Engine Durability

I'm considering buying a new Honda. Can anyone tell me the approximate
lifespan of their engines?

How is their Civic Hybrid performing? How reliable is it?

Thanks in advance!

 

I've had Honda or Acura cars for over 20 years. I recently gave away
my 1990 Acura Legend after 315K miles. The engine was starting,
alas, to fail.

I can't quote any personal experience, but the reports I've seen give
the Civic hybrid good marks.

--
Harvey J. Cohen, Ph. D.
-------

"The difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make
sense." - Tom Clancy

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Consumer Reports Annual Auto Guide & April, 200? auto buying guide
issue.

 

I don't have the figures in front of me but have read various articles in
car magazines related to this subject. Those articles clearly say that
Honda cars are well built and last much longer there cars built by other
companies--especially American car companies. Those same articles have
great things to say about cars built by Toyota.

It's obvious that you must take care of any car you buy by following the
recommendations in the manuals that come with all new cars.

 

I don't know about the Civic Hybrid, but the Honda engines themselves are
good for at least 200K miles *with the prescribed maintenance.*
My daughter's '93 Accord LX has 210K miles and is still doing great. It
could have been different, though - we bought it at 163K and the owner
didn't know the timing belt should have been changed at 90K. He kept up with
the oil changes, though, so the engine was still in good condition - he was
just lucky the timing belt held out that long. A friend traded in her Accord
(didn't notice what year) when the A/C compressor went out at more than 200K
miles. She is a WAN engineer making over $100K/year, so it wasn't like she
was going to wring the last bit of life out of the car.

Mike

 

Hi Harvey,

I just bought a new Accord and for a point of reference would you mind
telling me how often you changed the oil on your 90 Legend? Ichange my oil
every 3k miles, but if you do yours less frequently and got 315k out of it,
I might consider changing my oil a bit less often.

Thanks,
Entropy

 

We've now got over 86 miles on our 05 CRV SE and haven't had a single
problem.

bb

 

..

Check over the resale values and you will find that Accords depreciate
more slowly than Camrys and both depreciate less than many (all?)
american made cars.

This fact alone of course does not imply that the cars are substantive
better, but it is an indicator.

My long time mechanic shop did a search through their maintenance
records stored on the computer and concluded that they made the vast
majority of their money from making repairs from american cars and
that there customers who had Hondas and Toyotas needed the least
repair. They didn't like any of the other Japanese cars (in terms of
the repair history) - so they said to me.

Doing my own maintenance, I concluded that the Accord is more
serviceable than the Camry. Its little things! For example, if you
change the trannie fluid, a lot of the dirty fluid doesn't drain in
the Camry where as in the Accord, just a bit is left. I find the
Camry factory service manual much harder to understand as compared to
the Accord. Although the Camry can turn a tighter radius, it feels
like its too tight and that the car shouldn't allow so tight a turn.
Perhaps related is the fact that I have had to replace two steering
pumps and the rack in the camry. The little flanges that stick out of
the bottom - where you put the jack to change tires (and according to
the factory service manual where you are suppose to put the jack
stands), look like they are stronger and thicker on the Honda. I
haven't figured out how to replace the lamp behind the air
conditioning control panel on the dash in the Camry (and I once had an
estimate that it would cost $50 in labor).

The camry has lots of techi/comfort features (like mine turns off
headlights automatically when you open door, the car sits higher and
is easier to get in and out, tight turning radius, etc).

 

I have an '85 Accord 265,000 miles on it, still runs great. No major engine
repairs, just continue change the oil on a regular basis

 

Well a lot of the reported problems didn't show up until a fair bit past
the one hundred mile mar, so you've got a few to go...


RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen

 

That matches the experience I have had with my family's cars. We have a 2002
Toyota, a '93 Honda, a '94 Acura and a '85 Volvo now. The Toyota has not
needed anything (well, a windshield) yet, the Honda and Acura are doing well
and the Volvo is suffering from brittle interior plastic but running okay.
We got rid of a Nissan 300ZX that needed constant work, engine and
electrical, and my son had a Subaru that taught him a lot about engine
repairs. We had an '84 Dodge ES (with a Mitsubishi power train) that we
bought new, and it was awful. At 90K miles it needed a new timing chain -
step one was "remove engine." We shall not speak of it again.

Mike

 

I sold my '91 Accord this summer at 285,000 kms and the guy who bought
it told me yesterday he is now at 307,000 kms with it. I'd say Honda
engines can last for quite a while!

 

Currently I have five Accords (92, 94, 98, 99, 00) sitting in my driveway
with a collective total of over 750,000 miles and no engine issues, other
than timing belt replacement. Oldest one has 225,000 miles. Two others
approaching 180k.
Doc

 

Well, see, I'd say you're well past the 86 miles that bb has (or had at
the time of his posting). How do you drive five cars?


RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen

 

OK..not entirely accurate; I did have to swap out a distributor and valve
cover gaskets on the '92. The '94 popped the balance shaft seal out like
Honda said it would, which they took care of under warranty (along with the
belts that got soaked with oil)
The only transmission trouble has been a faulty PCM that I think got wet in
the '92. Had to replace it with one from junkyard.

All in all....very pleased with performance and reliability of my Accords.
BTW...only one is V6, rest are L4.

Now wife and daughters drive four of the five.

 

I have a 1990 accord ex with 297,000.
knock on wood, she fires wright up
and still gets great mileage.