2004 Accord buying advise

Hi guys-

I looking into buying a new accord. Any current owners can give me there
impressions? How is the quality/reliability? I'm kinda being iffy due to
the fact the camry comes w/ a longer engine warrantee...3/36,000 is nothing
these days, compounded by the fact that accord suffered from those tranny
probs.

How much did you guys pay for an Auto LX? should I wait for the 2005? any
major changes?


thanks

 

It's all been said,
www.edmunds.com
www.kbb.com
www.motortrend.com
www.consumerguide.com

You can get a quote from www.carsense.com.

If the warranty worries you, get the extended warranty.

 

If it were my money, I would wait to see if Accord 2005 is equipped with
ESP. This is one feature that I value much. Much more important than AWD
for safety. Honda is supposed to have all their vehicles with this standard
by 2006, with also side airbags.

 

ESP? Extra Sensory Perception?

 

whats ESP? I jus want to know long term inpressions from current owners.

 

Electronic Stability Program, aka, or used to be known, generically as
Stability Control... allows people to drive even more stupidly than they do
already... but "consumers feel safer" according to the surveys.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

I disagree. You don't drive in snow and icy highways often, don't you? ;o)
ESP was immediately acclaimed among carmakers (at least high end) because
it is so good. It is also available on VW and Focus.

 

I try to avoid it but sometimes yes, I have to drive on snow and ice. I'm
not sure that stability control is going to be much use in such situations
- most people would prefer to be able to disable things like ABS on snow
and ice.

Carmakers and many consumers have also "acclaimed" "free
maintenance".<shrug>

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

I've had my 4-door automatic LX since a week before Christmas and really
love it. The 2 reasons I selected it over the Camry were:

1. (this is the main one) The steering seemed a bit 'sloppier' (slightly
less precise??) on the Camry. ...and I was just getting rid of a 9 year old
Dodge Intrepid and the ole' Dodge (piece of crap that it was) had more
precise steering than the Camry.

2. Neither would win a beauty contest, but I thought the Accord looked a
little better than the Camry. (Actually I think the previous style on both
the Accord and Camry looked slightly better than the current style.

The only thing that really torqued me about the Accord (other that the
dealer I first planned to buy from) was the outrageous cost of the add-on
cassette deck, and the fact that they went out of their way to make it
difficult and expensive to use any aftermarket sound equipment. I commute
an hour each way and listening to books on tape really help while away the
time. I'm still very PO'ed about the very excessive cost of their deck.
Other than that, I REALLY love the car. If you don't need a cassette deck
(it comes with a CD player) you can't go wrong with the Accord.

I think I paid $18,500 (plus or minus $100) for my LX including destination
charges (I added the cassette deck myself later).

I doubt if Honda will make any significant changes for the '05's - Honda is
on a 4-year design cycle and doesn't change much, if anything during that
period. You have a fairly long wait if you wait for the '05's and while
they are clearing out the '04's they might be a bit less willing to deal on
the '05's.

 

] (Pete Golding) wrote
--- --- --- --- --- --- ---
--- --- --- --- --- --- ---
...The 2 reasons I selected [Accord] over the Camry were:
1 ... The steering seemed a bit 'sloppier' ... on the Camry. ...
2 ... I thought the Accord looked a little better...
--- --- --- --- --- --- ---
--- --- --- --- --- --- ---
I want to replace my 99 Altima, and the Accord & Camry were the top
contenders; I was leaning toward Toyota. Today I read a thread over at
the Toyota newsgroup titled PULLS TO LEFT. It seems a lot of late model
Camrys and perhaps other Toyotas pull to the left and Toyota is unable
to fix it. Some Camry owners are very unhappy / angry

Now I'm leaning toward the Honda. Do 2004 Accords have any skeletons in
the closet?

Pete

 

I would not choose the Toyota or the Honda over one another based on 'net
descriptions of trouble spots.

That said, some of us are having problems getting various rattles and
chirping sounds exorcised from our new Accords. These drive me batty, but
other people don't care very much.

 

I bought a 2004 v6 accord Lx, to replace a 2002 v6 accord Lx totalled in
an accident. Love the car. Added features. Even more safety features!
I've had it for 2 1/2 weeks and have 2500 miles on it. I'm getting
better miles per gallon, of nearly +3 miles. And the acceleration from
just barely touching the gas pedal is most impressive. Before buying
the new 2004 accord, i test drove the camry, the passat and the acura,
just to satisfy my curiosity.


Another poster suggested a desire to disable the ABS when driving on
snow or ice, for which, given i've had much experience driving both cars
in snow and ice, up north from canada thru the midwest u.s. to the east
coast and in the mountains here in the south, plus having driven an 18
wheeler, for which to disable the ABS on ice or snow would be foolish.

 

Take aserious look at GM. Honda quality/reliability has actually
dropped below that of Ford of late. Times are changing!