Im on my 2nd Accord Type-R. Owned the first for approx 2years then bought another when the first 1 was written off. Very underated cars ... infact a lot of ill informed people will think you're some Barry whos been down to halfords for a "Type R" badge and stuck it to the rear to make it look like a Civic Type R! Until you blitz past them on cam
Engines are very strong, however cambelt tensioner is slight cause of concern. There have been quite a few cases of the auto tensioner mechanism starting to fail which is usually indicated by a "diesel rattle" when revs drop between 3500rpm > idle. Eventually tensioner fails completely and belt will jump off. Cambelt is due every 72k, my first 1 had it replaced at 54k by previous owner after he noticed a rattle. a lot of owners replace the cambelt before 72k for peace of mind, whilst cambelt is off the auto tensioner, balancer belt and water pump are usually replaced too. Factor about £400 for all of this.
Another slight issue is the auto levelling HID headlights. They have levelling sensors fitted at on the underside rear of the car to detect and adjust the headlights height/aim. These sensors sometimes fail and cause the headlights aim to be "interesting" usually pointing down at the floor giving poor visibility. Approx £100 for the sensor iirc!
Then theres the gearbox sync issue ... i had my first Accord 2 years, it got "driven" every day. I never had issues with my gearbox. My 2nd Accord is the same, had it 5months and no issues yet (im on 100k miles, my first was on 97k before she was written off). However if it does affect your car expect to pay about £350 for parts and about another £400+ for labour. Not much change from £1000.
Gearbox issue is usually on present on Pre faclift cars (2000 and earlier) however there has been rare instances of 1 or 2 in the Post facelift cars, i expect this was Honda using up the last of the "defective" boxes before using the revised versions. But generally Post facelift cars are free from gearbox sync issues.
Pre facelift cars preferred fuel is 97RON or better as advised on the big yellow sticker behind the fuel cap but will run on 95RON. Pre styling is also more aggressive and have better (imo) looking front and rear bumpers aswell as erect polish exhaust tips.
Post cars have a slightly different map on the ECU whereby 95RON is the "preferred" fuel, they also have droppy, diesel looking exhaust pipes.
Anyway, i love mine. It takes a bit of time to get used to VTEC, sometimes you will find yourself being "beaten" by others in "lesser" cars because you're in the wrong gear After a few weeks driving though, you'll be a master. All of the Accord Type-R's use oil, so keep an eye on the level weekly (max). I have managed to drive like a saint for a whole tank of fuel and got 350miles out of it. My normal driving style sees 250miles and a huuugggeeeee grin!! I still grin when i look in rear view mirror and see the spoiler
O yeah AC and CAT 1 alarm were options, aswell as leather Recaros (SUPER RARE!). You dont see many without the alarm or AC though. In total of 2.5 years of ownership i havent had anything go wrong with mine. Its the best car ive ever owned. You definately do need to test drive one though, i know some ppl who have gone from turbo cars to VTEC and just cant live with it. Good luck!
Although i love my ATR, if you dont need 4 doors id be recomending a DC2 ITR for that budget as its a rawer animal!
