Vigor advice

[Sawbladz]

I have been doing some research on possible daily drivers and the Vigor was one of the cars I was considering.

I was hoping that some owners would drop in and give me their opinion on the reliability of the car. Is this car known to have any catastrophic failures or design flaws that I should know about? What other cars does the Vigor share parts with? eg. engine, tranny, other drivetrain parts. Also, how do you feel that your car would compare to a Toyota Camry of the same years. Also, what would be the best year of Vigor to get, or is there any difference between the years?

Thnaks in advance for any help.

[Bob01721]

You'll probably get replies similar to the ones you got at "that other forum."

[Sawbladz]

I thought I'd try. When I'm on my other forums there alot of people that don't go to multiple forums.

EDIT:

What is the difference between GS and LS models? I noticed that the had different performance times and wondered what attributed to it.

[Bob01721]

GS is a tad heavier. The GS has a leather interior, a moonroof, and a fancy stereo. And some other (minor) differences, like the color of the side molding, etc. 92's and 93's have zebrano wood trim and the 94's have burled myrtle wood.

Any performance differences should be minimal and could probably be attributed to the tranny (5-speed vs. A/T) and the skills of the drivers.

[GoHawks63]

I drove a '93 for close to 8 years. Loved that car, although the tranny died at 111K miles. Found a tranny from a wrecked Vigor with 30K miles and swapped it out. Traded it in shortly thereafter for a 2001 TL.

Prior to the tranny dying I had no major issues. It was a very reliable car.

From what I remember, there were a coupld of TSBs out there, these are the ones that come to mind...

- Alarm goes off when locking and unlocking with key.
- Warping rotors
- Headunit display going out on Vigors with the DSP stereo ('92 & '93 GS models).
- Oil leak around the distributor

All were relatively minor and I think I had a couple of those occur on mine.

GS upgrades over the LS
'92 - DSP Stereo, leather, body colored mirrors, moonroof
'93 - Moonroof, Passenger airbag (over just driver's side in the LS), DSP stereo, leather, body colored mirrors and molding
'94 - (DSP stereo no longer offered), Moonroof, and I believe leather was the only thing differentiating the two models

Biggest knock agains the Vigor was the tight back seat and 5 cylinder was just not accepted. It was a little buzzy, but it had decent pickup. The biggest strength of the Vigor was that it handled very well for a FWD car, mainly due to the engine/tranny layout and it's low stance.

The DSP Stereo (8-speakers) was really ahead of it's time and sounded great relatively speaking.

Vigors were also prone to develop rust around the rear wheel wells.

I really enjoyed that car and felt a little bit of sadness as I saw the porter drive it off when I traded it in. Mine was Frost White with black leather interior.

[rt-man]

Any car that is 13 years old (or more) will potentially have issues, unless it was babied, and these cars weren't designed to be babied.

Mine leaks oil, has the lock contact/alarm issues, radio lights out, etc. Engine runs strong, and it handles well. Probably no better/worse than a Toyota that's 13 years old and has that many miles, just my 2 cents.

[93BlackNTan]

Just got my 93 GS

initially there were a few problems easily fixable...

Aside from the worst problem of them all that being the Blower Motor/Heat/Air

I would just watch for a vigor with an automatic tranny and stay away you most deffinietly want a 5spd only...

The engine in my opinion is one of the best engines ever made for its class... It really is a shame acura didnt persue this further.

The handling on the car rivals the BMW 325 of the same year ... so that a definate plus, however if you live in colder areas where it drops below freezing the suspension will annoy you with little quirks such as squeeks and creaks on cold days... Just a little quirk...

Also if your looking for a car that purrs like a kitten stay away.... These cars are beasts and run in a very spirited manner.. mnany people have tried to quiet the vigor motor... naturally is has alot of audible pep..

The vigor can go 0-60 in 6-8 seconds... It has nice pickup and does well from the stop light or passing on the highway

There are some serious rust issues with these cars... prone areas are as mentioned tope corner windshoeld ares... under door frame... rocker panels... FUEL TANK big time..... Power steering return line... and a bunch of other prone sponts.. if you live in a wet/snowy area or if your car came from one you need to check this..

A few other things ... leg room in the back sucks.... a babys car seat just fits behind my wife who is 5 foot 4, Front passenger and driver space is nice... im Tall and i have no problem getting in and out or driving comfortably... The leather is nice but again if you live in a cold climate as I do the seats will get hard in the winter..... Gotta keep the leather conditioned.

As with any car of this age as mentioned use due diligence... It will require maintenece... I see alot of people that cry over how hard it is to work on these cars... In my opinion this is right at my learning curve.... However I was unable to do any work on my 2001 dodge intrepid I feel very comfortable crawling under the vigor and doing what needs to be done...

To each there own, I would buy the car, fix her up and love it because it truly is a rare jewel. And the looks you get from others and the comments from your passengers are worth every dime! not to mention the performance experience you get to live

[DarthVigor]

Originally Posted by GoHawks63

The DSP Stereo (8-speakers) was really ahead of it's time and sounded great relatively speaking.

the vigor has 8 speakers in it?

[GoHawks63]

Originally Posted by DarthVigor

the vigor has 8 speakers in it?

Yep

Two on the headliner by the map lights. Two at the top corners of the dash, one on each front door and two on the rear package shelf.