Ouch! I've cut my hand on an interior door handle of this vehicle recently; and this was a replacement handle installed after our nanny suffered the same injury. So begins this review of our 4-door Honda Accord LX sedan, subtitled, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Preliminaries: We purchased this vehicle in 1995. The odometer registered 18,500 miles. In January of 2003, the odometer registers 58,000 miles. The vehicle has been garaged and pampered and has been used primarily for short suburban trips.

Dr. Jekyll:

The car looks beautiful on the inside and the outside. There is no rust at all, and the exterior finish, including all chrome appears solid, unstained, and undiluted by the sunlight.

The cloth interior and rugs are plush and the knobs have nice tactile sensations. The front seats adjust well, and have good lumbar support. The front and rear seating is comfortable.

There is adequate headroom in front and rear for a 5'10" male. Maplights are thoughtfully placed, and the visors have lighted makeup mirrors. The interior has excellent visibility all around.

There are map pockets in the back of the front seats and in the front doors. The glove compartment is adequately roomy.

The stock stereo and speakers are of decent quality, and the radio controls offer two FM tracks, so that twelve stations may be programmed.

The trunk is of decent size. The included spare was a donut, but the space for the spare permits a full-size spare with only a slight raising of the trunk floor. We use a full-size spare.

The car pulls away nicely, with excellent acceleration for a 4-cylinder. The turns are precise, without excess play in the steering wheel. The engine is quiet and purrs, even at higher speeds. The interior is well-insulated, keeping excessive sound out of the car. The braking is solid and effective.

The gas mileage is excellent, and the car requires only regular gasoline.

Mr. Hyde:

The car sits low to the ground, making access to the interior strained and causing the car to bottom out on entry and exit from driveways unless they are taken on an angle.

The interior trim is of shoddy quality. The door handles and plastic fittings on the doors have required replacement. The driver-side window has wandered off-track, causing wind-whistle unless the window is wrestled back on track.

The cupholder design is poor. Upon pushing, a metal frame extends out at the bottom of the central part of the dash. It stabilizes two cups by forming a metal outline for their bottoms. This limits the size of the cups, and is unstable. More importantly, the cups when placed in the cupholder block access to the radio controls. The metal frame is prone to sticking, especially after spilled liquids find their way into the metal frame's envelope and dry inside.

The central console wastes space. The parking brake takes up a great deal of room. There is a molded pocket, which can be used, essentially, only for sunglasses.

The front windshield defogger is utterly useless because it does not clear fogged windows. I thought I had heard that Honda had considered it defective, and had an unofficial replacement policy for it, but the dealer's service department claimed not to have heard of one.

The idle is extraordinarily rough. We noticed this upon purchase, but the dealer had a sit in another 1992 LX in order to demonstrate that the fault was characteristic. Nonetheless, we have wasted money a couple of times by bringing it in for adjustment, only to be told that the idle is within tolerance. The backup roughness is extraordinary; it is so bad that it shakes the hoodstand from its holder and causes a rattle from the engine area.

The transmission jerks mightily from one gear to the next. Hondas are famous for transmission peculiarities, and this vehicle is no exception to the rule.

The muffler and tailpipe has rusted through prematurely. We were told that this failure was the result of condensation buildup.

Conclusion:

The positives here do outweigh the multitude of minor negatives. We are a bit disturbed at having so many minor troubles at only 58,000 miles, but over the seven years we have owned the car, we have not had any major difficulties. I suspect that today a low-mileage, rust-free 1992 Accord would likely be an excellent purchase for a college student or young professional.




Amount Paid (US$): 14,500
Condition: Used
Model Year: 1992
Model and Options: LX sedan, automatic, power windows