Are all hondas this bad?

[Brooks]

I bought an '89 Accord LX in January with 181,000 km on it. It now has 191,000 km on it. I'm gentle with this car. It also appears in great condition, nicely driven the engine sounds good, great body.

However, I've also plunked $900 Canadian into repairs already. First it was front brakes (hey thats ok, it happens). Then the rear speakers go (well, I guess they wore out). I had to get them replaced (cheap ones). The hot/cold bar wasn't working so I needed some new valve. Two ball joints went, replaced those. The AC never worked and the rear defroster is toast.

To add to thise I'm gonna need to get the rear struts replaced as they have nearly had it. Furthermore there is a mad squeeking going on and the mechanic said an $8 part was causing it, but it would take 2-3 hours to get in there and fix so he recommended forgetting it.

Lastly, SOMETHING fell onto the ground yesterday by my feet as I was driving, I can't explain what it is but I'm going to take a picture later and see.Its like an electrical socket of some sort...

A car of this age, caringly driven, how much money should I need to throw into it a year? I was hoping for no more than about $1000 Candian and I've already put almost that in 5 months.

Brooks

 

[Aquaman]

No major problems here. I have a 1990 Honda Civic Si with 120K on it. The only bad thing is that its a car B&E magnet.

ps. Looks like you'll have to change the timeing belt soon (every 90000 to 100000 km).

pps. the AC probably needs a recharge & when you get it they will have to convert your AC to use non-CFC coolant.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[yakko]

Brooks,

The ball joint and struts you shouldn't have to replace again for quite awhile.The car will probably gone by then.Sometimes on an older car no matter how well taken care of it was parts that wear out under normal driving conditions seem to all wear out at once.I used to be a VW mechanic and saw it happen all the time.What is really funny is some of the owners would do all but one last repair then sell the car and the new owner repairs that one thing and we don't see him again for a year or two.Stick with it these cars a pretty reliable.

 

[Brooks]

Acquaman, timing belt was changed at 140,000. As for AC yeah thats what I think it needs - do you have any idea how much a conversion for the AC would cost and a refilling? Anyone...? I'd like the AC fixed but I'm not interested in spending too much to do it, and this summer so far has been so damn cold anyway I doubt I'll need it this year, but last year was terribly hot.

Yakko I hope so!

 

[riceboi5]

My Dad used to have a '80 Accord, got 150k out of it with just basic service (eg oil changed often, etc)

 

[Ferocious]

I'll never buy another Honda.

Used to be a great car. But way overrated anymore.

Avoid the 2000 Preludes like the plague. My buddy who is a Honda mechanic has been seeing all kinds of problems with these cars.

If you buy a Honda, get an older one that was well cared for.

 

[thirdkind]

Unless you know the previous owner personally, there's no way for you to know how those first 181k miles went for that car. He/she could have beaten the crap out of it.

Also, the plain fact of the matter is, you're driving an 11-year-old car with 191,000 miles on it. It will have mechanical failures. It's old.

It's funny what yakko said also. Until recently I drove an '88 Dodge Daytona (just picked up a 2000 Civic ). When I first bought that car almost six years ago, it only had 70k miles on it. For the first year, however, practically everything that could go wrong with it did. It cost me a small fortune in maintenance. During the last five years, though, I've only performed regular maintenance, had a couple minor repairs, and one major repair (front and rear struts). And it's been like 12k miles since I last changed the oil It seems like as soon as I stopped caring about it, it started trying harder to impress me or something

Used cars are funny like that. Some will nickel and dime you to death, others will run forever. It's a gamble.

 

[Brooks]

Thirdkind - no it has 191,000 KM! Not miles Thats like around 115 or so. THe first owner was a doctor I believe, then the last owner was a regular adult and he had it for a very short amount of time...

Brooks

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Brooks - me and my dad own 2 Honda Accord LXi's - the only problems we've had are the brakes (like you mentioned), bent engine mounts and 2 axle replacements. (All on one of them) The other the only problem is that the A/C doesn't work anymore. (We will have to replace the compressor which is $1500 alone, so my dad said fookit) You sound like you got a really bad lemon.

 

[Brooks]

Well when I get home i'm going to go through all the records and see how much has consistently been spent on it. If anything beyond these struts needs to be replaced in the near future I'm going to scrap the damn thing. Its a decent car when it isn't giving me a headache, but considering I could buy a brand new one for not much more per month than I currently spend in repairs I must draw the line somewhere.

Brooks

 

[Ferocious]

Another thing I didn't like about the '90 civic I owned was safety. The car that hit me (a regular size Oldsmobile) suffered barely a dent in the bumber. My car was totaled!

After that experience, I place safety near the top of considerations now. Never thought of it much before that terrifying experience.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/422814.asp

Nice article. The menu allows you to compare the cars used in the test. The Toyota Avalon and Ford Taurus (Best pick) both did great. I've since recommended a new Taurus to several people buying a new car with safety and price as major concerns.

 

[Buddha Bart]

an 89 honda with only 115 and its giving you this much crap?
Two possibilities. One, one of the previous owners beat the piss out of it. Or Two, you are on the "ass-shaft" end of the statistical bell curve.
My sisters 87 accord has 176K Miles on it, and the only things that have had to be replaced are the parts I've broken off-roading. (which I can in no way fault the car for )
Oh, and one brake job.

bart

 

[Aquaman]

Hi Brooks,

I've done the brakes on my car once and replaced the muffler twice (once was russt the other was a damn high speed bump). I have no idea about the AC recharge.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[RSI]

We had a '91 Civic Si hatchback up till recently (mother totalled it), and we never had any trouble with it. The only thing that had to be done was standard maintenance, nothing expensive... we changed the muffler once, maybe twice..

-RSI

PS: Due to living in Quebec, it started rusting...

 

[HardTech]

There are some really minor problems with the 5th generation Preludes, but so far I have had none whatsoever. It is a terrific car, and I plan on getting as many miles out of it as I possibly can. Knowing Honda, it'll probably be around 150k miles or so, upwards of 200k if I take care of it really well.

My last car was a 1990 Honda Accord with 171k miles on it. My dad absolutely refused to do any work on it, so taking it on the road was a gamble with my life. I changed the brake pads myself, and other than that it was cool as beans. The car never died on me, and sometimes I miss it.