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Any tips on buying a second hand 8th Gen Accord?

S

ship69

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'08 i-DTEC EX man 5D
Hi

I am planning to buy second hand 8th Generation, diesel (i.e.i-CDTI), estate Honda Accord. Probably automatic. Probably EX or EX GT model (I'm not clear what the difference is!).

Do any of you have an hints and tips about what to look out for?

e.g. This one looks promising...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201301265070621/sort/default/usedcars/transmission/automatic/price-to/11000/fuel-type/diesel/quantity-of-doors/5/model/accord/make/honda/onesearchad/used/page/1/postcode/ox29pt/radius/1500?logcode=p

What I'm looking for:
- Quiet and comfortable. (Do a lot of miles on motorways plus some regular amounts in town including London and need to be able to make phone calls)
- Reasonable economy
- Reasonable cornering

My last car:
As posted elsewhere I recently wrote of my 2007 Accord 2.2 i-CTDi EX manual Tourer (Fahad remap). My main complaint is that there was far too much road noise even after I changed to quieter tyres. The electric tailgate was a slight joke - very slow and clunky and hated being 'helped' physically. It also smoked a fair bit when under acceleration even after cruising for a while at 70 on the motorway. However to me it had pretty good handling, good acceleration and good economy (usually over 50-55MPG on the computer). I very much liked the 'all-flat' in the rear when the back seater were put flat - a fantastic design (even if not quite as low as it might have been) and I am hugely disapointed to see that the 8th Generation now has these huge pillars taking up space in the rears. How disappointing to see things clearly getting worse in the evolution of a car design and how strange that Honda still dont seem to have fixed this problem (idiots!). Don't their designers ever read reviews?

DPF:
I understand that like all modern diesels the DPF goes wrong (cloggs up?) and that it's extremely expensive to replace, but I'm not sure what the symptoms to look out for would be.

- Any thoughts?

J
 
I would start by reading honest johns website and parks guide review to fully understand what the car is like. Regarding the model you can get all the difference explained on Parker guide and the Honda website as the still sell this car from new.

The diesel boys will answer all your questions about dpf soon I am sure, but I have been in Brett's 8 th gen and they are really nice cars. Look good, drive really well and have a more complete package to offer . I like them and would consider getting one once mine has had another year or two of ownership under its belt.
 
Hi John,

The 8th gen is quiet and comfortable, still a fair bit of road noise, dependent on the quality of the tyres of course.

The dpfs seem to be troublesome as you say, you get a warning light on the dash, then you have to take it for a motorway trip to get it to regenerate (burn off the soot). If that doesnt work, its a trip to the dealer for a forced regen, at cost of course.

Only seems to be a problem if you do lots of short trips.

All the specs are on the Honda website and Parkers website, as has been said.

Auto box needs an oil change at 67500 miles and then every 40k, so check thats been done.

I personally wouldn't pay £9k for a diesel with 112k miles. You should be able to get a lower spec under 100k for that money.

For £10k you can get a 2.0 petrol with 40k miles on it!!

Only get the diesel if you really do the miles to get benefit.
 
Hi

Yes I'm doing 20- 25K per year, so I going petrol would cost me at least £600/year.

In any case I understand the diesel (i-DTEC) is a very nice engine whereas the petrol is nothing special.

How sensitive are these things to missing a service?
Because another option would be this one:
"Honda Accord Diesel Tourer 2.2 i-DTEC EX 5dr Auto 2009" - just under 70,000 miles - £10,960
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201212184656269/sort/default/usedcars/fuel-type/diesel/body-type/estate/transmission/automatic/price-to/12000/model/accord/make/honda/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/radius/1500/postcode/ox29pt/page/1?logcode=p
The catch is the service history.
It was last serviced at 36,600 miles. So it appears to have missed the 48,000 miles AND 60,000 miles (***uming it needs servicing every 12K)
So I guess that's a deal breaker :^(

J
 
Check for blown door spaekers in the early 8th gens, it's a known issue which is often overlooked when on a test drive. I missed it when I test drove my first 8th gen, but Honda replaced them F.O.C. under the Honda Happiness warranty.

I think they fixed the problem in the 2010 models onwards, someone on here will know exactley which ones were affected.
 
Have you driven a petrol Honda? They are great engine, can be very frugal but can privide lotsof drama when you need some beans, vtec is a cleaver system, if you get chance try the 2.4 out, Brett managed 50 mpg out of on a test. Just a thought.
 
The EX has full leather seats and possibly a sun roof and blue led interior lights.

The EX GT has afull body kit and sports pedals and red lights.

Both have electric heated setas and xenons and I think they should both come with the premium stereo too.
 
I see your after an Auto which means your MPG will be about 45 mpg according to other members. A manual gear box will see you get 50-55 mpg on a motorway.
 
Lack of rear parking sensors are a deal breaker for me, and it seems only the EX model has them, unless you find an EX GT that has had a rear camera installed.
I cant find much out on the "EX GT" (strangely EX GT isnt mentioned on Honda.co.uk), but I think GT basically means 'sporty' - e.g. sports suspension - which I do NOT want, as I want something for comfortable motorway cruising... [P.S. Wait no, the EX has sports suspension too - Okay I dont know then!]

Regarding auto gearbox, yes I'm resigned to it be quite a lot worse on MPG. Although I'm secretly hoping that I'll do better than most by careful driving, keeping the revs down and not changing gear too often etc. e.g. the Extra Urban for the auto diesel is quoted as being 53.3 mpg on Autotrader...
 
Btw, can any one recommend any other big used car aggregator site other then autotrader.co.uk and parkers.co.uk where I should be searching?

Cheers

J
 
I have an EX GT. They come with the Xenon lights, parking sensors, heated electric seats, premium stereo, Body Kit, Sports pedals and rear camera as standard.

All accords except the ES have sports suspension. Its not a hard sporty ride so dont worry about it . They a really comfy cars.

I'm afraid You'll never get 53mpg out an auto. Enough people have tried to but the cant. The max people have had is around 45mpg. As long as you happy with that then its OK.

The EX GT costs more than an EX Unless the EX has the ADAS fitted. Both cars had this available as on option but is rare in an EX GT as it put the cost up uber high.
 
Ebay motors is quite good as is Pistonheads.

Dont worry about parking sensors, they can be retrofitted for about £200.
 
Also look at ES GT models, bit cheaper than EX. Still has side skirts, front spoiler, alu pedals, half leather seats, bluetooth,,cruise etc.
 
Its true that the ES GT is cheaper but they dont have electric heated seats which a freakin ace in this cold weather and they dont have xenon lights which I wouldnt buy a car with out now. Either way any of the 8th gens a worth getting accept the basic ES.


Try this site.

Blackhorse car sales
 
Racy Jace said:
I see your after an Auto which means your MPG will be about 45 mpg according to other members. A manual gear box will see you get 50-55 mpg on a motorway.
Click to expand...


I am confused - how come autotrader (i.e. Honda presumably) are claiming "53.3 MPG" for Extra-Urban and yet it sounds like nobody here can beat 45MPG for an auto i-DTEC, even on long motorway journeys?
 
Also consider John, if its £600 a year more in fuel, if you keep it for 3 years thats £1800, petrol models are easily £2k less than the equivalent diesel same mileage etc. You need to look at total cost.

ES GT have half leather seats, leather side bolsters and cloth middle sections, so you dont really need seat heaters.

Headlamp bulbs can be upgrade also for £20.
 
check the wheels as my 59 plate type s is on its second set . and about to go for
its 3rd set of centre caps.
 
180 bhp said:
check the wheels as my 59 plate type s is on its second set . and about to go for
its 3rd set of centre caps.
Click to expand...

"Wheels" what goes wrong with the wheels? Do you mean something aesthetic like scratches or something functional?
 
Salim said:
^^^ Probably means corrosion
Click to expand...
Does that matter? I mean even if it's at the place where the rubber meets the metal, I thought you could just polish off the corrosion and carry on, no?
 
I suppose when your spending 10k on a car you would want the wheels in good cond not paint flaking etc just as you wouldn't want a dent in the door?
 
ship69 said:
I am confused - how come autotrader (i.e. Honda presumably) are claiming "53.3 MPG" for Extra-Urban and yet it sounds like nobody here can beat 45MPG for an auto i-DTEC, even on long motorway journeys?
Click to expand...

I was just going off the threads started up by other auto box owners, Possibly from another forum, that said they were struggling to get decent MPG. Obviously a decent test drive sould show you what you'll get.
 
Yeah paint flaking off and corroding around the spokes, like Imrans set:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-Honda-17-Enkei-Alloys-4-all-need-refurbishment-start-1p-/190787441287?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMESELX%3AIT&nma=true&si=UeyVTgGrKGnZwkXbK23eHQ5bcMQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

Although mine are 2008 car has done 65k miles, and no problems yet.

Maybe its if you never clean them and leave road salt of them for weeks?

Worst case you could have them refurbished, around £50 a wheel.
 
I have the 2.2 diesel auto 2010 tourer and using my own calcs and not the trip computer, which always says lower, I get about 38-39. My right foot could be lighter though!
 
The DPF works by collecting excess particles from the exhaust fumes, it keeps actual emissions out of the exhaust pipe down and thus gives the car a lower tax band. When it gets clogged up the regeneration light will appear on the information screen. The normal warning (without an exclamation mark) means you need to drive at around 40mph for approx. 20 minutes (exact figures are in the manual) in order to burn off the excess particles collected. Over time the effeciveness of this regeneration cycle wears down, until at some point you will have the light that appears in the link above, with an exclamation mark. This means that you need to take it into Honda for either a forced regen or a DPF replacement. I can't recall the price of the forced regen (this can only be done so many times anyway as it wears the filter out), but the cost of a new filter from Honda is £1,000.

My permanent light came on at around 70k miles, so I took it in for a forced regen, only for it to come on again after a week. It ruined the enjoyment of the car for me as I was constantly worrying when the light would come on again, plus I was morally against paying £1,000 for what I regard as an ineffective shortcut by European eco-warriors to reduce carbon emissions that would inevitably fail again on an indeterminate date. I therefore had mine removed at the cost of £600 and don't regret it at all. In my opinion they are a complete waste of time and money, almost as bad as stop-start technology (which the Accord fortunately doesn't have).

It's your choice as to whether to remove the DPF (for peace of mind/reduce costs) or not (to keep it factory standard), there are rumours circulating that it will become part of the MOT test. The way they removed mine was to cut it open, take everything out from inside it and weld it back together, so it would pass a visual inspection (because it looks like it's still there). Others may be able to shed more light on this rumour.
 
ship69 said:
Hi

Yes I'm doing 20- 25K per year, so I going petrol would cost me at least £600/year.

In any case I understand the diesel (i-DTEC) is a very nice engine whereas the petrol is nothing special.

How sensitive are these things to missing a service?
Because another option would be this one:
"Honda Accord Diesel Tourer 2.2 i-DTEC EX 5dr Auto 2009" - just under 70,000 miles - £10,960
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201212184656269/sort/default/usedcars/fuel-type/diesel/body-type/estate/transmission/automatic/price-to/12000/model/accord/make/honda/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/radius/1500/postcode/ox29pt/page/1?logcode=p
The catch is the service history.
It was last serviced at 36,600 miles. So it appears to have missed the 48,000 miles AND 60,000 miles (***uming it needs servicing every 12K)
So I guess that's a deal breaker :^(

J
Click to expand...
agree with this, few points id like to add after i bought mine.

* MAKE SURE IT COMES WITH THE CORRECT SAT NAV DISK (UK)
* Check the windscreen trims as the early models had poor adhesive, (this can be repaired by honda for free due to a recall)
* Check the tyre condition as the alignment is out on mine, tyre pressures were low as well.
* Check that the engine light comes on an then turns off when u first turn the key, and turn the engine on,
* the electric seats are fully functional, heat up and movement.
* Check for good service history, any works receipts etc

And then the usual car stuff, like oil, wipers, brake pad condition etc.

hope this helps
 
Good tips there. Re the window trims, do you mean the rubbers or the actual colour coded plastic inch wide trims down the side. Hopefully the latter as mine are pretty weak (not had the car long - 4 years old)

Wheel alignment being out is a common issue too I read - mine were out and about 5psi too low in tyre pressures too.
 
The windows trims are the colour coded plastics trims down each side of the windscreen. The clips fail and/or the glue. Honda has a recall on this and will replace them free.
 
Ex and ex gt have have a fake wood grain interior fascia inserts whereas the es and es gt have plastic , also alloy gear knob and pedals in gt models , sat nav and parking camera as standard in the ex and ex gt , youll do well to get over 50 mpg in any , but still a nice drive once on the move , feels a little rough on standstill , well screwed together and way more exclusive than most other cars on the road
 
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