I have an 04 EX-L coupe - 4 cylinder. Let me give you my perspective on things.Kind of going in reverse, I'm fabulously happy with the color of my graphite coupe. Road noise and such is most often due to tire choice -- something you can change if desired.TL is very nice, Solara is ultra-gimmicky styling in my opinion (I like the understated Accord coupe much better!), Civic is of course in a whole different size category, and I wouldn't touch a Buick with a ten-foot pole. Quiet, maybe, but it'll be falling to pieces right about the time that the Honda "breaks in."Interior noises? Welcome to the 21st century. Spend an afternoon googling for car forums like this one, search for "rattles," and you'll find that most anything under $50,000 is going to have more rattles and noises than it should. It just seems to be the state of the art of automobile assembly these days -- American, Japanese, European, it doesn't seem to matter. The best advice I can give you in terms of interior noise would be to save up for one of the new Acura RL's. Otherwise, we're all complaining about interior noises, and the Accord seems to be no worse than anything else these days. Yes, it's a shame. And no, it's not very likely that your local dealer can or will fix any given "noise" problem. Perhaps spending a few hundred bucks at an upholstery shop or "car customizer" might yield a nice, quiet interior for a much better overall price than forking over the dough for an RL.I'd encourage you to consider the four-cylinder -- seems that most of the "mechanical problems" -- brakes, transmissions, etc. -- have been in regards to the six-cylinder. Lower initial price, lower gasoline consumption, longer on-the-road range between fillups, and for the life of me I can not comprehend what people need the extra power for, unless they're "street racing" or hauling around a half a tons' worth of passengers and cargo all the time. My four-cylinder coupe gets up to freeway speed with ease, has more than plenty of power to pass on the open road, and so on. Performance is important to me, and I'm entirely satisfied with the four-cylinder's power.Finally:Quiet - I think the Accord competes quite well against all comers.Heated seats - I love 'em! I use them all the time.High-end stereo - I'm very happy with the EX-L package and its XM radio and the six-disc in-dash changer. XM is a wonderful thing, and I'm quite happy with the overall sound quality. I've been "into stereo" since the mid-1970's, and I'm entirely satisfied with the sound quality from this factory system. Plenty of bass, and fine clarity.Extremely comfortable - Now you're talkin'. I bailed out of a one-year-old Toyota because I just couldn't stand the driver's seat. Compare the ergonomics of the Accord seat to that of any competitor, and you'll wonder what exactly the others were even trying to do. Toyota, for instance, tends to "round off" the corners at the front of the seat -- right where you need thigh support! Honda received lots of acclaim for their seat quality with this generation -- that plus the tilt/telescope steering wheel should really let you find a really good, comfortable position.All in all, I chose the Accord after comparing all of the others. I've got a couple of minor little noises, but I've heard (and heard of) far worse from other manufacturers. In the end, I'm fabulously happy with my Accord coupe! It has the comfort I want, handles well and has more than all the power I could ever want. I really like how it has all the kind of "luxury" I want without "screaming about it" to everyone else -- it's "all the luxury" with a very subtle way about it.I hope this helps, and good luck with the hunt!
