I'm thinking about buying a 2018 Honda Accord Touring 1.5T with 105k miles. List price is at $21,700. The car has had two previous owners. The first was a lease that only lasted until around 10k miles. The second owner was personally owned since October of 2019. I'd obviously have it inspected before purchasing; however, the CarFax report shows that it had oil changes every 10k miles instead of 5k for most of it's usage, but the time in between oil changes ranges from 3-4 months... so not bad? The previous owner seemed to have driven a lot (27,800 miles a year). I would ask if these were mostly highway miles. I currently have a 2013 Accord EX-L V6 and hate the constant jerks and shifts of the 6-spd transmission. I work in real estate and driving downtown in stop-and-go traffic is a pain with the rough behavior of the transmission, and thus, leads to why I'd rather have a smooth CVT that gets a lot better gas mileage. I know there's been complaints of oil dilution in the 1.5Ts and especially in the earlier Honda models. If I was to buy it, I'd just use a higher grade fuel to help with that issue. The car has a clean title and looks to be in good condition from the pictures.
Any thoughts or tips?
Couple of thoughts;
+ Appears to have a fair amount of highway mileage (27,800 yr). - improperly maintained 1.5 liter turbo Honda engine. - CVT in Accord should have had 3 services? - the price is a bit high.
Find another Car with a CVT transmission. You should pass on this one.
I think I would avoid the earlier Honda 1.5 turbo engines due to the oil dilution problems. (I'd also have concerns about the longevity of a small turbocharged engine in a relatively large car.) I don't think higher-grade fuel is going to help. Per Scotty a GF-6 engine oil may help but the 2.0 naturally aspirated engine would be a much better choice,
I agree with Chuck you should try to avoid turbos and stick with naturally aspirated
