced it at a smaller shop. Reliability speaks for itself, given this vehicle has 270,000 miles on the original engine, clutch, transmission, timing belt, shocks and struts and the only repairs I have done to the car in the past 7 or 8 years is listed above.

I would recommend any Acura or Honda vehicle based on reliability and would recommend the Legend to anyone, if you can find one that has not been abused. However, due to the age of the car they are hard to find. There are plenty of other great vehicles, including Lexus and BMW, however I still love my Legend and will retire her to the garage when the time is right, but for now she is still very alive and kicking.