Nigerians tend to have some doubts when it comes to buying Hondas. We’ve seen Hondas disappoint people on the road in the past. But what about now? Today, we’re reviewing a 2019 Honda Accord that has been in Nigeria for four years. We’re going to tell you what it feels like to own a modern Honda car in Nigeria. We’ll cover the price, maintenance issues, and everything else you need to know about this car. Does this fine car also “Yawo” on the road? Let’s find out.
Addressing the “Honda Ball Joint” Myth
Let’s address the elephant in the room. We know that older Honda cars in Nigeria have been known for suspension failures. But we’re here to reassure you that Honda has largely solved this problem in newer models.
Of course, like any car, you’ll still need to do regular maintenance. This includes changing shock absorbers, ball joints, and lower arms from time to time. But these parts won’t just fail suddenly or unexpectedly. You’ll get signs that you need to change them before they cause a dangerous breakdown on the road. So, if that’s the only reason you’re here, you can stop watching now. But we promise there are a lot of other things you need to know about this car.
Exterior Design: A Head-Turning Sedan
The front of this car is dominated by chrome. It runs all the way from one end to the other. The car comes in four trims: LX, EX, Sport, and Touring. This particular model is the Sport, which you can tell by the spoiler at the rear. But no matter which trim you choose, you’ll get the same basic look. You’ll have the same body paint, chrome, and black grille.
We really like how this car looks in the front. It’s very imposing. Once you see it, you can’t miss it.
Headlights and DRLs: A Unique Design Feature
The headlights and Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) are another cool design element. When you start the car, the DRLs run under the chrome strip. It’s as if the headlight is hiding under the chrome. It’s like there’s a brow over the eyes. That’s how the headlight is positioned, and we really like that.
Side Profile: A Grand Tourer Aesthetic
We love the side of this car. It looks like a grand tourer. It has a fastback-like shape, similar to the Audi A7 and BMW GT four-door. This design gives it a premium look. So, this is a car for people who want a luxury car feel without the luxury car price tag.
Tail Light Design: Playful and Distinctive
The tail light design is also worth mentioning. It’s like a crab’s claw, like it wants to grab something. We really like that playful design. You can also see it on the Honda Civic.
Spoiler Alert: Identifying the Sport Trim
As we mentioned earlier, the Sport trim always comes with a spoiler. It’s a small ducktail spoiler at the rear.
Front or Rear?
Which part of this car do you prefer? Do you like the rear, or do you like the front better? Let us know in the comments section.
Size Matters: Measuring the Accord
This car is long, very long. It feels like a grand tourer. If you used to play street football, you know what we’re about to do. We’re about to measure the size of this car. It’s about 14 and a half shoes long. That means the Accord is longer than a Highlander.
Ride Height: A Potential Drawback for Nigerian Roads
But the Accord suffers from one thing: height. It’s very close to the ground. If you live in an area with bad roads, you might scratch the ground a lot with this car. We’re using our shoe to measure the ride height. It stops just at the tip of our shoe. That’s like one-quarter to one-half of our shoe. The Accord is very, very close to the ground.
Interior Overview: Where Luxury Meets Practicality
Remember we told you this is a car for people who want a luxury car but don’t have luxury car money? Let’s find out if that’s true inside.
The car welcomes us, letting us know how important we are to it. That’s a luxury feature for sure. The interior of this car is very sophisticated. Everything is well laid out. Compared to the previous Honda Accord, Honda has changed something that everybody complained about. We now have physical volume and temperature buttons. The old one required pressing buttons, which was very slow. But this one is much better.
There aren’t a lot of buttons in this car, and we really like that.
Materials and Layout: A Thoughtful Design
The steering wheel material is just right. The dashboard material is also good. You can see some carbon fiber accents. You also get some faux wood and plastic. Everything is well laid out. The gear shifter is also well placed. We really like the utilization of space in this car.
Silent Cabin: A Quiet Driving Experience
Let’s start it up and see. Did you hear the sound of this car? No. It has a very, very silent cabin.
Tech Features: Infotainment and Connectivity
It comes with a 12.3-inch display screen, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto as standard features. You get a lot of settings in this car. This car also has Honda Sensing, which allows you to drive with ease.
Settings and Customization: A Deep Dive into Controls
What we really like about this car is that there are settings on the main display, and there are also settings on the tachometer. The tachometer is divided into two: an analog one and a digital one. When you press this button, you can control a lot of things from this car.
Starting from the tachometer, you can check your range, how much fuel you have left, and your speed. You can also control your phone and your radio. You don’t even have to use the main screen. You can check traffic signs. If you activate this feature, the car will show you every traffic sign you encounter on the road. For example, it will show you signs that say “don’t speed above 60” or “one way.”
Dual-Zone Climate Control: A Cool Gimmick
The AC is a dual-zone climate control. We also like that the button is very easy to control. And when you turn it, there’s a gimmick. When you set it to the cool area, it shows blue. And when you want it to be hot, it shows red. So, without even checking the number, you can know if it’s cool or hot.
Road Test: Putting the Accord to the Nigerian Test
Now, let us drive. Let’s put this car on the road, on the Nigerian road, and see how it holds up.
Reverse Camera: Adaptive and Versatile
The reverse camera is great. You have different views. And when you turn your steering wheel, it shows you the angle you’re turning at. So, the reverse camera is adaptive to your steering. You have a normal view, a lateral view, and a bird’s-eye view. We think that’s very dope.
Turning Radius: Surprisingly Agile
The turning radius is very small for a car this long. A long car should be hard to turn, but this one turns very well.
Seat Material: Sport Trim Distinction
This seat, because it’s a Sport, is a mix between leather and fabric. That’s like the coping Toyota Camry.
Engine Options: Turbocharged Power
This car uses two types of engines. There’s the 1.5L turbocharged 4-cylinder engine, and there’s the 2.0L turbocharged engine. Both of them are turbocharged.
So, what happened? Honda found out that they needed to downsize their engines but still pull out more power. So, even though the 1.5L and 2.0L engines are small, they’re not small. They’re turbocharged. They still make an ample amount of power to push this car. Although, the 2.0L is faster than the 1.5L, obviously, because it’s a bigger engine.
Horsepower: Ample Power for the Accord
Both engine options have ample horsepower for the Accord.
Transmission Choices: CVT vs. Automatic
The 1.5L turbo is paired with a CVT transmission. But because this is the Sport trim, we still get paddle shifters. The 2.0L is paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission. That’s a conventional automatic transmission.
If you’re looking for speed, just go for the 2.0L turbo. But if you want economy, go for the 1.5L.
Fuel Efficiency: 1.5L Turbo is the best
The 1.5L turbo is more fuel efficient than the 2.0L.
Fuel Tank Capacity and Cost
The Accord’s fuel tank is 56 liters.
Driving Modes: Sport and Economy
This car has a sport mode and an economy mode, which are both activated by a button. In other cars, you have to shift the gear to engage sport mode. But in this one, you just press the button. When you press the sport button, it changes to sport mode. When you press the economy button, economy mode comes on the dashboard.
Lane Keep Assist and Safety Features
The car has lane keep assist. We can see everything that’s happening on the road clearly. We can see our speed and everything else. And when you’re speeding and about to collide with something, the car will brake for you. It assists you in braking. We tried to run into that car, and it braked for us.
We like the visibility. We can see everything around us. There are no blind spots. Even the pillar here was moved back a bit. So, there’s no pillar in our view. Our seat is kind of leaned back. If we adjust our seat normally, we won’t see the pillar here. In other cars, you see the B-pillar just here. Also, the A-pillar is kind of thinner than in previous generations. They’ve reduced the thickness of the A-pillar so that you can see well. We think that makes a lot of sense.
Aesthetic Appreciation: A Moment to Admire the Accord
Still in sport mode, let’s take a few seconds to appreciate the beauty that is called the Accord on the road. Just look at it gliding, that side view, the rim, the effect. This car is beautiful.
Tunnel Test: Evaluating Acceleration
Now, let’s do this tunnel thing and launch the car. Let’s see how fast it goes. The CVT is not so great, not so engaging. We’re just going for the CVT. We’re not really feeling that transmission, even if we’re in sport mode. It’s quite different from a sports mode. The handling is great. The handling is actually super great. We’re speeding, and we’re gliding. The Accord has blind spot monitoring on the left. We can see that another car is just beside us, even though we can’t see it from here.
Final Verdict: Is the Accord Perfect for Nigeria?
This is 2024, and we just showed you how well the Accord holds up on the road. There’s no excuse for not buying one. Honda has treated everything and the Accord holds up very well. You can’t even compare this car to a Toyota Camry. Compare it to cars like the Avalon. This is a beast of a car. We would pick the 2.0L turbo over this one any day, any time.
If you want to buy this car or any other car, you can send us an email at cars@234drive.com. Also, let us know in the comments what car you want us to review next.
