The Honda Accord has been voted as the Best Family Sedan in the 2024 AutoTrader Awards. Every year, more than 20 of Canada’s top automotive journalists vote on the best vehicles in about 28 categories, defined as cars they can confidently recommend to their family and friends. Every new car available on the market for Canadians to buy is eligible for an award. Among family sedans, the Honda Accord came out on top and as a perennial winner, it’s taken this category for six of the past seven years.
For last year’s win, the Accord did it with the outgoing body style that had been around since the 2018 model year. It’s aged gracefully, but a new 10th-generation model was unveiled shortly after voting concluded on last year’s awards. Fortunately, Honda hasn’t messed with its excellent formula, and with a few modernizing tweaks and a fresher, if not more conservative new look, the Accord has defended its crown.
The Accord beat competitors like the Kia K5, Hyundai Sonata, Nissan Altima, Subaru Legacy, and Toyota Camry. The Honda provides the best balance of styling, features, safety, technology, performance, and practicality. Expect to pay a few thousand extra for an Accord compared to similarly equipped competitors, but even so, you do get what you pay for. For 2024, pricing has increased by about $500 in all trim levels. Including destination and federal air conditioning fees, the base EX is $39,430, the Sport Hybrid is $43,430, and the Touring Hybrid is $46,930. Since the Accord is front-wheel drive only, look to the Altima, Legacy, and Camry for available all-wheel drive.
Even when comparing beyond just family sedans, the Honda Accord is a very user-friendly car to live with. The touchscreen infotainment system (7-inch on the EX, 12.3-inch on Sport and Touring Hybrid) is easy to use, and plenty of ergonomically superior hard buttons exist for media and climate controls. Comfort and refinement are better than ever, and the Honda Sensing driver-assist features effectively keep things on the straight and narrow.
The base EX Accord comes with a 1.5L turbocharged four-cylinder engine that puts out 192 horsepower and 192 lb-ft of torque. Despite the small displacement, there’s sufficient low-rpm grunt, and a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) makes the most of the power that’s available. The Sport Hybrid and Touring Hybrid come with a 2.0L naturally aspirated four mated to a hybrid electric system with a more powerful peak output of 204 horsepower and 247 lb-ft of torque. For the base 1.5L, fuel economy is rated at 8.1 / 6.4 / 7.3 L/100km for city, highway, and combined, respectively. The 2.0L hybrid is good for 5.0 / 5.7 / 5.3 L/100km.
With their lower centre of gravity, midsize family sedans tend to handle better than their crossover SUV counterparts, and the 2024 Honda Accord is no exception. It’s one of the more fun-to-drive cars in its segment, with relatively good steering and brake feel and a sense of agility that can’t be matched in something like a CR-V, Passport, or Pilot. Rear legroom in the Accord is slightly greater than the Passport and equals that of the CR-V and Pilot (second row). As expected, the sedan body format does give up a couple of inches of rear headroom.
As a family sedan, the Honda Accord has been an expert and consumer favourite for over three decades, and that’s a trend that isn’t slowing any time soon. While more and more people are picking crossovers in favour of sedans, Honda hasn’t given up on the four-door, three-box format. As a result, the Accord provides faithful daily transportation that checks all the boxes and looks good while doing so.
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