2003 Honda Accord EX V6 review from North America

Paint is coming off hood like the chicken pox.

Transmission replaced at 20,000 miles.

Driver seatbelt latch replaced 60,000 miles.

Rear defroster electrical switch replaced 71,000 miles.

Window wiper motor failed and replaced 72,000 miles.

Driver's seat wearing badly despite yearly leather conditioning.

The car is a nice car, drives and handles well.

For a family sedan it is a well rounded car.

City gas mileage is not the best - about 13-16 mpg.

Highway gas mileage is quite good - about 27-30 mpg.

Disappointed in the reliability. Nothing major except for premature replacement of transmission (new 5 speed unit had chronic problems when this model launched in 2003). Record shows six failures over 80,000 miles. Not the model of reliability I have thought Honda to be. My GM product with 40,000 miles has had zero problems - what is wrong with this picture?

The dealer is plain annoying - you have to get an outright failure before they will do anything to fix something under the extended warranty. For example, claimed nothing was wrong with the driver's seatbelt. I told the service agent that if he could get out of the car and unbuckle it in 5 seconds, I would take the car and be on my way. He got in, buckled himself in, and then was stuck... I had to help him get out of the car after he swore at the seatbelt! I got a great laugh out of that, and he had to take the car back and replace the latch - which it finally was.

Overall, it is not a bad car but not worth the dealer price you have to pay to get it. Honda appears to be living on their reputation, rather than supporting it with future superior products.