Thinking about an Acura EL
 

basically from 1996+..

Are there any hidden surprises that I should be looking at? As i need to have a car seat in it, does the older years have the LATCH system?

Any information can be helpful...

THANKS!

Basically the same as a 96+ Civic plus some bells and whistles and yes, there's a provision for a latch on the rear deck.

If you look into the 01-05 Acura EL be very weary of transmission problems, the LCA bushings also have a tendency to go.

is that for an automatic or standard transmission?

I'm mainly looking at the auto (i know but my wife has to drive to)...I don't think i would like leather seats so cloth is just fine...

Manual trannys are fine as long as there's no driver abuse.

I think Mindbomber is talking about autos but the only issues I've seen from them are from not using Honda ATF. A lot of Honda autos have a habit of hard shifting (1-2) but many say it's normal. I've only seen 1 or 2 that actually had a slipping problem. The real auto tranny problems are found behind V6's.

Great car. Reliable, great on gas but a bit on the weak side (127HP)

everything i've read previously indicates that the automatic transmissions have problems. like flip said above, you can remedy this by using Honda ATF but that's usually only a temporary solution if the problem has already become quite serious.

the D16Y8 (127hp w/ vtec) may be considered weak, but it's definitely a lot better than driving the 96-00 civic sedans with the D16Y7 (106hp non-vtec). plus, there's a lot of aftermarket support if you want to modify the Y8. boost on stock internals can net 250+ whp :D

I've never had a problem with my 2000 EL and I've had it since 2003

have my 98 premium EL since march 09. only maintenance that i've need to do is replace the battery. original clutch (now 182xxx)

driver seat seat warmer died though, no biggy.

great on gas, 450+km before gas light turns on (oh and gas light is very sensitive)

these are what i'm thinking as an upgrade to my older sedan...

The only thing that broke for this car was the power lock actuator on the driver side which doesn't cost much to fix.

I've encountered both issues you've mentioned on my auto 2001. Lca bushing have been replaced twice and the transmission had to be rebuilt at 200000km. Other than that I've been very happy with it... and even after 10 years of ownership it still manages to get 480+km per tank.

I've owned my '99 EL for the last 5 years, and has been the most trouble free car I've owned thus far. Bought her at 89,000km, and I have about 180,000km on her now.

Everything still works as it should, haven't had any weird issues. The 1.6 motor is great on gas. With these cars, just keep up on regular maintenance and they'll treat you right. :)