After a nightmarish year and a half we decided to get rid of our Ford Explorer Sport Trac and go back to Honda--this is Honda number 4 for me. Previously my Honda's have all been Civic's, but there has been this nagging yearning all this time for an Accord--and I decided to go for it. I suppose the fact that they had one like mine sitting on the showroom floor all kitted out didn't help matters any, and now I could at long last afford one too.

One thing that I would definitely do over again is buying the 6 Cylinder over the 4. The extra power makes all the difference in the world in how the car performs. The only drawback that I've found is the reduced gas mileage, but I'm averaging about 26 MPG after a year of owning this car. I really think that the US needs to crack down on this situation overall because cars of similar size in Europe are getting much better numbers, so it can be done.

The interior on this car is probably what sold it in the first place. I'd never had a leather interior before, but I would definitely do it again. The seats are very comfortable although a little short for someone with long legs. All the knobs and buttons for the radio, heater, cruise, etc are within easy reach for the driver and front seat passenger. My only complaints for the interior are the stupid tilt wheel--I think someone at Honda needs to learn what a tilt wheel really does because this is my 3rd Honda with a tilt wheel and they are all the same. They don't move enough to make any difference at all and if someone truly needed tilt wheel due to a physical handicap, they would be hugely disappointed in Honda's engineering. It's a shame because Honda puts so many other details in their cars. Other than this little glitch, the interior is very roomy and would accomodate 4 adults very comfortably.

The stereo in this car is awesome--6 CD changer with cassette and AM/FM and a fantastic stock speaker set up. It is easy to use and produces a terrific sound. The cruise control is easy to use and trouble free. The sunroof is probably the one thing I could have done without as I rarely use it, but it is very well thought out and easy to use. I spent the extra money and got the shield that goes along with it so you can leave it open partially when driving in the rain and not end up wet. I really like the fold down "door" in the rear seat to accomodate longer items in the trunk without having to put the whole seat down, I have used this several times and can see where it would be a very nice feature for someone who ski's. The interior cleans up easily and the carpeted floor mats are of very good quality. I've noticed no "pilling" of the rug in this car at all, I've had that problem with a previous Honda and it was most annoying. The trunk is very roomy.

My only complaint about the interior is the heating system, I really don't care much for the climate control system, I think the whole system is a bit confusing if you don't want to use the climate control and I don't think it's very accurate--I don't think one should be cold when it's set on 74, but I have had days like that when the sun is beating in and it doesn't read accurately for the entire car. I spend way too much time playing with the heater for my comfort, so why should I pay extra for this frustrating feature.

The exterior of this car isn't anything flashy, I think it's a nice looking family type car with a little bit of a sporty yearning. It washes up nicely and there isn't a lot of trim to catch cleaning rags and such on. The only thing I've noticed is the chrome on the Honda and the EX labels is getting a little yucky looking so I will have to get the polish out for those, but otherwise everything still looks as good as it did the day I drove it home. One thing that I highly recommend on any Honda is to get the built in mudflaps, they are custom fitted for the car and really do a good job of keeping a lot of road dirt and such off it.

Performance wise, I'm extremely happy with this car. I find it to be very responsive and the engine has a good deal of get up and go. So far no speeding tickets, but I have to keep an eye on myself! It does well in hard braking situations and the thing that I'm most impressed with is that it almost turns on a dime. I was surprised at how much more responsive the steering is than with my Civic since it's a much heavier car, but I can't tell you the number of times I've spotted a parking spot at the last minute and popped right in without having to back up or anything because the steering is so tight. It sounds kind of silly, but this is probably one of the most impressive things for me with this car.

To sum things up, I would definitely buy this car again. If you could pick and choose things a bit more instead of it all being sold as packages, the only things I would get rid of would be the sun roof (personal preference) and the climate control (argh!). Overall I'm very happy with it and more than likely will look at Accords again when it's time to buy another vehicle. That's probably going to be a while though because we keep our Honda's for a very long time--we had one for 200,000+ miles before we got rid of it and the Civic we still have is over 100,000+ and not showing much wear--I've only got 15,000 on the Accord to date so it's got a ways to go--but it's been a great 15,000 miles so far.
Amount Paid (US$): 25000
Condition: New
Model Year: 2002
Model and Options: EX V6, Automatic, Leather Int., 6CD