Older Honda Accords

har1bush

ah cool... never knew that!~ thanks to all -- the Accord is one hell of a car and the only reason for not getting the Accord would be if the new Altima is that much better and cheaper

raybear

The loose gas cap is considered part of pollution control. The check engine light comes on to prevent discharge of VOC's (Volatile Organic Compounds).

maroon95

My 2000 Accord EX 4-cylinder bought new sunroof rattles now when it's in CLOSED position...if i tilt or open it, the rattles goes away.

does this happen to anyone? and as for the stock tires, how long do they last until replacements? the ride in my car aint the same when i just bought it...i think i am going to replace my tires soon...current mileage is at 32,000...yeah i drive a lot...

thank you for your wonderful advice.

ravyn

the rattle is an issue they have a service bulletin for. the dealer has a special tape they will now put on it. otherwise, silicone spray or wd-40.

alpha01

If you're considering waiting for the 02 Altima to come out in September, also consider waiting for the 02 Camry to be introduced... its going to be significantly different from the current one, though not nearly as dramatically so as is the Altima. Just a thought..... Of the cars 2001 cars you're speaking of in your post, I'd pick a Maxima SE stick, but I'm not sure if that's what your looking for. Also, why not consider the 01.5 Passat? Seemed like a sweet ride in the June issue of Car and Driver, and its tops in CR's ratings too. One other point... if you live in an area where auto theft is a problem... get the Hyundai.
~alpha

robr2

I presume you have the Michelin MXV4 Energy Green Plus whatevers. I just replaced those on my 98 Accord at 36K. There was still tread left (appx 3/32 - getting down to minimum) but they were getting skittish on wet roads.

On my 91 Accord I got 60K out the Michelin MXV3. I was very disappointed with only 36K on these, but can't blame Honda for that.

maroon95

i have 2000 Accord EX 4-cylinder with stocks everything. i am thinking of getting 16" alloy-wheels and new tires to go along with it...is it feasible or very troublesome? would the mechanic have to modify the suspension or anything related in order to put in larger wheels?

also, would the ride improve noticeably? and how much would it cost me?

my current budget for it is $1000 at most...or lesser would be preferable...

any advice would be greatly appreciated.

jrct9454

...are standard on some models of the coupe, and on all models of the Acura CL / TL. Nothing to it. They will certainly not improve your ride - that depends on tire choice and pressures, not wheel size. But $1000 is just fine for your budget - go to TireRack.com and follow the directions for wheel/tire packages. They will offer you at least a dozen acceptable choices, probably more like two dozen, all within this price range. Your friendly Honda dealer may have 4-hole 16" wheels available [the 4 cyl uses a 4 lug wheel, the 6 cyl has 5 lugs, and all of the standard 16" wheels for production cars are for 6 cyl cars, I think], but they tend to charge outrageous prices for wheels. Doesn't hurt to ask, though, if you see something you like at the dealer.

A stock tire replacement size would be 205/60x16; 215/55x16 will have the same rolling diameter. Bigger than that I wouldn't go, but then I don't like the boy-racer look.

The folks at Tire Rack are excellent; call their toll-free number as your questions develop after visiting the website.

jmtreetop

I just put on 17" wheels on my 2001 accord ex 4 cyl and there were no problems. Does not even come close to rubbing so no modifications will be necessary.

jmnygaard

You know you can get a price quote through this web site. I put in the info yesterday, and got an "offer" today from a dealer for an LX 4dr 5M with side air bags, floor mats, mud guards, and destination charges for $17,869. I'm still checking other dealers, but that was pretty close to the TMV for this car.

Also, you might want to consider the special financing on '01's, available only until 7/9. It's 3.9% to 36 months, 4.9% to 48 months, and 5.9% up to 60 months. (APR). This is not available on the '02's.

drew_

har1bush

Well, the only reason why I'm not entirely sold on the Camry and the Passat is their price -- and XLE V6 for the current Camry is stickered nearly 27000 (probably out the door ~24000) and the Passat V6 fully loaded is well over 30000. The Accord EX V6 and the new Altima on the other hand, are (probably) going to be stickered around 25000 and out the door between 22000 and 23000... That seems like a decent amount of difference between those cars. Plus, as good as the Passat's reviews have been, I am definitely not sold on their reliability, especially w/ the weak 2 yr b2b warranty (at least the Hyundai offers the best warranty in the market).

havefun2

I am trying to get Honda Accord EX-V6 in Cedar Rapids/ Iowa City, IA area. The one dealer I talked to is giving the same car with the price tag of $23,500 ( includes Mud Guard and Door Guard). It also includes -- what he calls - Honfidence -- it means that if I take oil change from them all the time till 7 years( or 100,000 miles) then the extended warranty fee will be waived. He gives 'Honfidence' for free. I walked out of the deal yesterday as the price I feel is too high. I was ready to pay $22,800 but he did not oblige.

What do you think about that price ? $23,500? Is it a reasonable price. I think it is too high over the invoice.

Do you or anybody you know got good deal on Honda Accord EX-V6 in this area ? If yes then please let me know dealership name and the salesman name.

Thanks.

ravyn

just put 205/55/r16's on my '00 coupe... tr motorsport snipers which were around $150ea with kumho ecsta 712's. got the whole set up from tirerack. shipping was cheapest with 2 day air (believe it or not) so i paid, i think, $972 total. they came mounted/balanced, however, i did have to get them rebalanced (which they reimbursed me for and if i had any further problems, i was told not to hesitate to call). i ordered a set of gorilla wheel locks from them for $20 or so.

the tires are ultra-high performance and i couldn't be happier. the traction in wet conditions is amazing compared to the stock turanza's. the ride is still pretty smooth, and i'm actually surprised, thinking that i would feel the road more with them, and i haven't noticed anymore noise at higher speeds than i did before (and i travel the beltway a lot). i will be putting the stock rims/tires back on in the winter though. don't need va salt messing them up.

so for the price, i'd recommend the kumho's, and tirerack.

just my $.02....

newtohondas

On my '96 Accord EX, the driver's window seems to rattle inside the door, whether up or down. Does anyone know how big a deal this is to fix?

Also, we have a 12 month old '00 Oddysey. Never been waxed. Any thoughts on when and how often it should be done? As big as it is, I am thinking about getting a CarPool type place to do it.

rgreenbe1

My car is 4 weeks old and the climate control system just doesn't seem to keep up and cool the car down anywhere near the temperature it is set to. EX: If you set it to 75, it won't get much below 80-85. Or 70, it won't cool much below 80.
This problem occurs even after the car has been driven for 1 hour plus.
What experience has there been with you Auto climate controls in the hot weather?

Thanks.

talon95

On my 2000 EX-V6, I do routinely set the temp about 2 or 3 degrees lower than the "real" temp that I want when using the A/C, but that's always very effective at cooling things off.

So my experience has been very different from yours. Sounds like you might need to have the dealer check it out.

rgreenbe1

Is it a hot and sunny when you are referring to the "2-3 degress lower"?
Both the dealer and regional Honda Service rep say nothing is wrong.
Actually the regional rep from Honda told me to put Black Electrical Tape over the LCD Screen and not to worry so much about what number it says.

I figured after that comment, I was at a dead end. They also claimed to have run my car with a new one for over an hour side by side outside and found no difference.

Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ravyn

here's a couple of discussion threads...one from edmunds:

britton2 "paste wax versus liquid wax?" Jun 22, 2001 2:05pm

and one from hondasociety.com

http://www.hondasociety.com/board/forumdisplay.php?forumid=36

firsttimeowner

Hi there,
Does someone have any idea why my low fuel indicator came on when there was still one fifth of gas left indicated by the fuel gauge? I refueled the tank to full with roughly 13.5 gallons of gas. Shouldn't the fuel tank of Accord hold 17 gallons? It happened every time around the 13.5 mark. My car is a 2001 Accord EX with only 700 miles on it. Is it a malfunction of the low fuel indicator or it is supposed to be like this? Anyone has similar experience? If this is a malfunction, can it be corrected somehow? Thank you for your input. I appreciate it.

jrct9454

We have an '01 EX V6 sedan, and live in the CA Central Valley...translation: 100F every day last week. I set the climate control to 74 or 75 degrees, and it will occasionally get cool enough to have to back off a bit, even...in other words, I can get the AC to get cold enough to drive you out of the car.

I have no explanation for your situation; clearly, our experience suggests that there is nothing wrong with Honda's AC technology these days. They used to be behind the curve, especially against Toyota, but all of our Honda products in the past 5 years ['96 Acura RL, '98 Accord 4 cyl, '01 Accord 6 cyl] have had very powerful AC systems. Now, the accuracy of the interior digital readout? Who knows? Just set it at a temp that works for you, and worry about something else...that's my advice, anyway.

dcfella

When i first got my accord, i was surprised it came on so early too. It comes on early for every accord. I guess honda wants everyone to have at least 80 miles of notice b4 they have to fill up.

ravyn

i tend to notice mine flickering on and off a little before 14 gallons, and doesn't actually stay on till after 14 gallons. doesn't bother me at all. i know that i still have 3 gallons and almost 90 miles to go before i have to worry about getting gas. it's a nice little reminder.

hbund216

Does this happen after the car has been parked in the sun for a long time?

Also, have you tried putting the air on re circulate instead of drawing in fresh air?

firsttimeowner

Thanks, dcfella and ravyn. I can sit back and enjoy my Accord now.

pbhatti

the fuel gauges in cars aren't linear; they're logarithmic. That's why they move slowly in the beginning and move faster after you pass each marking. So you possible can't know you have 1/5 left unless you measured it out.

smithmd

This happened to my wife's '95. After a while, the window started creeping down. We'd have to push it back up with our hand and the switch at the same time. Then, finally, it just wouldn't stay up...it would fall about an inch or so.

We took it to the Honda dealer and they happily fixed it for about $250. He told us that we shouldn't drive around with the window cracked because the wind makes the window move side to side and the mechanism was only designed to go up and down. The car was 3 years old and had about 22,000 miles. Neither of us smoke and it was in central Texas, so we don't leave the window cracked...ever. Of course, we were about 3 months out of warranty.

We sold the car two years later with 60,000 miles and the window just starting to rattle a little again. The '95 was great, but I found an AMAZING deal on a '98 w/about 20,000 miles.

poobah2

I'm about to buy a '98 V-6-V-tech. How does everyone feel abouth them? good track record or big problems?

talon95

That's when I do the "2 to 3 degrees lower". On warm and cloudy days, I set the "real" temp that I want, and it works very well.

I really have no complaints about the climate control at all, so I can't imagine that your's is working right.

jrct9454

Nothing wrong with this car - they just didn't make a lot of them early in the model run. In Calif, 6 months after introduction, it was still difficult to find more than one or two 6 cyl cars on the lot [if there were any at all], with dozens of 4 cyls available. It's one reason we wound up with a '98 4 cyl, which was later traded on an '01 V6. If we had gotten the 6 cyl to begin with in '98, we would still be driving that car.

har1bush

Does anyone know if Honda will do anything to stay with the ever-changing competition for the '02 model year? With Nissan and Toyota redesigning their shiniest toys in their toy boxes, the '02 Accords will seem rather outdated

maxamillion1

...that there will be a new green color introduced

har1bush

wow! a green color! THAT ought to help the Accord stay in the game

ral2167

actually-- the current green is much too dark -- accord could use a lighter green-- sure as heck beats white or black (which aren't colors, really, but merely choices for those who can't decide on a color)-- nuts you say? hardly.

jrct9454

...is a holding action. The next major revision to the car is coming for Model Yr 2003, with intro roughly 14 months from now. Until then, look for the usual color, packaging, and financing diddles.

By Sept '02, there will be brand new competitors from everybody in this class: Nissan, Toyota, and Honda. The choices will all be good ones, based on what we have heard to date. All 4 cyl cars [including the long-time anemic Camry] will be in the 160-180 hp range, and the 6s will go from 225-260hp, all with lower fuel consumption and lower emissions. But for the 12 months between Sept 01 and Sept 02, Toyota and Nissan will have the field to themselves...

carguy62

It's pretty much a given the '02 Accord will still be up near the top of sales. Nissan with it's new Altima will not touch Honda or Toyoa's numbers.

n4lq

I noticed one question concerning oil leaks in posting #338 and thought I would post my story. I bought a new 1999 accord EX V6 and the next morning noticed some oil spots on the garage floor. Needless to say I was upset. The dealer tried sealing the oil pan with some blue cement to no avail. I then called Honda America and they really jumped to the rescue. They had me take it to a more local dealer who gave me a nice loaner car while they worked on it for about 3 days. The problem turned out to be a tiny pit in the cam shaft where it passes through a bearing in the block. Now after 45k miles it's still leak free.

I also had trouble with the remote key lock not working and this took several attemps to fix. They ended up replacing the multiplexer under the dash.
At about 15k miles, the front brake pads were totally shot. They replaced them under warranty and gave me a free oil change and a set of chrome exhaust tips for my trouble!
The dealer even called my home later to ask if I was happy. What service!
So my opinion of Honda's is: They aren't perfect but at least they try harder.

bdesai

Accord and Camry should still rule. Even though the new Altima is going to be far superior they are only going to make 190K cars which I suspect will go easily. The old Altima was an ill-concieved, mismanaged product, butt-ugly product but the new Altima is far better in all categories when compared with the Accord/Camry.

avoodi

hi i want to know how reliable is this car.
i am buysing a used one which has very low milage (40k) 96 EX V6 . Should i buy extended warranty ? from any of the sites ? how good are those ?

canadiancl

It should be reliable. I would be more careful about the fact that it's only got 40K for a 6+ year-old car. Make sure the service record is available.

delicaterose

Pardon me for changing the subject, but... I used to think that Hondas were great cars, until I owned one for 5 years. I purchased a brand new 95 accord and as soon as it turned 5 years, the problems began. I almost got in accidents 4 times, because the breaks would just go out for no apparent reason, and then go back to normal as if nothing was ever wrong. I took it to several shops that specialize on breaks, and none could find anything wrong with the breaks. The last time it happened, I took it to Mida's and told them to tear the piece of junk apart until they could find out what was wrong with those breaks! They did, and found there was an internal leak in the master cilynders, which cost me $500 to replace. The A/C went out twice in 3 months and the two problems were unrelated--$600 and $700 each. When the A/C went out a THIRD time, I sold the piece of crap in a heart beat! I must add that I maintain all of my cars in top-notch condition and by the book. When I sell a car, it may be 7 years old with the mileage and the looks of a 3 year old. IN SUM: HONDA YOU STINK!

canadiancl

But how do you account for the 1st five years? I assume the car was trouble-free for the first 5 years. Did you stop having it serviced at a Honda dealer after 5 years. I know people who for whatever reason use Honda service until the warranty expires. Then they start using independent shops and usually results in more problems.

jmtreetop

That is nothing....look at some of the problems Ford, Dodge, and Chevy have on much newer cars. I had a Toyota that had some problems after 3 years, but the first 3 years were great which i cannot say about any of the other 5 new american vehicles i have owned.

harry_mazda626

He guys:
When is the new Accord 02 coming out ???
Should I wait for the new one or just go ahead and buy a 01 Accord EX (4 cylinder). The dealer is asking me 200 $ over invoice...Is it a good bargain ??? Please advise...Should I wait or buy it right away ???

Cheers,
Harry

jrct9454

...if they stick to their usual habits. Initial deals may not be as good as you can get on an '01, but it won't be long until prices come down at the dealer level. Just as soon as the '02 Camry hits the streets, I would look for heavy-duty dealer incentives and financing offers on the Accord.

Whether any of this matters depends mostly on how long you keep a car. If 3-5 years, it makes sense to get an '02, because its resale value will be that much higher. After about 6-7 years, this argument goes away, and resale depends much more on mileage and condition than one model year difference.

harry_mazda626

Thankyou for ur advice...
I will go ahead and buy the 01 model since I want to keep it for 10 years...and u are right, after 10 years, the resale value depends more on the mileage and condition.

Thanks
Harry

20llbean

Sorry to hear about your problems with teh 95 Accord. I also own a 95 accord and the only issue I have with are 1), had to replace the distributor and wires due to a misfire in the engine that show up as a jumping tachometer. This was replaced free of charge as there is a tech bulletin for it. 2), my non-factory instaledl sunroof is making bad motor noises that will need a check-up. I just changed the oil and have scheduled a service date for transmission fluid change and brake fluid change. The brake fluid change will be the first time. Car has 65K miles on it and still looks new. I brought it as a 2 year old used car to boot! Your case may be the exception to the rule. Good Luck.

P.S. In comparison, I had a Ford Taurus that went through 3 transmissions, 3 radiators, 1 A/C compressor, 2 water pumps, new wiring in the steering wheel harness, Yearly CV joing replacement, constant water leak on the back wagon door, 4 batteries in 10 years, adding a quart of oil every 1.5K miles since it is below the normal range, and a Tie rod rupture on the off-ramp of a highway. Let me tell that losing a tie rod is the scariest thing I have ever went through.

mikefm58

From what I've been reading the past few years on the internet, your experience is the exception rather than the rule. But I'm sure since you experienced these problems first hand, the brake problems were a horror to you. I own a 1999 Honda CRV and a 2001 Accord LX and both vehicles have been flawless. Since Midas is the shop that finally found your brake problem, I'm just wondering what kind of shops looked at your brakes before hand? I'd never trust my vehicles to a place like Midas. But then again, some dealers can be just as bad.....Sorry to hear about your problems.

fxashun

Anyone would have told you that the problem was the master cylinder. that's the first thing that came to mind. Had the brake system ever been flushed. It's in the manual.
What happened to the A/C? Did you take it to the same people that couldn't diagnose the brakes. There are a lot of unanswered questions.

dmacl

I currently have a 1998 Accord LX coming off lease. I am leaning towards buying the EX - V6. I have been quoted $23,250 - not sure if that has destination, etc. included.

Any other recent experience with this model...?