I own a 98 prelude and my buddy owns a 97 240SX. if you found a 97 prelude for $5,500, thats a good deal. And to whoever said you can't find one for that price, yes you can, i bought mine for $5,000 and it was still under 100k miles. Most of them sell for around $5-7k. The really low mile ones (under 50k miles) sell for close to 10,000 though. If you get a prelude, don't buy an auto, the 97-01 preludes are plagued with auto transmission problems, trust me, im in a prelude club, i've had my transmission rebuilt once and i know a guy in the club who has had it done 3 times in the past 4 years. So if you buy a prelude, go for a manual, or if you get an auto, save up for a manual swap when the auto fails on you! The 240SX is a nice car, its fun to drive, but even my buddy loves to drive my prelude more than his 240sx. Prelude definitely looks better than the 240, but the 240sx responds to mods better (more hp for the mods than my prelude does for the same mods) and the prelude is FWD where the 240SX is RWD. (RWD > FWD) i wish my prelude was RWD. lol. rear wheel drives make the power really worth it, i love my prelude but if it was RWD it would have been a lot better. The prelude is better for longer trips though, and it has more rear seat room than the 240sx does (which isn't much for both cars anyways), prelude feels better around the turns but the 240sx feels better on the straights. I like turns more, so i prefer to drive my prelude when my buddy asks me if i want to use the 240sx =) Insurance will go up on either one, because they are both 2 door cars. There's not too much of a difference between the 240sx and the prelude in car insurance, me and my friend pay about the same for a clean driving record and full coverage. So its not a big insurance difference. Being 17, this is one thing to think about too. THE GIRLS! haha all i can say is girls definitely like my prelude over the 240SX, but the 240sx still looks good and gets attention from some girls. Turbo either car and girls go nuts. I'd say if a girl saw the 240sx drifting on a track, they'd leave my prelude and go for the 240sx....lol RWD > FWD. So for the money, its up to you, you can have a great handling and still powerful Honda Prelude, or you can have a 240sx, a RWD car that is great for modding. (240SX is really good if u drop in a good engine - SR20 baby!) I love both cars, but because i drive one, i gotta say get a Prelude =)