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.
I have done timing belt on my z32 two times. 1st time I used Gates timing belt and the timing marks were not ideal. After a while I gave up and just left it being not ideal. 2nd time I used OEM Nissan timing belt (Z1 120k timing kit) and the OEM belt definitely fits better and timing marks aligned perfectly. I don’t think there was any difference in how the car ran.
Honda timing belt kit worked out nice and came with good instructions.
This is a solid car at a fair price. I had 3 of these over the years and put over 1 million miles between them. Timing belt every 90k with oem or gates belt only is the only real thing to worry about.
I bought the Gates kits (\u00a3180 total) and decided to do my first timing belt and aux belt. Done over a thousand miles on it since and all great \ud83d\ude4c hope you enjoy your new car
def go through and do the timing belt, and all the oil seals behind it. They're so happy once they're not leaking anymore
Do you have a gates timing belt kit on this? Usually gates makes a whine when revving and coming down in revs and at idle makes a funky sound
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
I installed a Gates timing kit on my 2011 2.5 N/A 5 speed manual 50k miles ago (150k total). The belt snapped while I was doing 80mph on the turnpike. My valves were bent with deeper internal damage more likely than not.
Personally I use the gates blue racing T-belt, I've had a belt snap prematurely and it was within a few months of owning my e30. Belt was only 4 or 5 years old too.
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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 Gates were overall better than OEM Honda.
In March 2026 on PartReview, timing belt Gates were overall more popular than OEM Honda.
By vote balance, timing belt Gates surpassed OEM Honda:
By number of reviews, timing belt Gates surpassed OEM Honda:
In March 2026, according to PartReview, these manufacturers led the same number of car-specific ratings:
Gates are chosen by owners of cars such as: Honda Civic, 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 Gates with: AISIN, OEM Volkswagen, OEM Toyota, Continental, OEM FORD, Mitsuboshi, Contitech, OEM Subaru, DAYCO, OEM Volvo.
Also available: comparisons of timing belt OEM Honda with: AISIN, 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, OEM Toyota or Gates, Continental or Gates, OEM FORD or Gates.
