Faults:

There's a vibration when you accelerate or go uphill from 50-70 MPH, that's why I got it for very cheap. Some say it's the axles, some say it's the clutch (I doubt that), and some say it's the differential bearing. I haven't tried fixing it yet, but it's a common problem with many of these 2.4 power-trains (both manual and automatic) on both Accords and CR-Vs.

Had an oil leak from the VTEC solenoid gasket that stopped by using a bottle of stop leak; this stuff usually never works!

The radio backlight wasn't working when I bought it (VERY common problem). Then the CD changer stopped (less common), then the AUX extension stopped working. New: $170 eBay, $900 dealership.

General Comments:

I had 2 98-02 Accords before and this is my third one, so I'm going to compare the car with them.

Great improvement over older Accords in reliability, space, power, and handling.

The 2.4 with DOHC has only 10 more HP over the older 2.3, but it has smooth torque at all RPM, no VTEC kicks :D

I'm going to compare it to 02-06 Camry and 02-07 Altima as they're the top 3 selling in this category.

The 03-05 tail lights are ugly at first, but you appreciate them with time somehow. The car overall looks nicer than other cars in its category (the Altima comes close). The interior is by far the best looking of them all. It's hard plastic everywhere (bad), but it's very durable and very practical. 8 CUPHOLDERS!

Noticeably bigger interior and much more massive trunk. Bigger slightly than the Camry's and a bit smaller than the Altima's.

Better city and hwy MPG, 26/34 EPA vs 22/29 EPA for the old manual one; better than every single car in the competition at that year.

Quieter and smoother on the highway, but a little harsher in the city than the old one. Camry's of same year are better in ride quality though.

Handles great, much better than the old one. Altima's handle better but ride like crap, and Camry's are obviously a joke when it comes to that.

Reliable everywhere, suspension connections doesn't get loose and clunky like the old one, valve cover gaskets don't leak, auto transmissions don't blow every 50k. The car is almost 200k, with good condition stock everything from clutch to springs and shocks, and even rotors!

Overall, it's a good balance for a younger driver. Better MPG than other cars in the category, same reliability as the most reliable but most boring "Camry", and you can't say that about any older Accord, nice handling-comfort balance.

Faults:

Some of these problems are related to high mileage, so read on at your own discretion:

CD player stopped working around 200,000 miles.

Power button on the radio is broken. Because of this, the car radio will often turn on by itself on when I'm not in the car. Kinda creepy I know. So I have to turn the volume down every time I get out of the car.

At 150,000 miles the catalytic converter needed to be replaced (but that's probably expected for a car with that many miles).

Ceramic brake pads wear out pretty quickly, so I had to replace them often. When I didn't replace them, I started to hear a loud scraping sound coming from the wheels.

There's a lot of road noise inside the car while I was driving. The engine also gets to be pretty loud after 150,000 miles.

General Comments:

My Accord has been incredible. Solid as a rock and unbelievably reliable. Throughout the 11 years I've owned it, I've gotten it up to 261,000 miles on basic maintenance. Easiest (and cheapest) car in the world to maintain. It's been exposed to the fiercest elements of New England weather and has never broken down a single time.

People often hesitate to buy cars over 100,000 miles. But this car is just as reliable at 100,000 miles as it was when I first got it. I'm confident I could buy another Accord at 200,000 miles and still drive it up to about 500,000 with barely any faults.

Radio has had some issues but the sound system is excellent. The only thing I wish is that the 2003 had an aux cable hookup. It's worth looking into getting an aftermarket radio/MP3 system.

It's a family sedan, but the 2.4L VTEC engine isn't anything to be embarrassed about. Honda did a great job with this engine and it shows.