Honda’s Accord has gained a lot of respect amongst new and used-car buyers in its 30-plus years on the Australian market. A quality Japanese car that's quite pleasant to drive, particularly in the latest Accord ‘Euro’ format, it sits high in the image stakes for cars from the Asian region.

The Accord has grown in size over the years. It began as a small-medium machine, yet the latest model is approaching Commodore and Falcon in dimensions.

As it grew in size the Honda Accord became rather soft and conservative and was aimed at the middle-aged buyer. Until 2003 that is, when Honda offered the Accord in two distinctly different variants for the first time. One, called Accord Euro, has a real emphasis on sporty handling. The other Accord is American-based, continuing the softer, more comfortable theme of the original models. Naming is slightly confusing with the American model being simply called Accord, whereas the sportier variant carries the aforementioned Euro tag.

In the older models as well as in the American Accord, try the handling of the Accord to see if it suits your needs. Many owners only drive gently and find the car’s characteristics more than acceptable. Those with more of a sporting makeup will find these Accords are rather soft and inclined to understeer at relatively slow speeds.

On the other hand, the Accord Euro is a dream to drive in the handling department with precise communicative steering and plenty of road grip; even more so in the latest variant that arrived in Australia in June 2008. These latter Euros are now starting to appear in the used car yards.

Most Honda Accords are four-door sedans. Interior space is good, though for adults to get comfortable in the rear seat the front seats have to be set a few notches forward. Boot space is good, with a wide, low opening which makes it easy to load.

The Honda tradition of designing cars with good outward visibility makes the Accord easy to drive and park, as well as making it comfortable for young children to see out of. However, safety regulations, not to forget the great god, style, mean that there's less outwards visibility in the post-2003 models. They aren’t bad, just not as brilliant as the older variants.

The four-cylinder engine was a 2.3-litre unit with the new body style for the 1998 model year. The four-cylinder went up to 2.4 litres with the 2003 release of the Euro model and the American Accord. Note that the engine in the Euro is set to a higher state of tune than the one in the American car, it's also endowed with a sportier feel.

A V6 3.0-litre unit adds to the car’s already good refinement. A V6 continues today in the American car as an alternative to the aforementioned 2.4–litre four-cylinder engine. The 2008 model change saw an increase in the V6 engine size from a long standing 3.0 litres to 3.5 litres. The new engine design offers plenty of relaxed grunt and actually uses less fuel than the smaller engine it replaced.

Transmission options are five-speed manual and four-speed automatic for most of the period being examined here. The Accord Euro has a six-speed manual, though most are fitted with a new five-speed sequential automatic introduced at the time of the Euro's 2003 launch. The American car is imported only with a five-speed automatic transmission.
 
The Honda dealer network usually concentrates on the major population centres. If you live in the relatively remote country area it might be wise to make inquiries to Honda’s head office, or your local regional office, if you are considering buying one of the cars. Ask about the time it takes to source parts, although this is unlikely to be more than a couple of business days.

Honda has worked hard at reducing spare parts costs in recent years. However, the price drops usually apply more to the common parts than to the unusual ones.

These are relatively complex cars, especially from the 1998 model, and are best left to professional mechanics. A good amateur, armed with a workshop manual, can tackle some of the routine work.

Insurance is generally very reasonable as is only to be expected from a car in this ultra conservative market segment. It will be interesting to see if the new sport-oriented Accord Euro changes the premium structure.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Rust is not common but may have found its way into cars that have been badly repaired after a crash. Look at the guard edges, the fuel filler cap, the door corners and/or door sills.

Be particularly careful of cars that seem to have spent most of their life in the open as they can suffer from paint fading and cracked dashtops.

The engine should be all but inaudible at idle, even in the four-cylinder units. Any roughness may indicate problems.

Check there are no oily black stains in the exhaust pipe and the surrounding body and bumper. Make sure there isn’t a puff of oily looking smoke from the exhaust when the accelerator is floored after the engine has been idling for a minute or so.

Manual gearboxes should move freely with no sticking or crunching on fast gearchanges. Automatics should go into gear promptly and their changes should only be noticeable when you're accelerating hard.

During your test drive check the brakes pull the car up evenly without one wheel locking before the others. On cars with ABS, feel for a pulsing through the pedal during very hard braking.

On cars with central locking, make sure it works correctly and that it doesn’t unlock unless told to do so.

Look at the condition of the interior, paying special attention to the top of the dashboard and the rear shelf for sun damage. Fading or cracking in these areas can cause hassles.