ETCG Gets a 1993 Acura Vigor -ETCG1
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
- I still had a little money left over after buying the 1979 Ford Fairmont, so when an old friend of mine called up and asked if I wanted to buy his 1993 Acura Vigor for $500, I said sure. I was hoping that it would have a manual transmission. One because they're fun to drive, but also because I know a there will be a bunch of comments about how driving automatics are lame. It gets old people. You know who you are. Anyway, it's a little rough as you can see but under all that mold and scale I think there's a pretty nice car for the money I spent. What do you think? Here's some links for ya.
EricTheCarGuy Channel: / ericthecarguy
Fairmont Video: • ETCG Gets a New Car! -...
Vigor Club: www.acuravigorc...
Vigor wiki: en.wikipedia.or...
The story of how ETCG got fired: www.ericthecarg...
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Stay Dirty
ETCG1
Looking back at this video this was the beginning of the Vigor for ETCG1. Never thought you would ever sell it
Proud 2nd owner of a '94 LS daily driver with 230k on the dash. Just rebuilt the head after burning a few exhaust valves due to carbon buildup on the seats that was beyond seafoam's cleaning capability. Cylinder walls looked good - original bottom end. I have rebuilt the starter, replaced my front right axle and am in the midst of rebuilding the alternator now. I will never sell this car nor let it die. I will be painting her this year as I now have family access to a paint booth and honestly she deserves it. Still a great looking car! I really think this and the legend are among the best looking sedans of the 90's. Enjoy and give her the love she deserves!
Any issues with engine or transmission ever?
I will never get tired of this intro
I find this car more interesting than the other one. A great, complementary combo.
2014 is going to be a great year for Eric the Car Guy!
Yea, I think you're right.
ETCG1 I hope he is too! :)
@ETCG1 any issues with engine or transmission ever?
Would love to see you do the manual conversion!!!!
Sup Eric! Got a 97' Prelude SH! Love your show. Keep up the great work!
I really loved that series of videos restoring the Subie, would love to see something similar with this car. Cool piece of Honda history
It's cool to have a big automotive TH-cam guy rite here in Ohio ( I know MvT&Rspecryan). I work at a shop next to the Lindsey Honda in Columbus. Anyway I try to catch every video and I enjoy your repair videos cuz sometimes I may need help or just wana see what I'm getting myself into before I get into it so keep up the good work. we appreciate u and everything u do. good day to you sir
I myself have never even heard of an Acura Vigor. And I thought I knew the Acura's pretty well but didn't know about this one. Nice looking car. Kinda looking forward to your ingenuity to fix this one up. And the best part is you got 2 cars for the price of 1. That's always a plus in my book. Congrats on the #2 Toy and can't wait to see what ya do with it.
My mom had a 1985 Prelude DX, also automatic unfortunately. But it did have a sunroof, which on Hondas is rare in the DX models. That was probably one of my favorite cars we ever owned.
Good buy in my opinion!
Nothing in the world compares to bringing a car back from the dead, then sitting back and looking at what you built.
Eric I am so excited you got this. As a major Honda advocate I can not wait to see what you are going to do with this car. I had one of the early TL's with the 3.2 V6. You are so right when you talk about how they drove.
I have always wanted to get some luxury car from the 90's and restore it to as close to factory condition as I could. I'd love to see you do that with this car, like a tutorial on how to repair the leather, or clean that 20 year old engine. Neat that you found the picture of the car when it was brand new. It's always fun to look back.
Congrats on your new rare, quirky, underrated automobile.
Love the fact you admire the Vigor.. I remember as a teenager going to Acura of Boston and being able to test drive these brand new ! I later tried buying a used one, but didn't quite have enough down payment to get it. Cool Handling & Torque ! unique
+Ian McPherson I love this car. Thanks for your comment.
Hi Eric. Thanks for the great videos. Do you still have this vigor? If so, I would love to know and see what it looks likes now. What a great car. Take care.
Congrats on the new cars Eric can't wait to see the videos especially on the ford !!
Eric, this is a perfect opportunity for some cheap interior and exterior resto. First, check out DipYourCar's channel and you'll see how cheaply you can return the exterior to a sheen. Then perhaps an interior swap from a junked Vigor and follow Larry's advice from AMMO NYC channel to detail the leather and interior. With these guys plus your work on the mechanical side, I'd bet that for less than $500, you can get this car looking nearly new.
I own a 1993 Vigor GS with a manual transmission. I love it. Almost pristine inside and out with less than 100K miles on it. (Also, used to own a Honda Prelude--loved it, too!) You will really enjoy this car.
Manual swap! I had an Audi 5000 w/ a stick. Soooo much fun. I know the vigor isn't AWD but still. I love the OFF models. Gotta keep this one around!
I love the 5 cylinder sound! It reminds me at the old Audi 2.2L Turbo engine which had a very significant sound. what a pity that you have not gave us a short introduction... but i guess you will do this in your next episode
I had an Acura Legend coupe and I'll admit that it was one of my favorite cars that I've owned. I still curse the woman that T-boned me and totaled it.
Eric was fired? This demands an ETCG1 story. I can't imagine what string of events led to that.
It's in one of his videos, ETCG1 I believe. Can't remember which one specifically but look through videos about the auto repair business and I'm sure you'll find it.
Check out his bio on the etcg website. It's all explained there.
Very excited about this car! I didn't know honda even made 5 cyl! Looking forward to the vigor series! Good luck Eric!
Man I miss seeing videos of this car. I love the Fairmont and all, but I love the Vigor even more.
I look forward to seeing you work on it
$1000 would be too much... $500 isn't bad at all. Dang. Nice score!
Thanks. It's growing on me. It could be just the mold though.
Wow! Removing the entire dashboard and HVAC assemblies to get at the blower-motor? Totally insane.
Thought that the worst example of crazy service procedures I'd ever seen was replacing the heater-core in my factory-A/C-equipped '68 Galaxie. You have to remove the battery, vacuum-canister, right-front wheel, and the inner-and-outer-fender assembly to get at it. (Removing body panels to change out the heater-core?! Crazy!) But that Acura takes the cake for that blower-motor replacement procedure. I *definitely* want to see that on video if you ever have to go through that.
Congrats ETCG1! I would probably grab it too for that price. Nice to still see a Vigor around.
I'm very happy that you bought again some "modern" Japanese car, cos the repair videos of the us car you bought lately would be boring for me. So I'm very happy and hope you are happy about it as well, looking forward to see some repair vids :)
I think you made two very good purchases for ETCG. The Fairmont will appeal to those who grew up in the 80s and the Vigor will appeal to younger adults and teens that will or have been getting cars like this as their first car.
My friend had one of these. It was a great car, but he drove it into the ground. He's a bassist and we had to shoehorn a Ampeg bass amp and cabinet into the back seat whenever he had a gig.
Precisely why I want to get a mid 90's Camry wagon with the V6. :)
This looks like a very nice car under all the rust, peeling lacquer and pine needles. Please restore it, I'm sure it will be a lot of work but will make a lot of very interesting videos.
You sir are so lucky to find one for that price and run where I'm from those cars don't get sold until they have tires in the grave great purchase
Hope you rebuild the motor I gotta do that when I get back to my home state! Thanks for all the help in the past!
Rebuilding engines is a waste of time and money in my opinion. I'd much rather purchase a reman. That said, the engine and transmission in this car are actually in excellent shape. I used to service this car years ago.
Can't wait to see wat u do with it Eric
Of All vehicles, an Acura Vigor....high five Eric, I like your thinking.
I just bought a 1994 Vigor. It really is fun to drive! A/C still works, and feels like a solid car. Like you, I'm gonna need to change the tires and probably replace the exhaust manifold, 'cause it's kind loud. But other than that, I'm pretty excited about this car.
Cool car Eric, always liked the Vigor. Looking forward to the videos.
cant wait for repair videos on this as i just acquired a acura vigor 94' 5 speed manual. 207k miles but the engine runs strong and transmission still in tack (just need a new clutch). would be interesting just to see what you do to the vigor.
Looking forward to the somewhat restoration!
6:49 "It suffered a bit sitting for a long time underneath a tree or a bog or whatever"
I love your random comments- lol
holy sheez! ill keep a look out for that manual swap :D
convert to Manual- is a must ;)
I'm excited to see what you can do with this :)
Me too.
Good call on that purchase! I've got a '91 Volvo 744T that needs similar TLC, am interested in how you attack the paint issues. I hope the Vigor's suspension is ok, I'm about to overhaul the Volvo's for my xmas holiday, nothin like breaking down 20 y/o suspension parts at -10c...
Happy to see another Acura in your shop, got worried after seeing the Ford.
honda was at its peak in the late 80's early 90's. they ruled F1 in the turbo and NA. and senna was there greatest PR. the fit and finish was much better back then even the valve covers had a nice finish on them
damn that thing is really rough, hopefully you do videos of bringing this puppy back to life!
i miss my vigor, unfortunately i live in nova scotia, canada, and the rust ate it to death, same with every vehicle i have ever owned , acura was my favorite. one of these days i might head down to the states and pick one up that has more then 50% metal to rust ratio, lol
rust proof your cars dude, it's worth it if you want to keep a good car. Here in California cars last 30 years rust free come get a classic
I never knew Honda made an inline 5....interesting. As long as the underside isn't rotted out, and the engine/trans are solid, you got a decent deal. I'd totally go the "reliable POS" route with it....the body is a little too rough to fix up, unless you want to spend big bucks on it.
I never knew Honda made a 5-cylinder. Now I do. This is a unique car I've never heard of before. I hope to see more vids of it!
EricTheCarGuy True I found a few I guess I meant more of like bigger jobs and engine work and tearing apart their engines esp the mid 90s 4 cylinders those are some well made engines. The ford project should be really interesting
Is there any video explaining how you got fired from the dealership?
A classic unboxing! (Box sold separately)
keep it original and make it a daily driver POS, BUT i'd love to see a little restoration in terms of the leather seats, possible paint job down the road, junkyard part finding, it would be so cool to turn this back to mint shape.
You got fired! Eric, would love to hear that little story of how that happened... If you don't mind that is. If its something you want to keep to yourself, hey we understand.
Check the description.
ETCG1 That was a really interesting read, thanks Eric for sharing it
I've got one had it almost 3 years now - (over)paid 1000$ for it and discovered later that it had a baddddddd oil leak from the pan.. it was a real PITA to seal it up since I have like zero tools, don't have a hoist, along with the fact that you have to remove so much stuff to access the pan, but it seems to be good now.. the power steering line leaks and the differential's going out on it, and I crossed threads on two bolts for the differential haha.. it runs though. I hope it will last me until I can get a replacement diff.. oh yeah it's rusted all to hell.. but hey it runs.. looking forward to vigor vids
hello just wanted to say thanks for a video on a rare gem haha, I have a 1993 acute vigor my self and love got it got it free throw the shop i work with with 265K mileage
since the engine is already in a longitudinal mount configuration, how hard would it to be to swap a manual in and drive the rear wheels?
Yeah! Welcome,Vigor!
Gonna be honnest. Almost thought that was the subaru at first glance. Lets hope we can all fall in love with this one like we did the legacy. I like the videos you plan to do. Very specific. But should be entertaining. Hey ukno whats also entertaining? The story of how you got fired! Haha maybe in another video about past experiences?
Check the description.
Hey Eric - I can't wait to see the videos on the Vigor. I have two 92 Vigors (a GS and an LS). They are both the same Royal Plum color and automatic tranny as yours, so it will almost be like you have my car in the shop with you. I do all of my own work and will be really interested to see what you come up with.
Cheers.
My mum has a 2002 VW Golf TDI, it is a manual and is alot of fun to drive, dad drives it like a lunatic and it does 140mph flat out
Personally I find this car to b more my speed than the Fairmont. Not that the Ford a bad car - but the Vigor is something I gravitate more to.
Keep it up Eric!
Pretty cool that it has a aftermarket exhaust
I was thinking of gettiing one but am glad I got my turbo RSX-S instead.
Yes, please do a auto to manual conversion! And while your at it, tell us more about how you got fired lol
See the description.
I think this series is going to get a lot of views as body-wise your Vigor looks extremely similar to the post-1990 Honda Legend which is a car that, in the UK, really nice ones can be picked up dirt cheap but frighten a LOT of potential owners off because there is just no technical information available on them. OK the engine is different, all Legends in the UK were V6 apart from, perhaps, ones sold well into the 2000s (I've seen a few of them advertised as being V8s but that could be the advertiser getting it wrong.) It's a surprise in one way to see a 5-cylinder Honda (made as a 5-cylinder rather than a misfiring V6) but also not a surprise as Honda have a bit of a reputation for fits of weirdness, sadly as far as I know we never saw that engine in the UK or, indeed, anywhere in Europe and there don't seem to have been any imported from Japan for the UK used market which happens quite a lot as both markets are right-hand drive. If this is anything like the 5-cylinder Audi engine from the '80s it makes a fantastic sound when it's wound up...
Converting it to a manual would be epic.
You should take the V off the back emblem and call it IGOR, as in Igor, your trusty, but unsightly hunchback assistant.
That thing has 130k miles on it?? It looks like it has at least 230k+ on it. This harkens back to my previous comments that the only thing good about Honda vehicles are the engine and transmission, and the rest is crap. But, for $500 who can complain if it runs... Love the vids Eric.
Eric can u make a video about explaining a transmission conversion? like how you said you might switch that automatic tranny to a manual. the big 3 things would just be to take our the torque converter, and installing a manual gearbox + clutch right? thanks,
let the battle begin
Such an AWESOME Find!!!!! SO rare!!
Great cars!, had a 90 JDM spec one with a 2.0. Fathers got a 95 JDM pretty much like Eric's, even the colour, fronts bits different and the JDM engine is slightly more powerful. Honda also produced the Rafaga/Ascot 5 cyl in 2.0/2.5 models. Got a 2.0 Rafaga wife uses to work, most reliable car ever owned. Just remember to always change the oil on those engines. So Honda was producing two different five cylinder models at the same time.
I didn't know you had another channel - now I do :)
I'm hitting the scrap yard today, I'll keep an eye out for an exhaust manifold for you.
These cars are neat I remember them from when they were new. I liked them becouse they were different A running car for 500 especially a Honda is not bad!
Hey Eric, could your audience vote on a name for this car, sense you named the Ford? Just a thought.
speaking of blower motors... when I first bought my 86 diesel golf a few months ago the guy said the heater blower acts "a lil funny" and what he meant was that nothing happens on the first 3 settings but when you turn it to high with in a few minutes smoke started pouring in through the vents and from in front of the fire wall !! I'm a delivery driver so I've been more worried about getting all the lights and blinkers working as well as getting winter tires on it... but now that it's -13 C out I really want to get the blower figured out. could it have just been the resistors blowing causing the smoke or would it be something else? I would appreciate any advice on it. Thanks a bunch and thanks for making your vid's you have no idea how helpful they are
I had a 92 just like this. same color too. miss my Viggy
Viga. vigo not viggy
yonda ila
you dont know my life
I think you gotten a good deal and hears why I think so 1 its a sleeper in the current exterior 2 its got more that a 4 banger to offer 3 its less famous than the Toyota Cressida 4 its rwd and being a Honda / acura parts should be easy to replace due to after market replacement( seats of course lol)
Wow! I didn't realise you had a second channel! Now I have more stuff to look at!!! Please make it a manual. I'm keen on doing it with a honda integra 93 gsi thats an auto. It has a b18b in it, though... hmmmm
Looks like it just needs new front seats, trunk sealed up (from my experience the trunk leaks come from the tail lights and along the welds of the trunk lining, silicon sealant along the tail light gaskets and trunk lining stopped my leaks), some rust removal, a paint job, and of corse that tire and exhaust work. Those things should turn that $500 Acura into a much more valuable, clean, and drivable car for sure.
All cleaned up and repaired it could be worth $3-5k.
Eric, as a strong Acura enthusiast looking for one of these cars, I believe to should keep this car for yourself and take it with you to your grave. Restore it! Mint it up! Be proud to own it!
More Honda stuff :/ Still waiting for some Toyota work. I can't remember off the top of my head when you did a video on a Toyota. Oh well I'm sure the videos will be awesome like always
I have some Toyota videos. Just do a search for EricTheCarGuy Toyota.
You got a runner for $500. You can't do that around here anymore. You did good.
YEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH WOOOH i was hoping you'd get a Acura/Honda when you got the Ford. You redeemed yourself :)
i used to own a 94 Vigor GS. i had it for 4 years until some idiot ran a red and Tboned it. otherwise, i would of had it still. Great car and i did all the work on it myself.
at least this is from our era.
Definitely interesting, love the idea of a 5 cyl. very peculiar. love to see a breakdown of how the engine doesn't rip itself apart. hah. Good video.
Awesome choice!!
Eric, where do you always find these good deals on cars?
The Vigor here has a compression ratio of only 9.0:1 so the premium fuel requirement must be due more to the sporty ignition timing for both power and throttle response. This was always meant to be a sporty near-luxury alternative to the Accord, sort of an inbetween model for the Accord and the Acura Legend. Being a 1993 model, you have the best year for the Vigor because in 1994 Acura tried to make it act more like a Lexus ES by softening the suspension and steering and such, but it was a horrible compromise that took away some of it's character. The downside of this accord, other than possibly rare/expensive engine/transmission replacement parts, is the driver's side crash test ratings are HORRID, making these dangerous cars in accidents. I remember they had a 2 star (out of 5 possible stars) crash test rating for the driver side.
Good choice. Old big hondas are quirky cars that are extinct now. They are also highly regarded. But this is fwd? Huh? You are going to have to show us how this works...
I have a 94 vigor that seems to need an intake manifold gasket replaced. However, I can not find anything on the internet on how to replace it. Any suggestions?
2 years later, it's your daily driver and you have a 5 speed vigor too
Acura would be fun to revive. You should definitely paint the car with plasti dip.
You should do a transmission swap (AT to MT)
Throw a $200 MAACO paint job on that thing and flip it! Don't even bother registering it.