A new daily driver. Afraid it's a Honda Accord

[dmorrison]

We'll picked up a new Honda Accord EX-L I4 auto transmission, this afternoon. This will be the new daily driver. Very nice car. I realized that the car we have has more bells and whistles than the Acura Legend we had in 1988. Cars have come a long way.
The deal was to good to pass up. We were going to wait until my son got a job. He just graduated from his MBA program and doesn't have a job yet. But he will do fine. I never got grades as good as he has. Summa Cum Laude.

Dealer Sales Manager was sort of a butt head in negotiations. Called with a good price. And when trying to get TTL specifics. He raised the price. After a couple of days I complained to the holding company of the auto group. I got a e-mail from the auto group President apologizing and offer the car at a ridiculous low price. They came off $4200.00 from list with TTL vs. what I paid.

So now the wear and tear of daily driving will not beat down the 300TD. And I can take my time working on it instead of having to have it running.

Dave

The signature has changed

[andersbenz]

They are nice cars.

By any chance did you test drive a manual transmission job?

Curious as to how they drive.

[dmorrison]

Originally Posted by andersbenz

They are nice cars.

By any chance did you test drive a manual transmission job?

Curious as to how they drive.

No. I gave up manual transmissions years ago. An automatic is fine with me.

Dave

[Gurkha]

Good reliable daily driver, trouble free if maintained with basic needs.

[H-townbenzoboy]

Hondas are good cars, my sister's had her 94 Accord EX coupe since new, it takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'.

[retx]

back when we were looking for a new car for my girlfriend, we drove everything under the moon and stars. we drove a 2006 Accord both manual and automatic. It was a nice car. the manual felt a little wimpy compared to the auto. we settled with a 2006 C package Prius. Best buy we have made.

[Ara T.]

Have the automatics gotten better? My dad's 2000 Accord has what I'd call a mushy transmission, hard to explain but you'd know what im talking about if you drove it. It's a good car though.. rides nice.

[engatwork]

There was a service recall on the 2000 Accords that you may want to inquire at your local dealer about.

Dave - you will get tired of it before you wear it out.

[99E300TD]

I owned a 2003 Accord EX-L 5 speed with the 2.4 I4... beautiful transmission... short throws, smooth - smooth - smooth.. pleanty of power... 30 MPG+ consistently... not a trouble free car though... these are the major issues but there were other fit and finish issues I didn't expect in a Honda... especially after my experience with the 1998 I had for a long time.
1. clutch master cylinder croaked at 18K
2. spot welds missed in back pass side corner (had to take the back seat and everything else out and send it to a specialty shop to have it repaired)
3. hood rusted (perforated) and had to be replaced
4. front driver side seat had to be replaced b/c of a short they could never find in the power seat mechanism / seat heater that continually blew fuses.

Probably just bad luck for me... but I wasn't sad to see it go at 50K miles. OTOH, I still bought a 2006 Odyssey EX-L RES after this experience... 10K and not a single issue yet... and that thing is loaded with electronics! On the good side, Honda covered each and every repair, no questions asked... and the seat started acting up at 38K or 39K miles... out of the bumper to bumper.

[Hatterasguy]

Originally Posted by Ara T.

Have the automatics gotten better? My dad's 2000 Accord has what I'd call a mushy transmission, hard to explain but you'd know what im talking about if you drove it. It's a good car though.. rides nice.

Yeah the new Honda auto's are pretty good. They are a 5spd now so the rpm's on the highway are nice and low. Kind of 722.6 like, a good trans.

Anyway nice car you picked a good one! My boss has an 04, loaded with the V6 and leather, it has 70k trouble free miles so far. Looks like they will do 100k with only oil changes and still look and drive like new when they get there.

[dmorrison]

Originally Posted by 99E300TD

I owned a 2003 Accord EX-L 5 speed with the 2.4 I4... beautiful transmission... short throws, smooth - smooth - smooth.. pleanty of power... 30 MPG+ consistently... not a trouble free car though... these are the major issues but there were other fit and finish issues I didn't expect in a Honda... especially after my experience with the 1998 I had for a long time.
1. clutch master cylinder croaked at 18K
2. spot welds missed in back pass side corner (had to take the back seat and everything else out and send it to a specialty shop to have it repaired)
3. hood rusted (perforated) and had to be replaced
4. front driver side seat had to be replaced b/c of a short they could never find in the power seat mechanism / seat heater that continually blew fuses.

Probably just bad luck for me... but I wasn't sad to see it go at 50K miles. OTOH, I still bought a 2006 Odyssey EX-L RES after this experience... 10K and not a single issue yet... and that thing is loaded with electronics! On the good side, Honda covered each and every repair, no questions asked... and the seat started acting up at 38K or 39K miles... out of the bumper to bumper.

Funny.
I had a 99 E300 Turbo Diesel and sold it due to it being a shop queen. I had a 8 year 100,000 mile warranty which was used. Had an 88 Acura with an extended warranty, never used it. But I never worried about the car.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?threadid=52982&highlight=shop+queen

I got the 8 year 120,000 mile warranty on the Honda. Even though Consumers Reports does not recommend purchasing one if you are buying a car listed as "most reliable". The price was list $1875 and thru the forum at Edmonds.com I found the same Honda Care Warranty for $940. For that price It's pure piece of mind.

Dave

[POS]

I ruled out all the Japanese cars that get good mileage solely because they were all front-wheel drive cars - I don't like the way those things drive.

[jbach36]

Honda's rock, man. You'll have very little problems with them along the way. They practically indestructable.

There's a whole new paradigm shift here since 1986. Prior to 1986, Americans could choose from crummy American cars, or long lasting, but problematic European cars. Jap cars came out in earnest during the early 80's, but by 1986, the cat was out of the bag; they'd earned their reputation as tremendous cars, that would last 3 times as long as an American made car, and practically without breaking. In 1986, Acura came out, I think the first of the 'upper end' Jap cars, then Lexus and Infinity followed. By 1990, if you bought an American made car (with the exception of a select few American cars), you were nearly an idiot in the face of Jap cars.

Enjoy the car, and let's hope MB starts making such maintenence free cars.

jeff
1991 300d, 100k

[MBDFahrer]

Hey... what a coincidence, mom got a 2007 Honda Accord VP in September. I like the steering feel but don't like the pedal feel (Drive-By-Wire) and the transmission seems to have a very noticeable 1-2 shift.

[iNeon]

JBach--

You seriously don't think 1986-current domestics can last 80-100k miles?

The Taurus came in 1986, and I can't think of any domestic that has made more of an impact in the last 20 years. Maybe the 300 Chrysler, but then that's going full-circle and putting RWD back into a midsize, so there's going to be some hoopla.

Ralph, a 1987 Taurus, had 180k when dad decided I needed a new car-- it was as new.

Mother's 1989 Tempo(affectionately called Woody by the family-- My sis wrecked it and they put a 4x4 on the front bumper supports to embarass her into not futzing with the stereo while in traffic) went quite a few further, to be left on the side of the interstate at 240k miles.

You're making false arguments here-- just because one is good does not mean the other has to be bad.

Congrats on the new car! Have you named him/her yet?