My 17 year old niece wants a Honda Accord as her first car. She is hard working, responsible and has already saved a few thousand dollars.
Any thoughts, advice, pro and cons on maintenance, what type of mileage should she be looking to buy at and what maximum mileage could she expect to get? Is it a good vehicle for a new driver or reccomend a different car?
Thanks
What years is she looking at? What budget?
Depends on the year. If you buy smart, they can be great cars. If you don't buy smart, you might have a horrible ownership experience. Most of them are good cars, but a few oddball years are popular sellers and should be avoided.
Thanks for all the info!
The Accord is a great first car, but if you have a lower budget (>7k) don't expect to get a car with low mileage, especially with Hondas. I would say try to find one with less than 100k miles (although that may be a tough find with a small budget), as most Accords can go 200k with proper care.
Thank you!
FWIW, a 1999 Honda Accord was my first car brand new, and I still have it at 272K+ miles. For the most part, these babies have some life in them. It went 200K+ miles on just basic maintenance.
IMHO, the sweet spot to buy used is less than 100K. You'll get about 100K more miles out of it, at a relatively low maintenance cost.
(Just make sure to ask here for the exact year and model you are looking at, there are a few years to avoid if you want the longest life possible out of your Accord.)
If you could narrow done a year we could really tell you if it was a good year or not.
But overall, yes, the Accord is a great first car and generally they are low maintenance vehicles. I have a 2020 2.0T Sport and absolutely love it.
