My car is boring. Trade it? Mod it? Have it die in a fire?

[slugg]

Just thinking out loud here and bouncing ideas.

Car: 2000 Honda Accord SE, 2.3 liter 4 cylinder, automatic, 94k miles

I dread driving the thing. It's sooooo boring. I only drive it when I have to move my drums around. Otherwise, I avoid it like the plague. My mom drives it a lot, though, so it doesn't sit.

I could just leave it as-is and deal with it. Another option is to mod the car in some fun way. Finally, I could sell/trade it and get something else of roughly equivalent value.

My main gripe with the car is that it feels like mush. It's unbearably slow. When I turn the wheel, the steering response is so lame, it's almost as if there's a lag between steering input and actual turning. I don't particularly mind an automatic, but I can't help but think that it contributes to the car's slowness. The car also feels like crap in the corners.

The good? It gets good gas mileage and my drums fit in it. Also, my dad was the original owner; I took posession at ~40k miles. It's mechanically immaculate. The only problem it's ever had was very recent; the harmonic balancer became wobbly, so I bought a new one and now everything is perfect.

Meh. What are your ideas?

 

[janas19]

Drive it off a cliff.

 

[MotF Bane]

Keep it, don't mess with it. It's fully paid for, reliable, and carries what you need it to. Your Miata will be your entertainment.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Two vehicles. One to play with, one to be a reliable (if boring) DD.

 

[slugg]

For some reason, it's a lot more expensive to insure the Accord than it is the Miata. WTF? I shopped around and this seemed to be the theme with every insurance provider...

 

[MotF Bane]

For some reason, it's a lot more expensive to insure the Accord than it is the Miata. WTF? I shopped around and this seemed to be the theme with every insurance provider...

High theft vehicle.

 

[T2urtle]

High theft vehicle.

Honda/ricer tax.

240sx pays the drift tax.

 

[SearchMaster]

I love my 6G Accord. Boring? Sure. But it's an almost perfect car for me - cheap to run, reliable as hell, easy to work on, in fantastic shape, gets 30+ MPG, and it's small enough to feel nimble but big enough to hold 5. I also think it's the best looking generation of Accord.

It has 225K+ now (I got it with 180K), and all it's required is O2 sensor, fuel pump relay, headlight, signal bulb, and oil changes.

How much you selling yours for?

 

[manimal]

Good news at that mileage your accord will get top dollar. Since your in tampa there are TONS of fun rwd options. Do you need 4 doors?


Look at a first gen g35 manual. Tons o fun and may be an even swap for your honda.

 

[CraigRT]

Trade it in. That's what I do when I get sick of a car.

 

[manimal]

Trade it in. That's what I do when I get sick of a car.

That car will get much more private party vs dealer. Dealer gotta get paid on resale.

 

[slugg]

I don't need 4 doors. My only real requirement is that I must be able to fit my bass drum inside the car. It's a big wooden cylinder with a 22 inch diameter and 20 inch depth. It fits in any of the seats of the accord with room to spare, so a smaller car would suffice. The rest of the drum set can fit pretty much anywhere, even in my Miata... So don't worry about that

I don't think my Accord would get top dollar. It's been parked outside its entire life and there are random tree-sap marks, chips, etc on the car. Also, the rear bumper has been repainted (jackass rear-ended me at a stop light) and it's starting to chip/bubble. Finally, the passenger side front fender, where the headlamp meets the fender, has been backed into (no damage to the head lamp; about 5 x 2 inch dent/scratch in fender). Cosmetically, it's not the best, which greatly affects the resale value. The tires are practically new, but nobody really cares about that

*IF* I sell it, it'd only be to buy another car of equal or LESSER cost, since whatever I'd hypothetically buy would need some initial work before I trust it.

 

[natto fire]

I guess it is all about perspective. I usually drive a 2000 Grand Cherokee, and always enjoy driving my grandma's 2000 Accord when I go to visit her, even though it is the V6 with original slipping trans), heck even my sister's '06 Prius is fun to drive after the Jeep.

Definitely no point in modding your car, as any kind of fun adding mod worth doing to an Accord will be nullified greatly by the transmission. I don't hate automatics, but they are not conducive to making Honda engines "fun".

 

[CraigRT]

That car will get much more private party vs dealer. Dealer gotta get paid on resale.

Well you can substitute trade in with sell privately..
As long as its not kill it with fire or rice it up.
I usually sell my cars privately unless I'm in a hurry or the trade in is good.

 

[thomsbrain]

The number one single biggest upgrade you can do to any car of any class is to buy sticky summer tires. Turn-in, response, and grip will increase by huge amounts compared to basic all-season tires. Ricers talk about exhausts, turbos, blah blah blah. Those can be cool too, but anyone who tracks knows tires are everything.

The next step for that car would be to swap the rear sway bar for the bar from the same year of Acura TL Type-S. It will cost $50 tops brand new and you can do it yourself if you have a floor jack, some wrenches, and some hex wrenches. The car will corner much flatter, rotate around corners and dive for apexes better, and have more grip.

The awesome thing about these two mods is they are both very cheap (relatively), and don't decrease resale value or hurt reliability or daily usability in any way. They also won't attract any kind of negative attention or make the car uncomfortable.

 

[Throckmorton]

Buy a "hot hatch" like a Golf.

 

[dud]

How would you "mod" a 4 banger with an auto tranny?

Swap for a manual and put a turbo in there?

 

[angry hampster]

How would you "mod" a 4 banger with an auto tranny?

Swap for a manual and put a turbo in there?

That was my first thought. No reason to try to mod this car.

OP, if you're bored with it and have the money, just trade it for something more fun. Go for some test drives.

 

[SearchMaster]

Keep in mind he already has a Miata

The Accord is the definition of a DD. IMO, if you're looking for a more "fun" DD, then maybe you should get rid of the Accord and the Miata and get...say...a 3-series or something along those lines? (I won't say the "M" word)

 

[slugg]

I think I'll try to keep my eyes open for a fatter rear sway bar. If I come across one cheap, it'll go in, and I'll leave it at that. Can't beat the reliability of the car, so I won't ruin it.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Keep it, don't mess with it. It's fully paid for, reliable, and carries what you need it to. Your Miata will be your entertainment.

This.

Modding that car would be a complete waste of money. Just drive it and then get something fun when it dies.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I think I'll try to keep my eyes open for a fatter rear sway bar. If I come across one cheap, it'll go in, and I'll leave it at that. Can't beat the reliability of the car, so I won't ruin it.

Be aware that tightening up the rear end will likely give you a harsher ride too. Not sure if you want that trade off or not.

 

[Vic Vega]

If this were my car, I wouldn't mess with it.

 

[Throckmorton]

Wait... You have a Miata? Then wtf is the problem? Why don't you just daily drive the Miata?

 

[Via]

I second selling it privately.

That car at that mileage (if it's in good, clean shape) will surely fetch a good price.