Is it ever a bad idea to buy a Honda Accord?
Yes.
It was a bad idea because I still liked the car I had, one that would be paid off in a year.
It was a bad idea because once again I settled for less than what I really wanted.
It was a bad idea because even 30+ years later, I can’t explain why I bought it. Actually, I leased it (another bad idea).
In my defense, the Honda Accord has long been the gold standard of compact/midsize cars. Jewel-like build quality. Anvil-like reliability. Plus, at least to me, the Accord has always been more attractive than the Toyota Camry and more engaging to drive. You can recommend an Accord to someone who cares about cars and driving as well as to someone who just wants the car to work with minimal fuss.
My sister Susan still had her ’85 Accord sedan, and it was still a honey. In fact, she named the car Honey (the champagne gold color was appropriate). I had really liked the 1986-89 Accords with the pop-up lights and sleek wedge shape, especially the svelte coupe that appeared in 1988. But I couldn’t afford one at the time, plus it had those horrible door-mounted seat belts I despised. The 1990-93 generation was a step backward, at least in terms of styling. The sedan was OK, but the coupe looked downright frumpy.
The styling for the 1994 Accord was much improved, especially the coupe. So in June 1995, I went to the Honda dealer, intent on a Sage Green Accord EX coupe.
That’s not what I left with.
As had happened before, the finance people said an Accord EX was more than they would finance on my income. The price for the EX was $21,000. That was $2,560 more than the LX, which they were willing to finance.
I should have said “No thanks” and driven off in my ’91 Corsica at that point. But I didn’t.
They showed me an Accord LX coupe in Sage Green. Instead of the sharp alloy wheels, it had cheap-looking plastic wheel covers. No moonroof. No VTECH. No ABS. The interior looked about the same, though.
I took it for a test drive, and I’ll admit the car drove beautifully. The 2.2 liter four-cylinder had almost as much power as the V6 in my Corsica. It was smoother. Quieter. The interior was light and airy, with material quality that was — no surprise — a step above GM.
So yes, overall the Accord was superior to the Corsica. But it wasn’t that much better. Nothing like the giant leap from the Excel to the Corsica. And certainly not enough to take on four more years of car payments.
The day after I brought the Accord home, I woke up with a serious case of buyer’s remorse. But it was too late. The payment cycle had been reset.
So I accepted that the Accord was mine. And it was a very pleasant daily driver with all the attributes an Accord is rightfully praised for. It was also an excellent road-trip car, making that same trek to San Diego, this time with my sister, my nieces and my Dad. Once again, my sister had a lead foot, but with the 4-speed automatic, the Accord didn’t drink as heavily as the Corsica did at 80+ MPH.
I discovered something else on that trip. When it came to air conditioning, GM had it all over Honda. This was in the early days of the conversion from R12 to R134a, and the Accord’s system was barely adequate for an Arizona summer. A meat locker on wheels this was not.
Other than the weak A/C, I did like the Accord. But I didn’t love it. Even though, in the entire time I had the car, not one single thing ever went wrong with it. Reliability is something you can appreciate. Respect. But it does not inspire excitement. Or devotion.
It might sound like I’m being hard on the Accord. But mostly, I’m being hard on myself. Because even though it was an excellent car, it is still the only car purchase that I consider a mistake.
Note: Opening image, my Accord, October, 1998 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Related Reading:
Curbside Classic: 1996 Honda Accord LX – In Accordance With American Demands
COAL: 1996 Honda Accord LX- Looking Back through a Heather Mist
COAL: 1996 Honda Accord EX – Used but Not Abused
CC Outtake: 1996 Honda Accord Coupe – Forgiveness Is Love
This was an interesting read, especially for its honesty. How many of us really want to face it when we have made a mistake in picking a car? And if not a mistake (because Honda was almost never an overtly wrong answer) at least settling for something less than what we wanted.
You make me remember back to the 88 Accord my wife owned when we got married. She LOVED that car, and still remembers it as her favorite of everything she has ever driven on a regular basis. Me? I came to respect it but I cannot say that it made me love it, just as you explained with this one.
I also agree about the air conditioning – with rare exceptions, non-U.S. cars of that period just never had a/c systems that could stand up to the hottest, most humid weather here in the way that most American systems of the 70s-90’s did. Though the R-134 thing bit some American systems too, like the R*134 system in my 94 Ford van that struggled to to its job on hot days.