[BHPjunkie]

Hi to all team-BHP members. I am in a dilemma about what to do with my 2011 Honda Accord 2.4 manual. The Accord is my mother's current ride. She is a professional and been working since the last 35 years. Thanks to her I have been fortunate enough to have driven some great cars on sale in India.

Coming to the point of this thread. Her 2 rides currently are; a 2016 BMW 520d and a 2011 Honda Accord 2.4 manual. She is 100% of the time chauffer driven and uses both the vehicles alternately. Her daily drive is close to 100 kms including the weekends. She swears by the Accord and loves the vehicle, however considering her everyday run we are forcing her to get a new vehicle for herself, a Camry or maybe a Superb.

Now the question is that shall we keep the Accord considering it is absolutely fine mechanically. The Accord has done approximately 155k kms in the 10 years and yet drives like a dream. The space on offer is absolutely fantastic and the ride comfort is also very good. The vehicle has never been a headache or too expensive to maintain and been to service center majorly for regular service. The clutch was changed once at the 80k mark, suspension was overhauled at the 100k mark and the vehicle is due for its 2nd tire change. The interiors have started showing age now, with seat backs being worn, the armrest on the door pads have peeled off, leather has developed cracks, exterior plastic and rubber has started showing age.

Now considering everything, if we decide to sell the Accord, we can expect a paltry 1.5-2 lacs considering the age and mileage on it. Now for someone buying the Accord, it is a fair price considering the age and mileage, however for me the price is worthless when the vehicle is working absolutely fine. What I need an input on is, if we decide to keep the vehicle, is there any major expense that can be expected in the next 5 years?

If we decide to keep the vehicle, I have plans to spruce up the vehicle. New rims, stiffer suspension, bigger discs and calipers and and exhaust and use it personally. The Accord would then be a more of a weekend/night car as my everyday ride is a December 2018 VW Ameo DSG Highline Plus. However does it make sense to do that? The other option is to spend a bit on the vehicle's interior get a new paint job and continue using the Accord as stock within city limits.

Reponses will be highly appreciated.

[shancz]

Originally Posted by BHPjunkie

- She swears by the Accord and loves the vehicle, however considering her everyday run we are forcing her to get a new vehicle for herself, a Camry or maybe a Superb.

- The Accord has done approximately 155k kms in the 10 years and yet drives like a dream.

- However does it make sense to do that?

I don't have any experience of the class of vehicles being talked about so just chiming in from a common sense perspective.

- On the need of change, take her on a TDs of the cars you've shortlisted and then let her take the call.

- The USP of sorted Hondas is what you're benefiting from. This is what you paid for.

- I would prefer to go through the above points first.
If it's driving well and is mainly being chauffeured around then keep it stock, don't unnecessarily change stuff.
Your Ameo is serving you well and let it be that way.

[nik0502]

I have a 2010 Civic VAT driven 1 lac kms. I was also in dilemma weather to keep it or let it go. I decided in favour of keeping it. The condition was exactly as you mentioned. Door pad leather going off. Rubber trims falling off. I got the car a complete paint job. New seat covers including the door pad and armrest leather change. Upgraded the music system and have decided to keep it for few more years now. I think It makes sense to spend a little on it and keep it rather than selling it for 1-2 lac rupees

[Porcupine]

This depends on budget and your replacement options really. It will definitely be cheaper in the short term to spruce the Accord up a little bit, but as you said major repairs could always crop up in an ageing car. I'm not sure how reliable they were but being a Honda it should be very reliable to be honest and there may not be huge expenses coming up. On the flip side, if you have a replacement in mind and a budget to go for it that could always be a better option as it will be a newer vehicle - cleaner and more peace of mind maintenance wise.

[sumeethaldankar]

The Accord can easily do 100K more with routine maintenance. It could be used as the beater since it is chauffeur driven. I would suggest to keep it since they no longer make cars like this here. The resale will be poor and you still have 5 years of legal life which can still be extended since you are in Mumbai. Except for the Toyota not many others may give you trouble free 150k kms of driving.

[pta320]

I would suggest you to keep it. I can assure you that as long as regular fluid changes are done there won't be any problem with the engine and the transmission for the lifetime of the car. After all Honda makes the best engines in the world especially this 2.4 K24 legendary engine. The manual transmissions are bullet proof too.

Aside all the other critical components like AC compressor, radiator, water pump etc don't have any documented reliability issues and should last for the lifetime of the car as well.

Honestly speaking, Accord should pretty much last forever as long as routine maintenance is done. 5 lakh kms or 20+ years ain't a big deal for a well build Honda. The only reason I see people selling Hondas or for that matter Toyotas is that they get bored of the car. Rarely it's any mechanical issue.

[na_agrawal]

My cousin has a 2010 Honda civic V M/T which has clocked 97k kms till date. The car has served us too beautifully to sell it off for a mere 1.5L INR. The condition of our civic was pretty much just like your accord. It was due for a tyre change, worn out leather, stiching on the armrest went..well, got unstitched.
So, instead of selling it, we replaced the tyres with Michelins on all four corners, got her fabric armrests and aftermarket seat covers. Honda seat covers and armrests were way too expensive. And the best of all, got her a new paint job. Now, it shines as white as when it came home a decade back!!

This is what I love about Honda's. Superb aging. Nothing has gone wrong ever except a clutch change at 85-86k kms and rear suspension overhaul (this was eye wateringly expensive).

This is the only car in the house, so mind you, is used has a highway runner, beater, load bearer, city and rural trips too. It has tackled everything we throw at it with aplomb!

Once a v-Tec, always a v-Tec!

-NA

[VW2010]

Keep the accord for sentimental value or a cheap car to make some fun mods for your own sake. Other than that the accord is not something that I will maintain as classic and retire along with me. It's a commuter car and it did a fantastic job so far. The perfect replacement is Camry and that will run another 15 years with minimal maintenance and a close watch out for rust.

If you have space, time, and energy to keep the Accord, it's worth keeping. Having kept a couple of cars I realized invariably one car sits idle collecting dust most of the time as we always prefer the bigger car at home.

[BHPjunkie]

Update on a recent incident with the Accord

Thanks everyone for your inputs. Just as I am deciding on either keeping the Accord or not this happens. My car is parked on a slope and a resident's driver parked their i20 Active on top of the slope without engaging and gear or the handbrake. Within few seconds the car started rolling and stopped eventually hitting my vehicle. I was absolutely shocked and furious seeing this. Thankfully there was no injury to life. I am just grateful no individual was walking at the time of the incident, else it would be life threatening.









Hopefully there is not much damage to the engine. If there happens to be, I would just let the car go and would not want to keep it like I had planned to.

[BHPjunkie]

Some more pictures taken during the day. You can guess how hard the impact was by looking at how much the car has moved from the parking position.





Due to the heavy front impact even the rear has hit the wall.

[fawad0222]

Please update us on what happened to your Accord thereafter. Did you get it repaired. How much did it cost.

[BHPjunkie]

Originally Posted by fawad0222

Please update us on what happened to your Accord thereafter. Did you get it repaired. How much did it cost.

Ever since the incident the vehicle till date is at the garage. There were multiple discussions with the insurance with regard to what they would cover and what they would not. Finally they agreed to cover the front and rear bumper, both headlamps, right fender and repairing / painting the left fender and bonnet. Honda did not have the headlamps in stock and took approx. 10 days for them to arrive.

Additionally we decided to get the rear left tail light replaced as it was broken before the incident and got even the remaining parts painted fresh. Estimated bill for the entire job is approx. 2.5 lacs. We decided to go ahead with the repair as there was no engine damage and we wish to retain the vehicle another 5 years. I will have to pay approx. INR 40k (for the paint job of remaining parts and 8k for the tail lamp) and rest will be covered by insurance.

As of now awaiting the delivery of the vehicle, will post some pics once it arrives.

[M A D over CARS]

Originally Posted by BHPjunkie

INR 40k (for the paint job of remaining parts and 8k for the tail lamp) and rest will be covered by insurance.

Shouldn't the lady who caused the accident be liable for the 40k you are shelling out?

[BHPjunkie]

Originally Posted by M A D over CARS

Shouldn't the lady who caused the accident be liable for the 40k you are shelling out?

Definitely, we are going to send the bill to them to reimburse us. The owners of the i20 had promised to bear the loss incurred to us.

[AJ56]

Speaking as a 2009 Accord owner, I’d say keep it. There’s very little resale value and to get the same space/power/reliability in a new car you’re looking at 50L minimum. My car has also served for 12 years with zero issues till date (except a leaking hydraulic steering pump), hell I’m still on my original brake rotors.

Side note: Go through your owners manual and check the interval for the hydraulic steering fluid, now check your service bills to confirm the flushes have been done on time, chances are your dealer too hasn’t bothered changing it on time. As fluid gets old it gets contaminated and begins to eat away at the pump seals and you end up with a leaking pump eventually.