Living with an old Honda Accord made me realise that we are living in the golden age of used car ownership. Here is why:

The Background

So, how did I become the long-term driver of this automobile?
It all started on November 5th, when I took my beloved Mercedes W220 S500, aka Dormin, to my trusty mechanic, Robert, for some rust repairs on the doors and rear wheel arches. Now, I definitely needed a replacement car while the repairs took place, but what was it to be? There is an old 1.0 Suzuki Swift (some of you might know it as Cultus!) at my father’s place, going around the family as a replacement car (possible future review or blog topic - it is the Hungarian people’s car, and I’d gladly tell you why and how). However, it is so bare-bones, and I have had the pleasure of driving it so much already - yeah, I blame my Mondeo ST200’s reliability on that one - that I welcomed an alternative, which was the Accord.

You see, Robert is a bit of a Honda fanboy, he has five different Accords, and this particular one he sometimes lends out as a replacement vehicle, and I took the offer. The car stayed with me for just over one and a half month, way more than I initially anticipated, as replacement parts were hard to find for the Merc, and work was difficult to schedule. As a result, I daily drove the Accord, put over 1000 kms on it, and it got me philosophical…but before any of that, let’s talk a bit about the car itself!

The Car

This particular Accord is from the fourth generation (1990-1993) of the popular model, from 1991, to be specific. It has a 2.0 fuel-injected, 16V, SOHC, 4 cylinder engine, good for 130hp and 180Nm - quite acceptable for a humble sedan, even today - and a 5 speed manual gearbox. Thanks to its relatively light weight of 1240kgs, acceleration from 0 to 100km/h takes just over 9 seconds, which is in the same ballpark as some of the newer models in the Accord family, with more powerful engines, but greatly increased weight. Some of the more significant extras include AC, ABS (curiously abbreviated as ALB in this car), power steering, power windows and mirrors, heated rear window, power sunroof, radio, fog lights. Nothing fancy, but nothing essential is missing. There was one significant “mod” on this one too, namely it was decatted, more on that later.

The Experience

I really don’t want to overhype the car, especially since I really wanted my Merc back after a few weeks, but let’s see what this Accord did right. It could keep up with traffic, even when significant changes of speed occurred. The engine was peppy enough that I never felt like I held up traffic, and the brakes, discs all round, were functional enough that I did not want an entire football pitch between me and the car in front, not something that can be said about all, nearly 30 year old cars.

Visibility was excellent, which is really uncharacteristic of modern cars. This is because of laxer crash and safety regulations of course, but the result is that the pillars are narrow, the boot is low, and even though the car sits quite low, you can see everything around you, without utilising a single camera. While the car was not fast by modern standards, it managed to be fun! Suspension was firm, and while the puny little tires did not boast a large contact patch, it still gave me some confidence. I sat lower than most people around me in traffic, not the safest of feelings, but helps with centre of gravity, and exaggerates sense of speed.

Speaking of exaggerated, the decat job on the exhaust made it a bit obnoxious at times, but when I was in the right mindset and the revs went up, it really had a fun factor to it, almost sounding like an old-fashioned sports car. Other than these sensations, shifting also felt great, the legendary “slammable” quality of Honda manual boxes is no myth, redline shifts, quick shifts, rev matching, or even just the regular, low effort, commuting shifts felt smooth.

As much as the “go-kart” analogy is overused in automotive journalism, I have to say, the Accord sure felt a lot more go-kart-like than my S-Class, which is quite unsurprising. However, I strongly suspect that because of its dimensions, weight, and aforementioned driving characteristics, it would feel so to anyone getting out of a modern mid-size sedan.

As far as equipment goes, it has all the essentials, but nothing crazy. All those features that would be a real pain, or a major safety issue if they were missing, are there. I really liked the sunroof, but that’s only because I never had one before. Because the term “infotainment system” was still science fiction material when this car was conceived, warning lights and buttons are the only means of interface between you and the vehicle, and while that might look really outdated today, it is functional nonetheless.

Another area where the little Accord shines is reliability. Never mind the fact the odo says 260.000 kms, Robert tells me that the engine has over 400.000, and not only does it still go, but you couldn’t really tell. It is not smoking, not chugging oil, not losing power, not consuming more fuel (I got around 8-9 L/100km city or 35-31 MPG). Not only did nothing go wrong during my time with it, the car felt solid and well put together. Nothing felt like it was on its last leg and about to go.

On a side note, I really disliked the lack of storage space, tiny compartments in the doors, little glove box, no center storage compartment, no cup holders, although you can probably solve the latter one with one of those aftermarket ones you hang from a vent.

The Moral of the Story

Finally, the thought this experience inspired in me is this: we live in a wonderful time to be a petrolhead on a budget. This old Accord, with all its reliability, and mostly up-to-date and fun driving characteristics can be yours for under 1000 Euros! This means that, depending on where you live in Europe, you can afford one for less than a month to a few months worth of minimal wage!

Just imagine being on a very tight budget in the ‘50s-‘80s. Reliability was more or less a dream, as the owner of a cheap, old used car, you had better been prepared to wrench on your purchase a lot to keep it in running order. Driving experience, and the overall up-to-date feeling of the car too, would have been in a whole different league, in a negative sense, of course. The basic structure and engineering of cars was developing so rapidly in this era, that a 10-20 years old car could feel like it came from a different planet, whereas by the ‘90s we had figured out the fundamental aspects of this whole car mass production business, and while I am not saying that a 90s car will feel the same as a car from 2018, the difference is a lot less striking.

Also, add to this how car culture has developed. Now, more than ever, you can be a hero of your local Cars and Coffee for such little money, given your car is neat and clean, or is tastefully modified, and you are an enthusiastic petrolhead, so you can even feel appreciated for your decision.

In conclusion, budget motoring has never been as affordable, reliable, fun, and appreciated as it is now, and as technology keeps developing, depreciation works its magic, and future classics hit the bottom end of their value, meaning considerable investment opportunity, it is likely to just keep getting better!
What a time we live in! Now my S500, in a few years, maybe a 996 911, or an E46 M3…or even a C6 Corvette! Get planning, and enjoy more affordable and better used cars than ever before!