Is it worth it: 93 Prelude SI - 75K, $4500 or 98 Civic LX 65K, $7000?

Is it worth it: 1993 Honda Prelude SI - 75 K miles , $4500? From
private seller. Supposed to be in mint condition. 2 door.

This is close to blue book value, but is blue book value accurate?

Another I'm considering is 98 Civic LX 4dr, 56k, $7000. This is from a
dealer and seems to be below blue book value. I don't really trust
dealers, since i'm assuming they jack up the price quite a bit, but
this seems to be below blue book value. Or is the blue book useless?

Will use daily to commute to work along freeways, so looking for
reliability. Need it for 1-2 years only then will sell.

Suggestions?

 

Price them with www.edmunds.com , too.

Try applying the ideas at
http://home.earthlink.net/~honda.lioness/id18.html ("Buying
Used") to your situation to see if they will reveal an
important distinction between the cars here.

 

Since you said you'd be doing daily freeway commutes, get the Civic for
better gas mileage. The Civic will also cost less to insure than the
Prelude.

 

I'd probably compare the cost of buying/maintaining/repairing/selling
an old car to the cost of leasing a new car. Any new car should be
reliable for a 24-month lease period and there may be some very
attractive manufacturer-sponsored lease deals on domestic compacts.