Used 2008 Honda Accord EX 4dr Sedan (2.4L 4cyl 5A) Consumer Reviews
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2008 Accord - 2nd owner
Haroon Jamshed, Scranton, PA, 12/14/2016
updated 12/17/2018
Honda Accord EX 4dr Sedan (2.4L 4cyl 5A)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
I love Accords...wait, I used to love Accords. This is my 5th Accord and never again. I've tried so hard to love it but I will never buy another. I'm the second owner and driven it to 108,000 miles and will drive another 100K. Problems are: oil consumption, power steering pump noise, oil consumption, VTC actuator noise (severe) and did I mentioned oil consumption. I'm mad tired of the oil consumption. Have to refill every 500 miles even though I have cleaned throttle body, changed spark plugs, air filter, PCV valve...I've tried Lucas, STP, full synthetic, semi synthetic, nothing works (except Lucas helped but that thing is not oil, it's freaking grease and don't use it)! Tired of oil consumption! Called Honda headquarters, called local Honda...nothing will work.
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Honda money pit/.2008 accord EX
Steve’s Accord, 02/22/2022
Honda Accord EX 4dr Sedan (2.4L 4cyl 5A)
4 of 7 people found this review helpful
I always thought Honda was known for its reliability. The drive might be a little bland and boring and tepid in its handling etc but built well. I’ve owned about four different Civics and I just recently mistakenly bought a 2008 Accord EX and I’ve never been more ambivalent and frustrated with a car. I would need 10 paragraphs just explain all the things wrong with it but I’ll try to keep it reasonable and fair so that anyone thinking of buying this year and model will at least have some information before buying it. I say I ambivalent about it because although 90% of it has been horrific, when everything is going right and the car is aligned it is a smooth drive and I much prefer the double wishbone suspension than the McPherson struts just feels more of a substantial drive. When I drive the civic or the Corolla they feel like a toy compared to the accord. Much of this is my own fault because I inherited it through a family member but if you get a car history and the car has had seven different owners in 14 years, run far away!!! The guy who he got it from was a bit of a crook actually a lot of a crook and a liar but there’s no way that all these things that went wrong with the car could’ve been his fault anyway. The car has 240,000 km on it. We bought it for $4200. Then it cost $1600 to safety it which should’ve been a red flag from the beginning. I’ve had two new batteries (can’t explain) in the last three months, control arms were replaced bushings were replaced, bearings were replaced, ball joints, alignment was done three times. The fuel door wouldn’t open. The seats are incredibly uncomfortable it’s like you’re sitting in a bucket, I realize they’re called bucket seats but your ass is literally 5 inches lower than your knees. The blower motor for the HVAC is making noise. The cold air doesn’t blow that strongly on the outside vents just in the middle. I realize that many of these complaints are particular to this car and may not be relevant in many other cars but the issue of the uncomfortable seat can be applied to all these Hondas as well as the $2000 repair job for a defective VTC actuator on the four-cylinder. You can diagnose it when you have a rattle on cold start up. Of course I could not notice this because I got the car it was warm weather and it wasn’t making that noise at the time. This is why I feel Honda has really dropped the ball as far as quality because they will not do anything about this admittedly defective part to which they did not change in almost 8 years. This defect can be found in most 2008 to 2012 accords, Honda pilots, CRV‘s, and even in some Honda Civic‘s. Yes there has been class action suits but they’re all closed by now. I have to also say that my particular car is atrocious when it comes to gas mileage. I have to literally baby the pedal, use cruise control all the time and I drive very slow on the highway just to get the best mileage and I’m barely getting 18 to 19 miles per gallon. For any of you Canadians out there I’m barely getting 450 to 500 km with a 62 L fill up. I saw a guy the other day with the eight cylinder hellcat (charger) and he gets better gas mileage than my four-cylinder accord. This might be just specific to my car but I’ve done everything I could to make my car better with gas mileage. I replaced the air filters, had the spark plugs changed had all the O2 sensors and map and MAF sensor scanned. I used a fuel injector cleaner and still it made no difference. I know that it’s an older car with lots of miles but 18 miles per gallon when driving like an old lady is still brutal!!! I’ve put at least 3000 to 4000 dollars into this car and if I keep it I will have to spend another 2000 to fix this variable valve actuator (vtc). I am definitely not buying a Honda after this. As loyal as I was to Honda all these years I’m going to test out a Camry. Another thing that’s definitely in all the Hondas besides excruciating seats, bad gas economy, VTC actuator defects, and of course the deadly takata airbag recall (but these are on many different vehicles so it’s not fair to single Honda out). Another issue I have is that this 2008 is known for premature brake wear and I think it might be connected to every time you turn the wheel when you’re starting off, the Hydraulic steering revs the engine to make the steering smoother and if your foot is on the break while you’re doing this you’re constantly grinding down wearing out the brakes a little at a time. By the way I’ve also had the throttlebody cleaned to see if it will help with fuel economy and it seems like this car is always throwing gas into the engine and running Rich and I have to use the brakes to slow down the car while it is almost still accelerating on its own almost as if the cruise control was on. I think it must be just my car is possessed and it’s not fair of me to just make a blanket statement about Honda Accord‘s but I can say with certainty that the basic fact that they used the same defective part (VTC ACTUATOR) for at least eight years is unscrupulous. Also I found when I tried to contact corporate Honda they made zero attempts to alleviate the situation. So I find that Honda has become more greedy less accountable and less reliable. I will conclude by saying avoid at all costs the 2003 Honda accord and the 2008 Honda accord. Never buy a car without a mechanic putting it up on a hoist and checking everything and don’t be stupid like me if you’ve seen that a car has been sold on average every two years, do not buy it! Thanks for your time!
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A Car That Will Treat You Right
Gray, Hoschton, GA, 02/12/2019
updated 02/16/2021
Honda Accord EX 4dr Sedan (2.4L 4cyl 5A)
3 of 5 people found this review helpful
This car has been super reliable and never let me down once. It has low mileage and its very clean.
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Never Again
janeyac, Providence, RI, 05/15/2011
Honda Accord EX 4dr Sedan (2.4L 4cyl 5A)
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
I owned a 1990 Honda and loved it - the style, the comfort, the ride! After putting almost 200,000 miles on my Maxima, I decided to return to Honda for better gas mileage. What a mistake. The seat is the most uncomfortable seat I have ever been in. I am constantly adjusting the controls to relieve my aching back. This is not good. Rather than being excited to have a newer vehicle, I dont even want to drive it!
Wonderful Sedan
Brian M, 02/24/2008
Honda Accord EX 4dr Sedan (2.4L 4cyl 5A)
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
190hp 4cyl vtec has good smooth power for a 4 cyl. revs up there with no complaints. The steering is pretty tight but different in a way if you're used to more road feel it leans more toward isolation IMHO... but good . The interior is tight and well put together. I'm already used to the "buttony" radio /ac controls... look, its not that bad, everything is reachable with one hand like typing! The looks of the car "grew" on me . I like it a lot now. I guess I was expecting the new 08 Accord to look dressed up ordinary but it looks classy and sleek to me. I love the way it handles, it has 17 inchers on it - Michelin 225s. Road noise not an issue with me, its acceptable.