Honda Accord??

Ollie's Gadgets · 3 Jan 2007 at 00:59

Cheap/reliable/comfortable cruiser?

I am after a cheap car as a stock gap for a 1/2 year - year which will give me hassle free motoring.

- Cheap to buy
- Reliable
- Comfortable on longer journeys (I will be doing motorway journeys once or twice a month 300 miles round trip)
- Have a bit of power
- Reasonable MPG but not a priority as smallish mileage 7-8k a year

I found a 2000 2.0i VTEC SE Exec Sport 4d on autotrader for 3k which seems to tick all the boxes and give me a lot of car for my money:

Link to autotrader

The car looks in great condition and is fullly loaded. 62,000 miles with full Honda service history, new full 12 months MOT, and so hopefully shouldn't go wrong. The VTEC engine produces 144bhp and does 0-60 in 9.6.

Does this look like a good bet?
What should I look out for?
Do any of you own an accord?
Does the price look right?
How are they to drive?
Are there any other cars that I should take a look at?

Mickey_D · 3 Jan 2007 at 01:03

Things to look for :

Has the cambelt been changed. If not, why?

Brakes. Have they been completely serviced? If not, they can be expensive.

IPBA · 3 Jan 2007 at 01:39

Dude Honda Accords are good cars and very reliable so you should be fine there as for the one in your link seems dodgy (only my opinion)

Firstly Honda only make the following models in that chassis: S, Sport, SE, SE Executive, Type R. There is no such thing as a SE Executive Sport

Secondly From the Pic it shows its a manual Box but ad says Auto Box

Things to look out for

1. Full Service History
2. Cambelt Change
3. Regular Oil Changes (Vtec relies on oil pressure)
4. Electric Aerial tends to pack up
5. I am Pretty sure Pre facelift Accords suffer from 5th gear syncro issues (98-01) check that at high rpm you can change from 3rd to 5th easily without any crunching noises
6. On test drive check for vibration at motorway crusing speeds from front wheels as the accord has a tendency to wear its fronts out (my ATR does this and i usually end up swapping the slightly worn fronts with the almost news rears to eliminate this problem)

Otherwise great cars - honda enignes if looked after properly then should give you hassle free motoring

Hope this helps

Ollie's Gadgets · 3 Jan 2007 at 02:18

Many thanks for the information. I looked up the model and there is one listed on parkers here as a 2.0i VTEC SE Exec Sport 4d.

Yeah I noticed the auto manual thing. It is a bit strange as in the title it says auto and at the start of the ad, but then it says manual after.

"Automatic, This is Top of the Range High Spec Executive Sports manual model"

As you say the photo shows a manual. Really odd I don't understand why this would happen. If I was selling my car or anyone elses car for that matter I would know whether it is a manual or not, and I definitely would not put both. Bizarre!

I am calling them up tommorow so I will get to the bottom of it then.

How often does the oil need to be changed on these vtec engines.

Psycrow · 3 Jan 2007 at 04:51

I used to have a 2001 model Accord Sport and it was an all round decent car. Nothing went wrong with it, it was pretty good on fuel, it was comfy, handled not too bad and all round I was very happy with it. In the end I sold mine for 3k with 72k on the clock and fsh. Find out if its a manual or not because with the engine thats in it, I wouldn't want an auto as it would be hopeless.

IPBA, its just the preface list type-r that has the 5th gear problem (Im pretty sure anyway)

Ollie, oil needs changed every 12k miles according to the book, thats what I did with mine and it was fine. You should change it sooner if you drive it really hard or are in cold weather/making short trips.

ci_newman · 3 Jan 2007 at 08:54

Mickey_D said:
Things to look for :

Has the cambelt been changed. If not, why?

Brakes. Have they been completely serviced? If not, they can be expensive.

The service interval for the gf's Civic is 70k miles for the cambelt, so it might not yet have been done..

To the OP, the car looks tidy though. Lots of car for the money although I'm waiting for the 'Mondeo' recommendation to come in...

IPBA · 3 Jan 2007 at 09:36

Here are some others to consider

Y Reg Accord Sport

X Reg Accord Sport

Y Reg Accord Sport

mattpc · 3 Jan 2007 at 12:19

Yes I like Honda Accords. I own a P Plate Accord 2.2 ES Aerodeck Estate. 165k on the clock and runs very nice. Make sure the ABS is working. Don't know if its the same with newer models but the older ones seem to munch ABS sensors. One of mine has failed already after driving thru a flood!!

D4VE · 3 Jan 2007 at 13:00

Whats your budget? The Type-V is nice, rare with a slightly bigger engine.

Ollie's Gadgets · 3 Jan 2007 at 16:05

I am not sure I would get insurance on that. I was suprised at the insurance on the Accord. First quote I did was with elephant and I got £843.13 for 10 month bonus accelerator. I thought it would be a lot more for a 2.0 VTEC, 20yo 0NCB Pass Plus parked on driveway best area code.

Budget for car is flexible. I am willing to pay what I have to, to get a good condition Accord of this age/mileage.

Thanks for comments so far v.helpful.

Capt Doufos · 3 Jan 2007 at 16:21

Top motors, I have owned one for 5-6 years and it's been nothing but a pleasure and no hassle at all. Would buy anouther in an instant. I definatley prefer the pre facelift though. I think 2001> looks weird.

Shame it got written off.... In the process of fixing her up though, shouldn't cost more than £500-£600. It's a million times better than the golf that is temp replacing it.

Keep thinking about swapping the MX5 for a Type-R, but I know when summer comes around I will want the 5 back again!

Chabsy · 3 Jan 2007 at 16:21

Full service history is important, but dont have to be honda. Otherwise its pretty
bulletproof

Does not feel as fast as it is, handling is pretty good too Bose hifi is a good upgrade to have, the auto gearbox also has a sequential setting, i've got a manual

Chabsy · 3 Jan 2007 at 16:24

Ollie's Gadgets said:
I am not sure I would get insurance on that. I was suprised at the insurance on the Accord. First quote I did was with elephant and I got £843.13 for 10 month bonus accelerator. I thought it would be a lot more for a 2.0 VTEC, 20yo 0NCB Pass Plus parked on driveway best area code.

Budget for car is flexible. I am willing to pay what I have to, to get a good condition Accord of this age/mileage.

Thanks for comments so far v.helpful.

We pay about £340 comp + business use, 5 years ncb in a bad post code HA2 but we are old gits

DannyDan · 3 Jan 2007 at 16:29

Ollie's Gadgets said:
I am not sure I would get insurance on that. I was suprised at the insurance on the Accord. First quote I did was with elephant and I got £843.13 for 10 month bonus accelerator. I thought it would be a lot more for a 2.0 VTEC, 20yo 0NCB Pass Plus parked on driveway best area code.

Budget for car is flexible. I am willing to pay what I have to, to get a good condition Accord of this age/mileage.

Thanks for comments so far v.helpful.

Lucky you, when I was 20 with 0NCB I paid 3x that for insurance on a 2001 SE Exec :eek:

Great car though, mine hasn't had any problems at all except for a blown headlamp bulb.

Ollie's Gadgets · 3 Jan 2007 at 16:36

DannyDan said:
Lucky you, when I was 20 with 0NCB I paid 3x that for insurance on a 2001 SE Exec

Great car though, mine hasn't had any problems at all except for a blown headlamp bulb.

Yeah I was pleasantly suprised by the quote. It is less than a 2.0 Zetec Ford Focus which is group 8. The accord is group 11! Weird.