I'll make this short and sweet, so here it is: I have a 2002 Accord Couple EX 5 speed with a little over 200K miles. I changed the Timing belt+water pump+drive belts and the spark-plugs at 104800 miles in Nov 2006. They were done at the Dealer.
Now it is getting close to that time again to change the Timing belt+.Water pump...etc.

I have two questions,
1) Is it worth it to perform another timing belt/Waterpump/Drive belts/Sparkplugs change considering the mileage of the car, because I am only planning to keep the car for another year and a half. What would you do if you were in my shoes?
2) Can I stretch the timing belt_Water pump change interval?
3) Can I wait another 25k miles before changing the spark-plugs?

For whatever it is worth, my commutte is 90 miles round trip with 90% highway driving.

Many Thanks,
-Mott

 

Change the timing belt because it sounds like the next year you'll continue to drive 90 miles a day. I say it's worth it because when you do sell the car you can say the timing belt is done. That's a BIG thing to anyone who knows Hondas.

Unless the body is all rusty & about to fall apart, in which case go ahead & drive it until something breaks then abandon it.

Spark plugs can probably be stretched a bit. They'll give you some warning in the form of misfiring or poor MPG. They most likely won't leave you stranded 90 miles from home like a broken timing belt. But still, a set of sparkplugs doesn't cost very much.

 

[QUOTE=JimBlake;222961]

>Unless the body is all rusty & about to fall apart, in which case go ahead & drive it until >something breaks then abandon it.


Thanks for replying back Jim, I know it is always hard to give people answers about what they should do with their aging cars.

The only twist to this is my Honda has a big scratch on the driver door. I got side swiped by a truck a few years ago, and didn't realize it until I got to my destination where I found a big gash on the door with a hole size of 2 inches at the bottom of the door. Anyways, I didn't do the repairs because it was estimated to cost in the range of $1200 to fix.

Now I have a 4"X12" duct tape to cover the hole and painted the big scratch with touch up paint. Its a hack job to say the least, but it is what it is. ( I can provide pictures if necessary)

Aside form that, the car interior is like new as I kept it clean all the time. This is the reason I am hesitant to put money into it, but I guess if I replace the timing belt/belts/waterpump, Spark-plugs, tires ( 40K miles on current set) and a new battery next year then I may be able to drive it for a while before something else goes wrong with it.

Not sure what to do at this point, so I am as confused as I was before I wrote the original thread. I have a few months before the car reaches 210k miles!

Thanks for your comments, lightly appreciated.

-Mott

 

I'm usually in favor of fixing stuff rather than throwing it away. This gets me into endless ..um.. "discussions" with my wife. The result is that I own pretty new cars.

There's a point where on-going repairs start to cost more than a new-car payment. Sounds like you're a long way away from that. You could probably get a door from a junkyard, bolt it on & paint it. Or you may stumble across a 2004 Accord in spectacular shape for a good price. I can't predict that.

However, when you first asked, I had absolutely no clue about the general condition of the rest of the car. Miles purely by themselves don't mean much. But often the interior gets ratty, the body gets rusty, & you get tired of the car & start wanting something different.

 

I agree with Jim about having a car get to the point of no return for repairs. I just retired my 95 and got an 05 TSX.

I would say that you are still doing maintenance on the car for the timing belt. If you maintained your car well, you could get to 300K miles with the manual transmission and that engine. You should get the car inspected to see if you have any issues that you would have to correct.

 

If you have no other issues with the engine or transmission, I would get the TB replaced. Maybe shop around independent shops/mechanics to compare prices to the dealership. And not worry about the plugs. Somethings just wear out on cars, you have to replace them sooner or later.

 

My 2 cents.

Change the timing belt, water pump, yada yada.

I have a 2001 5 speed with 218K, changed the timing belt and all at 115K and 210K, she runs perfect, still gets almost 30mps hwy, I used to drive 110 miles round trip for work and put 150K on it in 4 years. With the new timing belt you'll easily make up for it in a year, I look at it as take the work that needs to be done divide by 12 and if it's less than a car payment, keep it. My interior is good (snagged the fabric on the sunroof "cover" and 0 dents/rust, going for 300K.

Just my opinion