It almost 10 years since Honda brought the Accord to the Indian market, much to the delight of the luxury car aspirants. The 7th generation Accord that is chosen for this purpose, sold between 2003 and 2007, was without a shred of doubt a great new car but is it a better used car buy?
Initial offering were two engines- a 2.4 litre four-cylinder unit capable of developing 141 bhp and a 221 bhp 3.0 litre V6. In present day second-hand market, a 2.4 litre early 2004 model will cost you around Rs 5.5 Lakhs while that of a mid-2006 model can be fetched with approximately Rs 7 Lakhs. We also managed to lay our hands on the post-facelift May 2007 low-mileage V6 for Rs 9.90 Lakhs.
If you intend to buy a V6, performance should be the most important factor on your list. Getting V6 performance with a price which is anything less than Rs10 Lakhs figure is a huge draw though and for the automobile which is just 3 years old, reliability will not be a major issue. The V6 is on record of giving an overall mileage of 7.2kpl, so one must be fully aware and be prepared for the huge running cost that will have to be incurred. The 2.4-litre Honda Accord is a better and a much safer bet if you are a saving buff. The automatic model gives the overall mileage of 8.7 kpl and the manual gives a somewhat decent 10 Kpl.
Honda is Reliability personified and the Accord is no exception. However, a few hiccups exist. The display on the music system shows signs of problems on some cars. The repairing cost was ascertained at Rs 5,000. Other widely cited issues were pertaining to faulty engines and transmission mountings that cost approximately Rs 30,000 to replace. The oxygen sensor that fails mainly due to impurities in fuel will cost you a further of Rs 16,000. Due to the sheer quality of the interiors, they didn’t show any signs of wear and tear.
The main benefits of a used Honda accord are two-fold. A premium luxury saloon at the cost of the modern day new premium hatchback cars and a cheap performance machine in the mould of V6. It’s as good as a used car as a new one can be. Without a rival the used Honda Accord is the best used car you can find today.
Checklist while evaluating a used Honda Accord
- Check for faulty engines and transmission mountings whether it needs repair. Either one of them been in good condition would be a good proposition.
- Check for the Oxygen Sensor failure through a diagnostic scan.
- Check for the transmission fluid level in Automatic Accords, as it cost a significant amount. Been automatic, it is an important constituent to be checked into.
- Last but not the least in high-mileage cars, check for the suspension. This is important as high-mileage cars are used roughly and for extended periods of time. Hence make sure that the suspensions are functioning properly.