Compare the2025 Kia K5VS 2025 Honda Accord

Both the K5 and Accord have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The K5 has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Accord’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

The K5 offers all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Accord doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.

The K5 EX/GT1 has a standard Surround View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Accord only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

The K5 has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them and moves the vehicle back into its lane. Only the Accord SE/Sport/EX-L/Touring offers a blind spot warning system.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the K5 has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning and Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Only the Accord SE/Sport/EX-L/Touring offers Cross Traffic Monitor and the Accord’s Cross Traffic Monitor does not include automatic braking.

Both the K5 and the Accord have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, 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 and driver alert monitors.

The K5 comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire car and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Accord’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 2 years or 24,000 miles sooner.

Kia’s powertrain warranty covers the K5 5 years and 40,000 miles longer than Honda covers the Accord. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Accord ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

To reliably start during all conditions and help handle large electrical loads, the K5 has a standard 760-amp battery. The Accord’s 450-amp battery isn’t as powerful.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Kia vehicles are better in initial quality than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia fourth in initial quality, above the industry average. With 18 more problems per 100 vehicles, Honda is ranked 10th.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Kia vehicles are more reliable than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia above average in long-term dependability. With 3 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Honda is rated below average.

The K5 GT’s standard 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 86 more horsepower (290 vs. 204) and 64 lbs.-ft. more torque (311 vs. 247) than the Accord Hybrid’s standard 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid.

As tested in Motor Trend the Kia K5 4 cyl. is faster than the Honda Accord turbo 4 cyl.:

As tested in Motor Trend the K5 GT 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder is faster than the Accord Hybrid 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid:

The K5 has 3 gallons more fuel capacity than the Accord Hybrid’s standard fuel tank (15.8 vs. 12.8 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The K5 has a gallon more fuel capacity than the Accord’s standard fuel tank (15.8 vs. 14.8 gallons).

The K5 GT’s launch control uses engine electronics to hold engine RPM’s precisely in order to provide the most stable and rapid acceleration possible, using all of the available traction. The Accord doesn’t offer launch control.

For better stopping power the K5’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Accord:

The K5 stops much shorter than the Accord:

For better traction, the K5 GT’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Accord (245/40R19 vs. 235/40R19).

The K5 GT handles at .85 G’s, while the Accord pulls only .81 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The K5 GT executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.6 seconds quicker than the Accord Sport-L Hybrid (26.3 seconds @ .69 average G’s vs. 27.9 seconds @ .58 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the K5’s turning circle is 2.4 feet tighter than the Accord’s (36 feet vs. 38.4 feet).

The K5 has .7 inches more front headroom, 3.8 inches more front legroom, 1.2 inches more front hip room, .1 inches more front shoulder room, .5 inches more rear headroom and 1.2 inches more rear hip room than the Accord.

The K5’s standard folding rear seats are split to accommodate bulky cargo. The Accord’s standard single piece folding rear seat is not as flexible; long cargo and a passenger can’t share the rear seat.

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the K5’s trunk can be opened just by waiting momentarily behind the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Accord doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its trunk, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

The K5 uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Accord uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

The power windows standard on both the K5 and the Accord have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the K5 is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Accord prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

The K5 EX/GT1’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Accord’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

The K5’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Honda only offers heated mirrors on the Accord EX-L/Touring.

Both the Kia K5 and Honda Accord offer exterior mirrors that can be folded to provide convenience. The K5 offers available power folding mirrors, which allow for easy, one-touch folding or unfolding at the driver’s discretion. This provides added convenience when maneuvering or parking, as well as when walking past the parked vehicle. In comparison, the Accord’s foldable mirrors are manual, requiring the driver to get out and physically fold them once parked and unfold them before getting in.

The K5 has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning is only available on the Accord SE/Sport/EX-L/Touring.

Compared to the Honda Accord, the Kia K5 eliminates the need for separate garage door openers and associated risks of losing, breaking, or having dead batteries with its optional integrated Homelink® universal remote controlled from the rear view mirror.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Kia K5 and the Honda Accord, based on reliability, safety and performance.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the K5 first among midsize cars in owner reported satisfaction. This includes how well the vehicle performs and satisfies its owner’s expectations. The Accord isn’t in the top three.