Faults:
1) Engine stalled stranding my wife 5 times. Each time it would not restart and needed to be towed into the dealer (up to 75 miles).
Wires,plugs , spark igniter, cap, etc. were replaced 2 times, I have no confidence the problem has been solved even now. I cannot even give this car to any of my family members (I cannot trust that it is actually fixed).
2) Worst thing, odometer got stuck at 49,000 and blew, 2500.00 off any trade in opportunity I had. Plus $300.00+ for the dealer to fix it. The title must list actual mileage as unknown as the odometer would be reset at 0. Swell, I'm buying a Nissan Maxima and I have yet to decide what to do with this dog. Trade in is out of the question as they don't even want the car with the odometer issue.
3) The tires and rims leaked air (all 4 of them ) which needed to be taken in to the dealer and remounted (blew a day of work for that).
3) VTEC 4 cylinder is a poor example of a powerplant in that it is noisy, underpowered, and sounds like it is chewing up marbles at idle.
4) Stereo is poor, the CD in the trunk is in the way of everything.
General Comments:
If you are considering a Honda go for the V-6, Honda even knows the VTEC 4 sucks as they are offering incentives to get rid of them.
As for the dependability, I have owned 2 Accords, a '90 and a '96, the '90 was a great car, the '96 has been the worst vehicle. Beware they are not all they are cracked up to be.
22nd Oct 2004, 12:09
I have a Honda Accord EX 4dr Sedan 1996 Auto Trans, and it suffers from all of that. Also because of the burning oil, my crank bearings are now bad, so my car is gone/dead. It is very comfortable, but IT SUCKS!!!