Honda Accord estate 2003-2007, tailgate

[Jimbo.]

Given my criteria for the next car (£5K, petrol, estate, reliable, a little different) the Accord is perhaps the most logical choice. However, the one thing that keeps creeping up is the tailgate motors, its problems and the sizeable repair costs.

I'm well aware that all cars have their quirks, and that even the most reliable car would go bang leaving me with a massive bill, however, how common is the aforementioned tailgate trouble? Is it a cert that plagues the whole production run, or is it a 1 in 10000000 problem that's blown out of all proportion by the internet?

Cheers!

PS if the motor does fail, can you just open the tailgate manually like any other normal car?

[Deerfoot]

Jimbo. said:

PS if the motor does fail, can you just open the tailgate manually like any other normal car?

Yup, the tailgate can be operated manually.

The motor failed on mine out of warranty (mine was an '03 car, it failed in '07 so just out of warranty) and Honda provided the part and I paid for the labour. I had a full Honda history though and had a decent relationship with the dealer which might have helped my case.

I liked my Accord, they're underrated in my opinion.

[Grandad Gaz]

We have had our 2003 accord tourer from new. 12 years now!

Tailgate still works fine, although we hardly ever use the remote. It has refused to work on two occasions. Both times it just needed resetting by disconnecting the battery for a few mins. No idea why this cured it.

[Squirrelofwoe]

I recently brought a 2004 plate 2.4 Executive with around 96,000 on the clock. I was similarly curious as the internet suggests it's a common problem, but all of the examples I went and looked at (including the one I eventually purchased) ranging in mileages between 89,000 and 172,000 worked just fine. A mate of mine recently purchased one too and his works fine. So that's zero faults in a sample size of five!

As it happens, despite all the excitement of the electric tailgate I think I've used it about four times since I've had it- and all four times were simply to show off how awesome an electric tailgate is

I usually just use it manually. What I do like in particular though is that as well as being activated by the key fob, there is also a button on the bottom of the tailgate itself meaning when it is open you can use the button to have it close electronically, rather than the key fob.