aniva

New to this forum... Decided to join as my 2004 Accord (auto) gets older in terms of both mileage, 125K miles, and age, 6 years, and I may need to start getting to know my car better than just filling it with gas and bringing it to dealership for regular maintenance. Thanks God, no issues so far, engine as powerful as it used to be back in 2004 same as suspension, steering firm and precise and gear box smooth like silk... Very good mileage ~31MPG in mixed hw/city. However I have a feeling that things may start coming up... What to expect, what to pay attention to? Would like to be a bit proactive as I hope to keep this car as long as it will last...

dre5491

Have you have the timing chain replaced? Honestly it's a Honda you don't have to worry about much happening. There will be small issues that come up every so often, the only ones that cause a lot of issues are the 6 cylinder Accords because their auto trans sucks. But you got a 4 banger so no worries.

bobinator5000

Timing chain+water pump, chassis lubrication, tune up, alignment if it needs it. If you've taken it to the dealer they've done most of that already.

Big things to look for once the car gets over 110k or so miles or 7-8 years:

Valve cover gasket likes to go spewing oil all over the engine compartment which eats away at, well, everything it comes into contact with; have the dealer do a valve job as part of a tune up and ask them for a new gasket on the valve cover.

Calipers leaking/spongy brake pads.

Rotting brake lines if the car's sat for any length of time (more than a month or two).

Bad emmissions/old hoses

Rusted exhaust system; if there's a leak around a joint that is vibrating the engine will not receive consistent exhaust back-pressure and will misfire, knock and ping.

Alternator/Battery like to go out after 5-6 years.

Fuel pumps like to go out after 8.


Aside from all that, 4 banger accords are pretty darned reliable and if you take care of them they can go 300-400K miles and be ok.

ilikehonda

My 90 accord had the original exhaust until 2 years ago. my 83 civic wagon's exhaust made it 25 years.

I have never replaced a fuel pump on a single one of my Honda's (90,93,99,06,09 accords nor 83 civic wagon).

Brake lines are also all factory no replacement there.

Also same goes for alternators replaced the one in the 90 last year....just because old one wasn't bad yet

Too many generalizations in your post. these aren't American made pos's.

Being an 04 you should have nothing besides general maintenance to worry about.