Compare the2024 Honda AccordVS 2023 Volkswagen Arteon

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Honda Accord have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Volkswagen Arteon doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Accord are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Arteon doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Accord’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Arteon doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Accord and the Arteon have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors and rear cross-path warning.

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Accord its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 67 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Arteon has not been fully tested, yet.

Honda’s powertrain warranty covers the Accord 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Volkswagen covers the Arteon. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the Arteon ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

The Accord’s corrosion warranty is unlimited miles longer than the Arteon’s (unlimited vs. 100,000 miles).

There are over 67 percent more Honda dealers than there are Volkswagen dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Accord’s warranty.

A reliable vehicle saves its owner time, money and trouble. Nobody wants to be stranded or have to be without a vehicle while it’s being repaired. Consumer Reports rates the Honda Accord Hybrid’s reliability 16 points higher than the Arteon.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Honda vehicles are better in initial quality than Volkswagen vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Honda above average in initial quality. With 59 more problems per 100 vehicles, Volkswagen is rated below average.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Honda vehicles are more reliable than Volkswagen vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Honda 22 places higher in reliability than Volkswagen.

On the EPA test cycle the Accord gets better mileage than the Arteon:

Regenerative brakes improve the Accord Hybrid’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Arteon doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Honda Accord uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Arteon requires premium for maximum efficiency, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

The Accord has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Arteon doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

The Accord has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The Arteon doesn’t offer a CVT.

The Accord stops shorter than the Arteon:

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Accord is .3 inches wider in the front and 1.5 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Arteon.

The Accord Touring Hybrid handles at .87 G’s, while the Arteon SEL Premium R-Line 4Motion pulls only .84 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

For better maneuverability, the Accord’s turning circle is .6 feet tighter than the Arteon’s (38.4 feet vs. 39 feet).

The Honda Accord may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 400 to 450 pounds less than the Volkswagen Arteon.

The front grille of the Accord uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Arteon doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Accord uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Arteon doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The Accord has 9.2 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Arteon (105.7 vs. 96.5).

The Accord has 1.8 inches more front headroom, 1.1 inches more front legroom, 1.1 inches more front hip room, 1.4 inches more front shoulder room, .3 inches more rear headroom, .6 inches more rear legroom, 8.9 inches more rear hip room and 1.8 inches more rear shoulder room than the Arteon.

With its sedan body style, valet key, locking rear seatbacks and remote trunk release lockout, the Accord offers cargo security. The Arteon’s hatchback body style and non-lockable folding seat defeat cargo security.

The Accord Touring has a standard heads-up display that projects speed, navigation instruction and driver assistance information readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Arteon doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Honda Accord and the Volkswagen Arteon, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Accord was chosen as a Car and Driver’s “Top Ten” for 2024 and 25 more times in the last 26 years. The Arteon has never been chosen by Car and Driver in their “10Best” issue.

The Honda Accord outsold the Volkswagen Arteon by over 84 to one during 2023.