UNR.Grad

My fiance's Saturn coupe broke down for good and I'm looking for a good, used 2 door coupe that gets great mileage and has decent space for road trips; I narrowed it down to either a Solara or an Accord.

I've been looking into Accord issues and the radio and transmission keeps coming up, can anyone advise me on this?

The car I'm looking at is a 2003 2.4L auto, with 55k miles, mostly city. Anything I should be worried about, I asked if he had the transmission recall done and he had not heard about it, so it was not done. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

UNR.Grad

Anyone?

I am looking at two cars, both around the same price: one is an '04 manual w/83k, the other is a '03 automatic w/55k and leather interior, better color.

Any help would be appreciated.

GoLowDrew

I was an owner of a 06 Accord (same as 03) sedan and rented a 07 Solara for a week and logged 2,000 miles. Both auto and 2.4L.

Here is my take:

- You can't go wrong with either choice. They (Honda and Toyota) are very similar in feel.

- Build quality is the same. However, I do feel some of the plastic pieces in the Solara was a bit better. Very close. Honda's radio buttons felt cheap compare to Toyota. Counter point, some of the switch gear on the Toyota came from the parts bin during the 90s (which is not always a bad thing).

- Toyota's auto trans have the +/-. Kind of fun in theory, but uselessly slow in response. ( I made up this word to best describe it). You get 10X better response with your left foot. Keep it in D, and let the car do it's thing.

- Honda (Accord Coupe) has a better rear view out IMO. It's not that the Solara has blind spots. It's rear shape and curve it's something I'm not used to. IMO, I not used to (hard time?) judging where the rear corners of the bumper are, when backing where every inch may count.



- About that shape and curve. IMO, that is sexy. I like the look over the Accord Coupe. I would consider an used one as a project car. Add a drop + 18" wheels + catback = Sexy .

Edit: Reread your thread. My review of the Solara is the current gen, which was redesigned in ~ 2005. So may not apply. And the Accord transmission problems are mostly with the V6.

UNR.Grad

Thanks for the review, then engines are same year to year, how did they compare?

BLKFLSH

The transmission recall was for V6 Accords only (03 & 04), so if the car is a 4 cylinder, there was no recall on the tranny. The radio light was a problem for all Accords (not sure what years), but Honda extended the warranty on that part. There are no other widespread issues I know of.

GoLowDrew

Between Honda and Toyota?

I also have ownership experience with the 2.4L in a 04 Camry, which is the same as a Solara.

We can find something to talk about and how is it different, which is better, etc, etc. Honestly, they are so similar that there isn't much to say. OEM stock to OEM stock, they sound a bit different. That's about all.

You may find there is a history of Toyota sludge problems with the 2.2. I think those are older cars like around +/- 2000 model years. I would think the 2.4 is somewhat connected with the 2.2. If you look at the stats for that time period, there were 3.3M cars with these engines, and 3,000 cases of engine sludge. What can you say.... I would not worry about it. The old Toyota and Lexus owners manuals specify that the oil should be changed every 7,500 miles or every six months. 5,000 mile for severe. I would never wait that long. We are going off-subject here....

94EG8

Depends on what you want, but if it was me i'd go with the manual, definately should be more reliable and it will get better mileage.

UNR.Grad

Well the manual sold, so I went with the automatic. Got a great deal and it was perfectly maintained! Plus the fiance loves the heated leather seats. First thing I'm going to do is switch the oil over to mobil 1, any other advice on preventative things to do? I don't think the transmission fluid has been flushed, I may go ahead and do that too. Maybe the cabin air filter?

This I4 is definitely more powerful then the old saturn's I4 was and the car actually feels like it is no made of plastic!

George Knighton

The K24 in your car is decidely under-stressed, and it will more than likely last a very long time. You're probably not going to have to worry about it much. :-)