SteveThackery

Tell you what, though - if I could have found a KB1 with cream leather I'd have bought it in preference to the Lexus. Got fed up of waiting for the right car in the end. The KB1 is like rocking horse shit, whereas there's a greater choice in LS 430s.

FWIW, I totally agree that the KB1 transmission and (probably) suspension systems are better than my LS 430. The LS 430 has more wood and more gadgets, and I'm told is quieter than the Legend.

Looks like one stonking car, Mr Lennie! Obviously not quite up there with the Lexus LS 430, but damn close!

Thanks again chaps.

It's tempting to rubbish anything that isn't a Honda V6, but actually I won't: the LS 430 is a cracking car with a superb engine. I'm happy to acknowledge how good "the competition" is.

Colleagues! Sadly I've realised that it's going to be too expensive (compared with the value of the car) to have the starter replaced on my 1996 Legend (I've been quoted £800). The job involves dismantling the left front suspension to remove the drive shaft, disconnecting the left-side exhaust, disconnecting the front engine mounts and lifting the engine up a bit with a hoist or jack in order to gain access. It just isn't going to be feasible for me to do it with the lack of space and facilities at my place. If anyone might be interested in buying it on a "spares or repair" basis, please check out the Classifieds section. I've been searching for a later Legend (KB1 or KB2) as a replacement, but haven't found a suitable one within my price range with cream leather (a must-have for me) - they are all grey or black interiors. Therefore I've bought a Lexus LS 430 for the time being, hoping my next car will be a Legend again. I'm hoping I don't get drummed out of this forum for being a turncoat! Steve

Thanks, for this Stu. 👍

Colleagues! Sorry for my long silence. I have two excuses: firstly, my Legend has been so utterly reliable I haven't had a single thing to write about. At its MOT the tester was impressed and said there were no advisories at all, which was pretty good for a 20-year-old car. Second excuse: my engineering degree course is using up all my mental bandwidth, so lots of other pastimes have been neglected. However, my beloved Legend isn't quite perfect, as it stinks of coolant, no visible leaks or apparent loss of coolant either, so moral of the storey is listen to Stuarts advice regards to type 2 coolant.

And now, of course, you can aspire to a Legend, which is even better......

Pah! These Accord Coupes are for wimps and women!! REAL men drive the Honda Legend. That's why there's only one Legend in the entire club..... <ducks and runs........> Anon

Well above my price range, but still good value for money. Strange looking car, though.

What do you expect to have to pay for these (or rather, charge a customer)?

It's a well known fact that before Newton invented the apple, electric windows were MUCH more reliable.

I thought you'd already decided?

Crikey, so would I!! Lookers at Nottingham quoted me £826 to change the cam belt and balance belt (this was on my Legend). This is a standard Honda charge (i.e. 5.2 hours plus parts). It doesn't include the water pump, either, which would add another £260 to the parts costs (and presumably a little bit to the labour).

Thanks for all these tips, guys! I really appreciate it. The hotter 'stat sounds a great idea, as does a flush of the cooling system. Laird_Scooby: mine isn't the AWD model, which I believe arrived with the 4th gen in 2004.

Hey, just one last little mystery to add to the pot. Spoke to Stu on the phone and he advised disconnecting the ABS wheel sensors for the time being until he gets his hands on the car. This is to prevent any chance of a short-circuited sensor damaging the new ECU. Anyway, as it happens the only one I could get to easily this afternoon was the offside front, so I disconnected that. The nearside one will need the battery taking out, and as I was heading out I didn't have time. The rear ones I'll do tomorrow. So, we now have one wheel sensor disconnected. Guess what - the ABS light has gone out. To be specific, it comes on with the ignition, stays on until I've started the engine, at which point it goes out. All correct so far. You will recall that it would then come on again after a couple of minutes. Well, now it doesn't. Obviously it should - after all, one of the sensors isn't even connected - so summat weird is happening. Ironically, though, it will no longer fail an MOT on a lit ABS light. Stu told me about the regime for gently clearing out the auto transmission, changing the fluid one litre at a time. I didn't have time to start that today, but I did take a look at the fluid on the dipstick. Dammit! It's clean! This suggests it's been changed just recently, apparently all in one go. I've no idea what they've put in it, although I can probably assume it's some brand of ATF. Bugger. Anyway, unless Stu advises otherwise, I'll still change it bit by bit for the proper Honda one. Meanwhile I'm finding all sorts of excuses to drive it, and it's a joy.

Hi Geoff - yeah, I don't mind. But it's still only a Legend, like every other! Hey, by the way, I decided I'd probably grow old and die before getting one with cream leather (plus all the other criteria I wanted) so I've had to settle for a weird kinda beigey/non-descript/some-brown-in-it/can't-decide colour. I can live with it just fine - the important thing for me is it's not black. I'm red/green colour blind, so I hope it's not green!

Thanks, Laird_Scooby. I seem to recall Stu saying something about 827 sensors not working correctly on the Legend, but I've slept since then. Perhaps he'll remind us.

Is the modulator what I was calling the ABS pump? Well, if so, when I first had the car there was a fairly loud buzz from under the bonnet area in front of the passenger when starting up. This recurred every half a minute or so for maybe three minutes before stopping and the ABS light coming on. Now, this buzzing occurs once when I start the engine, and no more after that. The ABS light still comes on after a similar time interval. The mechanic who replaced the ABS pump said the old one was leaky. As you say, I think there must have been two faults - one being the pump and the other still being unrepaired. I've made them leave the new pump and new ECU on the car, and they've also given me the originals. I thought maybe the old ECU would need to go back on, Stu, if they've fitted the wrong one..

Thanks, Geoff. I will, indeed, be giving Stu some money to sort the cambelt and ABS. By the way - the symptoms for the ABS are now different: the ABS light comes on, goes off after a few seconds as it should, and then comes on again after about two or three minutes of driving. Don't know if that helps, Stu. I did a bit of "bonding" with the car yesterday evening - just driving it around, basically. I must say, it's a fabulous car to drive in terms of its sheer refinement. The engine, in particular, is incredibly quiet and refined. (I haven't given it any beans, yet, until the cambelt is done). The ride is perhaps a tad "floaty", although it's only slight and perhaps new dampers will tighten it up - not urgent, though. Maybe that's how they are - all cars are different. It handles great. I noticed something slightly odd. When going over a bump, as well as feeling the car move up and down, I also thought I could feel some subtle "jerk" in the drivetrain. Like the car jumped forwards slightly. Barely detectable and most odd. It took several miles before I worked it out - to my embarrassment! Unlike the previous automatics I've driven, the Legend is extremely willing to unlock its torque converter with just a very slight movement of the accelerator. It's great, actually - makes it more responsive. Anyway, I realised that my clod-hopping size 12s were responsible for it. Each time I went over a significant bump my foot moved the accelerator just enough to unlock the torque converter and produce that oh-so-subtle jump forwards. What a prat! Anyway, a minor tweak to seat and feet position sorted that one. Thus far (and it's very early days) I am massively impressed by the Legend and wish I'd bought one immediately after the Jag, instead of going through the Rover 75 and the Civic coupe.

Right then, men, we have an outcome! I'm afraid I've gone against Stu's advice and decided to stick with this car for now. Let me explain...... As you know, I was willing to pay £2k for the car, which is TOP top dollar, because it was exactly what I wanted and I hadn't seen anything comparable (in terms of the stuff that matters to me) for ages. As we all expected, the garage has failed to fix the ABS warning light, despite changing the ABS pump unit and its ECU, and has now officially given up. So, the issue is: how much should I pay for the car with this fault? After some difficult negotiations I got £750 knocked off the price, which I think should cover Stu's efforts (at least I'm hoping it will). I wanted more, but I learnt that I was competing with someone else - a business associate of theirs who was planning to put the car on his own forecourt, presumably having attended to the warning light. I can't go into details because I'm worried about libel, but I'm sure you can complete the story for yourself. So, the decision is made. £1250, which includes a one month engine and gearbox warranty starting today. That warranty will cover my holiday in two weeks time and hopefully keep me going until it's booked into Stu's for its cambelt and ABS diagnostics. Yes, yes, I know I'm mad! Paid too much, might have loads of other stuff wrong, etc. But I've done it because I'm willing to take a punt for a car I really like. I would take a different approach if there were more 3rd generation Legends on the market, but there aren't. And yes - my next car will be an Accord V6 Coupe! (Five pages on this saga! Not bad, eh? I feel slightly proud of that.....)

Thanks, Stu, for your comments - very helpful. Geoff - yes, that's one of the cars that was on Autotrader - it's got that black leather I prefer to avoid. That one you found, Cryistic, looks like good value for money. As you say, it's a hell of a way off, but not impossible. Train up, drive back. I haven't started looking at Accord's yet, but it does look like there is a better choice than there is for the Legend. Hmmm..... so even if the Legend saga ends in failure, there is a very tempting alternative.

So, gentlemen, what do we think of this car (on autotrader)? http://tinyurl.com/ouxg9pm No walnut, sadly!

Thanks, guys - I really do appreciate all your thoughts and advice on this. If you've looked around on ebay and autotrader you will know that sub-£3000 Legends are as rare as rocking horse shit. Especially the 1996-onwards model, which I would prefer. Also, I'm a bit weird because I dislike black interiors, including black leather. I find it too dark, oppressive and depressing. Although I probably wouldn't let it be a show-stopper, it strongly puts me off those two that are currently on autotrader (for £895 and £650). The reason I was prepared to pay top dollar for mine is that it is exactly what I wanted - a '96 model with a tan leather interior, a fully stamped service history, no apparent rot or damage to the body, a mint interior and a one month guarantee on the engine and gearbox. I even included in my budget a few hundred quid to get the cambelt changed by a suitable expert. I guess we each have in mind a maximum amount we are prepared to pay for the "right" car - I wouldn't try to defend paying two grand for this car, because we each value a particular car differently. As for the current situation - having got this far there doesn't seem to be much benefit to me in pulling out at the last minute. Logically I might as well wait until they've fitted the ABS ECU to see what the outcome is. Then would be the time to make the "pull out or stay in" decision. At least that's how it seems to me - I'm happy to be persuaded otherwise! Cryistic and Stu - the potential problems you are talking about are perfectly valid, but of course they all still apply whether or not this ABS problem had come along. If I were sensible, I should have considered them before buying the car. And I cannot disagree with you, but surely there's an element of risk in buying any secondhand car? You never really know what it's like. So, it seems logical to stick with it until the bitter end, which surely can't be that long now. I've just rung and the garage still hasn't fitted the ECU yet, but I guess that phone call might have chivvied them up a bit. However, no matter what logic says, I am really starting to feel pissed off with the situation now, and am sorely tempted to just drive over there tomorrow and call the whole thing off. It would be irrational - I might easily lose the car I want just because I'm sulking. I shall sleep upon it, and maybe I'll wake up with a decision tomorrow! Guys, once again, let me say how much I appreciate the enormous trouble you are going to with all this help and advice. It's amazing!