Hiya, looking to buy my first car and I'm looking at the Honda accord euros. Is the cost of maintenance cheap/moderate or expensive? Also is there any particular year model that stands out from the rest? Any help is appreciated, thanks.
Honda Accord Euros
n4rut0 on 11/07/2019 - 21:08
Comments
Are you after the CL9 or CU2 generation?
Servicing costs are high but not at european luxury levels. Servicing is recommended every 6 months I think but other than that they’re lovely cars to drive. Owned a 2008 manual which I loved.
I've got a 2004 Accord Euro Luxury Auto that's been in the family since new.
My Sister had it from 2004-2011; Dad had it 2011-2016 (and didn't look after it) and then I "inherited" it and my kids drive it.It's the early model with 16" rims which are good for kerb bashing but I think the later 17" would be a better option. I think the manual would be a gem of a car.
They are great cars that handle better than most (multilink suspension front & rear) & go really well if you let them rev. They like to use fuel so don't buy one if you are hung up on fuel costs. My daughters average 12l/100km around town and 8L/100 on a trip. They mostly use e10 94 ron and it goes really well on that lower octane (they are supposed to be 95ron minimum). Occasionally they put 98 in when it's cheap. The octane rating has no effect on fuel economy - it guzzles no matter what you feed it.
look out for:
Airbag recall
Power steering hose recallFor cars with 100,000+km:
If an auto, ask when the fluid and filter were last changed - it probably never has. External filter is <$20 on ebay. Penrite honda transmission fluid is ~$80. It is Honda only fluid. It needs to either be flushed or done 3 times at 10k intervals. Then every 50k after that.
Power steering - ditto. It should be changed every 50k.
Spark plugs (platinum) are ~$15 each (ebay) and are due at 100k.
Fuel filter is ~$80. It's in the fuel tank and takes 1+ hour to change and are due at 100k - guaranteed it's never been done.
Engine oil + filter. We do ours every 12 months. It's supposed to be 0w-20 but I use whatever full synthetic is on special in 5w or 10w - 30/40. I figure the car only has a few years left so it won't hurt. The engine runs like a dream so it's the least of our worries.
The inlet plenum probably needs a clean
The big bush in the front lower control arm is probably cracking. It's about $300 for replacement arms and 1.5hrs labour.
If the stability control or airbag light is on then there's probably an expensive issue with the ABS pump/associated electronics.
If the rear tyres are experiencing unusual wear it's probably not fixable due to limited adjustment and poor geometry ex-factory.Thanks this was really helpful. Also, is a 2011 Honda Accord Euro Luxury for $12000 a good deal? What downsides are there to this model compared to say a more recent model?
What does Redbook say? I really don't know. Ours is worth around $1.50 and a can of beans because it's been caught in 2 hailstorms in 6 months and Dad touch-parked all the time.
Standout downsides on ours:
The battery is ridiculously small (same size as a 1968 Corolla 1200) for the engine size and electronics. They go 2 years and die.Not many airbags
The tech is really lacking compared to my 2007 Octavia. eg: You have to turn on/off headlights manually, the info display doesn't have much info, other things that are annoying but I can't remember.
The radio is model specific / built into the dashboard. There's no bluetooth, aux-in, USB etc The upgrade path to something with modern features is limited and expensive.
https://www.carsguide.com.au/honda/accord-euro/price/2015
4 Star ANCAP safety rating.