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Mercedes, BMW and other high luxury car makers prides on "QUALITY PRODUCT" too, and they have issues too. One would think buying a luxury car you wouldn't or shouldn't have any of these problems, but guess what? you're wrong, they're no better than a Honda product, just cost more.
Just curious - out of three EX-V6's in the family, did any need a replacement (remanufactured) transmission? Or did they all just get the lubrication update?
Unless a car has a discolored second gear, it doesn't need a replacement trans. The heat stress issue with the one gear pair was only supposed to effect a small number of cars.
but there's no such model as a EX-L 6, it's just a EX V6.
Just came back from a 300 mile road trip cruising at 70 mph. I got 34.5 MPG. That is with the Heat/AC running and manual transmission, which has a lower fifth gear than the auto, so the auto should get better highway miles.
10,000 miles were needed for me to start achieving the highway figures on the sticker.
I get about 29 in the city, with typical stop & go highway driving.
The only thing I can think of is that you're used to the softer ride of the Blazer than the harder ride of the Accord. It may have nothing to do with the seats, or the combination of the seats + the ride just doesn't agree with you. Not that's a bad thing, but it is one reason many people prefer the non-SE Camry over the Accords.
As a side note: the Accord does surprisingly well driving hard on a gravel track..
I don't have the sedan, so I may be off base here. I drive an '04 EX Coupe. My wife and I are about the same size as you folks and we both find our seats to be extremely comfortable. Based upon my readings of the thousands of posts here, I can't recall anyone else with such vociferous complaints about their Accord's seat comfort.
Since both you and your wife find your seats to be "terrible", I can only conclude that neither of you tried to use the seat adjustment mechanisms built into your vehicle. If your car has power seats, you can easily tilt the seat so that the front is higher than the rear. You wouldn't need to attempt "putting a metal plate at the front mounting bolts to raise the front of the seats up about 2 inches." Perhaps the manual seats are much more limited in motion, but I've no experience with them.
Drove 8.5 hours last year from San Francisco to Palm Springs with no discomfort whatsoever.
I sympathize with your problem, but complaints about seat comfort in new Accords are VERY rare, indeed.......Richard
You probably will adapt to the feel of the new seats in a month or so, plus the seats themselves should probably soften a little. I had the same impression after I recently bought a different brand sedan. I hated the seats so much I was ready to take it back, but two months later they seem pretty comfortable.
The V-6 Accord does NOT have transmission problems and Toyota does NOT have a " Major Sludge problem"!
Very few cars were affected by this and the problems were isolated and solved long ago!
Last summer, I sold a new LX Accord to a very nice lady. She complained a few days later that the seats were just killing her. She regretted buying the car at that point but decided to stick it out.
Saw her in service last week and she went out of her way to tell me that she now finds the seats very comfortable and has back trouble when riding in other cars!
Go figure...
I own a 2003 Accord EX. I am having troubles with a rattle that sounds like it is coming from the radio/cd area of the dashboard. Any Honda owners experiencing the same rattle? Any fixes?
You didn't even test drive the car before purchased it.
I've seen tons of diffent types of lumbar support pillows and other seat add-ons that could raise your seating position a bit and give you more support.
Well, a google search of the term "headrest" came back with thousands of hits, many of them auto-related. The U.S. federal government and numerous auto manufacturers use the terms "headrest" and "head restraint" interchangeably. Look for yourself. Plus, surely your argument doesn't cover all English-speaking countries of the world including Canada, Britain, and Australia. Perhaps the whole world except yourself is under the same popular misconception. ;-)
One of the things I like about my Accord is that I can use the headrest to comfortably rest my head while driving. I'll agree with you though that many cars have the, ahem, head restraints positioned so that you're not likely to rest your head against them while driving. On the other hand, a few upscale cars have tilting, adjustable headrests that can be positioned to support the head at a wide range of angles - which kind of shoots the "restraint only in a rear-end crash" theory held against the auto industries throughout the planet, no?
Since this is a Honda Accord Sedan board, I suggest that you first go to the Honda Corporate page at the following link. In the Find Answers box at the upper right, type in Head Restraint and click on the grey Go button:
http://automobiles.honda.com/models/model_overview.asp?ModelName=- - - - - - - - Accord+Sedan&bhcp=1&BrowserDetected=True
You won't find that information by typing in Head Rest.
You can also go to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety website here:
http://www.highwaysafety.org/
In their SITE SEARCH box at the right, type in either Head Restraint or Head Rest and press the green Go button. You will see that ALL results use the proper term Head Restraint.
You can also go to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (Department Of Transportation) website here:
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/
You will find similar results when searching their site. There are about eight pages of results searching for "Head Restraint" and two searching for "Head Rest". Be sure to use the quotation marks.
Try the Edmunds website here too:
http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/safety/articles/46912/article.ht- - ml
The above are probably the most authoritative places to research. Sure, you will find many incorrect usages all over the web. But logic should tell you that resting your head while driving a vehicle is not the way to remain alert and avoid accidents. Head rests are great for dens and living rooms. Auto safety engineers design head restraints.
Your comment tilting, adjustable headrests that can be positioned to support the head at a wide range of angles is misguided. Those adjustments are to assure that drivers of all sizes can have the head restraint in the proper position to prevent neck injury in case of an accident. Such adjustments were never designed for resting while driving.
The "misconception" is yours my friend.
"the front bucket seats on the Civic Coupe model feature a sporty, open headrest..."
http://automobiles.honda.com/info/news/article.asp?ArticleID=2003- 112037209
"An open "halo" headrest further separates (the Civic Coupe) from the Sedan.
http://automobiles.honda.com/info/news/article.asp?ArticleID=2003- 100139734
"S2000 Interior Features - Headrest speakers"
FWIW; "Headrest" is one word. Searching automotive web sites for "Trans mission" won't net you many more results than "head rest". Unless you need the last word, let's drop this and move on, okay.
So, I've added some upper back support by placing a small padded cushion to cover the upper part of the seat back. The lumbar support is still there, but now it's evened out in the right proportion and my entire back is supported. In essence, I've reshaped the seat slightly for my own comfort, and it's worked out okay. My message to Honda, though, would be to include a manual lumbar support on the LX models -- would have meant a lot to me. If I had that feature, I would have simply ratcheted the lumbar support back a little.
Other than that, I find the Accord seats to be comfortable, though like many older folks, I grew up in an era where the seat bottom was longer. They've gotten shorter and shorter, making me feel my legs are sticking out of the seat too much. I especially didn't like this feature of my previous car, an 02 Camry. I think the Accords are slightly longer, which I like.
At the least, it should be offered as an option on all Accords. Don't cheap out Honda.
My last two Mitsubishi's had manual adjustment knobs to control the height of the front and rear of the seat cushion separately. On the LX there is one lever that moves the entire seat up and down. Other than that, I have no complaints about the seats.
The power tilt adjustment on the LX-V6 and all EX models is a noteworthy feature.
Interestingly, I have temporary "custody" of my son's 98 Accord coupe while he's overseas, and it has at least one knob like your Mitsubishi's that will tilt the seat, but I don't believe you can adjust the seat up and down. I can't remember if the lumbar is adjustable, but if not, it's set at a much less agressive level than my 04 Accord and suits me fine. So, as Honda goes forward, we gain many things, and lose a few.
Honda Inspire 30TL (aka Accord V-6)
Crash Test Results
http://www.nasva.go.jp/assess/html2004e/type/12_inspire.html
Performance Comparison Test movie
http://www.nasva.go.jp/assess/html2004/rm/12_full.rm
Full-wrap Frontal Collision Test movie
http://www.nasva.go.jp/assess/html2004/rm/12_off.rm
Side Collision Test movie
http://www.nasva.go.jp/assess/html2004/rm/12_side.rm
Listing of all 2004 movies
http://www.nasva.go.jp/assess/html2004e/movie.html
Note from the video clips that the passenger compartment is not deformed at all--the front of the car crumples to absorb crash forces.
Side test makes it clear that curtain airbags are a must-have feature and they're now standard on ALL Accords sold in the U.S.....Richard.
http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=13- 298
When the recall work was done on my car, the inflator upper hooks weren't properly reseated into the airbag cover leaving the cover itself loose. I had to go back to the dealer a second time so they could reassemble the steering wheel correctly.
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/cert/dearmfr/mfrltrs3.htm
The letter from the EPA discusses how Ford (in September, 1999) and Honda (in March, 2000) asked permission to use 5W20 oil in fuel economy test vehicles. The EPA granted permission under the eight detailed conditions outlined in the letter. Among those conditions were that:
“1) The Manufacturer provides instructions in the Owner’s Manual that clearly and unambiguously identify 5W20 GF-3 non-synthetic engine oil as the oil which is to be used in the vehicle’s engine and inclusion of any qualifier word .associated with the oil viscosity is considered to introduce ambiguity into the instruction, and disqualifies the use of 5W20 engine oil in test vehicles
2) The manufacturer clearly indicates on the engine oil filler cap that 5W20 engine oil is to be used in the engine.”
So, Honda knows best? Or Honda had it’s hands carefully and deliberately tied by the EPA in regards to engine oil viscosity recommendations?
make this mistake twice. We've tried those little travel pillows under the thighs, and at the lower back area. We even have a special slim pillow somebody made for us, but it doesn't fix the problem. If these seats were just a little longer, a little higher, and had more padding at the top front of the seating surface and in the lumbar area, they would probably be okay. As it is, regretably we now own a $23,000 boat anchor. While it otherwise has a lot of nice features, I can't recommend this car to anybody who's intending to use for anything other than trips to the grocery store. I know most of you have had a good experience with this car, and I'm happy for you, but we haven't. Buyers beware - the front seats in the Honda
Accord suck!
Bottom line: do what the owner's manual says and use oil recommended by the people who built and tested the engine.....Richard
Instead of complaining here, talk to the dealer to see if they will help you out with an upholsterer that can modify the seat to reduce your discomfort. If they won't help out, then take it upon yourself to find an upholsterer who can do it.
Good Luck.
You ignore the obvious safety device message. If you wish to use "news" puff pieces about where speakers are mounted as support, instead of engineering, that's your privilege. I've now moved on.
The Accord's I4 engine is closely based on the K20A which debuted in October 2000 in the Honda STREAM in Japan. Obviously the K-series engines in use around the world were designed without regard to American EPA oil viscosity requirements from June 2000.
The EPA policy for engine oil viscosity used in fuel efficiency test vehicles was updated for the 2005 model-year in EPA letter CCD-04-07, dated March, 2004. The only substantive change was the switch from GF-3 spec oil to GF-4.
Why do you believe that using 5W20 oil in fuel efficiency testing yields only a tiny fraction of a mile per gallon improvement? How do you know what oil viscosity is recommended for these engines in parts of the world far removed from the American EPA? If the oil viscosity specified by Honda is the same throughout the world, then you might have a point but we don't know that.
The U.S. government document linked clearly demonstrates that manufacturers are not free to specify whatever oil they wish to promote maximum engine life. Instead, the EPA rightfully and logically requires a system that makes engines in use comparable to those tested by the EPA - tests where the sole goal is maximum reportable fuel efficiency. Given the conflict-of-interest demonstrated, it’s worth questioning the specification and allowing those with open minds to judge for themselves, no?
Thank you.
Thank you. It's beyond me why these arguments that clearly cannot be resolved continue ad nauseum.
If you don't want to follow the owners manual, keep it to yourself. But why buy a car from a manufacturer you don't trust enough to include the best maintenance information for your car.
Please stop repeating yourself here - it is not accomplishing your purpose.
Thanks.
To get the photographic evidence required, Honda had to provide dealerships with a digital camera, a camera mount, a known light source, and then detailed camera settings for White Balance, ISO, exposure, shutter speed, and aperture. Then, even though the camera settings are recorded in each photo's EXIF data, Honda provided a printed color bar to be included in the photos as a cross-check of the color recorded.
Wow. Somebody at Honda had to really think through this. I'm impressed - give that guy a raise!
http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=64- 94