Having just graduated from college and gotten a job, I needed a new car. With our family having owned two Honda Accords before (1990 and 2000 models), it was obvious to me which car to pick - the new Accord 2003. I know it's almost the end of 2004 now, but I don't think the car has changed that much--for those who might be considering buying Accord 2005.

Because of my mom's insistence, whatever the new car was, I was going to make sure that it's V6. Not having driven a V6 before, when I went to test drive the new Accord, I was not use to the powertrain and it felt much different than driving an inline 4. I've heard that the new V6 Accord has 240 hp, so I wanted to see how fast it can accelerate given that much power. I think I scared the car salesman a little bit since I was going about 80 from about 20-30 at the beginning of the onramp. The acceleration was incredible, and I fell in love at that moment with the V6--I don't think I can go back to driving an in-line 4 anymore. Now, the test-drive car also had navigation, which I thought looked really cool with the white LED letters glowing and with voice-activated features. But of course, that came with a hefty price tag, so I did not get it for my own car.

After having dealt with every possible marketing tactic the salespeople threw at me, I finally settled with one car salesman at Honda El Cerrito who seemed to be pretty trustworthy, at least more so than the other ones. My car turned out to be a sandstone LX V-6, with cloth interior. After I got my car, I noticed that I had a 6-disc CD player, with those white LED glowing text! I was probably just being a dolt for not having checked it before buying the car, but indeed I was pleasantly surprised by that. Actually, I have a story with that CD player, which I will tell in the end. Back to the car, though, I also noticed the nice illuminating dashboard that I saw in the test drive car. Somehow, knowing that this is my own car made it look even better. I think it's just psychological, but it really looks nice!

Now, for the acceleration test, for those who live in Alameda near San Francisco knows how short the 23rd Ave on-ramp to 880 South is. That was the perfect road to test the V6 since the on-ramp is probably about 100 feet, and many times the cars that are on the rightmost lane won't let you come in. So, you gotta burn them--and indeed I did. I didn't time my acceleration or anything, but I hit the pedal full-force and it felt like I was in a rocket. The revving sound also added to my adrenaline rush. Easily, I could cut off cars and change lanes if I wanted to, but of course being a more defensive driver than offensive, I don't usually drive like that.

I don't want to make this review too long, so those were the several points that really stuck to me that I think was the deciding factor for my buying this car--well also because Honda Accord's been known to last a decade no problem. I've been driving this car for about a year and a half now, racking up over 40k (the guy thought I was due for a 3-year checkup when I went in haha), and I kept thinking to myself how lucky I was to have decided to buy this car instead of any other cars. As I was driving to work, I was noticing on the recently paved asphalt road how smooth the ride is. OK, I admit that the new Accord may not hug corners as well as the older model (at least I thought so), but the shocks are much better, and as a result, the ride was a lot smoother. Having to commute about 50 miles a day, I think the 2003 Accord is really a treat to drive, and I can really burn people with my V6 =)

P.S. -- OK I forgot to tell you one thing that bothered me: the brakes
First of all, for some reason, after having driven it for about two months, there was a squeaking sound like metal-against-metal grind emanating from my wheels. It would go away after I drive for a while, but whenever I pulled out of my garage in the morning, it would do that. I still don't know why it does that, and interestingly it hasn't done that in about two months now after I changed the rear brakes. Also, braking sometimes is quite abrupt even though I didn't hit the brakes that hard--it made my head lurch forward. I think that's the only thing that bothers me about this car, and since the squeaking sound went away, I can live with it. The positives greatly outweigh the negatives!

The 6-disc CD player story:
OK, actually, this was probably my fault. On one occasion when I loaded a newly bought CD, the changer got stuck, and it said ERR on the display. After a while, it switched to Radio, and I couldn't get it to go back to CD mode. Of course, I panicked, but luckily, the car was still under warranty, so I was able to get it replaced for free at the Honda dealer. Of course, I had to wait about 2 months to get the CDs that were still stuck in there back from the plant. I later realized how stupid I was when I finally figured out that the flashing red light on the changer actually meant something: DON'T PUT IN THE CD YET. I didn't know this before, and that's probably why it got stuck; I put the new CD in while it was flashing red. I should've waited until it turned green, which the installation guy put an instructional sticker for me to follow (I felt so stupid).

Amount Paid (US$): 22000
Condition: New
Model Year: 2003
Model and Options: LX V6 Automatic