So, I apologize if this is the wrong place for this post. I'm a little confused as to where else I would post it.

But anyway on to my dilemma. I've recently graduated college and began working a sweet job. It just involves a 200 mile round trip commute until my fiance and I can buy a house in the new area. In my car search for a reasonable car the Accord was recommended to me and the Sport trim was the one with the options I preferred the most. I'm looking at possibly putting 35k on a car leading up to the move and the Accord Sports I've found in my budget of $14k and below have been around 80k miles.

This is going to be my first non-sports car I've bought and I'm actually clueless about it. I normally change my transmission fluid in everything every 25-30k miles. I know CVTs are more picky so with my maintenance habits would it be possible to get 250k+ on a CVT since I cannot even find replacement transmission on the market to gauge price.

Also how is the 4cyl engine for long term driving? I always thought toyota and honda were the golden standard but I've heard mixed reports during my search.

Thank you for your time and I hope everyone has a great day!

 

Honestly I couldn't tell you anything about the CVT trans. For me it's an unknown. The rest of the car will do that kind of mileage without too much trouble. I'd search what I can about the CVT, and learn as much as possible about it before making any decision. Be prepared to find a Toyota too, then compare the Honda against it. As the owner of both a Toyota, and a Honda all I can say is they're both great cars, and last a long time.

 

The CVT reports are all over the place. I'm torn because I like the car and how it drives but I do not want to be spending $4500 at 150k to replace a CVT. I test drove several Camry's and they all kind of sucked to drive but the Accord was a good middle ground.

While I can and love to drive a manual, they're harder to find and my fiance cannot drive a manual at all. At least the engine is pretty solid because that's the biggest weak point in most cars.

I'm going to keep searching but I'm struggling to find any reman CVTs for the Accord at the moment.

 

I'm a 3-pedal person also. I'm actually dreading the time when I have to get a new car because manual transmissions are quickly disappearing from new cars.

 

If it wouldn't be so difficult to teach her to drive a manual I'd find one in a heartbeat, but it's going to be tough to teach her. She doesn't even understand the fundamentals of it.

 

Agreed. However, I doubt I'll buy a newer car any time soon. That, and I have more than 1 vehicle to drive, and I have some older model vehicles with AT that aren't super expensive to fix.

 

From what I've found most, if not all MT Hondas have hydraulic clutches, which are fairly light to operate. The biggest thing is whether or not she has/or can get a rhythm going between using her feet and her arm. I taught my wife how to drive a stick. She doesn't like to drive one, but can drive one in an emergency.
A better question might be can you afford to purchase 2 cars? One for yourself, and one for her. Then you could get the MT car for yourself, since you'll be putting the most mileage on it. And then you find her an AT car just for her.
In my case, I have a 99 Accord LX with MT, while my wife has a 2000 Accord LX with AT. Both are the same 2.3L engine, and are similarly equipped. Just 1 has a 5 speed, and the other an AT. We even use her car for road trips.

 

This vehicle will be as much for her as me. In the summer I drive the 86 mustang gt that I inherited most of the time. I enjoy it the most but with my commute I do need something more efficient and better in my 20 minutes of stop and go traffic.

 

So, it really comes down to more research on the CVT, or maybe backing up a couple of years for a regular AT equipped Accord.