Bought a 2007 Accord 2.4L MT; Ownership & repair experience

August 5, 2024

This old Japanese 166 bhp vehicle is so good even today. I hope all Honda Accord owners like me feel the same for their cars.

BHPian CSA recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Now I come to my review of the 2007 Honda Accord 7th Generation 2.4L Manual Transmission and it’s the story of how I got it and what my progress is with it as of writing this review.

I purchased a 2007 facelifted 7th Generation Honda Accord in January 2021 from its 4th owner and at that time said the car was registered in New Delhi, after 1 year in January 2022 my car was de-registered by Delhi RTO authorities because of a 15-year ban on petrol cars.

I lived in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh and said the car was also driven in Aligarh so it was not much of a concern for me but when I took my car to another state while it was de-registered I was scared. What if? Some policeman or traffic inspector checks my car’s registration certificate. Thankfully nothing happened and I came back to my hometown after driving this car for 5 to 6 days.

Now I was very uncertain about this car as I could not drive this car with full freedom on-road because at any time my car could be impounded and my hard-earned blood and sweat I invested in this car could be multiplied by zero by any Police or Traffic Inspector
on duty.

I was heartbroken because I could not drive my car legally. From July 2022 till January 2024 my car was parked most of the time and I drove it illegally in my city and nearby areas. I drove my car for around 10000 kms during this period.

Now comes my stubbornness to save my investment.

In November 2023 I applied for issuing NOC from Delhi (DL 3C) to Kasganj Uttar Pradesh (UP87). Getting NOC from Delhi was seriously very difficult as I live in Aligarh and I do not have time to go to Delhi again and again but somehow I managed to get NOC without visiting Delhi RTO even once. I got approval in January 2024 and got my car registered in Kasganj Uttar Pradesh where the 15-year rule is not applicable as of now. After paying Taxes and Re Registration fees I got my car Registered.

Finally, After 2 years of stress and sadness of owning a healthy De Registered vehicle, I was happy and now I can invest more money in minor Repairs and enjoy what I missed for the past 2 years.

Now my 2007 Honda Accord is even more healthier and registered for Non National Capital Region use. In June 2024 I took my car for a road trip of around 1900 km on roads of Himachal Pradesh fully loaded with 1 driver (me) and 4 passengers, boot space 90 per cent loaded.

After waiting for two and a half years of stress for a de-registered vehicle I finally achieved remarkable experience and enjoyment from a 17-year-old vehicle which was launched in 2003 when I was just 11 years old. This old Japanese 166 bhp vehicle is so good even today. I hope all Honda Accord owners like me feel the same for their cars.

I have been driving this Honda Accord since 2021 and like every car it has its advantages and disadvantages.

First, there are advantages according to my experience:

Reliability Factor of Made in Japan parts. This car never broke till now roadside.
The K24A4 engine is a cheap version of the performance-oriented K24 engine family but it’s a good mixture of 166 horsepower and fuel efficiency. If it’s performance-oriented it will not return fuel efficiency of 10-12 Km/L.
The Double Wishbone Front Suspension and Rear 5 Link Suspension combined make this car glide effortlessly and sometimes it feels like the car is riding over air Suspension over general or extremely damaged roads of India. Front Double Wishbone Suspension is also rare to find nowadays in luxury sedan cars of lower price segments I am not sure about BMW 5 Series and E Class but Double Wishbone is non existing in 3 Series and C Class Cars. Everyone is using McPherson Setup for cost-cutting.
Cost cutting in this car is very minimal at the time of its manufacturing. Door Garnishes and Beading are made of stainless steel instead of plastic-coated chrome straps.
Having a low ground clearance of 155mm this car is stubborn on rough roads it is very rare I touch the Underbody of this car over rocks and speed bumps. Thanks to its excellent Suspension setup.
Rear Seat comfort is so good and spacious for 3 Rear passengers.
Vtec Engagement is at 3500rpm. It’s a family sedan up to 3500 rpm and after that, it can be turned into a powerful family sedan.
Steering Feedback is excellent.
2007 Facelifted model is different from the Rear side and looks better and better than its pre-facelifted model, I also feel I am driving a rare car which was in production and sale for just 1 year.
Air Conditioning is powerful. Air discharge from vents is very high. Recently I cleaned its evaporator coil after 17 years of service. I was surprised to find the size of the evaporator coil is a close match to the Radiator size of the Maruti 800 or Wagon R in size.
Power Adjustable Driver seat can be adjusted 8 ways. Plus Lumbar Adjustment.
Tyre size is common to Type 1 Innova so Tyre Replacement is cheaper and there are plenty of options I replaced my tyres with Yokohama Earth

Disadvantages according to me:

Parts Availability is a major issue.
The engine is comfort-oriented instead of performance-oriented.
Hydraulic Power Steering will always leak at some point.
Parts are expensive because of inventory costs associated with old vehicle parts.
Low Beam Headlight is not effective.
Music System and Air Conditioning controls are integrated into one unit so Replacement of the music system is very difficult. I have installed another music system parallel with car speakers.

I run an independent car workshop since 2019 and almost all the time I engage myself when my car or bike needs repair or part replacement so I will try to share my experience about what it takes to repair a Honda Accord.

I hope this helps everyone.

Here are some pictures of my car both exterior and interior as of now.