1984 Honda Accord Hatchback review from North America

Normal wear, battery, clutch and brakes, annoying fuel filler leak.

Door locks look bad thanks to a break-in.

Rust affecting the structure.

This is Honda doing the Austin Mini up seriously. This Accord is basically a top-of-the-line Honda Civic, and the difference is mainly in build quality. It's a functional urban go-fer, perfect for zipping over to the store, commuting to work, or running a kid to a sports practice. I've taken it on freeway outings and it seems steady up to speeds as fast as I care to travel (say 120 to 140 km/h), with maybe some power yet to use. You can still seat 4 real-size people and get excellent fuel economy. Well-built and well-engineered car.

Unluckily, I got one that had been thrashed out by the previous owners, including some (undeclared) previous body work that turned into patchwork body paint after a couple of years.

Ugly as heck, this is cubism that only a Picasso could love.

BUT it is a great technical combination of sportiness, economy and functional features. We have hauled everything from firewood logs to sheep manure in ours (sometimes there are benefits to having a car that is beyond caring about... you get to treat it like a pick-up truck). My wife's used it to cross-town commute and shop daily, and she finds it a pleasure to drive and park. It's really regretable that hatchbacks are going out of vogue over here.

I notice from other examples around that if cared-for meticulously, the bodies stay sound. If not, by now the mid-80s Hondas are looking pretty bad... poor steel in Japan just then, or what?

If I'd obtained a good clean example, I'd probably keep it, despite its chumpy looks. As I didn't, I'm fulfilling my mid-life crisis with a Golf GTI.

Prospective purchasers, watch for rust. If the bodywork is really clean, you can probably deal with the mechanical problems affordably enough. But if the metal's going, give it a pass.