My daughter has a Honda Accord 2006 and it is over 100,000 miles…it is still good but she drives it everyday from Hayward to San Francisco airport and she spends a lot of gas, also will soon neee new tires and has other small issues, so she is concerned and thinking if it is the time to trade it for a newer one. If so, what can you recommend a fuel efficient car and inexpensive. Thank you.
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It looks like average mileage was around 26 city/34 highway? What mileage is she actually getting? What other small issues are going on with the car? If it were me, I’d prefer to keep an older car that I know the history on rolling as long as I can. What you’ll pay in repairs and new tires per year is far lower than what she’ll pay on a car payment.
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Thank you…I wsill forward this to my daughter.
Keep what she has and maintain it.
I have a 1997 Accord with 210,000 miles on it. And basic maintenance has kept it on the road for this long.
Sure! I’ve to replace some non-maintenance items such as a speedometer cluster, window regulators, etc… But these repairs weren’t a reason to get rid of the vehicle.
So, you can keep what you have, maintain it, and maybe get another 100,000 miles out of it.
Or, get another car, with car payments, higher insurance premiums, and you end up with a vehicle with maybe more problems?
You know what you have now.
Tester
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Thank you! Very helpful…I will let my daughter know.
Maintenance or depreciation, my general rule of thumb is comparing repairs to a new car payment. For my wife reliability is also an issue without financial considerations. At this point if it was my car I would probably keep it for my wife. The new car gas cost difference is probably not going to be a significant incentive. If it were my daughter I would suggest she look into Bart and skip buying another car.
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Thank you very valuable opinion.
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At 100,000 miles, a Honda Accord is still in its prime. At that mileage there will be some repairs, but they won’t come anywhere near the price of car payments.
I recommend she has it checked out by a competent independent mechanic and fix any issues. This car is good for another 100,000 miles if well maintained.
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Do like me, keep the car until the wheels fall off.
One big maintenance that may be needed now or soon is the timing belt. Check the owners manual to see if the car has one and, if so, the recommended time/mileage of replacement. If a 2006 Accord has been well taken care of and still meets the owner’s needs, it is well worth this maintenance, new tires, etc., etc. It can go much, much farther, reliably. That’s only one reason why the Accord has been so highly thought of for so long.
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what is history of car? did she buy it new? maybe she is bored with it. an 11yr old car is not very flashy. i would expect a california car to be pretty clean. no rust. so it probably looks ok?
That was the original question. Of course we don’t really know what daughter wants , she may be looking for justification to trade vehicles. And we have no idea if used or new. The part about using lots of gas is suspect because it might be hard to really have much better MPG than the Accord.
My advice is for the daughter to just play on the web and see if something appeals to her and is affordable.
I think your daughter is looking for justification to get a new car. 
To get more fuel efficient than the Accord in highway miles, she’d have to get something like a Prius. Which is going to be a snore-fest to drive compared to the Accord, but it’ll also get 50mpg combined city/highway.
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A friend of mine recently sold their 2004 Corolla w/100K miles on it and bought a 2018 Corolla, and seems to be happy enough. They were aware that 100K isn’t nearly the end of the line for a Corolla, but wanted the new car warranty, improved reliability, and general lack of fuss a new car brings.
If her Accord is a V6 it is much less fuel efficient. Also , don’t assume that a car gets its EPA numbers. Some cars come close and some don’t. Also , an aggressive driver in heavy traffic can cut their mileage numbers in half.Some drivers see no correlation between their mileage and their driving and then complain that they have been sold a lemon.
Are you saying your friend’s 2004 Corolla was not reliable?
For that matter, isn’t it too soon to assume your friend’s 2018 Corolla will be more reliable than their 2004 Corolla?
Were they getting tired of spending money on maintenance and repairs?
- “spends a lot of gas” - take public transport or some sort of ride share - there are many options on that route
- “new tires and has other small issues” - still cheaper than sales tax and increase in insurance on a later car
- Bonus: 2006 car has less fancy sensors and therefore more reliable - just do all the preventive maintenance and go till 200k/250k.
- Prius: a friend has one - the touch screen failed - he spent more on it than the gas saving
- “fuel efficient car and inexpensive”: i) Used Chevy Volt - versatile, (ii) Used Nissan Leaf cost around $7k but limited range.
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Is it the V6 or I4? Depending on the engine there is a timing belt (V6). I would say it would be cheapest to replace the tires, and address the small issues. Currently we have a 2003 V6 Accord w/268,000 miles, 2006 V6 Accord with 150,000 miles, and my 2007 Accord 2.4 with 195,000 miles. So 100,000 miles is very low miles.
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ThaNK YOU.
Thank you.