Honda Accord Tourer - Dull, dull, dull

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Sat 5 Feb 2011 03:38
Honda Accord Tourer - Dull, dull, dull - pint6x

I've recently got rid of my lovely Volvo V70 D5 SE - a car which was comfortable, quick enough, felt good to drive and had a certain sense of occasion about it.

Why did it have to go? 'cos at 147k miles the gearbox needed a rebuild (dodgy bearing), the suspension needed replacing and the injectors were on the way out. While the car would happily go on to 300k plus miles, the cost of keeping it running was beyond my impoverished means, being out of work. Average MPG was about 38-40

So, part-exed the Volvo for a Honda Accord Tourer - '05 model SE spec (base model), ultra reliable 2.0 iV-Tec petrol lump - only 66k miles, FSH, all MOT certificates, a solid car, BUT, just so dull to drive - doesn't inspire in any way, MPG highly unimpressive at 27 - it does everything competently, but I want something more - not quite sure what I'm missing, whether it's the low down power of the diesel or the luxurious comfortable cabin of the Volvo, or something with more grunt. Volvo used to have a lovely off-beat exhaust note due to 5 cylinder engine.

The Honda will pick its skirts up and go once you get it beyond 5,000 revs when the VTec thingie lets all the valves work, and it will pull from low down (albeit slowly) but it's just boring and I'm not bonding with it at all.

Bonding with a car? sounds silly? well yes it does, but as a complete petrol head I need to enjoy my cars and the Honda is merely "transport".

Why did I go for petrol? 'cos very concerned about high mileage diesel problems with dual mass flywheels, disintegrating turbos, blocked diesel particulate filters and the like.

The Honda is worth about 4.5k I reckon with 12 months T&T - so what would you get if you sold the Honda and wanted something with decent shove and better economy? Needs to be at least a large hatchback or estate of some sort (kids, dogs etc)

cheers - phil

Edited by pint6x on 05/02/2011 at 03:52

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Sat 5 Feb 2011 08:20
Honda Accord Tourer - Dull, dull, dull - gordonbennet

Not meaning to be horrible here, but you are out of work at present.

I don't wish to know your affairs, but if i was in this position i'd be hoping to keep a set of very cheap wheels running (so i could get back to work pronto) and put the difference in cost into the bank for the duration for any unexpected bills...boiler breaks down or similar.

I'd be wanting an old school Diesel or already LPG'd petrol for peanuts and bunker down till things eased on the work front, then worry about what car i wanted to drive when i got back to work.

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Sat 5 Feb 2011 09:22
Honda Accord Tourer - Dull, dull, dull - Collos25

Don't the petrols also have DMF most cars do these days.

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Sat 5 Feb 2011 11:48
Honda Accord Tourer - Dull, dull, dull - corax

The thing is the Honda probably will hardly need anything apart from servicing until past 200000 miles. 27mpg? You must have a heavy right foot, or there's a fault. It should do around 35mpg at least, unless you're driving in urban conditions all the time. The tourer is a big car though, longer at the back than the saloon.

The Volvo's are nice cars but I've never heard anyone who didn't moan about the high running costs, unless they're running old school Volvo's and have a couple of donor cars in the garden.

Get something like a Toyota Yaris while you're out of work - costs peanuts to run and very reliable - then get something you fancy when you're employed.

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Mon 7 Feb 2011 08:14
Honda Accord Tourer - Dull, dull, dull - pint6x

Well thanks for the lifestyle coaching, people, but that wasn't really what I was after.

Ignore the fact that I'm not working, and see if you can answer the original question given my requirements.

Thanks

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Mon 7 Feb 2011 08:46
Honda Accord Tourer - Dull, dull, dull - pd

If you want significantly better economy to make it worthwhile you have probably got to back to the diesel route - large (ish) estates with decent performance with petrol engines are never very good on fuel.

As to suggestions, you want performance, economy, comfort and a decent drive which means you probably can't afford it in your current budget (or at least you have to expect high running costs). A Volvo V70 D5 would be my first suggestion......

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Tue 8 Feb 2011 21:10
Honda Accord Tourer - Dull, dull, dull - tyro

Interesting comment on the comparative merits of your old V70 and your new Accord, Phil.

My interest, by the way, is that while I've never owned a big estate, I occasionally dream about getting one. Which one I would go for is, of course, a question I muse over - and the V70 (with the D5 engine) and the Accord are a couple that do attract me.

How old was your V70?

Edited by tyro on 08/02/2011 at 21:11

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Fri 4 Mar 2011 12:02
Honda Accord Tourer - Dull, dull, dull - ddr

To get decent amounts of 'shove' with a sane MPG, you just have to go diesel. For 4.5k you can get yourself a nice MK3 mondeo estate, sub 80k miles. Sure the DMF can go, but that's at 130k on average. Give one a try and I'll be surprised if you don't find it more fun to drive than either car you have mentioned.

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Fri 4 Mar 2011 23:07
Honda Accord Tourer - Dull, dull, dull - Avant

If you need a petrol-powered estate car with a bit of oomph, try the Skoda Octavia vRS. The petrol engine (very similar to the one in the Golf GTI) is torquey and much more effective at lower revs than a Honda engine.

They've made these for some years now so you should find one within your budget.

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