Athough the Honda Civic is the most frequently lauded used hero in the real world, the larger Honda Accord comes a very close second, based on my inbox.
This is a proper quality package that’s safe, well made and always going to work, provided that it’s looked after. A luxury car in a modest package, the Mk7 Accord offers some nice petrol engines for those who only potter about and, from 2004, a frugal diesel option.
The saloon is simple and straightforward, and the Tourer estate is worth considering too.
It hardly has the biggest boot, but it is user-friendly, with rear seats that fold flat at the touch of a button and the pull of a lever. The powered tailgate is also very handy, opening at a press of the key fob.
The ABS sensors and wheel bearings are the only real weak points, along with the tailgate release on the Tourer.
What Honda offered us from 2008 was some more effective executive salooning, courtesy of the eighth Accord incarnation.
There are three engines: a 2.2-litre diesel and a couple of petrols. Parts aren’t too expensive and outside of regular servicing it shouldn’t need many, as it continues to maintain a near-perfect reliability record. The Mk8 Tourer, though, isn’t so easygoing. It’s a bigger car, but its load space is awkward and not that big at all. Indeed, it’s almost like a reverse Tardis.
The Accord gets complicated from this point onward, and that’s reflected in the common problems with the Mk8, which include worn clutches, expensive problems with the dual-mass flywheel and the usual blocked diesel particulate filter issue. Just buy the older one...
2003 Honda Accord Tourer 2.4i VTEC Executive auto - 111,200 miles, £2495: This ex-demonstrator has been with one private owner since 2004. It’s in Executive trim, making it a luxury lugger, and looks very tidy. It has a long MOT and a dealer warranty, too.
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