TurtleJames
Go Kart Champion
I sold my GTI about a month ago, and was resolved in driving around in my beater 2003 Passat GLX 2.8 4motion wagon that I bought for 3K. My office is about a 10 minute walk from my house, so I wasn't really needing a car. And I really liked having no car payment.
The Passat has all of the electrical and mechanical gremlins that possesses a 10+ year old VW and its been a love/hate... well put up with / hate relationship with me doing a lot of hate fixing.
But overall, it's not a bad car.
Well, the wife doesn't care for the Passat and was pushing me to sell it and get a reliable car. I was thinking about leasing, but didn't want another car payment. So I decided to buy. My criteria included: 1) Safe 2) Reliable 3) Low Cost 4) High Resale
This unfortunately ruled out a lot of makes including VW. I ended up contemplating between Subaru or a Honda.
In the end, we decided on a 2014 Honda Accord Sport CVT. It received great reviews. Has high projected reliability. Class leading safety. And one of the best resale values. Now for the real review.
I purchased it for a pretty good deal. 1,900 below invoice. With the Hondacare factory extended warranty (8 years / 120K) it was 24 and change out the door.
The Good:
1) New car smell
2) Smart exterior and interior styling
3) Good materials and build quality
4) CVT is actually pretty good. Really can't tell from a standard auto most of the time. Paddle shifters and sport mode help.
5) Acceleration is smooth and decent. Merging onto the highway is not difficult. No where near GTI speeds, but its a economy family sedan.
6) Lots of standard features. Dual automatic climate. Rear camera. 8 inch screen. Auto on off headlights. Standard USB ports. Sunglass holders that fit an adult sized pair of glasses, etc.
7) 10 way power driver's seat.
8) Surprisingly good brakes.
9) 35+ MPG
The Bad:
1) Really noisy for a family sedan. Engine noise when accelerating is loud. Wind noise at high speeds. Direct injection ticking is rather loud with the windows down. It's weird because otherwise the car is very solid and quiet.
2) Stiff ride. It does have 18 inch wheels, so that may have something to do with it. Don't get me wrong, coming from the GTI it's very quiet and smooth, but not as good as the new Passat or even my old one.
3) The car is boat huge. It's actually 6in longer than my old Passat wagon. I can't believe they shrunk it 3 inches from the previous gen. It barely fits into my garage space. That being said, the backseats feel like a Town Car.
4) Armrest does not extend nor is it height adjustable.
5) No GTI steering wheel.
Electronic steering isn't terrible, but it feels artificial.
6) The backseats fold down in one piece. No 60/40 split. Also the opening from the back seat to the trunk is laughably small. While the trunk and trunk opening is huge, its like a giant funnel.
7) No hood struts, and other minor niggles.
Overall, it's just what it is. A great at nothing, good in everything car. It's easy to drive and own. Requires no special maintenance. No modding bug. I feel secure that my wife will be safe driving it, and most likely won't have any problems down the road. Am I getting old?
The Passat has all of the electrical and mechanical gremlins that possesses a 10+ year old VW and its been a love/hate... well put up with / hate relationship with me doing a lot of hate fixing.
But overall, it's not a bad car.
Well, the wife doesn't care for the Passat and was pushing me to sell it and get a reliable car. I was thinking about leasing, but didn't want another car payment. So I decided to buy. My criteria included: 1) Safe 2) Reliable 3) Low Cost 4) High Resale
This unfortunately ruled out a lot of makes including VW. I ended up contemplating between Subaru or a Honda.
In the end, we decided on a 2014 Honda Accord Sport CVT. It received great reviews. Has high projected reliability. Class leading safety. And one of the best resale values. Now for the real review.
I purchased it for a pretty good deal. 1,900 below invoice. With the Hondacare factory extended warranty (8 years / 120K) it was 24 and change out the door.
The Good:
1) New car smell
2) Smart exterior and interior styling
3) Good materials and build quality
4) CVT is actually pretty good. Really can't tell from a standard auto most of the time. Paddle shifters and sport mode help.
5) Acceleration is smooth and decent. Merging onto the highway is not difficult. No where near GTI speeds, but its a economy family sedan.
6) Lots of standard features. Dual automatic climate. Rear camera. 8 inch screen. Auto on off headlights. Standard USB ports. Sunglass holders that fit an adult sized pair of glasses, etc.
7) 10 way power driver's seat.
8) Surprisingly good brakes.
9) 35+ MPG
The Bad:
1) Really noisy for a family sedan. Engine noise when accelerating is loud. Wind noise at high speeds. Direct injection ticking is rather loud with the windows down. It's weird because otherwise the car is very solid and quiet.
2) Stiff ride. It does have 18 inch wheels, so that may have something to do with it. Don't get me wrong, coming from the GTI it's very quiet and smooth, but not as good as the new Passat or even my old one.
3) The car is boat huge. It's actually 6in longer than my old Passat wagon. I can't believe they shrunk it 3 inches from the previous gen. It barely fits into my garage space. That being said, the backseats feel like a Town Car.
4) Armrest does not extend nor is it height adjustable.
5) No GTI steering wheel.
Electronic steering isn't terrible, but it feels artificial.6) The backseats fold down in one piece. No 60/40 split. Also the opening from the back seat to the trunk is laughably small. While the trunk and trunk opening is huge, its like a giant funnel.
7) No hood struts, and other minor niggles.
Overall, it's just what it is. A great at nothing, good in everything car. It's easy to drive and own. Requires no special maintenance. No modding bug. I feel secure that my wife will be safe driving it, and most likely won't have any problems down the road. Am I getting old?
