Well the civic 4cyl is a different motor than the Accord 4cyl. The Accord's 4cyl is a 2.4 SOHC VTEC in the LX and EX sedans and coupes. The DX sedan is the only one that has no VTEC, and has like 20 less hp.

The V6 is a 3.0 SOHC VTEC.

 

John,

Good point about VTEC Accord vs VTEC Civic. I'm hearing about H22a and I4 and all. What VTEC 4 cyl is in the 98 Accord? Your pix are awesome! I'm looking at a 98 Accord EX black as well w/ leather pkg. The owner's asking 8200. I'll give him that because it's below kbb for private parties if it's as in good condition as the pix show. It's got 83k miles. I'm insisting that the timing belt be replaced or take 200 bucks off. Does this seem like a reasonable approach to you considering what you paid for your '99? If I pull the trigger on this I'll be asking you more about the mods you've done. Those wheels are pretty gucci - I'd be looking to upgrade from the alloys on this '98. BTW - brother in law works for Honda Ohio in Dublin, small world, eh?! I'm seeing if he can work me a discount on one of their company leases but it's hard from the right coast! Cheers, Kelly

 

Any non-quality car might be a candidate for a transmission
problem around 100k miles.Most certainly Kia, Hyundai, American, VW,etc.
But the reason Toyota, Honda, Mercedes Benz, etc
have a reputation for quality is that you can avoid these
kind of problems as being normal for 100-150k miles>>>

However, there was in-fact an unusual amount of transmission failures in 6th gen Accords (both I4 and V6 models) as a result of bad carrier bearings from the factory. As was stated above, there is no data that I've seen that shows how many have failed vs. how many havent... but it was enough for Honda to issue an extended 7year/100k mile free replacement warranty. Naturally, as time goes on and the cars get older... the number of failures will increase.

Honda isn't perfect. Back in the mid 90s they were caught with faulty emissions controls. They had to extend their emissions warranty another 7 years and 80,000 miles on top of the original coverage period to all 95-97 models (excluding Passport) as well as offer free tune-ups to customers who were between 75,000 and 150,000 miles.

The difference with Honda is that they have been pretty good about taking care of the problems, working with the customers and offering goodwill services to people outside of the warranty coverage.


Toyota had similar experiences with head gasket failures on the 3.0 V6 engines and oil sludge in the 4-cylinders. Although Toyota issued a recall warranty, a good friend of mine was stuck with the entire repair bill to have his engine replaced on his 99 Camry when the engine sludged up and failed at 90,000 miles. He didn't have every single oil change reciept from day 1 and was denied warranty service.

 

Well, performance wise, it's mostly felt on the highway. The V6 has much more torque and power and can easily motivate the car for highway passing maneuvers without using that much throttle.

All levels of Accord are mostly trouble free - however, the I4 and V6 do have some weak links. The alternators (I replaced mine for $120 at 135k miles), the transmissions (I got a slightly used ebay example for $900 installed at 150k miles) and a couple of other things kind of suck on the V6s while on the 4 bangers I've seen a lot of posts about little things like EVAP canisters and faulty fuel gauges.

On my V6, I've kept a maintenance log for the past 40k miles (from about 146k to now 188.5k). I've spent about $1800 on my car including oil changes and wiper blades and extra crap like my 6CD changer - not too bad to keep a car like that on the road and still able to kick some ass every now and than. I do all of my work myself (well, everything except the timing belt) and I've found that the engine is extremely easy to work on once you get used to it - the only problem being that some objects are hard to get to because of the small engine bay and require patience and a Helms service manual. I knew nothing about car repair when I got the car, but now I think I've become pretty knowledgable.

The 4 banger will give you from 30-38 on the highway (it's highly dependant on how well you drive it), while most V6s seem to get about 27-30. I usually get 27.5 or so, and once got 30.5.

You would be well advised to get either the EX with leather 4 banger or the EX-V6. The small change you'll pay for the extra creature comforts used are nothing compared to what they originally cost new. FYI, the 2001 Accords were refreshed slightly and received new equipment such as traction control for V6, side air bags, slight restyling, 6CD changer, etc.

Edit: The V6s are J30A1s, and the I4s are F23As with 1-4 after that denoting its engine power and emissions - I think the 150HP non ULEV F23 is F23A4. Maybe.

 

I have been hearing people tell me about the auto tranny in my Accord ever since I bought it in 2001 with 76k already on it. I've had it flushed once at 90k at the dealer (after which I heard it is better to replace the fluid that to flush). I know have 140,000 on it with no problems. Keep in mind that I drive it like it's the last week I'm going to have it.

 

The 4cyl in the 6th gen Accords is the F23A, 2.3L SOHC VTEC 150hp, 152tq(with the exception of the DX, non vtec, less power). I have the auto, but I wish I would have gotten the manual just for sporting's sake. I'm not really up on the current going prices, I've had my 99 for 5 years now, so I spent a lot more than you will haha. Yeah, the timing belt isn't officially due until 105K miles under "normal driving conditions" on our cars, but if you can get more knocked off the price, sure. From what I read on here, most Honda dealers are charging 600-800 for Tbelt and water pump. My 99 has 83K miles and I don't really plan on doing the timing belt until I hit 100K or so. Like 98coupeV6 mentioned, might as well go for nice trim packages because you don't pay as much of a premium as when the car was new. And yeah, I'll help you with any mods you want to know about, it's fun to mess with them.

Like I said my car now has about 83K and knock on wood I've never had a problem. I've heard of people having problems with the auto tranny but I personally haven't had a problem. I change my own tranny fluid with Honda ATF about twice as often as recommended and so far so good. I don't beat on it, but I get the rev's up once in a while. The 5 speed would be the most reliable choice, but I haven't had any problems with my auto.

I actually moved from Ohio to Arizona this summer, but I lived in Dublin for 4 years, it's a nice area.

 

ULEV 4-cyl is F23A4 (148hp) and non-ULEV is F23A1 (152hp). I bought my 2002 EX manual ULEV coupe in July and I absolutely love it. It's plenty fast for me and gets insane gas mileage (36 highway!) I don't know if the auto transmission thing applies to the 2002 but I know a guy at work who has two older accords (98 and 2000) and both of the automatics have died at 100K. If you like to drive a manual transmission I would definitely go for it, if nothing else because it's more fun than an automatic.

I think the best advice I can give you is to decide what you really want in a car and hold out for the right one! Don't try to sell yourself on one that's almost but not quite perfect. They made something like 400,000 accords per year so yours has to be out there!

 

All, thanks for your great input thus far. Am taking it all in for when I go look at my F23A1 this saturday.
IstaHonda brought up a great point about the transmission warranty extension to 7yr/100k miles. Is this transferable? Is it on TOP of the original warranty? Reason I'm asking is the one I'm seriously interested in is a '98 w/ 83k miles, so VERY close on the timing and close on the mileage.
Furthermore is there a link on this or any other site w/ recall data and the like for '98 Accords? Jeep.com has them available to registered owners as one of their services.
Cheers, Kelly

 

Well the extended warranty on the transmission does not cover all 6th gen I4 autos. I can't remember exactly what year(s) are covered. I know for a fact that my car is not covered, I remember reading the years once. I have heard of some people who were not covered by the warranty getting a "good-will" replacement in which they only had to pay a partial amount.

Yes, Honda offers a site like that, you can type in the VIN and register and you'll see any recalls, etc. The only recall I've had is the ignition lock recall, and my car hasn't ever had a problem so I haven't had it changed. Here's the site: https://www.ahm-ownerlink.com/login.asp?brand=honda

 

I can't remember exactly what year(s) are covered.>>>

'00-'01.