Honda Accord Coupe Review1998 - 2001

You are here » Home » Car Reviews » Honda » Honda Accord Coupe Review Print

Search for Used Cars

Search for Used Cars

Search for Reviews

Search for Reviews
Compucars Car News

Models Covered: 2dr Coupe 2.0, 3.0 petrol [ES, V6]

Honda Accord Review

Quick Summary of the Honda Accord

OVERALLHonda Accord Overall Rating

If you know what you're looking for and that something is a car that's comfortable, reliable, well-engineered and sleek without being ostentatious the Honda Accord Coupe could be just your thing. Sales figures would dictate that this sort of customer is something of a rare beast and your best opportunity for tracking down a well looked after Accord Coupe may well be via a franchised dealer. Some cars make all kinds of sense new and suddenly become awful; used buys. The Accord Coupe is the opposite. There were always several more compelling new buys in the Accord's corner of the market, but second time around the Honda's blend of reliability and owner profile make it worth a look.

COUPE DU MONDE

Consider for a moment the concept of the 'world car'. Ford coined the phrase when launching the Mondeo, a car that was sold in a number of global markets, but a truer example would probably be the fifth generation Honda Accord. This acme of Japanese cars is bankrolled in Japan and sold all around the world. The saloon and hatch models are built in Swindon, the Type-R models developed in Hiroshima. The car we examine here, the two-door Accord Coupe hails from Marysville, Ohio in the industrial heartland of Uncle Sam. Would putting a used one on your driveway make you a part of the cosmopolitan cognoscenti or would you merely be depriving the global village of an idiot? Find out here.
Used Honda Accord for sale

History of the Accord

Before the fifth generation Accord Coupe was unveiled in July 1998, Honda had been bereft of a coupe they could be proud of. Yes, the manic Integra Type-R was gaining plaudits, but Honda's showing in the sort of market sector that the Ford Cougar and Vauxhall Calibra had made their own was lamentably poor. The fourth generation car never had the style or substance to attract the notoriously fickle UK coupe customer and the fifth generation carried a great deal of hope.Unfortunately it bombed. Why? The reasons are complex and have little to do with the fact that it was a beautifully engineered and elegantly styled car. It seems that British buyers expected Honda coupes to either be rock hard buzzboxes like the Integra (which sold well) or bloated barges like the Legend Coupe (which didn't). Given that the Accord Coupe was never cut from the same cloth as the Type-R brand, it was instantly, and somewhat unfairly, labelled a duffer. Two models were imported, a 145bhp 2.0-litre ES model and a197bhp 3.0-litre V6. Both sold in criminally tiny numbers until they were quietly withdrawn in early 2001.Tracking down a used version will therefore mean that you may have to compromise on your exact preference on year, colour and trim but it's almost impossible to find a lemon. The staid image and mature ownership profile means that the Accord Coupe has steered clear of the boy racers. It's difficult to go far wrong.
Used Honda Accord for sale

Honda Accord Road Test

The entry-level 2.0-litre ES comes in manual and automatic forms and, though a little slower than its predecessor, is rather smoother thanks to twin balancer shafts in the engine. Variable valve timing makes it feel more eager too. The V6 flagship model on the other hand, has the figures to back up the feeling. Rest to sixty occupies 8.5s on the way to 140mph, so it's a little sad for performance enthusiasts that it comes in automatic form only. Nor is there a sequential shift transmission system to allow you to use the auto 'box like a manual. Never mind. Honda say there's no need, believing that the Accord Coupe will be aimed at an older, less performance orientated clientele. Sales data seemed to back up this claim.Certainly, you wouldn't blanch at the thought of a trip to the south of France for this is a luxury mile-eater par excellence. Refinement has obviously been a key priority on the engineering agenda, yet shift down a gear and both engines reveal a sporting sound and character that reminds you of Honda's past motor racing successes. Strangely it's also the only way to get hold of a V6 engine in an Accord, Honda deeming the 2.2-litre VTEC engine quite capable of mixing it with six-cylinder rivals in the executive saloon market. We'd beg to differ.
Used Honda Accord for sale

Buying a Honda Accord

Look for a bargain, look for accident damage, but don't expect to find too many Accords with inherent faults. These are well-engineered cars with an impeccable reliability record but the V6 is hungry on front tyres. It's also an engine that needs the right fluids, so make sure the oil has been changed regularly and that the head gasket isn't on its way out. Body panels for the Accord Coupe can be difficult to source and correspondingly pricey, so check bodywork carefully.
Used Honda Accord for sale

Honda Accord Typical Pricing

If you can live with the lack of aspirational image, you'll benefit from some affordable resale values. The 2.0-litre ES model starts at £3,500 on a 1998 R plate, rising to around £6,000 on a 2002 '51' registration. Add another £400 onto those figures if you want the more desirable automatic. The muscular 3.0-litre V6 (only available with an auto box) starts at £3,700 and tops out at around £6,500 for the last of the rare 2002 51-plated examples. Insurance for the Accord Coupe 2.0 is a very reasonable Group 11, but you'll get stung if you opt for the V6, this boulevard cruiser being rated in the same Group 17 insurance bracket as the rocketship Accord Type-R saloon.
Used Honda Accord for sale

Honda Accord Parts

(approx. based on a 1998 Accord Coupe 2.0ES - EX VAT) A clutch assembly is around £175 and an exhaust system about £420. Allow a budget of around £45 respectively for front brake pads and £40 for the rear. A front headlamp should be around £180. A radiator is about £180, and a starter motor around £280.
Used Honda Accord for sale

Honda Accord Rated

PerformancePerformance 3 out of 5
ComfortComfort 4 out of 5
HandlingHandling 4 out of 5
EconomyEconomy 3 out of 5
StylingStyling 3.5 out of 5
EquipmentEquipment 4 out of 5
BuildBuild 4 out of 5
DepreciationDepreciation 4 out of 5
InsuranceInsurance 3 out of 5
ValueValue 3.5 out of 5