BUY

Scope the dilution risk to the engine, not the badge. The 2016-2021 Civic, 2017-2022 CR-V and 2018-2022 Accord were each sold with more than one engine, and fuel dilution is specific to the 1.5L turbo (L15) -- the 2.0L naturally aspirated and 2.0L turbo options do not share it. It is a cold-climate, short-trip phenomenon: unburned direct-injected fuel reaches the oil before the engine runs hot enough to boil it off. The Accord 1.5T shows the same signature (52 dilution complaints on the 2018-2022 Accord, mostly 2018) but was never given the formal product-update campaign the Civic and CR-V got. Across all three models, 844 federal complaints carry the dilution signature. It is a wear/nuisance risk, not a sudden-failure one -- thinned oil protects less well and demands more frequent changes.

Check — Confirm the exact engine first -- a 1.5T, not a 2.0L. Then judge the individual car: dipstick level and smell, oil-change cadence, and whether it lives on short cold-weather trips. Longer drives and on-time oil changes largely manage it.