Advice : New Accord Euro or 2nd hand?

[PharCyde]

New job offers novated leasing - am considering the Accord Euro Luxury or Sports. Euro resale looks reasonable at the moment.

Had a look on the Honda site and carpoint and carsales for secondhand, can someone explain to me the major differences between the current model and the previous one (MY06?). Mechanical changes or just visual tweaks?

Luxury or sports? I really would like a sunroof hence the lux model, but the only difference with the Sports is the visual enhancements ? (and no sunroof)

I assume they are all 7th gen (?), and the noticeable difference I saw was the current model comes with 17" wheels (I've always thought the 16" looked too small for the euro, and this would have been the first thing I changed)

Only 'mod' I would consider is getting 18" wheels - this is possible for the Euro?

Price between new and secondhand is ~$5k - $9k from what a night's research has got me so far.

Any advice/opinions greatly appreciated!!

[Speeder]

hey!

ok the difference between the new and the old (my05 vs my06) are visual enhancements, such as chrome grill, and the rear bumpers. Wheels are diff also. Im pretty certain that they are mechanically identicle. They might have different/ increased options etc though.

the sports model is just the std model with a bodykit. It looks good but if you want a sunroof, you may as well go for the lux which comes with most of the fruit like electric everything etc.

Fitting 18's on a Euro is not a problem, as Im sure members here will assure you that.

[BiLL|z0r]

Don't forget the MY06 has the trip computer for things like fuel economy, range to empty etc which older models don't. I wish I'd waited as I'd like that feature.

[kongfu]

IMO, get EURO sports if you can afford,coz they are limited only.

[yourfather]

if its a novated lease for work, I'd get one brand new, and then buy it after the lease period expires

[aaronng]

03-04 are the same.
05 luxury gets the larger 17" rims that are on the Euro Sport.
05 base and lux gets full sized spare tyre.
05 gets lit steering wheel controls.
06 gets new instruments and steering wheel. New fuel consumption/trip computer as well. They get ugly rims though. Still 16" for base and 17" for Lux.
06 Lux has the option of the touch screen sat nav instead of the usual A/C-Radio setup.

06 Sport has a nicer body kit than the base and Lux bodykits.

[Tobster]

The 06 models have new bumpers and side skirts, and new wheels. They also get the trip computer (worth having IMO).

The differences between the Sports and the Luxury is: Sports has full body kit, different wheels (same as 05 Lux -- both Lux and Sports have 17s with 225 45 R17 Bridgestone RE040s), partial leather trim, red dash and aluminium shift knob.

What the Lux has over the Sports is HID headlights (really worth having), a sunroof, and a chromatic rear vision mirror (sounds wanky but it's brilliant -- everything goes greenish when headlights shine in your mirror but you can still see everything clearly! -- I don't think this is on the Sports). The Lux has the option of a factory fit Sat-Nav.

Mechanically, they're identical.

I bought an 06 Lux (I love it) before the Sport was available. I would still buy the Lux over the Sport.

Many people seem to prefer the Sport because they don't like the chrome. I didn't like the chrome when I first saw pics -- now I can't imagine the car without it. When I saw my first Sports in the metal I actually thought it looked a bit dull.