Honda Accord Tourer (2003 - 2008) - at 100

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Fri 5 Feb 2010 23:35
at 100 - Statistical outlier
As my Accord is about to go through 100k miles I thought an update was in order.

The report card is mixed, as it has been throughout my ownership from new.

On the plus side, the car continues to be quick, comfortable, refined, practical and a pleasure to be in and drive. The only signs of age are very slight driveline shunt in 1st and engaging 3rd gear is occasionally not quite as slick as it was. That really is it.

Economy over 100k miles is about 41 mpg for the 2.2 diesel, but I don?t make any real effort to drive economically. Saying that, there?s a lot of motorway miles on there, so it?s not that impressive. I?m on my 3rd set of front brake pads if that helps put it in context? Probably a neutral point at best.

Bad? Well the faults have been minor but Honda are not good at fault finding. A shocking total of 9 (yes, nine) weeks off the road from new. The faults?

- a faulty alternator voltage regulator at 17k took a total of 4 weeks to sort, despite being correctly diagnosed by myself and the French recovery agent at 1 am in a field.
- A faulty EGR at 40k miles that took 4 weeks to fix as the fault was intermittent. Again, correctly diagnosed by the AA in the Stansted carpark at midnight, but took weeks. A new alarm module was fitted at the same time as they suspected damage from the alternator fault.
- A faulty clutch master cylinder fitted at 96k under extended warranty. Took a week to sort the part, and included stripping the rear handbrake shoe as it was sticking (apparently, I?d not noticed).

So on the face of it, nothing very serious, but not very well handled.

More positives? The dealer has been admirably honest, never sold me any lotions or fixes I don?t need (as far as I know), and the fourth year?s extended warranty (which worked when I claimed on it) was a bargain at £250 including another years AA membership.

The interior is flawless, the major contact points show almost no sign of wear, and the only niggle is the passenger door speaker which has a bit of a rattle.

So there you have it, a mixed bag. It?s paid for and owes me nothing, but when I looked at changing it, I honestly couldn?t think of what I would replace it with that would be as comfortable, quick, practical (bikes and luggage go in the boot without dropping the seats for example) and discrete. So I?m keeping it.
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