2007 Honda Accord VP (Value Package) - owner report

 The 2007 Honda Accord VP (Value Package) is Honda's base model Accord. In 2010, the LX has become the base model. The Accord VP includes power windows, 2-speaker AM/FM/CD, remote trunk, alarm system, AC/Heat. A insurance lowering 5-Star Safety Rating, Grade Logic, anti-lock brakes and more. Coming from a sports coupe, the Accord dropped my insurance premium by a few hundred dollars. Even the base model has the bare essential features. The only thing I missed was having a radio control on the steering wheel, it did have cruise control on it however. I test drove a fully loaded EX-L V6 and was impressed by the ride and finish. The L is for leather but cloth interior is also available. In fact the EX V6 manual transmission with cloth interior is a great combination for the price at around $23,000. Even at the base model, it is clean and comes with the expected Honda quality. Truthfully, I never really appreciated or respected the Accord until I drove one daily for nearly three years. I am truly impressed by its overall driver friendliness, very decent road feel/handling and the peppy 2.4liter iVTEC engine which by all means is good enough for the majority of drivers. The Grade Logic control is impressive once you get used to it. On up hill grades it can figure out if it needs to kick in the over-head cam with VTEC or down shift. The program also recognizes if braking while headed down hill and will down shift to assist with braking, quite clever and useful.

The V6 version is effortless as it handles the car's weight and easily moves the car with over 240lbs of torque and 263HP using an intelligent cylinder management system similar to Cadillac. The engine shuts down up to 2 of this cylinders when not needed, saving you gas. In addition, Honda is best known for their bullet proof 4-cylinder engines, the Accord is available with a very efficient 2.4L engine which carries 173 horsepower and 163lbs of torque. I can attest, owning a Acura/Honda Integra before and running it well over 100k with plenty of life left in it. The Honda 4-cylinder models have more life, zip and response than the Toyota Camry and the Hyundai Sonata 4-cylinder models. The Accord out handles the Toyota Camry and the Hyundai Sonata as well. American cars in this segment include the Ford Fusion and Chevy Malibu.

At high speeds above 75 mph the Accord begins to float around on its suspension but the steering remains responsive and not loose. You will likely hear bumps rather than feel them, the Accord VP offers a fairly smooth ride on it's budget steel wheels and tires. I averaged about 36mpg going 75mph up and down the coast and probably around 26 in city driving averaging around 33mpg overall average 50% street and 50% highway.  The VP model includes front disc brakes and rear drum brakes which stop better than Honda's rear disc brakes. The AC, heater and defroster work great. The 6 speaker or 7 with subwoofer system sound adequate and has the antenna built into the rear window.

Another strong point if looking for an economical car is determining the total cost of ownership. Maintenance is a breeze with a very nifty oil life indicator that bases the life of the oil by percentage using the number of revolutions in the engine. Doing the math, I found I traveled around 4200 miles before the indicator would get to 10%. With synthetic, one could travel at least 5000 miles and farther, I've read that it's been confirmed some engines can be run up to 10,000 miles synthetic oil. The engine also uses a timing chain instead of timing belt which is good for the life of the engine and should never have to be replaced.  I've only heard of one Honda timing chain breaking on its own at about 105,000 miles and this was because the owner never changed the oil since purchasing the car brand new!

In conclusion, the Accord is roomy, ergonomically comfortable, offers good performance, offers a good driving experience for a vehicle that offers very good gas mileage and a low total cost of ownership. However, Honda is known for not bending on their prices compared to other manufacturers so I would check around and even consider used Accords from non-Honda dealerships if the prices are right.