Faults:
The battery died after 19 months - warranty replacement done by the dealer - cost me a day of work.
In the third year (50,000 km) both rear wheel bearings went bad - warranty repair.
The alternator blew the rectifier bridge diode after five years (110k) - could not get a kit, had to buy the whole thing (300 CAD). Also bought a service manual - 200 CAD.
Got the check engine light at 115k, turned out to be the EGR - factory recall paid for that.
Changed the timing belt and water pump at 123,000 km, done it myself - parts + tools = 500 CAD and a solid day of work.
Front stabilizer bulb-joint became loose after 7 years and had to be replaced, did both sides - 80 CAD.
After 8 years the light cluster mounted on the trunk started taking water - had it apart and resealed - two days of work!
I routinely replace rotors and brake pads every 40-50,000km. Costs less than 400 CAD.
After 8 years the driver's seat starts to show wear - the plastic leather peals off.
After 9 years it is starting to rust.
General Comments:
Best car I ever drove. Quiet inside, sticks to the road like glue. It has a hard sporty suspension that lets the driver feel the road. As far as speed goes, this one will not go past 210km/h, and at 140kph feels like my old Mercury Topaz did at 90.
Very nice ride on the original Michelin Energy tires.
Things to change:
1. Check engine light needs to be more elaborate - I do not wish to be taken to the cleaners when it comes on.
2. Alloy rims leak air once the tire is older then 3 years.
3. Odometer LCD and radio LCD are flaky - this is most likely a zebra connector problem.
4. Switches with internal lights - cruise lamp died in the last year.
5. The timing belt replacement interval - this should not happen in this day and age.
1st Dec 2011, 15:06
Just to clarify - are you sure this was a Japan-new car? I'll totally eat humble pie if I'm wrong on this, but I thought all right-hand-drive V6 Accords from 1998, were made in Thailand, but were not sold new in the Japan market.
I presume you are talking about the wide-body Accord that was sold in the US as an Acura, and in Australia and NZ as a Honda Accord V6. The narrow body Accord is known as the Euro. The Euro never got the V6 motor.
I've spent in total about 6 weeks in Tokyo, and tend to spend most of my time looking at cars, and have never seen a wide-body V6 Accord there of the era yours is (1998 - 2002).
Or could it be the Japanese market got a narrow body Accord (Euro) with a smaller (2000 cc?) V6 motor than the 3000 cc motor in the wide-body cars? What capacity is your engine?