Menu

Legend vs. ES300

This article is about the ownership of an Acura Legend and a Lexus ES300. Not new, but 1992 & 1993. The true test of a quality automobile is not simply how it drives when new, but how it stands up to the test of time. Sometimes new cars are not within our reach, but a good quality car, that's been looked after can be good value. Many quality cars can run to over 200,00 km without occurring any major expenses. So what I will tell here is my experience with both. To be fair, the ES300 has only been in my possession for about 4 months. So read along as I tell my story.

The white 1992 Acura Legend was purchased with 142,000 km from a used car dealership. It was a one owner 4 door LS sedan equipped with an 4 speed automatic transmission. The car had no damage and had been looked after. The problems at the time of purchase were; the CD player giving an error occasionally and the "Door ajar" indicator not working. I never did anything with the door ajar indicator. The car is so quite inside you can tell right away that a door isn't closed all the way. The CD changer is notorious for causing problems. After sending it out 3 times for repair, I bought a Kenwood after market. Kenwood is the only aftermarket that integrates with the steering wheel controls for the sound system.

Overall the Legend was a smooth, quiet and fast car. It's 200 HP 3.0 V6 isn't the most powerful, but it gets moving very quickly and has long legs on the highway. The V-Tec engine was available on the Coupe in 1992, and the LS sedans in 1993. The Legend has deep bucket seats and you sit low. It hugs the road with it's firm suspension. It's not back breaking, but it is firm. You slow down for speed bumps in this car. It's sits low so if you have a full car, you must be careful over big speed bumps and over sidewalks. Be aware that the lower edge of the front bumper cover is very low! It will not clear most curbs and sidewalks. The edge is designed so that, when backing off the curb, the edge will drag, and if it catches, it may pull the bumper cover off the car!

I was most impressed by the handling of this car. It takes curves with abandon. Even road undulations don't disturb it's grip. The seats provide good support, however, for my 5'9" frame, I found on long trips the back of my thighs became fatigued by the pressure at the front edge of the seat cushion. Longer legs would not be bothered. I was also impressed with the legroom, not only in the front, but in the rear. Sitting behind my 6"6" son driving, I still could not touch the back of his seat with my knees. Lots of headroom for him too. All the controls are of top quality and feel like it. A short coming for the interior design is the cup holder. You only get one in the car, and it is a pop-out from the cover of the center consul. It isn't deep enough to stand a tall coffee mug without constant monitoring. And it covers the seat heater controls. If you need access to the consol, which flips over to the passenger side, you had better remove your coffee first! Another design flaw is the placement of the CD changer. It is located on the floor of the trunk, magazine facing up. If it is raining out, and the trunk lid is opened, water dribbles into the CD magazine opening. This probably accounts for some of the trouble with the changer.

The only quirk about the Legend, is that the transmission will intermittently "thud" when downshifting into 2nd when slowing down very gently. It would just drop into 2nd gear with a thud when the speed dropped sufficiently. This happened every few weeks or so at first. Then I serviced the transmission with fresh AFT and it changed to every few months or so. But now it wouldn't chirp the tires when up shifting into 2nd gear. Even with this quirk, the transmissions in the Legend are among the most reliable.

The car was well suited for city and highway, but I looked forward to any winding road. The car just loved to accelerate. Precise steering and handling together with a responsive engine made driving a pleasure.

Unfortunately the car was totaled after 5 years and 220,000 km.

Over that time the list of repairs and maintenance items are as follows;

1. Rear brake calipers and 2 sets of pads.

2. Front brake rotors and 4 sets of pads.

3. Both front CV axles - torn boots, $120 per side.

4. Both upper control arms with ball joints - rattle in front end, about $75 per side.

5. Radiator, $150

6. Water pump & timing belt - maintenance.

7. Camshaft sensor - intermittent hard starting hot. $200, dealer.

8. Ignition switch - no start. This was the only time it ever failed to start. $80, dealer.

9. Battery - replaced the original.

10. Power antenna, a common problem with these cars. $50 Canadian Tire, it lasted 2 years and failed again.

11. Had just put on the second set of tires before it was totaled.

Besides the above mentioned items, one set of sparkplugs, a bunch of oil changes, a couple of outside bulbs and wiper blades. At the "time of death" the list of items not working on the car is as follows;

1. Driver's heated seat bottom had failed to warm up.

2. The HVAC was slow to respond to manual temp changes.

Being a mechanic, I was very impressed with the quality, fit and finish of the car. At the time of total loss, it still had the original exhaust, including the CAT, and I never feared not passing emission testing. The valve covers had never been off the engine. The underside of the engine and transmission was dry and clean. The car NEVER had a water leak.

My next installment will be my Lexus ES300 acquisition.