drivetofive

Odometer (Legend):  522,074

Odometer (ILX):  37,000

Now that it’s been over 18 years since the last Legend rolled off the production line, many have made their way to junkyards and many others aren’t far from that destination.  Relatively few are still on the road and in good condition mechanically and cosmetically.  Even fewer still are what one would consider “low” mileage.  Here’s one that is.

Back in June 2004, I saw an ad posted for a 6-speed LS Legend coupe with only 6,500 miles on the odometer.  Even back then, at 10 years old, the car had only averaged 650 miles per year.  Though I already had my Legend, I made arrangements with my friend Louie who worked in Sales at the Las Vegas dealership where the car was located so that I could take a look at it.  Louie pulled the car out so that I could get some pictures with this beauty.

Nose to nose:  6,533 miles meets 140,000 miles

This is a thread from the Legend forums where I talked about the experience.  The car was listed for sale at the time for $28,990.

Here are a few pictures from when it sat in the showroom, courtesy of my friend Jeff who’s local to the Las Vegas area and is a long-time Acura enthusiast.  At the time, Jeff drove a 1993 Legend LS coupe 6-speed in Canterbury Green.

This pristine Legend was auctioned on Ebay and went first to California for a couple of years, then ended up in Indiana.  The last I heard of it was when it was sold around October 2010 by my friend Mitch who’d sold it.

A couple of months ago, however, I received a private message on the Acura Legend forums asking me if I still had pictures of this car.  As it turns out, this was the new owner, named Alaeldeen, contacting me!  This Legend is now in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.  Ten years later, it now has 49,444 miles on it.  I’m glad to hear that it’s in good hands; Alaeldeen has been an Acura enthusiast since he owned his first car, a black 1988 Legend LS sedan.  He’s since gone on to own 4 Legends.

Look at the pictures he sent me of his Taffeta White beauty as it currently sits.

The plastic on the floor mats has been in place since 2008.

Alaeldeen says that there are only about 4 months of good weather per year in Edmonton, so he’s hoping to take advantage of as many good days as he can to enjoy the car before putting it back into hibernation for the winter.

The car is completely stock.

Type II powerplant looks new to me.

Notice anything special about that license plate?

He’s sporting my same letter / number combination!  Hopefully someday the Alberta & Arizona “6 SPD” Legend coupes will get together for a photoshoot.

Best of luck with your new ride, Alaeldeen!  Thanks for reaching out.

Other low-mileage examples I’ve featured previously on the blog:  Chuck’s 1993 LS with around 30,000 miles; Marc’s 1995 LS with 35,000 miles.

Brett’s 1995 Acura Legend LS Hits 250,000 Miles

At the other end of the mileage spectrum, we have cars like this next one.  It’s just as much fun for me to watch others achieve high mileage with their Acura vehicles as it is to hit milestones in mine.  This week, my friend Brett from Huntington Beach crossed the 1/4 million mile mark on his immaculately clean Canterbury Green Metallic Legend L sedan.  I posted about Brett in May 2012 when I visited him in southern California.

The long awaited milestone happened May 4, 2013 at 10:10 p.m. in Newport Beach, California at Pomona Avenue and 16th Street.  We are all about attention to detail around here!

Here’s a video Brett sent me of the rollover.  If you’re overly anxious like me, the grand finale happens just a few seconds before the end of the clip, so skip there!  Though, his soundtrack by The Cure is nice to listen to.

These are a few more pictures Brett sent.  He’s as much of a neat freak as I am, and thus his Legend looks good even with that many miles on it.

The painted grille and 16″ wheels make the car look like a “GS” trim level, but Brett’s car is in fact an “L”.

It’s fun to read write-ups about Acura’s flagship Legend.  Following are some pictures from Consumer Guide that my friend Jason shared with me this week.  This first one is from an issue of Consumer Guide discussing the new (at the time) 1995 cars.  It states, “Legend handles and rides like a sports car.”  Not sure if mine still handles like a sports car at 522,000 miles!  The suspension is worn and floaty.

This second one is from a 2003 “Used Cars” version.  It knocked the Legend’s fuel economy but gave it strong wins for acceleration and handling.

Here’s my one-day-a-week commuter, today on the drive home through the Salt River Indian Community.

My Legend got to help my roommate when I got home.  He’d left the headlights on in his 1997 Nissan Maxima and the battery was drained, so we jumped him and he was on his way.  The old Maxima is a 5-speed manual with about 210,000 miles on it.

2014 Acura RLX CNET Review

One of my favorite automotive review channels on YouTube is that of CNET, hosted by Brian Cooley.  In the latest CNET review, Brian spends 8 minutes talking about Acura’s most technologically-advanced car ever:  the 2014 RLX.  I just saw the first “customer-owned” RLX on the road on Monday night near my home.  The taillights were super sexy at night, not to mention the jewel eye headlights.  Check out Brian’s comments on the car that can pretty much drive itself!

Acura ILX Long-Term Updates

My ILX is getting great fuel economy.  When I took this picture earlier in the week, I’d been averaging exactly 33 mpg in the 1,777 miles since my last oil change when it was reset.  It pays to drive conservatively!

Finally – happy travels to my friend Ryan who you may remember from our January trip to Sedona.  Now that school’s out, he’s headed home to South Dakota for the summer (about a 1,400 mile drive).  He sent this today when he met the Nebraska state line in his 2006 Acura TL.

I’m jealous that he got to spend the day on the open road and I sat inside an office!

This entry was posted on May 8, 2013 at 7:23 pm and is filed under Reader's Ride. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.