12,000,000 buyers are usually wrong, but not this time
There is a veil of sameness draped over the Accord that comes from racking up 300,000 to 400,000 annual sales, year after year. Who would imagine that such an exceptional car could be hiding in plain sight, mimicking a lowest-common-denominator family appliance? Many Accord owners are unable, or do not care, to spot what makes their car better than the rest. Most just get in and drive. But that hasn’t stopped Honda from treating its bestseller like a flagship. Indeed, they are one and the same.
There is a veil of sameness draped over the Accord that comes from racking up 300,000 to 400,000 annual sales, year after year. Who would imagine that such an exceptional car could be hiding in plain sight, mimicking a lowest-common-denominator family appliance? Many Accord owners are unable, or do not care, to spot what makes their car better than the rest. Most just get in and drive. But that hasn’t stopped Honda from treating its bestseller like a flagship. Indeed, they are one and the same.
Accords are not pimped out to shabby rental fleets, so the cars go home with real customers, those who ran a gantlet of salespeople and dealership-finance goons to get their cars. Buying or leasing the car, even if you have a good experience, will certainly be the worst part of Accord ownership. Once home, owners will find that their Accords are dependable, no-fuss devices. Whether sedan, coupe, or hybrid, an Accord ingratiates itself first by delivering on its family-car promise: Five humans fit comfortably, it’s easy on fuel, and the trunk is ready for Costco. There is more, however.
The seduction is a subtle, two-pronged lure. The first is that the Accord combines thousands of parts into one as if they weren’t bolted, welded, snapped, or glued together but molded to form a single, one-piece device. Parse each piece, though, and here’s what you get: the harmonious hum of hundreds of engine components, slicing throws of the six-speed manual or fast responses from the continuously variable transmission (yes, even it), satisfying weight in the steering, an absorbent yet playful suspension, and a driving position that seems to have been custom tailored with an emphasis on great outward visibility. Accords are better cars than they have to be, better than their owners might demand, a rarity in our consumer economy.
The second trick is another kind of camouflage: These cars have the ability to transcend, to fade from attention on dull drives and then reappear when you’re fully engaged. Even to the initiated, the Accord is a chameleon. Whether you choose to partake of it or not, a percentage of amusement is built into each car. Most of the Accord’s competitors don’t even offer driving joy on their options list. But the Accord is always ready when you are. As with old friends who haven’t spoken in a long time, there is an ease to picking up where things left off.
It should come as no surprise that the Accord is a bestseller. And yet, someone who has never driven one might think that giving it a 10Best award is akin to Michelin (the restaurant-guide part of the operation) giving three stars to the local McDonald’s. But the Accord is proof that millions can be served, and still be served, the best.