Look for an older Honda accord with a manual transmission (MT). MT cars were made in Japan and last forever. I had a 1999 MT Accord and put over 600,000 miles on it. I changed the timing belt every 100K and kept newer tires on it.
Paid $500 to a trusted mechanic. Ordered an AISIN timing belt kit and a Bando drive belt for around $250 (including tax and shipping).
Get the Aisin (OEM supplier) Timing belt and water pump w/ hydraulic tensioner kit (TKT021) from RockAuto (good price, authentic Aisin).
Honda timing belt kit worked out nice and came with good instructions.
I used to be a Toyota parts guy, we used aisin kits for all our timing belt jobs on all the UZ V8s, all of them are the same layout.
AISIN TKT-021 kit has everything you need for timing belt/water pump. The water pump is driven by the timing belt, so always replace it when doing the belt.
Re the timing belt, if that has not been done I would get to that immediately. At 350K km it is a ticking time bomb. Use, specify, or supply the Aisin TKH-002 timing belt kit. It is OEM quality
Timing belt seems cheap,im guessing aftermarket parts? Id ask for honda genuine parts if i were you- honda tech here,seen cheap aftermarket timing belt components fail and cause engine damage. Valve adjustment seems a lil high,it is tedious to perform. Reason for adjustment? We only adjust if the valves are noisy or run into misfire issues. Rest of parts are within the timing belt work procedure,ask if they can do better since they’re already there. Id skip the valve adjust
The timing belt failed kindly early 65k later, so could have been bogus Aisin parts.
Turns out I did not tighten the bolts enough on the intake cam gear. A couple came very loose or out. Tore up the timing belt, the cam gear and valve cover.
Write your review
Help others - share your experience with this part.
If choosing timing belt across many manufacturers, check the part ranking. If your choice is down to two brands, the PartReview part comparisons help.
We compare timing belt across these categories:
In March 2026 on PartReview, timing belt AISIN were overall better than OEM Honda.
In March 2026 on PartReview, timing belt AISIN were overall more popular than OEM Honda.
By vote balance, timing belt AISIN surpassed OEM Honda:
By number of reviews, timing belt AISIN surpassed OEM Honda:
In March 2026, according to PartReview, these manufacturers led the same number of car-specific ratings:
AISIN are chosen by owners of cars such as: Subaru Legacy, and others.
OEM Honda are chosen by owners of cars such as: Honda Accord, and others.
If this comparison didn’t fully answer your question, there are many others on PartReview.
For example, comparisons of timing belt AISIN with: Gates, OEM Volkswagen, OEM Toyota, Continental, OEM FORD, Mitsuboshi, Contitech, OEM Subaru, DAYCO, OEM Volvo.
Also available: comparisons of timing belt OEM Honda with: Gates, OEM Volkswagen, OEM Toyota, Continental, OEM FORD, Mitsuboshi, Contitech, OEM Subaru, DAYCO, OEM Volvo.
You can also see who is better among other timing belt manufacturers: AISIN or Gates, Gates or OEM Volkswagen, Gates or OEM Honda, OEM Toyota or Gates, Continental or Gates.
