Honda Accord Coupe

cstiles

Based on my experience, I think the improved grip of the tires can reduce torque steer tendencies. I experienced this with my previous Si, too. I thought the Michelin Pilot MXMs on the 6spd, along with the Michelin XGT V4s on the Civic Si, were not up to the capabilities of either car. In fact, both tires emphasize smooth ride and fuel mileage over handling. Although the Civic had low torque, if you hit it right on launch, there is some torque steer. When I swapped out the tires with better rubber, it sure felt to me like there was more control on launches, and less tendency with sideways momentum with the front wheels, which is what torque steer is. The current TL has been criticized for this tendency, and perhaps the availability of AWD in the new 300HP RL is one sign of how Honda plans to respond to this issue. Look for AWD in other Honda models in the future, especially those with higher HP and torque.

paulc

HI! I am planning to buy a 04 Honda accord coupe V6, 6 speed MT, Model EXL with Nav. I plan to add a body kit (aero kit) and rear wing spoiler on it as well. The lowest price I got was $28355.00 without TTL.

The invoice price for the car is $25651
Destination is $490
spilier $604(dealer price)
Ground effect $1217 (dealer price)

What do you guys think is a fair price to ask for? I am thinking about asking for $500 below invoice price.

Thanks a lot.
Paul

dust90

Well, your posting in the wrong area, but I think the 6 speed coupes(and they only come as an EX-L)are still going for MSRP or very close. The demand is still high for this car, the Accord performance champ!

abromson

Latest is:
     1) At 700 mi. service manager agrees that rotors were warped and is replacing them. Could have been driven hard off the assembly line by the factory personnel, he speculates. Wasn't me, as I drive like as gently as an old man. I think, the car had defective rotors to begin with.
     2 Engine ticking, which was initially dismissed as not existing by the Honda technician and, upon appeal, also by service manager, was, upon further examination, due to a broken valve lifter which, they surmise, was that way when it left the factory.
    I'll be about 5 days without my brand new car.
    I'm beginning to wonder a bit about the future with this car...

reuban

First of all, I have changed many flat tires in my life as a driver, but this one is perplexing. This is the first flat I have experienced on my 2000 Honda Accord Coupe--rear drivers side. Have all lug nuts off and car jacked but wheel wont budge! Something to do with chrome wheels? security? Please help

dust90

Your wheel is being held on by corrosion where the wheel center fits over the axle flange - I've seen it many times. Use wood - 2x4 or 4x4 - and place it against the inside of the wheel(not the tire, but the wheel), then hit the 2x4(or x4) with a large hammer. You may have to rotate the wheel and impact it in several places. Be carful not to damage the wheel(depends on if you have alloy or steel, how easy it bends) Before you replace the wheel, clean up the corrosion and apply a little silcon grease. I do this everytime that I rotate my tires and have no problems.

dust90

Sounds to me like someone ran the crap out of your car when it had 0 to 3 or so miles on it. Overrev(easy to do in V6 6speed) and then a panic stop from 100+ by some youngster, while nothing is broke in yet could do it. Does the dealer have a teenage son?

abromson

Don't know about the dealer but I don't have any kids still at home and I'm an "old guy" and the car had only a very few miles on her when I took delivery. Frankly, I didn't notice the pulsating until the car reached about 500 miles, so I can't conclusively feel the damage was done from 0 to 3 miles---although the service manager says it could have begun at the factory. Well, new rotors will give me a brand new start and I'm sure the brakes will be fine thereafter.
The broken valve lifter will be replaced in a day or two. It shocks me that quality control at the factory didn't catch that problem for one reason or another.

gee35coupe

Especially in a car like the 6 speed coupe. Think of a carrier delivering his first 6 speed coupe and gunning it while staging it. I used to work at a dealership. You'd be surprised what can happen to a car during prep.

lmacmil

Probably some corrosion between the wheel and hub. I would whack the wheel with a rubber mallet (from the back if possible) to try and loosen it. Put the car on a jack stand first.

abromson

Had a broken roller on Camshaft---came like that from the factory, Honda guy says. Now repaired and the ticking in the engine is gone. Maybe I'm imagining but the car seems more powerful than ever.
New rotors---no pulsating anymore.
I'm starting over and giving my brand new car a whole new second chance.
Could any damage have been done by this broken whatever?

whitecloud1

No damage if the car is running like you say. Problems would show up immediately with something like that.

abromson

Thanks. So far so good. A few months of trouble- free performance will restore my confidence in my new car. Still a bit surprised though, re: Honda's quality control, etc.

jetdriven

The car is San Marino Red and is a real nice coupe. Houston dealers want 27,555 and I can get it for 24,300 here in oklahoma. Payment borrowing 24,000 is 455 a month. is this a good deal? we have no car payment currently.

lmacmil

That looks like $2000 under MSRP which sounds like a good deal to me. I'd put down a little more to lower that monthly payment. Are they still running a low interest rate promo?

jetdriven

our 1700$ integra will only cover taxes. Might be able to put down 1000$ which lowers it to 441$/mo. Honda has 3.9% but I dont think a 680 credit score wil qualify. 3.9% only lowers payments about 6-9$ a month.

anonymousposts

If your credit is strong enough andthe 680 beacon is a result of inquiries (or some other minor issue) and you have perfect credit 3.9% should be attainable.

skiatl

http://www.vtec.net/articles/view-article?page_number=4&artic- le_id=113992

c182skylane

Thanks for the link to the dyno data. Wow.

shorthairptr

I do not know if this is a myth or not but when you drive a new car, is there a mph that you should NOT go over for a certain amt. of miles until the car is broken in?

Ex. many years ago when I bought my Toyota, I was not allowed to go over 55 for the first 1,000 miles.

If this is true, tell me the mph and the amount of miles.

Thanks,

lmacmil

Your owner's manual will tell you any break-in restrictions.

jetdriven

Well we went to one of the Houston dealers today. Windshield addendum sticker on their 04 EX coupe showed 27,895. I just straight up told the salesman that I had an offer of 24,303 for an 04 EX coupe no NAV up in Oklahoma. he came back with 23,995 +TTL. total was 25,705 drive out on a red six speed no NAV car. Thing is the honda 3.9% financing and 200$ manufacturer-to-dealer incentive ends Monday, 5/3/04. the payment with 3.9% financing is 429$ (2500$ down). Should I pull the trigger or will the financing deal continue past Monday? I get the feeling that I am never gonna buy a new accord any cheaper. God, that 6-speed is magic!

anonymousposts

I say buy it. Sounds like a great price. The incentives may get better come 5/4 but they may also get worse. If you are happy with the car then sign the papers and enjoy.

atlantabenny

The power, strength of concept, and overall execution of the car have so far squelched any trade-up plans.

Having vied unsuccessfuly for a defection since the car got into my hands were "viable aspiration cars" like the RX-8 (user-unfriendly tradeoffs for the rotary experience), the G35 coupe (bling-bling and 80s center stack) and the Solara (baby Orca styling).

Not that Honda didn't flub a few things: left dash still creaks when cold, the driver's seat squeaks near the seat belt anchor, and the black window molding is progressively wrinkling.

It's when driving that the car emphasizes its ledger of pluses. Take-off and interstate merging are effortless but engaging. Tracking is rail-like. All with near-4 cyl economy.

Maybe a new-gen Acura CL minus tranny issues will get me out of this car.

lmacmil

Thanks for the update. It's posts like this that keep the Accord coupe on my short list. Do you have the 6-sp or the auto?

gee35coupe

You can have that moulding replaced under warranty. Same thing happened to my 03 coupe. They replaced it with no problems. We looked and all the new ones had the same problem to some degree.

atlantabenny

Lee: Glad to share the ownership experience. It's an automatic, btw.
Leon: Yeah, I remember your having the same problem, later fixed, with your coupe.

PS - Did some things to fill a few cosmetic and functional holes with the car. Put on spec-perfect 17" TSX rims with Michelon Pilots, with Honda center caps added on. Recently installed "non-OEM" foglights from eBay (talk of pleasant surprises as to quality). Removed mudflaps and moonroof visor to reclaim the styling purity of the car. Probably my last vanity act with this car is a wood or metal trim kit (this one I know enough to be OEM) to give the interior some pop.

banditcosmo

That's a pretty good price and close to invoice but you may want to shop around some more. I just bought my Red 04 ex 6 coupe 6 speed for 22,646.00
I was all set to buy it for 24,500 when I decided to make another call and got the 22,646.00 price. I couldn't believe the price. They were trying to fill their quota's for the end of the month.
The crazy thing was the dealer that gave me the price was 100 miles from me and they did not have a red one in stock but he said he would get one the next day. The car he ended up getting for me was the same car I was going to buy at my local dealer.

jetdriven

whoa!!! I thougth invoice was 24,333 and the actual dealer cost was 23,343. (Invoice minus 3% holdback minus 200$ FTD incenitve). How did you do it? Honda incentives end tomorrow. Perhaps I need some leverage to push him.

banditcosmo

I just called this dealer and he gave me that price. Like I said it was the end of the month so I guess they needed the sales plus this dealer is near Northern Va. where their is heavy dealer competition. Note; the $22,646 was before destination and taxes.

I'm loving this car so far. I can't wait until I hit 600 miles so I can open her up a little. It's hard holding back on the accelerator.

liljeffatl

I have a '04 6-speed w/ about 800 miles on it. I love this car!

Unfortunately, I've had a few things come up which I've taken it to the dealer for. One was a vibration in the driver's door, perhaps from the faux metal trim area. There was also a light out on the passenger seat heater. The biggest problem is that the stick will literally pop out of 1st gear into neutral at times when driving. It also has to sometimes be forced to get from 5th to 6th. So, you may find yourself trying to get through an intersection and suddenly in neutral.

The service tech drove another new 6-speed they had on lot and it did the same thing, therefore they say there's nothing wrong with it, though the cables are probably a bit tight and it should improve as time goes on.

Anyone else have this problem? Does it get better the more you drive it? I think it may already been improving before I took it in, but that could also be cause I'm scared to leave it in 1st for long!

gee35coupe

There is no way in the world the transmission should pop out of gear. Period. Period. Period.

I'd be beyond P/O'ed if they told me my $24,000 car should have a stick like that. My $15,000 Civic doesn't even do that.

liljeffatl

To reply to a few recent posts regarding the 6-speed Coupe:

Gas mileage: I thought I'd get around 25mpg w/ my mix of city/highway, but through 2 tanks, I'm getting almost exactly 20mpg. My cummute to work is about 15 miles, about 10 of which are on the highway. Perhaps for such short periods of time you really don't get the advantage of HWY miles?

Premium gas/HP: When I was doing research, one of the reviews I read online quoted the Accord Project Manager himself saying that you get more HP w/ premium gas. It appears that the vtec.com test prooves that.

Price: Someone made the comment that the 6-speeds go for close to MSRP. This is absolutely NOT the case, as you can see in the prices paid forum. I paid $200 less than wholesale, about $1500 less than invoice, and about $2500 less than MSRP for mine 3 weeks ago, even though these cars are hard to find (especially w/ the navi as mine was).

dust90

I agree 100%!! My 6 speed only popped out of 1st gear one time, and that was because I didn't have it fully engaged. That tranny should be smooth as silk and move from one gear to the other easily. Make sure that they check the clutch, as that will creat shifting problems. Even my 13 year old son rows the gears like a pro!(on very rural back roads, only).

grpark

We did $24,333 at John Eagle here in Houston, so your $23,995 is an even better deal. I bought the 6sp. v6 Black with Black interior (should get to about 1000 degrees inside in the cool Houston summer I can't say enough about the dealer as they have been great. They even sent me a $70.00 check when about 1 week later I notice a tax that I did not agree with on the final contract. I complained to the GM and 2 days later I received a check.

You will love the car.

1st gear (and any other) should not and does not pop out. I get around 21 MPG with very short drives as my commute is about 4 miles each way.

Hope this is useful!

jetdriven

Local houston dealer gave us a price of 23,995$ for a EX V6 coupe. I told the salesman to call me when they could locate a 6-speed model in my color. He calls me at 9AM today (monday) and told me he has located the car. I asked him are you SURE and he affirmed. They ran my credit and I was told "the manager says 3.9% no problem". Even though I told them to submit it to honda finance so I am 100% sure. Anyway, after I tell him we have a deal he calls back 10 mins later and the 6-speed car the color I want cannot be found! Somehow both of them were sold! They wont go out of state to get one because it "costs too much."
  he then tries to switch me to a silver one they have in stock. No deal. Still never submitted my info to honda finance after they pulled credit bureau.
  I should have known better. it was a unrealistic lowball offer that only was conditional upon jacking the rate up to cover their profit.
  BTW another dealer located two of the cars I want in Dallas.
  I dont think I am buying a car at all after this experience. I am disgusted with this game. Two delaer have done this exact same thing to me in a week.

jetdriven

also, I hear that a 6-speed car has not as good of reslae value as an automatic. I love the 6-speed car but I am concerned about the inevitable time when I sell it or trade it in. Any comments? My thought was that a 6-speed is more of an enthusiasts cart and although there are fewer buyers, the ones wanting one will pay top[ dollar becuase of the rarity and performance.

lmacmil

How long are you planning to keep the car? If more than 5 years, the difference probably won't amount to that much if you trade. If you try to sell it yourself, the limited market for a manual may make it more difficult to sell. My $.02.

jetdriven

Planning on 3-5 years. 6-speed sure is fun to drive. Also, a buddy in the car business told me that white, black, and silver have the highest resale also. Red in his opinion was a mistake. ?????

lmacmil

I think people worry too much about trade-in value. If you're planning to drive a car for 3-5 years, you should get exactly what you want. I can't imagine the color is going to affect the value more than $100. I think red with the camel interior looks great. I'm not big on black interiors and that's all you can get with black or silver exterior I think.

ashutoshsm

A relative called - they're looking at a used (41K miles) EX Accord Coupe, no extras, Auto. I did some preliminary research, and it appears this is among that infamous, massive batch of cars that Honda was forced to extend the tranny warranty on, to 7 years 100K. In my opinion, thats a plus - at least its warrantied.

Is there anything else to look out for? This is a 2.3l 4 cylinder VTEC, auto, EX coupe, with no other extras, according to them.

grpark

I have heard this in the past, but my 5-speed Maxima held it's resale great. So, I am not really sure where this comes from. When I traded my Max it had the same price for auto and 5 speed.

Might be worth pulling some used manual vs. automatic to see how they match up.

On the other hand, I do tend to keep cars 8-10 years, so resale is not a big factor.

Check with John Eagle's internet department to see if they can make a good deal (I tried to put some details in, but I violated some of the posting rules ... sorry!) They quoted us 24,333 for everything except NAV and never tried any upsales, games, etc. Excellent process.

lawdawgfl

I love my red, I think it looks good. I think the "red is a ticket magnet" is false. (from experience) I really love the six speed, it is great going through all the gears. As for resale, who cares?? As long as you like the car and it serves you well. I would hate to spend all this money and not get a car that I didn’t like, or second-guess what it could have been like. Get what you want and enjoy it.
Did I mention I really LOVE this car, and to think I almost got a Civic. After showing my wife the Civic she saw the Accord and said “the Civic is nice but what about that car..” Thanks to her the Accord it was. I have only seen one other red six-speed in this area.

excl2005

I have a 2003 Honda Accord EX V6, coupe with Navigation 6 Speed Manual

I have the Exclusive 17" alloy wheels package. However, these wheels are chronically dirty with dirt and grease. Also, I can never get them clean. Any solutions?

Actually, I'm thinking of getting the same alloy wheel pattern but in chrome. I think the 17" chrome wheels would look "sweet" with the sapphire blue pearl exterior color. Any recommendations? dealers?

Thanks for the suggestions!

excl2005

* I recently discovered that a small section of the clear coat on my 2003 Honda Accord EX V6 with has chipped away. I spoke to an auto detailer about this, and he recommended using "clear finger nail polish." What do you think of this recommendation?

* I was using a mechanical buffer to get out some scuff marks/discolorations on the rocker panel/base side panel of my Accord, when I unfortunately found out it was plastic not metal. Anyway, I used Honda's touch up paint to cover up the "dime size" mistake, but it still looks rough compared to the rest of the panel. Any recommendations?

This actually leads to a bigger question. How does one treat the always present scratches/scuff marks/dings on the plastic parts of the Accord? Any products out there to use?

Thanks for all of the help,
~D~

cstiles

I've owned 12 Hondas in less than 16 years, and every model has been a stick. It is true that resale is lower, especially with Accord sedans. With Civics, I don't think it matters...in fact sometimes a stick helps. You do have to pick your spots when it's time to trade the car in. But remember that most Hondas with sticks have lower MSRP than their slushbox counterparts, so you're starting from a lower price point, so logically, resale value will be commensurately lower. With the Accord coupe, I think a 6speed will hold up fine 3-5 yrs down the road at trade-in time, especially if you weren't foolish enough to pay full MSRP at the start. I bought mine for about $2000 below sticker, and I got good trade value for my 99 Civic Si, so swapping stick for stick, I did fine. I would just be careful not to buy an Accord sedan with a stick unless you get a great price at the start. I've walked away at the end of 2 (great) leases on 5spd sedans since the residual was WAY over market value. I assume Honda took a bath on those at auction.

blane

excl2005:

I would stay away from nail polish. Just an application of a decent paste wax, once or twice per year, should be fine.

For your "dime size" mistake, I'd consider some gently hand-applied polishing compound. Then a coat of the same paste wax as above.

Your best solution to treating "the always present scratches/scuff marks/dings on the plastic parts" is to not become obsessive about them and just enjoy your car without using a magnifing glass to check the paint. Such surface concerns are not unique to Accords, rather, they are present on either plastic or metal parts on ANY vehicle that has ever been manufactured. Unless, that is, it has been placed under glass in a museum, straight off the assembly line.

boognish

Can anyone tell me if the TCS(Traction Control System) can be switched on/off whenever? I am seriously looking at getting a Coupe next year and so far it looks great after reading up on it.

anonymousposts

I know the traction control in my 2001 V6 could be switched off.

whitecloud1

I have an '03 Coupe. The TCS can be deactivated anytime. It is on automatically when you start the car. I've found few occasions where turning it off makes a diff though.