Which Accord Should I buy? 2004 Coupe 4 cylinder vs Coupe 6 cylinder

[Scott (archive)]

Hey you all,

I have narrowed my search for cars down to a 2004 Accord Coupe. I am torn between the two engines. Any suggestions or recommendations?

$28000 EXL with Navi v6
-or-
$26000 EXL with Navi 4 cylinder

What will have less repairs? Which will last longer? What will have higher re-sale value? Any other suggestions? Thanks.

I will use the car as my everyday car, but want to have something that's fun but economical. I don't want to waste the environment with gas fumes either.

What do you all think? Thanks.

 

[Ryno23]

Scott,
If you are over 50 or used to be a woman, buy the 4 cyl. If you are under 50 and had balls since the day you were born, get the V6.

Repairs and longevity are comparable. Resale will obviously be higher for the V6, but will probably not be $2000 higher a few years hence. You won't reclaim the entire difference when the car is sold. However, the price you put on the added enjoyment from the V6 is a personal decision. Fuel mileage is not much lower for the V6 either. The V6 also looks a little nicer with the dual exhaust and different wheels. Traction control may also be an issue depending on where you live. The 4 cyl. doesn't come with it.

 

[jim (archive)]

I say it's a tough choice. I wanted the V-6 in our 03 because it had side curtain airbags (The 4 Cyl EX does in 04 I hear). The Wall Street Journal says the V-6 accord has the highest resale in it's class. BUT..... Edmunds and other sites say the 4 handles better - less weight in the front etc. So it's a personal choice I guess but you won't go wrong with either. We ended up w/ the EX 4 leather and I never owned a 4 before but this has more power because of the VTEC (?) engine then our V-6 Chevy ever had. It spins the tires and has great get up and go on on-ramps, intersections etc.
Jim

 

[Howard Lester]

"Jim" wrote

I say it's a tough choice. I wanted the V-6 in our 03 because it had side curtain airbags (The 4 Cyl EX does in 04 I hear).

Side curtain airbags are available as an option in the 4 cyl EX, but my dealer has yet to see one come through with them. I've got them investigating now.

 

[TL]

Well, I have a 4 cyl 03 EX-L, and I find it fun to drive with lots of pep. Frankly at 160 HP, it is as much as a V6 was a couple of years ago. I'm not into drag racing, so I can't comment on that. But I am interested in being able to quickly pass a car when I'm on a two lane road. In a 500 mile trip last summer, I had lots of occasions to do this, and it was every bit as quick to get from say 40 or 50 up to 80 as my V6 Passat. That's plenty of power for me.

Mileage on the highway is better on the 4 of course, but my guess is that the bigger difference is around town where the V6 isn't going to do much for you anyway.

Just my 2 cents. Good luck.

 

[twaugh5]

Hey you all,

I have narrowed my search for cars down to a 2004 Accord Coupe. I am torn between the two engines. Any suggestions or recommendations?

$28000 EXL with Navi v6
-or-
$26000 EXL with Navi 4 cylinder

What will have less repairs? Which will last longer? What will have higher re-sale value? Any other suggestions? Thanks.

I will use the car as my everyday car, but want to have something that's fun but economical. I don't want to waste the environment with gas fumes either.

What do you all think? Thanks.

Best value for your dollar is the LX V6. The manual V6 coupe is also impressive. The I4 5 speed would be more fun to drive, though. I dearly love my Prelude -- what Honda does best in a performance 4 cylinder. Why Navi? Do you get lost a lot?

 

[dold]

Jim <jkc84@optonline(unspam).net> wrote:

author: wrote below:
"
> From the hondacars.com description of interior features:
> > "Door ajar warning: If any door or trunk is not closed properly, horn will
> > sound three times and the system will not arm"
> >
> >

Darn. I can't find it again. It wasn't straightforward to locate the first time or I would have cited the link. The site is all 2004 models. The pages were updated, and I haven't found links to any 2003 remaining pages.

 

[lcopps]

I just bought a 4 door 4Cyl 5M EXL with Navi and it screams. Gets good milage, lots of fun to drive, and handles better being less front heavy than the V6. The dealer guys took it out to get a tank of gas said it seemed every bit as fast as a V6. I assume they drive V6 Automatics. Best yet the CarsDirect.com price is $23,935. Cars such as this are in short supply, but CarsDirect should be able to find one for you.

By the way, all 2004 EX leather trim Accords have side curtin airbags.

 

[Chris Aseltine]

I just bought a 4 door 4Cyl 5M EXL with Navi and it screams. Gets good milage, lots of fun to drive, and handles better being less front heavy than the V6. The dealer guys took it out to get a tank of gas said it seemed every bit as fast as a V6. I assume they drive V6 Automatics.

Sorry, I don't think so.

I drove both the 4-cyl and the V6 Accord Coupes about a month ago (coming from an '01 Camry LE V6). The 4-cylinder felt like a dog. The V6 was downright fast, and didn't have a rough idle like the 4-cyl. I would recommend the V6 for any application. The fuel savings are negligible.

 

[harrison]

Sorry, I don't think so.

I drove both the 4-cyl and the V6 Accord Coupes about a month ago (coming from an '01 Camry LE V6). The 4-cylinder felt like a dog. The V6 was downright fast, and didn't have a rough idle like the 4-cyl. I would recommend the V6 for any application. The fuel savings are negligible.

Did you drive the manual 4 or the automatic? The manual is much quicker than the automatic. Then again the manual V8 is probably even quicker. I find that the manual 4 has good balance, better than the V6, making it more fun to drive in the twisties with sufficient power to break any speed limits, even up steep grades. My acid test was I84 coming out of Port Jervis, NY. Cruise control held my set speed with no sag at all either direction. Set speed was above 65, not going to say by how much.

Dave

 

[Skipnkuf]

Sorry, I don't think so.

I drove both the 4-cyl and the V6 Accord Coupes about a month ago (coming from an '01 Camry LE V6). The 4-cylinder felt like a dog. The V6 was downright fast, and didn't have a rough idle like the 4-cyl. I would recommend the V6 for any application. The fuel savings are negligible.

agree, I had a 4-cyl LX accord sedan as a loner car while my v6 ex accord sedan was getting the options installed, tint, wing, fog lights, etc.... and the 4-cyl just reminded me why I bought the v6, smoother, quiter, much faster, but most of all no high reving RPMs while I'm trying to pass traffic on the highway, i push the gas and it goes, it doesn't have to downshift 2 gears to do it. I let me GF borrow my car while her 4cyl accord was in the shop and she told me her next car will be a V6 model

buy the v6 you wont regret it!

 

[mj]

agree, I had a 4-cyl LX accord sedan as a loner car while my v6 ex accord sedan was getting the options installed, tint, wing, fog lights, etc.... and the 4-cyl just reminded me why I bought the v6, smoother, quiter, much faster, but most of all no high reving RPMs while I'm trying to pass traffic on the highway, i push the gas and it goes, it doesn't have to downshift 2 gears to do it. I let me GF borrow my car while her 4cyl accord was in the shop and she told me her next car will be a V6 model

buy the v6 you wont regret it!

Of course, the new 4 has about 20 more hp than just a few years ago.
Could be a big difference.

 

[DrPimpDaddi]

Of course, the new 4 has about 20 more hp than just a few years ago.

Could be a big difference.

'98-'02 had 150hp (135hp in DX).

....................
I do not killfile nor use do-not-call lists.

 

[Chris Aseltine]

Did you drive the manual 4 or the automatic? The manual is much quicker than the automatic. Then again the manual V8 is probably even quicker.

I'm guessing you meant "manual V6", in which case, yes, it's undoubtedly quicker, especially with a 6-speed and more ratios with which to match that power to the wheels.

Anyway, yes, I drove the automatic. But Skipnkuf put it quite nicely when he said that the biggest advantage of the V6 is the lack of needing insane RPMs just to develop some decent power. I rarely redline my car (what's the point?), but I drive in the 3000-4000rpm range pretty frequently. The 4-cyl did not impress here.

 

[John Horner]

Hey you all,

I have narrowed my search for cars down to a 2004 Accord Coupe. I am torn between the two engines. Any suggestions or recommendations?

$28000 EXL with Navi v6
-or-
$26000 EXL with Navi 4 cylinder

What will have less repairs? Which will last longer? What will have higher re-sale value? Any other suggestions? Thanks.

I will use the car as my everyday car, but want to have something that's fun but economical. I don't want to waste the environment with gas fumes either.

What do you all think? Thanks.

It all depends . Do you do much fully loaded high speed highway driving through the Rocky Mountains (I70 through Colorado and Utah .....) ? If so, the extra power might be useful for passing performance.

In typical local driving the 4 has plenty of power. The V-6 gives a little bit of extra reserve.

This is what test drives are for. Try 'em both out!

Also, for a real kick, try an Acura TSX and see what that 4 cylinder motor can do when Honda wants it to!

John

 

[mrdancer]

I have narrowed my search for cars down to a 2004 Accord Coupe. I am torn between the two engines. Any suggestions or recommendations?

..
I have the '02 Accord LX 150hp 4-cylinder w/ 5-spd. It's pretty gutless compared to my previous vehicles, but it gets me around.

You can really tell the drop in power when you turn the A/C on. Also, when I visited my sister in Colorado Springs, the car felt like the A/C was on (power-wise), even though it was off (loss of power due to altitude). However, I'm not sure how this compares to the V6.

That being said, I really appreciate the MPG of the four. My last trip across the plains netted me close to 40mpg average driving at 70-75mph w/ a loaded vehicle. I get about 28mpg around town.

Yeah, the car is slow and gutless below 5000rpm, but since 95% of the cars out there are blocking my way, I don't really have a need for anything faster, except for fun, and I've a SV650S for that. ;-)

 

[Bebop]

Side curtain airbags are available as an option in the 4 cyl EX, but my dealer has yet to see one come through with them. I've got them investigating now.

Tell them to do a factory order for you. It takes 8-9 weeks

I factory ordered a civic, my dealer just emailed me the build date last week.