The Accord is a nice car but there are other options. Go to Autotrader.com, specify a maximum price, search radius, body style, maximum mileage, etc. and see what crops up. When a specific vehicle strikes your fancy, go to carcomplaints.com, Consumer Reports, etc. and see if there are any major issues with that model. If there aren’t any red flags have the vehicle inspected by a mechanic of your choosing. Best of luck.
I work on a few subaru. I see many around here. Id actually say as far as cars go they are the majority in my area due to the snow. I’m new to the community but not new to cars or maintenance. I have a shop and do a variety of work. More restoration/ performance but a lot of random work too for people I like. My brother in law also works at a two man 4x4 shop. They do trucks and subaru pretty much exclusively. He is a subaru fan Im surprised by the subaru hate on here. Yes we do head gaskets. His shop does one a week minimum. But I also see them regularly with 300k miles. I drove a Baja this week that has minimum maintenance on it. The transmission was whining when coasting but not under load. Its bone stock with 334k on it… they tend to be fairly reliable from what I see. On par with anyone else. They are also very easy to work on. Very low tech and shouldn’t be expensive to work on.
The bad IMO is the dealership network. I once saw an engine warranty voided because the owner used an aftermarket drop link on the sway bar. Subaru stood behind the dealer too. I swore off subaru then that was 2002. They are also the least tuner friendly I know of. I deal more with that aspect. The wrx/sti/2.5rs cars. Stock they work. Modified they quit working quickly.
Their awd is pretty terrible in my experience. Not so much prone to break but they are tuned more for handling or wet roads than Snow. The only vehicle I ever had to pull down hill was a Forrester. Same for most awd though.
I don’t want a car with 334k miles.
Oh no. Me either. Just an observation about durability. I rarely see a non-turbo subaru fail under 150k miles. We do rarely see 70 degrees Fahrenheit. So maybe the cooler Temps help the head gasket issue.
(I wouldn’t want a Baja in general. Id be more of a ranchero/el camino guy)
I regularly see them rusted apart with 200k+ but still running. We have road salt and potholes that can swallow a VW. Subaru are probably the most recommended vehicle around here.