Early 90's Honda Accords (sedan, minivan, best, pickup truck)
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I really don't know either but my wife drove a 93 with zero problems other than maintainance for 11 years. She now has driven 04 Canry for seven years with same results.In ther meantime i drove a 98 F-150 and spent about 500 a year on breakdowns with ony one in first three years. Now drive a 2008 Odessey with good results so far.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Same reason as the 80's Accords were popular with thieves, they run forever, 300,000 miles, and therefore there's always a big market for used parts, including interior and body.
I'm curious as to why these cars have such a high resale value and regularly make the top 10 list of stolen cars?
Because build quality/interior material quality/engine and transmission quality, they were the best Accords made. They arent as "structurally safe" as todays Accords, nor as powerful, but other than that, IMO they surpass the new Accords in terms of quality. 1992 models gained a driver airbag. 1991 was the first year for the Accord wagons, which had standard driver airbag. I think a passenger airbag was either optional or standard on the 93 Accord SE (I THINK).
I had a 1991 Accord LX 4dr in the early 2000s. It had 210K miles and didnt have nary a squeak or rattle and the interior looked like new. The interiors on these cars wore very well (cloth interior models that is - the leather optioned SE 1993 models tended to wear faster).
My aunt bought a new 1991 Accord LX 2dr in December of 1990. She drove it until 2005 when the car had accumulated 90K miles. Never no issues other than the cassette deck messed up once around early 1992 and it was replaced under warranty. I had just turned 16 and remember going with her to our local Honda dealer - I was 16 and admiring the all-new '92 Preludes.
She traded the car in on a 1995 Mercury Villager minivan in June of 1995, because she had a 2 year old and a 6 month old and decided it was time to get a family van - the 2dr Accord had to go! The van was a lemon and was traded in on a new 2001 Nissan Altima SE 4dr - which she still has 10 years later. lol.
In addition to what has been said, they are also popular with the younger generation and have a vast choice of aftermarket parts for modifications. This has made their parts popular and driven the price up. The thieves would not steal somethings that does not have a market. So a Ford Taurus for example would be stolen much less often.
Local junkyard gets in quite a few of them on a regular basis. If you hang around a yard on a regular basis like I do you begin to pick up on certain trends....
Any popular sold by the hundreds of thousands "domestic" family sedan is toast the minute it hits the flatbed unless it can be fixed safely to be sold to the cheap car crowd. This also applies to almost any minivan with the exception of Chrysler products which people seem to drive longer than a similar Ford or GM product. Average mileage, around 120k.
Any pickup truck will stay until it can't be used as a yard truck anymore and the useful parts are sold off, this can take years. Average mileage around 250k.
Any other import like Kia, Hyundai, Toyota and so on are also quick crusher fodder as they're usually too rusted (around here anyway) to be of much use to anyone. Average mileage around 145k.
But Hondas....Hondas in the yard have a following like flies on stink. Ever see a Piranha tackle a hunk of meat? That's what a Honda looks like after a week or so in the yard. And just like in the real world, if you aren't first or second at the trough, you're going hungry. Average mileage well over 200k.
So, with so many still proudly running and in need of sometimes quite expensive parts, you can partly explain away why the theft rate is higher than other cars of the same vintage.
Agree with a lot here. Car was really amazing at the time, great fit and finish, great handling, great gauges/ergonomics, space, tons of visbility, looked great, like a shrunken Honda/Acura Legend. EX had an I-4 with a whooping 145hp at the time!
Legendary quality, good looks, and sports car handling at an everyman's price along with being very popular with aftermarket hot-rodders. Here in New York the kids who own Accords and Civics from that era have removable steering wheels that they take with them when they leave the car to discourage theft.
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