My accord (Honda Accord (1998 on) in general)

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Product:	Honda Accord (1998 on) in general
Date:	26/08/00 (523 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Comfort

Disadvantages: Fuel consumption

We bought a 2 litre 1996 model in May last year. It had only 15000 miles on the clock. It is without doubt the most enjoyable car I have ever owned. Let's start with the little things that I like about it. The colour: a beautiful shade of metallic green. The electric windows, mirrors and sunroof are so convenient and easy to use. The upholstery is pleasing to look at and comfortable. I don't know what it is, but it has a feeling of quality to it.
Perhaps more importantly is the engine and performance of the car. The engine is very smooth and quiet. It is not a torquey motor, but if you get the rev counter above 3500, it really starts to move. Overtaking, for example, is easy and safe as long as you drop a gear and get the engine singing. With motorway work you need a little care as you can easily find yourself travelling at 90 mph when you think you're doing 70-75 mph.
On the downside, I would have to mention fuel consumption. This, I believe, is a direct result of having to keep the revs up. Over a long journey, I have managed 40 mpg. That was travelling on A roads at 50-60 mph. Driving locally (3 miles to the shops and back etc) fuel consumption is more like 32 or 33. Similarly high speed motorway work returns that sort of figure.
A further fault I have with this car is exhaust life. This may be a consequence of where I live (Scotland) where there tends to be a lot of salt used on the roads in winter and I honestly can't remember what our previous car was like in this respect. I'm sure, however, that someone living in the south of England would get more life out of an exhaust in any car than where I live.
The boot is deceptive. It looks big and probably has a fair cubic capacity, but it is awkward. It has quite a high lip coming up from the bumper and the lighting cluster makes it narrow. The result is that it is difficult to get anything sizeable into it, although it might have the room inside. An example for any golfers re
ading this, is that it will take a set of golf clubs no bother, but you have to angle them in carefully.
Is there one thing I would change about mine ? Yes. I would have it diesel powered to get a higher mpg.

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