Buying: What to look for?
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btjtaylor
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Diesel or petrol?
Diesels - suffer from usual diesel issues, mostly around DPF and EGR. No worse than other brands. Personally I'd avoid a diesel unless you are doing huge miles outside cities as they are all euro 5 and below so attract a ULEZ charge.
The petrol K20 and K24 are very strong engines if maintened properly and are ULEZ compliant. Downside is they are rarer so generally command a price premium, especially if you want a manual, most I've seen for sale are autos. The 2 litre is a bit of a weedy engine, I'd go for the 2.4 if you have the choice, it's the legendary K24 engine although it is the slightly less tuneable K24Z3.
On petrols if you're hearing lots of noise at idle it could be the timing chain needs replacing which is doable DIY (Trawa on here posted a guide recently) but if not budget maybe £500 for that? These engines are also supposed to have the valves adjusted every 60k but often it's not done, that creates extra noise at idle, but shouldn't be more than £75 or so to have done.
Brake calipers especially on the rear are notorious for sticking, check for worn brake pads. I had a receipt with mine for £250 for a new rear caliper from a honda main dealer.
I've noticed a few cars are starting to get rusty so check that, mine has started to suffer on the sills but it has had some repairs at some point so that may be due to a poor paint job
The cars got facelifted in 2012 ish but honestly very little changed. The main visual difference is the front lights lost their orange indicator, but you can actually mod your pre-facelift lights to remove that if you want.
Trim levels were a bit odd over here, there is a more sporty bodykit that was fitted to the GT and Type S trim levels but only available on a diesel. The Type S diesel is updated to 180BHP instead of I think 150 or so of the normal diesel. The EX trim level got heated/memory leather which is nice but a sat nav system which is absolutely hopeless, it's based on old technology even for when it was new and the last map update was 2018. The factory speaker/sub do sound decent though, and it gets a factory reverse camera though which is nice.
When looking for info its worth mentioning the naming of these cars is a bit confusing.
Europe - Honda Accord
USA - Acura TSX
China - Honda Spirior
Japan/Australia/NZ - Honda Accord Euro
If you search Honda Accord you will undoubtedly find information about the US market Honda Accord which is a bigger, (in my opinion) uglier car
Diesels - suffer from usual diesel issues, mostly around DPF and EGR. No worse than other brands. Personally I'd avoid a diesel unless you are doing huge miles outside cities as they are all euro 5 and below so attract a ULEZ charge.
The petrol K20 and K24 are very strong engines if maintened properly and are ULEZ compliant. Downside is they are rarer so generally command a price premium, especially if you want a manual, most I've seen for sale are autos. The 2 litre is a bit of a weedy engine, I'd go for the 2.4 if you have the choice, it's the legendary K24 engine although it is the slightly less tuneable K24Z3.
On petrols if you're hearing lots of noise at idle it could be the timing chain needs replacing which is doable DIY (Trawa on here posted a guide recently) but if not budget maybe £500 for that? These engines are also supposed to have the valves adjusted every 60k but often it's not done, that creates extra noise at idle, but shouldn't be more than £75 or so to have done.
Brake calipers especially on the rear are notorious for sticking, check for worn brake pads. I had a receipt with mine for £250 for a new rear caliper from a honda main dealer.
I've noticed a few cars are starting to get rusty so check that, mine has started to suffer on the sills but it has had some repairs at some point so that may be due to a poor paint job
The cars got facelifted in 2012 ish but honestly very little changed. The main visual difference is the front lights lost their orange indicator, but you can actually mod your pre-facelift lights to remove that if you want.
Trim levels were a bit odd over here, there is a more sporty bodykit that was fitted to the GT and Type S trim levels but only available on a diesel. The Type S diesel is updated to 180BHP instead of I think 150 or so of the normal diesel. The EX trim level got heated/memory leather which is nice but a sat nav system which is absolutely hopeless, it's based on old technology even for when it was new and the last map update was 2018. The factory speaker/sub do sound decent though, and it gets a factory reverse camera though which is nice.
When looking for info its worth mentioning the naming of these cars is a bit confusing.
Europe - Honda Accord
USA - Acura TSX
China - Honda Spirior
Japan/Australia/NZ - Honda Accord Euro
If you search Honda Accord you will undoubtedly find information about the US market Honda Accord which is a bigger, (in my opinion) uglier car
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btjtaylor
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Just been reading a 2013 brochure here to try to figure out what changed in the facelift Honda-Accord-2013-UK.pdf (autocatalogarchive.com)
Other than very minor styling changes I think it's mostly to do with the active cornering lights, adaptive cruise control, collision avoidance and lane keeping features that were added
Looks like the bluetooth system is still missing audio streaming, just phone calls, at least in 2013. There is an aux and USB in the armrest you can attach a bluetooth streaming device to it's just annoying as this should've been commonplace by this time.
Other than very minor styling changes I think it's mostly to do with the active cornering lights, adaptive cruise control, collision avoidance and lane keeping features that were added
Looks like the bluetooth system is still missing audio streaming, just phone calls, at least in 2013. There is an aux and USB in the armrest you can attach a bluetooth streaming device to it's just annoying as this should've been commonplace by this time.
There are many subtle but important differences between the pre and post facelift cars, and I couldn’t possibly name them all. Fundamentally the facelift cars are overall a more accomplished car which feel and drive tighter, have improved sound absorption, improved engine management and software as well as visual and technological improvements.
Timing chain is doable without pulling the engine and requires basic tools only, I did mine over the weekend on a driveway. Was a ***** of a job though, some of the bolts will have you inventing new swear words especially if it's cold and you have large hands. Get your wife (or your friend's wife 
to help, will make it much quicker. OEM Honda parts will be 400ish, budget about 6 hours of labor on top of that. Here's how a timing chain that's due for replacement sounds:
Rattle on cold startup can be knackered tensioner, knackered VTC gear spring or stretched chain, first two aren't too bad of a job, easy 1-2h DIY for less than 50 quid.
If you decide to get a K series don't be put off by burning oil. Unfortunately up to 1L/1000miles is pretty normal for these engines, can be either shot piston rings or valve seals. Known issue especially with 2009 MY, iirc it has been improved later on.
Def check rear wheel wells behind doors for rust, mine just started slightly rusting there. Underside is decently coated so shouldn't be too bad, mostly rear subframe, exhaust and rear antirollbar.
Another thing to check is the sunroof, if the seal is bulging or doesn't want to lie flat, 100% there's rust underneath. Known issue, only fix is to source new glass piece from breakers or maybe import from US/Japan.
During the test drive definitely try to get on a motorway/A road andpay attention to shaking when accelerating between 30-40mph and 60-80mph. If the car shakes on throttle but stops when you coast, that means one of the inner CV joints is shot. 2-3 hours DIY job but the joint itself is 350 quid last I checked, probably 400 now. Only available from OEM Honda, no one makes an aftermarket replacement that's worth using.
Check if all power windows are working from the driver's door and if the switches aren't broken/working half the time - master unit PCB likes to go bad and these are pretty expensive to replace (100-200 quid) and a proper pain to source since you need one from the same trim level.
If you're looking at a 2009 MY specifically play some music at decent volume - this MY has an issue with a bad batch of door speakers, glue holding the cones tends to fail sooner than later and produce distortion and rattling >20 volume. Can be fixed for a fiver with special glue but requires disassembling the doorcard and there's no telling how long the repair will last.
That's all I can remember for now, if you have any specific questions go ahead, I'll try to answer best I can.
Just my $0.02, go for the K24. While both petrols are good engines reliability wise the 2.0 is REALLY gutless in a car that weighs in at 1500kg. K series is a lovely motor, especially coupled with a 6MT box. That and if you remove the resonator you can get some really crazy intake noise if that's your thing.
@btjtaylor I can make guide thread for the timing chain replacement if there's demand, unfortunately did not take many photos but hey, gotta make do.
to help, will make it much quicker. OEM Honda parts will be 400ish, budget about 6 hours of labor on top of that. Here's how a timing chain that's due for replacement sounds: Rattle on cold startup can be knackered tensioner, knackered VTC gear spring or stretched chain, first two aren't too bad of a job, easy 1-2h DIY for less than 50 quid.
If you decide to get a K series don't be put off by burning oil. Unfortunately up to 1L/1000miles is pretty normal for these engines, can be either shot piston rings or valve seals. Known issue especially with 2009 MY, iirc it has been improved later on.
Def check rear wheel wells behind doors for rust, mine just started slightly rusting there. Underside is decently coated so shouldn't be too bad, mostly rear subframe, exhaust and rear antirollbar.
Another thing to check is the sunroof, if the seal is bulging or doesn't want to lie flat, 100% there's rust underneath. Known issue, only fix is to source new glass piece from breakers or maybe import from US/Japan.
During the test drive definitely try to get on a motorway/A road andpay attention to shaking when accelerating between 30-40mph and 60-80mph. If the car shakes on throttle but stops when you coast, that means one of the inner CV joints is shot. 2-3 hours DIY job but the joint itself is 350 quid last I checked, probably 400 now. Only available from OEM Honda, no one makes an aftermarket replacement that's worth using.
Check if all power windows are working from the driver's door and if the switches aren't broken/working half the time - master unit PCB likes to go bad and these are pretty expensive to replace (100-200 quid) and a proper pain to source since you need one from the same trim level.
If you're looking at a 2009 MY specifically play some music at decent volume - this MY has an issue with a bad batch of door speakers, glue holding the cones tends to fail sooner than later and produce distortion and rattling >20 volume. Can be fixed for a fiver with special glue but requires disassembling the doorcard and there's no telling how long the repair will last.
That's all I can remember for now, if you have any specific questions go ahead, I'll try to answer best I can.
Just my $0.02, go for the K24. While both petrols are good engines reliability wise the 2.0 is REALLY gutless in a car that weighs in at 1500kg. K series is a lovely motor, especially coupled with a 6MT box. That and if you remove the resonator you can get some really crazy intake noise if that's your thing.
@btjtaylor I can make guide thread for the timing chain replacement if there's demand, unfortunately did not take many photos but hey, gotta make do.
Last edited:
btjtaylor
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Timing chain is doable without pulling the engine and requires basic tools only, I did mine over the weekend on a driveway. Was a ***** of a job though, some of the bolts will have you inventing new swear words especially if it's cold and you have large hands. Get your wife (or your friend's wife
Rattle on cold startup can be knackered tensioner, knackered VTC gear spring or stretched chain, first two aren't too bad of a job, easy 1-2h DIY for less than 50 quid.
If you decide to get a K series don't be put off by burning oil. Unfortunately up to 1L/1000miles is pretty normal for these engines, can be either shot piston rings or valve seals. Known issue especially with 2009 MY, iirc it has been improved later on.
Def check rear wheel wells behind doors for rust, mine just started slightly rusting there. Underside is decently coated so shouldn't be too bad, mostly rear subframe, exhaust and rear antirollbar.
Another thing to check is the sunroof, if the seal is bulging or doesn't want to lie flat, 100% there's rust underneath. Known issue, only fix is to source new glass piece from breakers or maybe import from US/Japan.
During the test drive definitely try to get on a motorway/A road andpay attention to shaking when accelerating between 30-40mph and 60-80mph. If the car shakes on throttle but stops when you coast, that means one of the inner CV joints is shot. 2-3 hours DIY job but the joint itself is 350 quid last I checked, probably 400 now. Only available from OEM Honda, no one makes an aftermarket replacement that's worth using.
Check if all power windows are working from the driver's door and if the switches aren't broken/working half the time - master unit PCB likes to go bad and these are pretty expensive to replace (100-200 quid) and a proper pain to source since you need one from the same trim level.
If you're looking at a 2009 MY specifically play some music at decent volume - this MY has an issue with a bad batch of door speakers, glue holding the cones tends to fail sooner than later and produce distortion and rattling >20 volume. Can be fixed for a fiver with special glue but requires disassembling the doorcard and there's no telling how long the repair will last.
That's all I can remember for now, if you have any specific questions go ahead, I'll try to answer best I can.
Just my $0.02, go for the K24. While both petrols are good engines reliability wise the 2.0 is REALLY gutless in a car that weighs in at 1500kg. K series is a lovely motor, especially coupled with a 6MT box. That and if you remove the resonator you can get some really crazy intake noise if that's your thing.
@btjtaylor I can make guide thread for the timing chain replacement if there's demand, unfortunately did not take many photos but hey, gotta make do.
My Mid-2010 car doesn't appear to have any of these issues as far as im aware so in that case seems like a good year to aim for, I could just be lucky but to be honest my car has had a bit of a hard life under previous owners. Mine is needing oil to ups at the moment but that is an stripped sump bolt which I need to sort out, not oil consumption. I changed the oil and it started leaking (someone had tip-exed "weak thread" next to it. Thanks for letting me know but you could've sorted it!! It didnt leak initially but it has started to drip slightly now a few months later. I'm loathed to drop the oil out again and replace with 5l of fresh in a short space of time but will probably have to over xmas. I think I will try RTV sealant on it first and if that fails I can probably tap it out to M15. Last resort new oil pan. But that's not a honda specific issue it's just aluminium oil sumps + idiot mechanics without torque wrenches ...
Sorry I mis-remembered about the guide it was for the VTC spring
Your car sounds good, love those Defi gauges ... would look even better with the red clocks from the Type S cars! Not sure if any market got red clocks in MPH on a petrol car though .. Europe/Japan KPH .. maybe the TSX Special Edition in USA? Or might be able to butcher a Type S diesel one and steal the red bits?
ES GT cluster from the 2.0 would be the closest with red backlight, only difference is 6800rpm redline.
As far as I'm aware 2009 MY was the most problematic with most of the issues being sorted out later on so it's definitely something to keep in mind.
As far as I'm aware 2009 MY was the most problematic with most of the issues being sorted out later on so it's definitely something to keep in mind.