zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Buying
/
At $5,500, Would You Make This 1998 Acura Integra An Integral Part Of Your Life?
At $5,500, Would You Make This 1998 Acura Integra An Integral Part Of Your Life?-November 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:09:14

Nice Price or No Dice 1998 Acura Integra

While its two-door brethren may be generally considered to be more lust-worthy, there’s still lots to like about today’s Integra saloon. Let’s see if that includes its asking price.

Riding on someone else’s coattails is arguably not the best path to success. We saw a prime example of this in last Friday’s . The maker of that Monte Carlo-based coupe was sued shortly after the car’s debut over intellectual property rights due to its Rolls-Royce aping grill and rear-end treatment. Even though now presented in what appears to be extremely nice shape and with low miles, few of you were willing to overlook such wardrobe malfeasance, especially at an $18,000 asking. That ended the day with an 89 percent No Dice loss.

Let’s be honest, Acura is a funny brand. Introduced in the North American market in the mid-1980s as Honda’s upscale entry, the marque led the charge for such copycat efforts by Toyota (Lexus), Nissan (Infiniti), and nearly Mazda (the stillborn Amati).

Acura, however, has never been able to step out of the shadow of its less fancy sibling, Honda. At one point, to overcome its lackluster reputation, Acura took the extreme gambit of throwing out all its well-established model names in preference for a series of nearly interchangeable three-letter alpha names. I’ll bet most of us couldn’t name them all even now, although that may have something to do with how sort of uninspiring or just “OK” many of Acura’s cars have been of late.

Image for article titled At $5,500, Would You Make This 1998 Acura Integra An Integral Part Of Your Life?

On the other hand, this comes from an era when Acuras had actual, memorable names and were pretty engaging and aspirational. Just like the Hondas of the time, they were also really well-engineered and solidly built, factors supported by this car’s condition after having done 204,262 miles over its quarter-of-a-century life.

Painted in Ruby Red Pearl and sporting a set of handsome factory alloys, the car appears to have been well cared for over that time and those miles. It does show some door dings along the flanks and a fairly noticeable scrape on the rear bumper, but such scars are par for the course with any older car in the Integra’s class. The front bumper also looks like it could stand to be re-positioned on the curb-side for proper panel gaps. On the plus side, good tires — along with an extra set of winter meats — come with the car.

Image for article titled At $5,500, Would You Make This 1998 Acura Integra An Integral Part Of Your Life?

Inside, things are even better. The cabin is a true time capsule of ’90s nostalgia, with patterned gray mouse fur upholstery and a simple, clean dashboard design — the kind you wish Honda would still offer. According to the seller, everything save for the window tint is factory original on the car, right down to the Acura-branded AM/FM/cassette stereo.

Image for article titled At $5,500, Would You Make This 1998 Acura Integra An Integral Part Of Your Life?

Below that sits the shifter for the car’s five-speed manual gearbox. That, in turn, is mated to Honda’s 1.8-liter B18 four, which, in the Integra, makes 140 horsepower and 129 lb-ft of torque, with both numbers making their appearance well into the upper rev range.

The seller says the car has enjoyed a recent oil change, while the timing belt was done just last year. A fat stack of maintenance and repair receipts for that work plus most of the prior will accompany the car in the sale. It has a clean title and what the seller mysteriously mentions as “some quirks.”

Image for article titled At $5,500, Would You Make This 1998 Acura Integra An Integral Part Of Your Life?

Whatever those might be will simply have to await a prospective buyer’s deeper dive via a thorough inspection of the car and those receipts. Since we don’t have the means for that, we’ll just have to gauge the $5,500 asking price using just the pictures and the description, plus our own personal sensibilities.

As a sensible sort, what is your take on this interesting Integra and that $5,500 price tag? Does that seem fair, given the car’s condition? Or does that price feel less integral to this Acura’s eventual sale?

You decide!

out of Kansas City, Missouri, or go if the ad disappears.

H/T to Glemon for the hookup!

Help me out with NPOND. Hit me up at and send me a fixed-price tip. Remember to include your Kinja handle.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Buying
The Jalopnik Review Leaderboard: Sorted By Categories
The Jalopnik Review Leaderboard: Sorted By Categories
While consumer journals might rank cars for their durability, and safety experts might put them on a list from safest to most dangerous, here at Jalopnik we decided to create a ranking system for cars based solely on what an enthusiast might like. Behold, here's the master ranking list of...
Nov 26, 2025
For $13,500, Let The Cargasm Commence
For $13,500, Let The Cargasm Commence
I'm going to say three words, and many of you will immediately swoon upon hearing them. Are you ready? Diesel, E30, Touring. Now that you've recovered, check out today's 1989 324TD and decide if its price is also swoon-worthy. What is it they say, close only counts in horseshoes and...
Nov 26, 2025
For $4,900, Does This Nissan have 200SX Appeal?
For $4,900, Does This Nissan have 200SX Appeal?
There's an old adage that says you need to use it or else you'll lose it. Today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe 200SX hasn't had much use over the years, but does it have a price tag that might have you losing it? I have read that statistically, people tend...
Nov 26, 2025
The Jalopnik Review Leaderboard
The Jalopnik Review Leaderboard
While consumer journals might rank cars for their durability, and safety experts might put them on a list from safest to most dangerous, here at Jalopnik we decided to create a ranking system for cars based solely on what an enthusiast might like. Behold, here's the master ranking list of...
Nov 26, 2025
For $5,000, A Penny For Your Thoughts
For $5,000, A Penny For Your Thoughts
Porsche is rumored to be introducing a four cylinder engine for the Boxster in a couple of years. If you can't want for a mid-engine wasserboxer from the house of Ferry then perhaps today's Subie-914 will suffice. That is, if its price is out of the box. If you consider...
Nov 26, 2025
Why The 2015 Chrysler 200 Deserves Your Attention
Why The 2015 Chrysler 200 Deserves Your Attention
Super Bowl XLV. Eminem. . American grit. Never say die. Gets me right in the feels every single time. There was only one problem with that ad: The Chrysler 200 was terrible. It was a car the all-new is trying to make up for. The only thing the new 200...
Nov 26, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved