Category: Large Family 
Price Range: No data available
Refined, roomy, well built, fabulous diesel, superb sports suspension.
Cabin lacks visual flair, uninspiring petrol engines.
Classier than its French rivals, better value than the Germans.
The current Accord arrived in 2003 and has needed very little doing to it since then, because it was pretty much right first time. Compared to previous Accords it's a sharper looking car, with a highly impressive chassis and a choice of good engines. A series of clever TV ads haven't done the Accord any harm, either. But it's still lost in no man's land in terms of its image and position in the market.
Although posher than a Peugeot 407 or a Renault Laguna, it lacks the prestige associated with comparable BMWs, Mercedes, Audis and that honorary German, the Lexus IS. So it's midway between the Vauxhall Vectra and the BMW 3-Series, alongside the Mazda 6, Alfa 159 and possibly the Jaguar X-Type. These far from clear waters are further muddied by the fact that the latest Ford Mondeo is a plusher, flashier car than the previous ones.
But never mind all this fretting about the size and shape of the market: what's the Accord actually like? In short, very good - much more so than its low-key appearance might lead you to believe. It's available as a four-door-saloon or five-door estate, and in four trim levels. There are two petrol engines - a 2.0-litre making 153bhp and a 2.4 producing 187bhp - and a superb 138bhp 2.2-litre diesel. That same engine is available with revised suspension in the Sport GT version, which we recommend very highly.
There's a five-speed manual gearbox or a five-speed automatic for the 2.0 petrol, a six-speed manual for the diesel , and a six-speed manual or the five-speed auto for the 2.4 petrol.
Prices start at £17,527 for the 2.0 i-VTEC SE saloon and go up to £27,652 for the 2.4 i-VTEC estate in EX trim with the sequential gearbox.
