09 Accord or A4 ?

Delboy5

Looking at upgrading the car.

Looking at a 2009 Audi A4 SE 2.0Tdi 143bhp or a 2009 Honda Accord 2.2 i-DTEC EX 150bhp.

Currently leaning towards the Honda as its got a great spec. compared to the Audi.

Anyone any comments on either ?

jayok

Accord. Better spec, less common.

Tea 1000

Accord is bigger, more comfortable, nicer looking, rarer, more reliable, better ride, more competent chassis... A4 has got 4 rings on the front and the back, and is better sound insulated. Stiffer in corners, but chassis becomes undone when pushed.
So Accord!

MuppetCheck

I would go for the accord mainly because I find the offset pedals in the Audi extremely uncomfortable.

If you have one leg shorter than the other to compensate for this id still buy the accord.

langdang

Love the styling of that model Accord.
Plus your wheels are less likely to go missing (Audi VW wheels are up there with copper pipe for disappearing)

Delboy5

Thanks for the replies, was leaning towards the Accord anyway, hard to argue with the lists of extras.......

ABS,
Adjustable Steering Wheel,
Air Conditioning,
Alarm,
Alloy Wheels,
Bluetooth,
CD Player,
Climate Control,
Cruise Control,
Driver Airbag,
Electric Windows,
Electric Seats,
Heated Seats,
Immobiliser,
Full leather,
Parking Sensors,
Remote Central Locking,
Reverse camera,
Satellite Navigation,
Sunroof.

Delissimo

Defo Accord. One of the world's most reliable cars. So you'll get peace of mind (and a real handbrake!).

joeperry

Buy an Accord and be cool or buy an expensive Skoda and be a cock :D

veetwin

Hard to think why anyone would buy an A4 over the Accord.

langdang

OSI wrote: »

People still steal wheels? I haven't seen any wheels stolen since I walked through Lewisham when I was still living in London in the early 90's.

They do in Limerick, boss;)

MrDerp

Neither

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Volvo/S60/D3-SE--L/813260986190430/advert?channel=CARS

2010 Volvo S60 SE-Lux.

Extras coming out the wazoo

positron

Delboy5 wrote: »

..
Driver Airbag,
..

I am almost certain that it's better than that, it might have 4 or even 6 air bags, including side curtain bags.

+1 to Accord. Such an underrated, understated car.

mad m

How much for the Accord V's the Audi?

Delboy5

Actually buying in the north, the Audi is £1,000 dearer

Pique

MrDerp wrote: »

Neither

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Volvo/S60/D3-SE--L/813260986190430/advert?channel=CARS

2010 Volvo S60 SE-Lux.

Extras coming out the wazoo

Yeah...extra buttons !!



Surely Volvo could've tidied that up with an iDrive-type setup ?!
You need all the safety features as you'll crash just trying to change the heater without the 'auto-brake' etc..

pajo1981

IMO, the A4 looks more upmarket inside and out - but the accord is a nicer drive and prob less hassle to own.

pippip

Think youd stand more chance of being in a crash when using idrive :pac:

Always loved the exterior of the accords but absolutely HATE the inside, mainly the centre console.

pajo1981

Pique wrote: »

Yeah...extra buttons !!



Surely Volvo could've tidied that up with an iDrive-type setup ?!
You need all the safety features as you'll crash just trying to change the heater without the 'auto-brake' etc..

Call me weird, but I've always liked real buttons.

L-M

OP,

Any link to the particular two?

Eoin

Delboy5 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, was leaning towards the Accord anyway, hard to argue with the lists of extras.......

ABS,
Adjustable Steering Wheel,
Air Conditioning,
Alarm,
Alloy Wheels,
Bluetooth,
CD Player,
Climate Control,
Cruise Control,
Driver Airbag,
Electric Windows,
Electric Seats,
Heated Seats,
Immobiliser,
Full leather,
Parking Sensors,
Remote Central Locking,
Reverse camera,
Satellite Navigation,
Sunroof.

It's mad that some of those things are still considered as desirable extras, rather than what any modern car should have as standard. Especially for cars that fancy themselves as junior exec type motors.

pajo1981 wrote: »

Call me weird, but I've always liked real buttons.

I've not used any of the iDrive type interfaces, but I imagine it would be easier to use real buttons without having to look. There may be loads of them, but you should be able to find your way around by touch.

L-M

Eoin wrote: »

It's mad that some of those things are still considered as desirable extras, rather than what any modern car should have as standard. Especially for cars that fancy themselves as junior exec type motors.

Looks like a simplistic list copied off carzone to me.

JJJJNR

Eoin wrote: »

It's mad that some of those things are still considered as desirable extras, rather than what any modern car should have as standard. Especially for cars that fancy themselves as junior exec type motors.

There not desirable extras they are standard fit as far as I know.

Jemmy

My dad just bought the same spec accord & I've driven it a few times now, have to say it's a great car. Even for a daysul! Very comfortable

Delboy5

Limerick man wrote: »

OP,

Any link to the particular two?

Audi
http://www.usedcarsni.com/85968658

Honda
http://www.usedcarsni.com/85593788

ShadowHearth

+1 to accord. Better car by far.

Though I was newer a fan of "4 donut mobiles"

L-M

Better car the Accord may be, i personally think the Audi is a better looking car. i don't think that Accord will age well.

i'd personally be willing to go down to a 08 to get a nicer spec Audi.

A friend of mine has a 08 S line, Black with the S line kit, 17" wheels, cream leather interior etc. etc. and that Honda comes no where near that.

This, but with cream leather.

Tea 1000

Limerick man wrote: »

Better car the Accord may be, i personally think the Audi is a better looking car. i don't think that Accord will age well.

i'd personally be willing to go down to a 08 to get a nicer spec Audi.

A friend of mine has a 08 S line, Black with the S line kit, 17" wheels, cream leather interior etc. etc. and that Honda comes no where near that.

This, but with cream leather.

The A4 is an expensive average car. The S-Line might look a little better, but it makes it a VERY expensive average car. You can put bigger alloys on the Accord, and you can get cream leather in the Accord too!

L-M

Tea 1000 wrote: »

The A4 is an expensive average car. The S-Line might look a little better, but it makes it a VERY expensive average car. You can put bigger alloys on the Accord, and you can get cream leather in the Accord too!

The cream leather was only a contrast, i think the Audi looks better and will age better. Also more than likely hold a better residual value.

That said, looks are purely subjective.

Tea 1000

Pique wrote: »

Yeah...extra buttons !!



Surely Volvo could've tidied that up with an iDrive-type setup ?!
You need all the safety features as you'll crash just trying to change the heater without the 'auto-brake' etc..

Was thinking the exact same thing! That's a disaster. What a mess. And what does it all do other than temperature, volume, air direction and radio channel? "Why have a display when 50 buttons will do"!!

ShadowHearth

Limerick man wrote: »

The cream leather was only a contrast, i think the Audi looks better and will age better. Also more than likely hold a better residual value.

That said, looks are purely subjective.

i walked pass by a 11 audi a4 and i have to say it looked really..... bland... it was really meh for amount of money someone payed for it. inside it looks very tight too.

i admit, you cant argue about looks, but audi is way overpriced for what it is.

positron

I think A4 is too plain and too boring - it's the poorer cousin to the good looking A5 which is a good looking car.

Previous version (03-08) Honda Accord still looks fresh IMHO, so I don't know if you need to worry about 08+ model looking bad in another 5 years.

Tea 1000

OSI wrote: »

Well a decent chunk of them are for the phone controls.

Too complicated. All you need is a pick up/hang up button on the steering wheel, and a mute/volume button. An LCD display for everything else apart from the regularly used ones. Lets face it, after you paired your phone, how often do you do anything other than pick up/hang up? All those buttons used once and clutter the dash for ever.

mad m

Have an 07 Accord S-type and its a pleasure to drive, have it from new and not an ounce of trouble with it since day one. Was thinking of changing a while back but (mad I was).It can be heavy on petrol (2litre) but over long journeys its very economical. You can't beat the Japanese.

walus

mad m wrote: »

Have an 07 Accord S-type and its a pleasure to drive, have it from new and not an ounce of trouble with it since day one. Was thinking of changing a while back but (mad I was).It can be heavy on petrol (2litre) but over long journeys its very economical. You can't beat the Japanese.

How heavy on petron can it actually be? I always wanted 07/08 2.0l petrol model, I think it is one of the best looking saloons out there, but was not sure what's the mpg on short trips around town. Cheers.

L-M

positron wrote: »

I think A4 is too plain and too boring - it's the poorer cousin to the good looking A5 which is a good looking car.

Previous version (03-08) Honda Accord still looks fresh IMHO, so I don't know if you need to worry about 08+ model looking bad in another 5 years.

I think the previous gen Accord is a much nicer looking than the current. If they hadn't 2.3 tax for the diesel would have bought one.

mad m

walus wrote: »

How heavy on petron can it actually be? I always wanted 07/08 2.0l petrol model, I think it is one of the best looking saloons out there, but was not sure what's the mpg on short trips around town. Cheers.

Well on short trips like any other 2.0L its not going to be good...But wifey drives it around for lets say Sunday to Sunday and I put 60euro in it and it gets around 340klm...Now long journeys its totally different, up n down to Galway and you would have over half tank left if not a bit more. Couple years back I was in Uk and did mainly motorway with some mixed town driving. I think I got near to 1000klm before I had to fill it up.

TJJP

Tax and VRT issues are interesting:

Audi
http://www.usedcarsni.com/85968658

CO2 Emission: 139 Roadtax €225 vrt rate 14% or €3687 (based on OMSP)

Honda
http://www.usedcarsni.com/85593788

CO2 Emission: 145? Roadtax €330 vrt rate 20% or €3,000 (based on OMSP)

Road tax on the honda could (could!, do your own calculations) be higher but ofset by lower VRT and overall purchase price so it really is 50/50 on the two cars.

staker

Delboy5 wrote: »

Audi
http://www.usedcarsni.com/85968658

Honda
http://www.usedcarsni.com/85593788

Actually viewed the Honda myself 3 weeks ago,surprised it's still there.
I chose the Honda over the Audi,having previously owned an A4 just wanted a change.
As another poster alluded to,the centre console is a tad clustered and busy,with a lot of buttons doubling up on the console and tripling on the MFSW.
The 6 speed box takes a bit of getting used to,1st being way too short and 6th being too long,plenty of poke mid box over 1800rpm.
One other gripe I'd have is the bluetooth phone is voice activated,and phonebooks need to be vocally entered.No incoming calls carry any ID (not too sure of the limited phonebook in mine)which is a pain in the arse.
It's averaging 46mpg and that's not driving according to the onboard gearchange prompt.
Apart from that,cracking car.

positron

Limerick man wrote: »

I think the previous gen Accord is a much nicer looking than the current. If they hadn't 2.3 tax for the diesel would have bought one.

I thought the newer ones look a step up from the older ones. I remember a lot of people commented on the older design as crap back in 2003-2004 when they first came out, but since then most of the German models have gone way too ugly, last model Accord now looks fresh and decent in comparison! So extending that logic, in about 5 years time current crop of Passats, Avensises, A4s and 3/5 series would have become dead boring and soul-crushingly common, chunky and quirky Accord design would hold strong - again it's all subjective, but just saying.

Delboy5

staker wrote: »

Actually viewed the Honda myself 3 weeks ago,surprised it's still there...

What turned you off it in de end? You see any issues with it?

staker

Delboy5 wrote: »

What turned you off it in de end? You see any issues with it?

It looked straight as a die and spotless from the outside,didn't look at it too much as I had an '08 in mind.
I started this thread if it helps. Found the forum very helpful as I'd been thinking about it a while.
I actually dealt with AC Motors so if you need any specific details PM me.

bazz26

I drove my cousin's A4 a few weeks back. It was exactly the same as the one the OP is looking at. Wasn't that impressed with it to be honest, I didn't like the gear change, the steering was vague and the handling was average. Some of the interior switchgear like the climate control buttons felt a bit cheap and out of place compared to other bits of trim. The engine was the best part of the car, lively enough and very quiet compared to typical TDi engines. Definately would not swap it for my 3 Series though.

OP, have you looked at the Passat CC, should be able to buy one of similar vintage, alot better equipped than the A4 and they have the added bonus of being a rare sight on the road.