Start with what the Honda Accord is: a 4-door sedan (CL7, CL8, CL9 & CN1) / 5-door wagon (CM1, CM2, CM3 & CN2) with Petrol engine, built from 2002 to 2008, in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to Kunihiko Tachibana, Hiroshi Ishibani, Hideyuki Ikeda, Yasuharu Ishino (2002).
Where it came from
The seventh-generation Honda Accord for the European and Japanese markets is a mid-size car (large family car in the UK, D-segment in Europe) that was available as a four-door sedan or a five-door station wagon and was produced by Honda from October 2002 (for the 2003 model year) to November 2008. It won the 2002-03 Japan Car of the Year upon its launch. For this generation, the European and Japanese Accords, previously separate models, were consolidated into a single version designed to be more competitive in the European market. It became a top seller in its class in Australia, where over 45,000 sedans were sold between 2003 and 2008. The car was also exported to the United States and Canada, where it was sold as the Acura TSX.
Outside Japan and North America the first Honda-built diesel engine was offered. In the Japanese market, the Accord was merged into the Torneo range to compete against the Mazda Atenza and Subaru Legacy. The consolidation of the Japanese and European models was met with some skepticism in Japan at the time, with journalists suggesting Honda was abandoning the Japanese platform in favor of prioritizing foreign markets. Honda suggested that delivering a vehicle achieving that of a "European standard" was in line with what prospective Accord owners in Japan were expecting, compared to buyers of kei cars or compact cars. Compared to its predecessor, the seventh generation features a wider and heavier body, with improvements to aerodynamics, structural rigidity, and tread width. The sedan variant achieves a drag coefficient of 0.26, marking a significa
Under the skin
The engine is Petrol engine; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. On the scales it comes to 1360 -. Drive goes through a 5-speed automatic / 5-speed manual / 6-speed manual. The wheelbase is 2670 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
In the Honda line-up the Honda Accord has a clear place: it replaced the Honda Accord (Japan sixth generation) CF3/4/5/CL2/3 / Honda Accord (Europe sixth generation) CG7/8/9/CH5/6/7/8 / Honda Torneo (Japan); it handed the line to the Honda Accord (Japan and Europe eighth generation); the factory was Sayama, Saitama (Honda Sayama plant), Japan. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Citroën C3, the Volvo XC90, the Mazda Mazda6. Nearby in the Honda catalogue sit the Honda Envix and the Honda Crider.
Owning one today
Buying one now means $6,800–$33,200 for a typical example, and running it — fuel and maintenance at its age — costs about $2,405–$10,074 a year. Insurance sits around $1,050–$2,340 a year. The figures are class-level estimates from the federal record, with the formula on the methodology page; the model-year pages carry complaints, recalls and repair costs year by year.