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Comments
I was looking for a 4 door sedan with good power...classy yet sporty. I was also considering a Camry xle and Infiniti G35. I thought the Camry was nice but the interior wood grain turned me off, the engine not as powerful and the ride more luxury than sporty. The G35 of course was real tempting but quite a bit more $$.
I am very happy with my EX V6:
Ride - Car is tight and handles well but if you are looking for a soft ride it may be too bumpy for you.
Engine - Very smooth and powerful. It is quiet and you can hardly tell the auto tran is shifting.
Interior/Exterior - I got a Silver one which I think gives it a classy look. The interior is black leather and has the sporty look. Lots of creature comforts and is of high quality. 6 CD changer and dual auto climate control is nice. Still slightly confused by the auto climate control though. What all can i expect it to do for me?
Brakes - Yes they are very touchy but something I have gotten used to. It is not that big a deal. I noticed it on the test drive but that was not a decision maker at all.
Tires - Don't know what to think. Have heard stories on this board of bad wet handling but similar MXV4 tires get good ratings. I have not driven in much rain yet so have not much to say. They seem noisy when cornering mildly but maybe this is because they are new.
That "clack" sound after starting - To me it is more of a "clunk" heard everyday after backing out the drive and moving forward a few yards. My foot is always lightly on the accelerator when it happens and i feel a slight vibration on it. Thanks to other posters on this board, I did not get all excited about this. I eventually asked the service advisor about this and he said it was the brake calipers setting into place. Does my description of this match others?
Seats - Has the best lateral support of any car I have had and fit me like a glove (5' 7").
Minor things to improve:
+ Lighting on the steering controls would be helpful.
+ Let driver see outside temp and odometer at same time.
+ Gaps on top of dash could be done nicer.
+ compass
Nice Touches
+ After shutting off engine and pulling the key, the interior lights come on for a few seconds then dim. This helps more than you would think.
+ Two tripmeters.
Although an accord does not turn heads and I have seen my car too many times already, this car is terrific and has lots of bang for the buck. Why pay more for something like a TSX and get less (i.e. 4cyl, less interior room)?
Overall a terrific car and a nice improvement over the 94 LX I was driving!
Thanks
Not really. Mine is a Graphite. ;-)
My wife just happened to be around and read your post. She said she heard the same "clack" sound
too. And it occurs exactly the way you described it.
Me, I don't hear anything when I drive it.
Maybe I accelerate it a bit too hard and don't hear it.
Even if you don't leave the city you are in, it can be very helpful. I can leave work, call my wife, ask her if she wants to go out to eat or go carry out. either way, I can pull up the list of places, have their phone number there and even be guided to them!
Another nice thing is that it's priceless the day your out and either miss a turn or get re-routed due to an accident. I was headed down-town, got off one exit early, wasn't really sure how to navigate around the city to my destination...no biggie. While at a red light, the system routed me the 1.5 miles I needed and saved me from a few one way street PIA turn-arounds I surely would have had to make.
It's so nice, you really won't find yourself looking at the maps anyway. It calls out everything. "right turn in 1 mile, followed by a keep right" and "destination is ahead on the left" or "keep right at the fork in the road" it's awesome. You'll love it.
A base Lincoln LS V6 is $5400 more than an Accord EX V6. Equipment levels are nearly identical.
The Accord is actually very reasonably priced compared to it's competition. A similar Camry XLE MSRP's for $28,779, Nissan Altima 3.5SE MSRP's for $28,890, and the VW Passat GLX MSRP's for $31,430. At $26,890 the Accord is nearly $2000 less than both the Altima and Camry and $4500 less than the Passat.
I have a early-build 2003 Accord LX. It is flat-out exceptional. It goes about its business with a quiet, confident level of competence that I have only experienced in cars costing over twice as much.This is my first Honda car but definitely not my last. Yes, i have had a rattle or squeak in my Accord. No biggie. There is simply no other car that for the money that does everything as well as the Accord.
As far as Lincoln LS is concerned there is discounts on the LS too factor in too.
In its full review, Car and Driver called its styling and interior bland and predictable and called the engine and handling uninspired. They summarize by saying that it aims too squarely at average to ever hope to hit exceptional. The overall feeling expressed by the review and the editors was that they all had high hopes for the new Malibu, but most were left disappointed.
OTOH, Road and Track was more positive in its first look. But I always like to wait for full reviews, since a more in-depth look often yields somewhat different results from "first looks".
It's a step in the right direction compared to previous GM mid-sized cars, but "matched closely vs. Camry/Accord" is subject to much debate.
"We have investigated this with our Honda Invoice Pricing contacts and have learned that the numbers reported failed to subtract additional fees that were in the invoice pricing that was provided to us. We are working now to remove these additional fees from the Invoice pricing that we are publishing and will have the corrections visible on the live site no later than the evening of 10/29. Thank you for posting your message and bringing this to our attention."
We really appreciate your speaking up about this.
Well, Car and Driver is just one source (albeit a very high profile one), but their comments about the Malibu were in comparison to the Camry and Accord. I agree that the Camry and Accord are not the most exciting cars on the road, but in the opinion of those automobile experts, the Malibu is bland and uninspired in comparison to even those conservative competitors.
Unless something changes dramatically over recent GM models, any price difference between the Malibu and a comparably equipped Camry or Accord will probably be eaten up in no time by the worse to much worse than average depreciation that GM mid-sized cars have exhibited for years.
I remember in 1997, Chevy was singing the same tune about that new Malibu... THAT was the car that was going to show Camry and Accord what's what. Didn't happen then. Will it happen now? Time will tell. But a generally lukewarm-to-negative review from one of the top car magazines is hardly an auspicious start, Autoweek's opinion notwithstanding.
Part of the reason that I'm so skeptical is that I believed the hype and the positive press back in 1997 (the Malibu was MT's COTY, don't forget), and went with the Malibu's upscale cousin, the Oldsmobile Cutlass... my first American car in years. And what a disappointment that car was! Damaged dashboard on delivery, clunky suspension (normal, they said), squeaks and rattles galore, HVAC controls had to be replaced THREE times. All of this in a mere 2 1/2 years. I got rid of that car pretty quickly and got my first Accord. From that point on, I understood what all the fuss over the Accord was about. So you'll have to excuse me if I take Chevy's hype about the new Malibu with a huge grain of salt. I believed them last time and got burned.
Just my opinion...
Db ver. 20020930, Software ver. 1.0200
Speaking of Accord, back to it...
Thanx
Thanks.
however, the 2.4L iVTEC 4cyl has a timing chain.
probably a stainless exhaust... don't know.
highway rev's? I have the MT, but the top 3 gears in the AT are the same, and at 55mph I am usually running at about 2200-2500 rpm.
so when you bought your car, you didn't have to provide documentation to the dmv of emissions certification? does the dealer state that it is emissions tested when it fills out the registrations papers for you?
Thanks.
a late model Honda would pass a VA emissions test with flying colors anyway....
Thanks!
There are rumors going around in the tuner community that the Accord numbers are understated, however, and that numbers are closer to 175TQ/170HP. This is what I've seen based on the stock dyno numbers and a standard 15% driveline loss.
I would test drive the vehicle and see for yourself. No matter what you do, IMO, going from a stick to an auto is a pretty fair change and is difficult to get used to. =oP
When I tried to find 16" wheel covers for my Ody, there was nothing to be found in the local stores. I wound up getting a set by posting on the buy/sell/trade of another forum that I was willing to offer a productive life to a set of wayward wheel covers that had been cast aside for some bling bling. Someone offered me a set within a few days!!
I bought the lug nuts from hondacuraworld.com at a very resonable price - $22 for the set of 25 IIRC.
I highly recommend against using aftermarket lug nuts. I bought some and one seized onto the lug - I wound up breaking it and it cost $180 to repair.