Meh. They're quick-ish but not fast by any means, and terrible to drive IMO... Old Civics are good but finding a stock one is incredibly difficult. It seems like every one of them has at some point been in the hands of a (MEXICAN) or 17 year old brotard who did a terrible job of adding some ridiculous modification. So when you do find a decent, untouched one, it's expensive as all get-out. $5k for a 20 year old econobox with 200,000 miles? nothx.
You want an old Honda for reliability? Late 80's Accord LXi. Cheap and will still go another 100k.
Want something sportier for cheap? There's about 1,000 ways you can go that are better than a Prelude.