1998 Honda Accord

I have had this Accord for 5 years now and absolutely love it! It now has 150K miles and I feel confident that I could hold onto it for another 400K with regular scheduled maintenance and oil changes. Even though the car is now 11 years old it's still got some pep and is very fuel efficient. This is the perfect car for anyone looking for an affordable, reliable option that's fun to drive! I've driven a lot of other cars from this time period and the Honda feels the "sportiest"; the other cars feel slow and the suspension makes them feel like you're driving a cloud whereas the honda lets you hug the road. I am such a fan of this car that when I save up enough money for my next car I will most likely buy another Accord! Honda's tend to have this effect on people.

The only problems I've ever had were flat tires and nothing related to the Accord itself. I've never had an issue with the car not starting or dying on me and the engine feels like it handles as well as it did 10 years ago. It's really incredible how well the Accords age and I feel no need to replace mine with a new car anytime soon!

The accords are also highly customizable which makes them ideal for younger people (in addition to older people looking for reliability). The radio and sound system are easily upgradeable (the stock speakers probably need upgrading after 11 years of use). Also one thing that I had a lot of fun with in my car was upgrading many of the parts to used parts from an Acura TL. Since Honda/Acura make most of their parts interchangeable you can swap in steering wheels, seats or other parts you find from junkyards out of Acura TLs from the appropriate year. Obviously you need to have a little mechanical/electrical experience or help but the upgrades are well worth it! My car is 100X nicer now with leather Acura TL seats instead of the cloth Accord ones.

Other great things about this car are the spaciousness of the interior, which provides for both comfort and safety. There are also a wide variety of aftermarket parts available making repairs from fender benders or street parking mishaps very inexpensive.

The pros to the accord are: reliability, value, quality engine and interior, comfort and safety.

The only cons are that there are a lot of accords on the road (probably because they are such great cars and never die) so you will not feel like you are driving something unique or special. If you are into customization however to make your ride more unique there are a ton of aftermarket options for the accord (but that's up to you, you don't want to make your car look stupid). The only other con is the 4 cyl accord is not the fastest car on the road however it is more than worth it from the fuel efficiency. Even though it is not fast it is still very fun to drive and feels like it has more than enough power to quickly get you where you need to go.

As for the fuel efficiency, here's a good story. I was riding home at like 2am one night in MA and being from NJ I figured I would stop for gas on my way home. In NJ there are always some gas stations open 24 hours but where I was in Western MA they were all closed! I literally had to drive for 40 minutes while my gas needle was below the empty bar until I found an open gas station. Talk about running on empty! I seriously doubt you could make it that far with an American car.

These Honda's are extremely safe and reliable and you will not go wrong with an Accord: ever! If you really want to consider something else I guess look at a used camry (but it will not be as fun to drive) or I hear good things about the newer Hyundai's. Seriously though you won't regret going with an Accord.