Considering selling the 3.0

[OtisBlkR1]

What started out as my wifes daily driver in 2009 has become my daily driver now. We purchased the 07 Honda Accord EX (loaded to the gills) 3.0 with approximately 44,000 on the clock in 2009. Last fall i purchased a gently used 2006 Milan with 21,000 miles for the wife and the Honda became my new best friend. I parked my gas guzzling Silverado and the amount of gas i saved almost pays for the Milan payment ! anyways, with all that said i always start getting nervouse whenever one of my auto's gets close to reaching that 100,000 milestone. The Honda now has 90,6xx on it, it does not make a rattle or a creek. The car is a fairly sporty four door grocery getter. I have overdone the maintence on this car with engine and transmission services always done more often than required. I know the Accords have a history of spotty transmission issues (one of the reasons ive probably overdone the service needed) and that has me a little spooked about keeping the car.. who knows it could go to 200,000 or better with continued good maintence or it could fizzle out in the next 10,000 miles. If there is one thing ive never been fond of with this car is its less than firm shifting.. its downright soft and sometimes i could compare it transmission slipping the way it shifts.. So anyways, im considering selling it off and taking that Milan as my daily driver and buying my wife something newer that she would like (crossover etc)..

Moneys not a real issue, its more of a gut thing.. I would just hate having to put $3,000-$5,000 into a transmission job on this car if i decide to keep it a few more years.. I do mean would HATE that.. In most of my experience auto's tend to start developing most of there "nickle and dime" issues after that 100,000 marker..

I dont have a crystal ball.. you probably dont either, but what say you ?
Opinions ?

and yes the car is long, long paid off..

 

[dsmith41]

I feel the same way about automatics. I just don't trust them and they are EXPENSIVE to fix. Plus, some people say doing something as simple as changing out the fluid and filter can destroy it while others say this is one of the biggest myths out there. Who to believe? I am having the exact same conversation in my head with my wife's Impala at 125k right now. Sorry. I'm not much help, am I?

 

[rjundi]

The auto transmission issues were definitely present in early 2000's for sure. I am not convinced Honda has them at a significant rate 2006+. Remember you can find failures on the internet however it is a top selling car so lots of folks out there with them.

I personally have no worries with the same 5 speed auto in my heavier Acura MDX coupled to a larger 3.7 v6 with 105,000 miles. If I make it to 150,000 miles without issue I am fine with the car. I don't see the issue happening.

 

[Hermann]

It is why I drive manuals also.

IIRC the 2007 is past the worst period, and the transmission had been modified at the factory level to better lubricate the areas that failed prior to the update. Also the price of a installed remanufactured transmission is probably under $3K. If there are no symptoms I would drive it till you no longer enjoy the vehicle, beings it is paid for. It will still have that great Honda resale value, when you decide to sell it.

 

[Tdbo]

If it were me:

I'd keep the Honda and put a car payment in the bank every month.
When (and if) the transmission drops out of the Honda, decide whether to get it fixed or not and have either the money encumbered to repair it or a nice downstroke on the replacement.

 

[montero1]

Originally Posted By: Tdbo
If it were me:

I'd keep the Honda and put a car payment in the bank every month.
When (and if) the transmission drops out of the Honda, decide whether to get it fixed or not and have either the money encumbered to repair it or a nice downstroke on the replacement.


This ^^^

 

[eagle23]

Originally Posted By: montero1
Originally Posted By: Tdbo
If it were me:

I'd keep the Honda and put a car payment in the bank every month.
When (and if) the transmission drops out of the Honda, decide whether to get it fixed or not and have either the money encumbered to repair it or a nice downstroke on the replacement.



This ^^^


^^^ This +1.

Still beats a car payment if everything else is running well.

 

[hattaresguy]

Keep it until the transmission starts to act up, than trade it in!

 

[ram_man]

Your honda is fine. The transmission issues were long ago. Be proud to drive a great car dont sweat it.

 

[yesthatsteve]

Originally Posted By: eagle23
Originally Posted By: montero1
Originally Posted By: Tdbo
If it were me:

I'd keep the Honda and put a car payment in the bank every month.
When (and if) the transmission drops out of the Honda, decide whether to get it fixed or not and have either the money encumbered to repair it or a nice downstroke on the replacement.



This ^^^


^^^ This +1.

Still beats a car payment if everything else is running well.


If you go this route, don't forget to put away some money for the timing belt at 105k. While the 4-cylinder Accords went to timing chains about ten years ago, the Honda V6 engines still have a belt.

 

[RTexasF]

You are also rapidly coming up on changing the timing belt, water pump, and associated hardware even if the transmission holds up. Keep that in mind as well. It ain't cheap.

 

[OtisBlkR1]

Yes !! very good points about the water pump and belt, whats that about a grand ? probably so.. another factor. Luckily for me i average about 6,000 a year in a car (i ride motorcycles in the summer alot) so im still a solid 14,000 miles away from needing to pull the trigger on that job.. but its deffinately something to factor in.. I know i could get a very fair resale price out of the car, and that would be a nice big fat chunk down on something alot newer for her.. im chewing again..

 

[KitaCam]

Originally Posted By: Hermann
It is why I drive manuals...


Irony here...I prefer manuals too...all my 12 cars/trucks/vans had them...
And when my 5-spd Altima got totaled I tripped into a 5-spd Camry on a Toyota lot...that is on it's THIRD clutch...newly installed by the dealer for sale...

The 1st clutch was replaced...botched...and the owner gave up on it, trading it in for a newer-used car...
...and so I got a new clutch (and master/slave cylinders and accumulator as part of the clutch repair, in addition to other standard/basic dealer prep) in a 100k mile/7-yr old car that hums tight as a drum...I did the rest of the 100k mile preventative maintenance...changing all the fluids, replacing plugs, gaskets, filters and pcv valve...so I can take the Camry another 100k miles down the road.

If OP sells the Accord, it would be nice to sell it in decent shape (before the transmission acts up) to someone who'll want to gladly put the 100k mile/$1k appropriate preventative maintenance into it...to take it another 100k down the road...though of course, one can't be sure owner2 would spend the money to do so, but one could hope...

 

[SwampSurvivor]

By 2007 the Transmission issues were long gone. If you get rid of the car now, you're going to be throwing away a lot of money spent on over maintaining the thing.

Do the T-Belt and reevaluate the car at 150K miles.

 

[OtisBlkR1]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
By 2007 the Transmission issues were long gone. If you get rid of the car now, you're going to be throwing away a lot of money spent on over maintaining the thing.

Do the T-Belt and reevaluate the car at 150K miles.


hmmmmmm...

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
By 2007 the Transmission issues were long gone. If you get rid of the car now, you're going to be throwing away a lot of money spent on over maintaining the thing.

Do the T-Belt and reevaluate the car at 150K miles.


+1

Sounds like you have maintained it well. I bet it goes for another 100k.

 

[Dave Hess]

Yep. Replace Tbelt and drive another 120K miles.

 

[gofast182]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
By 2007 the Transmission issues were long gone. If you get rid of the car now, you're going to be throwing away a lot of money spent on over maintaining the thing.

Do the T-Belt and reevaluate the car at 150K miles.

Yes, I agree. I owned a '07 Accord V6 (but mine was a 6MT) and can tell you the J30 is one of the better engines still on the road today and the chassis and interior made it feel like a more expensive car than it was. I traded it for a '10 and hated the cheaper interior (got rid of it after 18 months for my TSX). The new Accord is awesome so unless you can swing that, hang onto this one a while longer, you won't like driving the Milan as much, either. Get it a good detail job along with the belt and it will look and feel like a million bucks.

 

[glock19]

Originally Posted By: OtisBlkR1
I would just hate having to put $3,000-$5,000 into a transmission job on this car if i decide to keep it a few more years.. I do mean would HATE that..


I think the real question is could you swallow putting $4k into the car to get another 100K miles? You know you'll have to do at least the timing belt and the water pump.

From the quote above it looks like you don't really want to put a whole lot of money into maintaining this car. Since you only put 6K miles on in a year, I would just run it another year and start saving money to get something else.

 

[Hokiefyd]

You can easily do the timing belt and water pump yourself for about $350 in parts and an afternoon of labor. It's a much more enjoyable job than I thought it would be. The "burden" of a timing belt job is way overblown by those who have never done it. I was absolutely dreading the job on our Acura, but was absolutely floored at how easy and straight forward it was.

We're looking forward to another 100k miles in ours.