Honda Accord, cheap motoring...hopefully
Discussion
So my other half and I are hoping to buy our first house this year so obviously my current car has suddenly decided it wants constant attention.
Loved my time with the S40 (Above) but I can't bare to throw money at a car with such a boring and flawed engine anymore, so in attempt to save some money I've decided to swap my 2 litre diesel with....
a 2.4 petrol Honda Accord - obviously! Executive spec. I'll have you know!
My theory is that a huge proportion of the money I have spent on the S40 was down to it being a diesel (DPF, EGR etc.) and so the cost savings in tax and fuel have been completely offset. In effect I have been putting up with a diesel for no financial gain.
Maybe 'man maths' has played a small part in this as a way to get into a more powerful petrol but I'm going to bury my head in the sand on that point.
Anyway, on to the car!
Paid £1375 for it with 114k with a few.. errr... insignificant issues.
The electrics in the drivers door are finicky, seems like a bad connection as they start or stop functioning based on the position of the door and how hard you previously slammed it! Should be an easy fix as a new door loom is just under £8 from eBay.
The climate/radio screen is blank, which apparently is down to the main stereo unit which will be replaced in due course, but for now I'm going blind on the temperature/radio station front.
That's the end of the 'known' list. i.e. the list of things I knew were wrong with it when I paid.
After the first 50 miles the clutch pedal has started to click as you depress it, the forums suggest this is down to the master cylinder but that replacement can be put off by syringing grease in. I'll be giving that a go this weekend...
While the tyres have good tread, they're cheap off-brand ones and there's a distinct wobble at 70mph. Hoping a wheel balance solves this as new tyres would throw off some of the cost savings... We'll find out this Friday.
The engine however is sublime. Probably just due to the juxtaposition with the 2.0D, but it purrs around town and has a lovely note right up to the redline. Plus, that gearbox is a joy to use.
I'll post up some more pictures later, when I can get some in the light, because you're all obviously interested in a 16 year old Honda...
Loved my time with the S40 (Above) but I can't bare to throw money at a car with such a boring and flawed engine anymore, so in attempt to save some money I've decided to swap my 2 litre diesel with....
a 2.4 petrol Honda Accord - obviously! Executive spec. I'll have you know!
My theory is that a huge proportion of the money I have spent on the S40 was down to it being a diesel (DPF, EGR etc.) and so the cost savings in tax and fuel have been completely offset. In effect I have been putting up with a diesel for no financial gain.
Maybe 'man maths' has played a small part in this as a way to get into a more powerful petrol but I'm going to bury my head in the sand on that point.
Anyway, on to the car!
Paid £1375 for it with 114k with a few.. errr... insignificant issues.
The electrics in the drivers door are finicky, seems like a bad connection as they start or stop functioning based on the position of the door and how hard you previously slammed it! Should be an easy fix as a new door loom is just under £8 from eBay.
The climate/radio screen is blank, which apparently is down to the main stereo unit which will be replaced in due course, but for now I'm going blind on the temperature/radio station front.
That's the end of the 'known' list. i.e. the list of things I knew were wrong with it when I paid.
After the first 50 miles the clutch pedal has started to click as you depress it, the forums suggest this is down to the master cylinder but that replacement can be put off by syringing grease in. I'll be giving that a go this weekend...
While the tyres have good tread, they're cheap off-brand ones and there's a distinct wobble at 70mph. Hoping a wheel balance solves this as new tyres would throw off some of the cost savings... We'll find out this Friday.
The engine however is sublime. Probably just due to the juxtaposition with the 2.0D, but it purrs around town and has a lovely note right up to the redline. Plus, that gearbox is a joy to use.
I'll post up some more pictures later, when I can get some in the light, because you're all obviously interested in a 16 year old Honda...
Edited by fleming164 on Tuesday 28th January 14:27
I love this shape accord, such a handsome car. I had a 2004 2.0 executive and in the 3k I had it (it was a stop gap while my M5 was getting fixed) all it cost me was petrol, a service and an abs sensor. Gear change was excellent.
It got sold with around 42k miles on it for £1500 last year....
It got sold with around 42k miles on it for £1500 last year....
TheAngryDog said:
I love this shape accord, such a handsome car. I had a 2004 2.0 executive and in the 3k I had it (it was a stop gap while my M5 was getting fixed) all it cost me was petrol, a service and an abs sensor. Gear change was excellent.
It got sold with around 42k miles on it for £1500 last year....
Your thread actually directed me towards the accord. I'd never thought about it until I read you'd bought one as a stop gap.It got sold with around 42k miles on it for £1500 last year....
The 2.4's seem to command a premium over the 2.0 and I'd already convinced myself the extra power was necessary. Probably missed out on a lot of very clean 2.0's in my budget.
fleming164 said:
The climate/radio screen is blank, which apparently is down to the main stereo unit which will be replaced in due course, but for now I'm going blind on the temperature/radio station front.
After the first 50 miles the clutch pedal has started to click as you depress it, the forums suggest this is down to the master cylinder but that replacement can be put off by syringing grease in. I'll be giving that a go this weekend...
While the tyres have good tread, they're cheap off-brand ones and there's a distinct wobble at 70mph. Hoping a wheel balance solves this as new tyres would throw off some of the cost savings... We'll find out this Friday.
The engine however is sublime.
You're not going to be disappointed... I've just sold mine after 4.5 years and I regret it enormously. After the first 50 miles the clutch pedal has started to click as you depress it, the forums suggest this is down to the master cylinder but that replacement can be put off by syringing grease in. I'll be giving that a go this weekend...
While the tyres have good tread, they're cheap off-brand ones and there's a distinct wobble at 70mph. Hoping a wheel balance solves this as new tyres would throw off some of the cost savings... We'll find out this Friday.
The engine however is sublime.
Edited by fleming164 on Tuesday 28th January 14:27
So....
1) The top screen - they all seem to have an intermittent fault at this age. I could get mine to illuminate by banging the dashboard above it, so I believe t's a very common dodgy solder / connection up there somewhere
2) Clutch pedal. I tried the syringing thing and it never really worked for longer than five minutes so I just put up with it.
3) There's a possibility that the wobble could be down to the rear bushings on the lower control arms. Accords are notorious for destroying these, but it's very hard to see that they're wrecked until you pull them out. It's not a massively expensive job.
Once you've got it sorted I'd recommend the following:
If you're going to leave it parked up for any length of time leave it in gear and put the handbrake on lightly - the handbrakes are known to stick on, as I found out
Budget for refurbing the rear brake callipers. They'll eventually start binding.
Consider a K24 reflash from Littlebo - I know it's not helping the budget but by all accounts it's £300 well spent.
They are brilliant cars. Enjoy it. Once you've thrown a few quid at it to get it sorted you'll love it, and there really isn't that much that goes wrong on them. In 4.5 years I had the list above, plus an alternator and a battery.
Im interested!! 
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Mine (2.2 diesel tourer) is going well in the 6 days I've owned it. Hope it goes well for you!!
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Mine (2.2 diesel tourer) is going well in the 6 days I've owned it. Hope it goes well for you!!
tomble22 said:
Im interested!!
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Mine (2.2 diesel tourer) is going well in the 6 days I've owned it. Hope it goes well for you!!
Me too. I've also got a 2.2CDTi Tourer Executive. I bought it 18 months ago with 120k on the clock and it has been great. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Mine (2.2 diesel tourer) is going well in the 6 days I've owned it. Hope it goes well for you!!
So far only repairs have been a fuel rail relief valve (£25) and a pair of replacement boot struts as the electric tailgate sounded like it was struggling a bit, and as a replacement motor is a tad pricey I thought I'd shell out £90 on preventative maintenance.
Only bad thing on mine is that the radio reception is absolutely terrible. I even tried replacing the aerial but with no improvement.
I do occasionally wonder about getting one of those Chinese Android nav/radio/tablet things to replace the stereo, but i don't know whether they will work properly (i.e.. steering wheel controls, air con info etc)
Congrats on your buy I had the 2.0 ivtec Petrol on 17 inch alloys and I loved the shape and it had a bomb proof engine,the suspension bushes were perishing yearly (lower arm) and the ABS sensor failed twice but a new on on eBay is £16 quid ,the other issue I had was with the radio signals being very weak when out of the city center
In the 2 years I had i took it from 99k to 126k when rust got into the chassis
In the 2 years I had i took it from 99k to 126k when rust got into the chassis
I had a diesel one of these for about 7 years. Had it from new and covered about 120k in it.
Without doubt one of the most reliable cars we have ever had. I'm ashamed to admit that it was abused from day one and had very little maintenance in the last 3 or 4 years of my ownership. The only problems we had were a sticky rear caliper, replaced under warranty, a couple of suspension bushes (normal wear and tear) and once an indicator bulb blew (I was livid at this outrageous failure!).
A comfortable way to cover miles and the boot is huge! If I wanted a big cheap estate car these would definitely be on my list.
Without doubt one of the most reliable cars we have ever had. I'm ashamed to admit that it was abused from day one and had very little maintenance in the last 3 or 4 years of my ownership. The only problems we had were a sticky rear caliper, replaced under warranty, a couple of suspension bushes (normal wear and tear) and once an indicator bulb blew (I was livid at this outrageous failure!).
A comfortable way to cover miles and the boot is huge! If I wanted a big cheap estate car these would definitely be on my list.
fleming164 said:
Your thread actually directed me towards the accord. I'd never thought about it until I read you'd bought one as a stop gap.
The 2.4's seem to command a premium over the 2.0 and I'd already convinced myself the extra power was necessary. Probably missed out on a lot of very clean 2.0's in my budget.
The 2.4 is the better engine and doesn't do much worse on mpg. I think I might have kept mine had it been a 2.4 Type S. I hanker after an Accord Euro R now. The 2.4's seem to command a premium over the 2.0 and I'd already convinced myself the extra power was necessary. Probably missed out on a lot of very clean 2.0's in my budget.
flickyspinny said:
You're not going to be disappointed... I've just sold mine after 4.5 years and I regret it enormously.
So....
1) The top screen - they all seem to have an intermittent fault at this age. I could get mine to illuminate by banging the dashboard above it, so I believe t's a very common dodgy solder / connection up there somewhere
2) Clutch pedal. I tried the syringing thing and it never really worked for longer than five minutes so I just put up with it.
3) There's a possibility that the wobble could be down to the rear bushings on the lower control arms. Accords are notorious for destroying these, but it's very hard to see that they're wrecked until you pull them out. It's not a massively expensive job.
Once you've got it sorted I'd recommend the following:
If you're going to leave it parked up for any length of time leave it in gear and put the handbrake on lightly - the handbrakes are known to stick on, as I found out
Budget for refurbing the rear brake callipers. They'll eventually start binding.
Consider a K24 reflash from Littlebo - I know it's not helping the budget but by all accounts it's £300 well spent.
They are brilliant cars. Enjoy it. Once you've thrown a few quid at it to get it sorted you'll love it, and there really isn't that much that goes wrong on them. In 4.5 years I had the list above, plus an alternator and a battery.
Thanks for the reply! So....
1) The top screen - they all seem to have an intermittent fault at this age. I could get mine to illuminate by banging the dashboard above it, so I believe t's a very common dodgy solder / connection up there somewhere
2) Clutch pedal. I tried the syringing thing and it never really worked for longer than five minutes so I just put up with it.
3) There's a possibility that the wobble could be down to the rear bushings on the lower control arms. Accords are notorious for destroying these, but it's very hard to see that they're wrecked until you pull them out. It's not a massively expensive job.
Once you've got it sorted I'd recommend the following:
If you're going to leave it parked up for any length of time leave it in gear and put the handbrake on lightly - the handbrakes are known to stick on, as I found out
Budget for refurbing the rear brake callipers. They'll eventually start binding.
Consider a K24 reflash from Littlebo - I know it's not helping the budget but by all accounts it's £300 well spent.
They are brilliant cars. Enjoy it. Once you've thrown a few quid at it to get it sorted you'll love it, and there really isn't that much that goes wrong on them. In 4.5 years I had the list above, plus an alternator and a battery.
No amount of bashing the surrounding area seems to get the screen working. Looks like there a replacement radio units on ebay for around £60-100. Just need to make sure it's come out of a petrol as I believe they are different radios to the Diesel.
My set of Winter tyres from the S40 are the same size as the ones currently on the Accord so I may just have them swapped over. I'll take a look at the lower control arms if that doesn't fix it - thanks for the heads up!
The k24 reflash sounds good and I've just spent the last half hour trying to justify it! We'll see....
boyse7en said:
Only bad thing on mine is that the radio reception is absolutely terrible. I even tried replacing the aerial but with no improvement.
I do occasionally wonder about getting one of those Chinese Android nav/radio/tablet things to replace the stereo, but i don't know whether they will work properly (i.e.. steering wheel controls, air con info etc)
The radio reception was one of the first things I noticed. Hopefully it's not too bad on my commute. I'm just looking for an Aux to CD Changer adaptor as we only ever play Aux on long road trips anyway.I do occasionally wonder about getting one of those Chinese Android nav/radio/tablet things to replace the stereo, but i don't know whether they will work properly (i.e.. steering wheel controls, air con info etc)
All the reviews I have read on the aftermarket radio/climate control units mentioned worse climate control logic, i.e. fans spinning needlessly fast or too slowly etc.
tomble22 said:
Im interested!! biggrin
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Mine (2.2 diesel tourer) is going well in the 6 days I've owned it. Hope it goes well for you!!
Seeing your thread made me get around to starting one for mine. Love the accord in the darker colours (Mine is silver unfortunately), and think it looks best as an estate but there just wasn't one within my budget that wasn't too far away. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Mine (2.2 diesel tourer) is going well in the 6 days I've owned it. Hope it goes well for you!!
My Mum has a Civic with the 2.2 i-CTDI and it's probably the best 4-cyl diesel I've driven, but you can't beat a nice NA petrol!
P.S. Thank you to whoever fixed my embarrassing title!
fleming164 said:
My Mum has a Civic with the 2.2 i-CTDI and it's probably the best 4-cyl diesel I've driven, but you can't beat a nice NA petrol!
I've got one of the 2.2 Civics too, and it's funny that all your issues are evidently Honda ones rather than Accord ones - I've got the finicky radio/clock display which is indeed just dried out solder - if you're handy with a soldering iron you can fix it with an hour of work. My thumping still works for now.My clutch pedal has also squeaked since I bought the car two years ago - I did the clutch last year and the squeak is present as ever. Getting up under the wheel to accurately apply grease to the pivot is absolutely impossible for me!
Will keep an eye on this thread, always liked this gen of Accord. Is it this model with the famously uncomfortable seats? How are you finding them?
gkeele said:
fleming164 said:
My Mum has a Civic with the 2.2 i-CTDI and it's probably the best 4-cyl diesel I've driven, but you can't beat a nice NA petrol!
I've got one of the 2.2 Civics too, and it's funny that all your issues are evidently Honda ones rather than Accord ones - I've got the finicky radio/clock display which is indeed just dried out solder - if you're handy with a soldering iron you can fix it with an hour of work. My thumping still works for now.My clutch pedal has also squeaked since I bought the car two years ago - I did the clutch last year and the squeak is present as ever. Getting up under the wheel to accurately apply grease to the pivot is absolutely impossible for me!
Will keep an eye on this thread, always liked this gen of Accord. Is it this model with the famously uncomfortable seats? How are you finding them?
gkeele said:
I've got one of the 2.2 Civics too, and it's funny that all your issues are evidently Honda ones rather than Accord ones - I've got the finicky radio/clock display which is indeed just dried out solder - if you're handy with a soldering iron you can fix it with an hour of work. My thumping still works for now.
My clutch pedal has also squeaked since I bought the car two years ago - I did the clutch last year and the squeak is present as ever. Getting up under the wheel to accurately apply grease to the pivot is absolutely impossible for me!
Will keep an eye on this thread, always liked this gen of Accord. Is it this model with the famously uncomfortable seats? How are you finding them?
Yeah, the Civic my Mum has is plagued with small electrical issues, but the car is lovely to drive and keeps on going. My clutch pedal has also squeaked since I bought the car two years ago - I did the clutch last year and the squeak is present as ever. Getting up under the wheel to accurately apply grease to the pivot is absolutely impossible for me!
Will keep an eye on this thread, always liked this gen of Accord. Is it this model with the famously uncomfortable seats? How are you finding them?
Not sure about "famously uncomfortable seats", one of the main reasons that swayed me towards the Accord was that I read quite a few complements on the seats. One event went as far as saying they were comparable to the P2 Volvo S60. I haven't had any long trips in the car yet so I can't comment on how they fare, but I imagine I'll find out next month. So far they feel about the same as the ones in my S40, so very good IMHO.
I now have a small to-do list as below, ranked in order of importance.
[pic]
- Wobble at 70mph
- Door Electrics
- Driver's side headlamp aim is low
- Needs a tow bar
- Climate/radio screen fix
- Aux/Bluetooth (possibly GROM or similar if funds allow)
- Front Honda badge is missing
- Squeaky centre arm rest
[pic]
Edited by fleming164 on Monday 20th April 16:56
Edited by fleming164 on Monday 20th April 16:57
The only thing i'd say about the seats apart from that they seem pretty comfortable, is they are probably made more for the Japanese market than the wider (literally) European market. Me being of powerfully built company director stature, they are a bit cosy on the bolster side of things. If i was a lithe, slimmer man i'd be fine no doubt!
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