Piston Slap: Another Impending Coupe D'etat?

by Sajeev Mehta

Updated: May 16th, 2014 Published: December 15th, 2010

piston slap another impending coupe d etat

Alex writes:

I have a 2000 Honda Accord Coupe EX-V6, 253k miles, original automatic transmission. I’ve had 2 motor mounts replaced, a heater core, and otherwise just standard maintenance (transmission service every 50k miles, new belts every 100k, along with new water pump; new alternator whenever I burn the old one out). Last year, the tranny started whining, giving the inevitable death wail of the Honda slushbox. But it’s still going strong, the wail has stopped, and the transmission fluid looks and smells as clean as ever. My wife and I are looking into buying a 2009 Honda Fit Sport to replace it. The question: do I sell this bad boy or keep it, and do I wait till it dies to buy the Fit (or Pontiac Vibe, or something else)? Full disclosure: my father in law is a GM mechanic, who would love it if I bought a GM.

Sajeev answers:

I’m tempted to make an ironic (yet ultimately tasteless) joke about in-laws loyal to GM and purchasing Toyota-Pontiac crossovers for their satisfaction. But as a single man who believes in Karma, I shall refrain from doing so. That said, I am a sucker for these Accord Coupes, as previously mentioned in a two-part Piston Slap about another coupe.

Question is, are you a lover of the Accord Coupe’s charms like yours truly? I’d think so—misery loves company—and that you’d be disappointed/offended at any offer you get on trade-in. Or from a tire kicker from Craigslist. A second car is great if space allows, because they come in handy. If you buy a tall and noisy Honda Fit (or similar), you’re gonna love having an low slung, NVH savvy, V6 Accord coupe available for long distance travel. Just my personal guess!

So go ahead: keep it. Whenever the transmission fails, bite the bullet for a quality rebuild that addresses the known flaws on these units. See the link above to understand the process involved. Another viable option is getting a junkyard transmission for about $1000 from car-part.com, LKQ, etc. and have a local mechanic install it. The latter option is also great for whenever that motor bites the dust: finding a unit with less than 100k on the clock, for less than $1000, should be fairly easy with a little negotiation.

All it takes is a little research on the appropriate forum, a decent mechanic, and love of the best Honda coupe ever made to make it happen. Good luck to you.

Send your queries to mehta@ttac.com. Spare no details and ask for a speedy resolution if you’re in a hurry.

#Advice #PistonSlap

Sajeev Mehta

More by Sajeev Mehta

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 43 comments

Alex the guy with the Accord Coupe on Dec 16, 2010

Just clicked over 255.5k. Still going.

Like Reply
Lichtronamo on Dec 16, 2010

I was thinking about this one while driving the other day behind a TSX... makes me wonder why Honda doesn't make the Accord coupe off of the smaller JDM/EURO Accord platform instead of the NA platform. You'd think such a car would be closer to this model (or even a Prelude) than the current offering...

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Redapple2 jeffbut they dont want to ... their pick up is 4th behind ford/ram, Toyota. GM has the Best engineers in the world. More truck profit than the other 3. Silverado + Sierra+ Tahoe + Yukon sales = 2x ford total @ $15,000 profit per. Tons o $ to invest in the BEST truck. No. They make crap. Garbage. Evil gm Vampire
Rishabh Ive actually seen the one unit you mentioned, driving around in gurugram once. And thats why i got curious to know more about how many they sold. Seems like i saw the only one!
Amy I owned this exact car from 16 until 19 (1990 to 1993) I miss this car immensely and am on the search to own it again, although it looks like my search may be in vane. It was affectionatly dubbed, " The Dragon Wagon," and hauled many a teenager around the city of Charlotte, NC. For me, it was dependable and trustworthy. I was able to do much of the maintenance myself until I was struck by lightning and a month later the battery exploded. My parents did have the entire electrical system redone and he was back to new. I hope to find one in the near future and make it my every day driver. I'm a dreamer.
Jeff Overall I prefer the 59 GM cars to the 58s because of less chrome but I have a new appreciation of the 58 Cadillac Eldorados after reading this series. I use to not like the 58 Eldorados but I now don't mind them. Overall I prefer the 55-57s GMs over most of the 58-60s GMs. For the most part I like the 61 GMs. Chryslers I like the 57 and 58s. Fords I liked the 55 thru 57s but the 58s and 59s not as much with the exception of Mercury which I for the most part like all those. As the 60s progressed the tail fins started to go away and the amount of chrome was reduced. More understated.
Theflyersfan Nissan could have the best auto lineup of any carmaker (they don't), but until they improve one major issue, the best cars out there won't matter. That is the dealership experience. Year after year in multiple customer service surveys from groups like JD Power and CR, Nissan frequency scrapes the bottom. Personally, I really like the never seen new Z, but after having several truly awful Nissan dealer experiences, my shadow will never darken a Nissan showroom. I'm painting with broad strokes here, but maybe it is so ingrained in their culture to try to take advantage of people who might not be savvy enough in the buying experience that they by default treat everyone like idiots and saps. All of this has to be frustrating to Nissan HQ as they are improving their lineup but their dealers drag them down.