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2018 Honda Accord Sport 2.0T - 6MT - Still Night Pearl - THE Ultimate Family Sedan

53K views 92 replies 27 participants last post by  559AccordCT2 
#1 ·
Hi All,

Intro:
I wanted to create a thread to track the progress of my car, with descriptions and pictures, in case anyone else was thinking of doing similar changes to their car. I've been enjoying working on it, and it's been quite addicting (and easy for the most part). I bought the car with the intentions of adding most of the accessories Honda offers myself to save on cost. I plan to do a tune, and some other mechanical upgrades. Not sure how crazy I'll go as I was planning it to be a sleeper, and I have 2 kids so it needs to remain kid friendly. It becomes less of a sleeper as I think of more things to do, and peruse the forums to see what others have come up with.

I did about 4 weeks of research before deciding on the Accord, but ultimately decided I wanted to go back to a MT, and Honda was the only affordable luxury option I could find. It didn't hurt that they just did a reboot on the model, which attracted me further to my conclusion.

Car History:
Prior to this, I owned a 2013 Nissan Maxima SV which came with a CVT only. It was a boring drive, and the only thing that attracted me to it was all the luxury features I missed in my previous car. I knew I made a mistake after about a year or 2 of driving it. It was also a used car for a year prior to my purchase, and I never had an emotional attachment like my previous car. I owned it for about 4 years.

Prior to the Maxima, I bought a brand new 2006 Subaru STI. I LOVED this car. It was my first brand new car, it was a blast to drive, it was the fastest thing I've driven to date, and couldn't believe I actually owned it when I got it home. I owned it for 8 years (sold in 2014 when I moved from NJ to TX). I did a bit of work to it (Turboback exhaust, AccessPort tuned, intake, full sound system, tint). I bought it with 5 miles on it, and sold it with 70K. Never had any issues, and it survived NJ winters with no garage. It was the perfect car prior to kids for me.

I sort of regretted selling it, but at the time, I wanted something bigger (full size), and something with more luxury amenities (I didn't even have heated seats). I flirted with the idea of buying a used BMW 550, and even test drove a few that were MT, but ultimately didn't buy one due to the move. Thank god I dodged that bullet, I'm not sure what I was thinking financially.

And to wrap up my history, I had a 2002 Acura RSX-S I enjoyed very much prior to the Subaru, a 1998 (i think) Mitsu Eclipse that was a money pit due to being young and dumb, 1989 Chevy Silverado that was handed down to me from my grandfather, with a few Geo Trackers mixed in as winter vehicles during the Eclipse/RSX days. So this Accord is my first Honda experience, if you don't count the Acura.

Back to the good stuff:
Anyway, I ended up purchasing this Accord on November 10th, 2018 (2 days prior to my daughter's birth). I drove 100 miles from my home because of the dealer I worked with was the only one that would budge on their price. I negotiated the price and ultimately got the car for $29K even out the door (I paid $800 less than that due to my trade in/tax break, so really $28.2K out of pocket). This didn't include any upgrades or accessories. The only thing the dealer did was fill the tires with Nitrogen. I didn't want them to tint it since I'd do that myself and I wanted better tint than they would've offered at a better price. Even the mirror was just a piece of plastic and glass, no controls, no dimming (I knew I'd change this). Of course they tried to sell me accessories and extended warranties, but I said no to all. I financed at 1.9% for 36 months, so only paying a bit of interest over 3 years. I couldn't get the car any cheaper outside of looking elsewhere around the country. I did all of my negotiation over the phone via text (except for the last $500 I got off when I found out they were charging me for tint and paint protection when the car wasn't even tinted, nor did I live close by to take them up on their "protection"). I often buy the top model of car, but this time I had to opt for the Sport to get the MT, so I ended up with the 2.0T to get the most out of it. Right away, there were amenities I gave up, but not for long.

I'm trying to keep better records of everything I'm doing, including pictures, pricing, etc. I will share that as I post updates. I have done quite a bit thus far, so I will capture all of that next over the next day or so.

Bought car:
11/10/2018

Left the dealer with 25 miles on the odometer. Had 21 prior to my test drive. Tried to find one with as low miles as possible, but this was the only Still Night Pearl MT 2.0T in a 250 mile radius.

I took the front plate off as soon as I got it home. So much cleaner looking.
 

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#93 ·
Intercooler hasn’t gone in yet [emoji20]

I did just buy the PRL Catted down pipe as I struggled with inspection this year (replacing catless down pipe), as well is the PRL intake (replacing K&N intake).

Hoping to get them installed when they arrive, and I have some time off around the holidays so I may get the intercooler done then. Coilovers next year for sure, and then I think I’m done for now.


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Man you had a lot of work done over the last 2 years. Car looks great. I'm very late to the game but just picked up a 2019 Accord 2.0T SNP 6 speed. I'm in your neck of the woods so hope to see you around sometime.
 
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