Greetings! I am currently ending my college career and my 1996 Grand Prix GTP is on its last leg. Owning 2 Pontiacs has driven me to search for foreign cars for the reliability. Plus, I drove a friend's 04 V6 6-spd and fell in love!

Since I've been searching, I've come to the conclusion that a 7th gen would suit me best, and am looking at 2003 EX COUPE 4-cyl's (preferrably 5-spd manual). After plenty of research Im astounded by the number of satisfied Accord owners out there, but my main concern is with the common "first year gitters" that most cars have. That is, because 2003 was the first year of the 7th gen, should I be reluctant to buy this model year because of any major reliability problems? I am interested to Honda because of its quality, gas milage, and low owners cost especially because i will be driving a fair amount to work everyday. What are your thought?

Besides this, I would like to say thank you in advance, and hopefully by spring ill be a regular here!

 

If it's possible get the 06-07 coupes. Those are the best 7th gens u can get and plus they still look up-to-date. They look better than the models before imo. If u don't know, the 06 and 07 look completely different. They are basically redesigned versions.

The difference is the 06-07 have
-a facelift
-"lip" on top of the trunk so it's not curvy
-brake light is moved from the inside in front of the rear mirror to the outside on the edge of the trunk
-all exhausts come with the chrome finish
-i4's get 6 more hp and v6 gets 4 more hp
-new style in rims
-new shiftknob

that's all i can think of, there may be more.

 

Thanks for the reply!

I wish it were possible to get an 06-07, but they are simply too much money for me right now with loans and stuff like that. In my area im fairly confident i could pick up an 03 for around 10k if I look hard enough so as far as that goes im pretty much locked in to that model year.

i did a little more digging yesterday and found people on www.carsurvey.org had an ungodly amount of problems with their 7th gens, but have 200k+ miles on their older hondas. From what I gather it doesn't seem like Honda is living up to their good name lately!

It seemed like everyone was having the same problems:
Transmission, bad alignment, rattles, brakes.

Is there any info I can grab on here or elsewhere so i can do a little more research? thanks!

 

I think the tranny issues were in the 03-04 models. And yes the brakes r mediocre but its not so bad as a trucks. But as far as anything goes, I have no problems. I've driven my accord since day 1 (may 1 2007) and I have NEVER had to go bak to the dealership except for some accessories and oil filters. It all depends. Since ur probaly gonna get a used one u might want to check.

Actually on ebay there is a black 06/07 accord ex-l v6 6 mt for about $13,000. The reason I believe is bc the CAr was involved in an accident but everything on it has been replaced including airbags, screws and if I'm right its inspected. But whatever u prefer. I would go for the 06-07. They jus look better imo. Let me know how it goes.

 

my 07 is not as well built as my 94 was. but, it is still a very well built car.

 

ha thats weird..i went from a gtp to an accord. mine was a 99 though

 

My 2003 (4-door) has been reliable for it's first 50k miles. The only thing I can complain about is the nicks in the doors when my daughter parks it on campus...