1989 Honda Accord EX-i 2.0L F.I. from North America

Summary:

I love my '89 Honda Accord!

Faults:

Not a thing. There are the tiniest spots where rust might form. The paint is old on this 14 year old car and needs to be redone. The sun has taken its toll over the years. Other than that it must have been maintained. It was a rental car, then owned by some guy who fixed up Hondas, and now I own it.

General Comments:

I love it! Its my first car and I believe I made a great selection. The engine seems to run like the day it was new. The floor has water under the driver side mat all the time, though. As well my passenger's feet are always cold with cold air blowing in on the highway. I believe there must be a leak in the ventilation or something near the firewall. The people who owned it before me must have thought it was the windshield because they put tons of black silicone sealant around the windshield. There don't seem to be any leaks around the sunroof. Theres barely any rust up there at all which is a surprise. The electronics all work perfectly. I have the stock stereo driving brand new 180w replacement speakers (JVCs in the front and Sony X-Plods in the back). It sounds great. I've used it on trips to Toronto and Ottawa from Peterborough without a problem other than the cold feet on the passenger's side.

One other thing. When I first got it a sensor or something must have been dirty or faulty. When I go to park the car and its idling after running for a while it would oscillate between 1k and 2k RPMs and never settle down. This seems to have stopped happening, though.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 25th November, 2003

5th Oct 2004, 21:35

I love my 1989 Honda Accord Lxi. Just found it curious about the engine speed oscillating. Mine does the same thing now, and according to it's previous owner, has done it for years. Just a little rust on the rear fenders and a slight oil leak from the engine block, nothing major. Great car!

29th Mar 2005, 10:33

I own an 1989 Accord LXI with 269k miles. I too have experienced the problem you mentioned about the car bouncing between 1k and 2k rpm. I eventually traced the problem to low coolant level. Apparently, this causes the computer to get a bad reading on coolant temperature and creates a confused condition or something. As I am no mechanic I can't guaranty this will fix the problem, but it won't hurt to try. Adding antifreeze fixed mine to my surprise and delight!

15th Nov 2005, 12:24

Good to hear your comments. I wanted you to know something I found out about my Honda Lxi. My parking is on an upward incline. When parked forward, my sunroof floods dumping on me when the car levels out. When parked backwards, it is fine.

10th Sep 2007, 14:54

The problem with water in your driver side foot area could mean the the sunroof drains are plugged. To the person who commented about being soaked when opening the sunroof it means you sunroof drains are plugged. There is a channel that runs around the sunroof with a drain in each corner. I know this as we had the same problem with our 1989 Honda accord EX. To fix the problem take the car to a glass shop and ask them to clean out the drains. It cost us about $450 to get it done, $200 for the front and $250 for the back as they have to do a lot more work to get to the back drains.

30th Nov 2008, 19:01

I have the same thing happen with my sunroof. It leaks when the car is facing up an incline and is fine when facing down... why can't it just not leak at all?

1989 Honda Accord LXi 2.0 EFI from North America

Summary:

Reliable, quick, economical - Great car!

Faults:

Replaced oil filter O-Ring.

Slight coolant leak, possible cracked head gasket.

General Comments:

I love this car. The engine is peppy and has great pull, and the handling is spectacular. It's a very comfortable ride, though not as comfortable as my previous car (1986 Camry). The engine note is utterly beautiful, has a much more aggressive growl than your normal 120 horsepower engine. The fact that it's still running beautifully after 213,000+ miles of abuse is a testament to the amazing quality of these cars. You simply can't go wrong with any Accord, especially a 3rd-generation fuel injected one.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 8th November, 2003