Diesel with 117k miles? Worth it?

[bwdrew]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here. We're looking at getting an estate car and I'm particularly interested in the Honda Accord Tourer diesel.

We've found one for £6k, for an 06 EX model, (with Sat Nav and 17" wheels). My only concern is that it's done 117k miles. I expect I'll be putting 15-20,000 miles per year on it (my daily commute is 60 miles). Would this be a wise buy? Obviously, it's done this mileage in 4.5 years, so it's likely to be mostly motorway miles, but are there any things I should know about buying this car? Anyone else with a high mileage diesel Accord? Any major troubles?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[vile]

Welcome Benjamin your just down the road from me.117K is a lot of miles but if the car has been serviced with 0w/30 oil and original Honda filters not a problem.Do a search on 7th gen diesel faults and you will find most of your answers.
Biggest things to look out for is-

1/ clutch has it been changed by Honda dealer.
2/ Timing chain though i don't think it affects the preface lift.
3/ Cracked manifold.
All these topics are describe in detail.

 

[bwdrew]

I'm going to take a look at it this weekend. It comes with a full Honda service history, with services every 10-14k miles, so the oil shouldn't be a worry. It was owned by a fleet operator beforehand. It's a post-facelift model, with the 6 speed box.

When I take a look, I'll see whether the clutch has been done — I don't think it has been. Just pads and disks, and oil and filter. It has got a cam chain, so no worries there.

How can I tell if it's got a cracked manifold?

 

[phil the greek]

I'm not an expert on Accord diesels and their ***ociated problems, but I would ask whether the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) has ever been changed or whether it needs to be at some point - I know that on a Ford Mondeo this is about £1,100 to replace, so if this is imminent this should be factored in.

It could be that the DPF doesn't need changing on the Hondas - I don't know, but quite a few high mileage diesels from all manufacturers can have DPF problems.

Pricewise, ***uming it's the newer EX model, not the previous Executive model, it's about £1000 more than it should be according to Parker's price guide.

If it's the previous "Executive" model it's worth less again.

Hopefully someone that knows a bit more than me will be along in a minute !!

 

[vile]

I'm going to take a look at it this weekend. It comes with a full Honda service history, with services every 10-14k miles, so the oil shouldn't be a worry. It was owned by a fleet operator beforehand. It's a post-facelift model, with the 6 speed box.

When I take a look, I'll see whether the clutch has been done — I don't think it has been. Just pads and disks, and oil and filter. It has got a cam chain, so no worries there.

How can I tell if it's got a cracked manifold?

If its gone you will smell the fumes.The normal mileage to go is about 70-100k and is covered under warranty for 7 years or 125k.The 7 th gen does not have a DPF so no worrys there.

 

[vile]

Here you go fella have a read through these posts to give you some good info.

http://typeaccord.co.uk/forum/forum/23-diesel-faults/

 

[bwdrew]

I've just looked the car I'm interested in on an insurance quotation site, and it comes up as an EX. What does Parkers say the price should be? It's a 2006 model on a 06 plate. To be fair, I've not found a cheaper one.

As an aside, would £7.5k for a similar one with 80-90k miles be reasonable, or is that over the odds?

Thanks everyone for all your help. I wasn't expecting quite so many replies so quickly. Obviously it's a very active community, which is great!

 

[busaboy23]

Here you go fella have a read through these posts to give you some good info.

http://typeaccord.co.uk/forum/forum/23-diesel-faults/

Just my 2p worth but I'd never drop 6k on a car with 117000 miles...pretty sure you'd be able to find one with a much lower milage if you take your time and shop around

 

[vile]

Price guide but for 40 k

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/used-prices/Valuation.aspx?deriv=33407&plate=81#amount=10000&years=3
To be honest Benjamin you must make your own mind up on this.All the info is here so thats a bonus for you.If it was me if everything ticked all the boxes after looking at all the posts here then i would buy.But as i said its your decision at the end of the day.

 

[Dan Robinson]

6K for a facelift EX is not too bad, although yes the mileage is a little high.

Budget for a clutch, and check the correct oil has been used and maybe knock a bit off.

It is a very desirable car so the prices are a little higher than equivalent pre-facelifts.

Between the two cars it would depend on how much you could do with the spare 1.5K... but some of it will be spent on the car anyway in the next few years so it is six of one and half a dozen of the other IMHO.

 

[Dazz150]

Im in a very simular position to yourself, im looking to buy one but it seems it will have 100k+ on the clock. Im not too concerned by this as I plan to be keeping it and putting a good few miles over a period of years on it and my take is if its been looked after up untill my point of ownership there shouldnt be a reason it wont do another 100k

 

[phil the greek]

Another option is to go for petrol power.

No - you won't get the economy of a diesel, but the secondhand petrol model prices are significantly lower.

I just bought an '05 2.0 petrol tourer SE spec for just over 4k with only 66k miles on it, full service history, all the MOT certificates.

Not as desirable as your EX spec diesel, but the saving buys an awful lot of fuel, and the mileage is just over half what you're looking at.

The Petrol Vtec engines are very reliable - I seem to remember reading somewhere that Honda reckon they have never had a single problem with the vtec valve gubbins which only uses 4 valves per cylinder at higher revs and 2 valves per cylinder lower down for better torque

 

[entwisi]

I bought mine at 134K miles, bought 12 months ago and mines an 05 so like for like effectively. Mine is also an EX but with 16" and non facelift. I paid 4800 for mine.

take your time and test everything works including the rear tailgate auto open/close. If you go on a cold day and its been outside be careful the aux heater system doesn't confuse you with teh fumes from a cracked exhaust. a lot of us can "smell" when the heaters running and it does smell quite fume-y.

 

[CJM]

Welcome along Benjamin,


If your not in too much of a rush, just as a suggestion maybe give the forums affiliated dealer a ring Holdcroft Honda Stoke, they maybe able to source a lower mileage example, just mention to them that you were given their name by the forum.

I know it may seem a bit of a trek, but if they find one for you and give it a service, they Really know what they are doing so, you should be good from the start, so it could be worth the trip.

Otherwise it is a bit of a dilemma as the word is getting out that these are good cars, so are holding their value a bit more., plus as other threads have mentioned there don't seem to be that many on the forecourts.

 

[edgeoftime]

I bought my 54 EX tourer with 90,000 on the clock in jan 2007, yes it had reached the magic lease figure. I had to pay £9000, which at the time was about £2,000 less than the main agents were asking. Not had a bit of bother with it,brilliant motor, get yourself a test drive on that one and go from there. Now at 152,000

 

[CJM]

If the car has been serviced well there is no reason other than lack of diesel that it won't go on for a long time to come, the only risk is where the service history is a bit sketchy.


You can always try to haggle the price, always worth going having a look, but equally you've got to be able to say no if your not 100%.

From some of the other threads a couple of guys seemed to have picked up nice examples, so they are out there.

 

[icewarrior]

I got my tourer back at the end of july 10, 152k on the clock, 05 plate executive with nav. Only a few minor niggles and i paid £3500. so def try to haggle the price down a bit

 

[bwdrew]

Right - we've just done it. I've joined the club.

We bought a 56 Accord Tourer Diesel, EX (with Nav/17" wheels) with 80k on the clock, and managed to clinch the deal for £7.5k. It's a little more than book price (just over £7k with that mileage), but the dealer wasn't budging much. Very nice to to drive, but I think the manifold had its small problem (it certainly smelt like it with the Air Con on), so will get that sorted asap.

Thanks for all your help and advice. No doubt I will be on here more frequently from now on!

By the way, a couple of requests: if it's got an Aux socket, where would i find it? Also, does anyone know where I could get a service manual for it? I managed to find one for our Jazz, so there must be one out there!

 

[Dan Robinson]

Congratulations Ben...


the manifold problems is not so noticeable when moving, so it might be the gas heater you are smelling if it is cold.

The AUX socket is not accessible - you need to take the unit out and put a splitter cable in it. Search for XCarlink... There is plenty on here about it.

There is also no service manual as yet - Honda are keeping it a secret.


Don't forget to post some pictures!!!

 

[bwdrew]

Congratulations Ben...

Thank you!

the manifold problems is not so noticeable when moving, so it might be the gas heater you are smelling if it is cold.

I don't know -- it definitely smelt of exhaust, especially when stationary.

The AUX socket is not accessible - you need to take the unit out and put a splitter cable in it. Search for XCarlink... There is plenty on here about it.

Thanks. I'll take a look into that.

Don't forget to post some pictures!!!

We're picking the car up on Wednesday, so I'll post some pictures soon!

 

[Dan Robinson]

Sounds like the mani has gone. It might be worth delaying the pickup and asking it to be sorted under the Honda warranty first.

CO poisoning is not nice!