Hello,

I bought a 2005 EX Accord w/Leather and a manual transmission today--and I just saw the post about the recall notice on the airbag problem.

The car hasn't been delivered yet, but I was wondering how the dealer could sell me a car that according to federal law cannot be sold until it is repaired but the repairs won't start until 12.6?

Also, did I make the correct buying decision? I think I got a good deal ($21,843), but browsing this site the Accord seems to have its share of problems. I need a reliable and safe vehicle...all my research indicated that I would be getting that with the Accord.

What do you experts think?

One last thing...the whole oil change thing makes me dizzy. Honda clearly states on their website to let the break-in oil stay in the car for 5,000 miles. Their site also states that changing oil before 5,000 mile intervals (for severe driving) is not necessary and just incurs needless expenses.

Anyway, I guess I am just writing for some reassurance and any advice you can give me as a new Honda Accord owner.

welcome to the site! :)

is it a coupe or sedan? the coupe isn't affected to my knowledge. (and lucky for me because i got to test out the side airbag in real life a couple of weeks ago... the good news is the car is very safe! the bad news is my car is in pretty poor shape right now.) if it's a sedan, my guess is they have already fixed it or will fix it before delivery. (they have to fix it before delivery.)

we tend to be overly critical of our cars! no need to worry about problems. they are few and far between in reality. don't let our posts scare ya! :D


the oil change interval opinions drive me nuts too. i think the best advice is to go with what you are comfortable with. i left the original oil in till 6500 miles(approx) and that was under my harsh driving conditions. (i consider learning to drive a stick on the car pretty harsh! ;) )

dont worry. you made a good choice. you cant get much more safer or reliable than the accord for what you spent. especially the 05 with side and side curtain airbags standard.

your 2005 might have been out of the VIN range of the air bag recall, meaning they were fixed at the assembly line. i'm sure honda rushed parts to dealers so they can install them on cars on the lots. they just wont send notices to current owners until 12/6.

as for oil changes, i plan to change it every 5000 miles. just go by what the manual says.

Weymouth eh? we're practically neighbors. welcome to the board.

dont worry too much about the car. i've had my '04 for 8 months now and haven't had so much as a hiccup with it. other car-related boards are like this with a good number of threads about problems and solutions.

Hi All,

I would like to thank you for taking the time to reply to my post. I really appreciate it!

(For the record I purchased the 4-door sedan and the price included delivery.)

I'm excited about the vehicle...I've never owned anything as nice and it seems to offer affordability, reliability, and comfort. At 6'5" I didn't think I would be able to find an affordable sedan that would accommodate me.

In any case, I appreciate the time you took to respond to my questions.


:)

Regarding the airbag, you can check the attachment below to see if your car is affected. It is only certain VIN numbers on the '05's. This bulletin was originally posted by princess.

Indeed you did make the correct decision. You have to keep in mind that a forum is a place where a lot of people come generally to talk about their car problems, so it will look like a vehicle is loaded with problems when it's really not. And most of it is really small compared to other cars. Plus, you have to remember that Honda makes a LOT of Accords, there are bound to be a few here and there that are going to be sour. And all those complaints about "rattles"...you haven't heard anything rattle until you've driven a '90 Dodge Caravan over rough road.

As for the oil change, I would probably leave it in there for 5000 miles and change it at 3000-5000 after that depending on how many months it's been in there (since it does break down with time, not just mileage). Honestly I don't think this whole oil thing is as big a deal as people make it out to be unless you want to keep the car well past 500K miles. Just as long as you change it regularly and put some decent stuff in there with a new filter and make sure you don't run it with low/no oil, ya should be good to go :) But I think 7500-10000 miles is a bit too long for oil. If you've ever seen oil come out of a car at that mileage, it's pitch black. When I drained the Castrol GTX 5W-30 at 3400 miles recently you could see a nice reddish tone in the oil streaming out of the drain hole.

haha, the Accord has more leg room than a Ford Expedition. :D

The Ford has a bit more headroom but that shouldn't be a problem unless you need to wear a cowboy hat while you drive. :)
Originally posted by Accordian
... I'm excited about the vehicle...I've never owned anything as nice and it seems to offer affordability, reliability, and comfort. At 6'5" I didn't think I would be able to find an affordable sedan that would accommodate me.
:)

What you say about the oil change makes good sense. I'll change it every 5,000 or 6 months, whichever comes first. For the past 11 years I've been using Mobil 1 in my Trooper and have had good luck with it. I'll probably stick with the Mobil 1 and switch to the 0-20 or the 0-30.

Thanks also for the .pdf. I'll be going to the dealer today anyway and I can ask him about this. You're also right about what people say on the boards. I checked some other boards out and it was pretty much the same kind of thing.

No, I won't be wearing any 10 gallon hats (I really like that telescoping steering wheel by the way). I've never owned a sedan so it should be interesting. By the way the manual transmission shifts very smoothlym; better than the trooper.

Peace.

Yeah, I've had my Accord since March and nothing has annoyed me about it. I guess nothing should... as it's a new car... but still; it's the first car I've owned that I can say that about.