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Actually, pumping brakes was needed 30 and 40 years ago. Been there done that. Most cars were four wheel drum with friction pads with hydralic assist. Some times the hydrallic assist was not always at maximum amd pumping was required. Front disk brakes were a new-fangled option; there was no EBS. Also you had to turn into a skid because all cars were rear wheel drive. Many of the cars were manual shift with 3 speed on the column and no-syncromesh first gear.
But 30-40 years ago cars were much, much slower. A 65 perfromance mustang Shelby 350 GT only got 0-60 mph in 7.5 seconds. Now there are many sedans and even some SUVs that can equal that speed.
Pumping brakes with ABS has no detrimental effect. Think about it, steady pressure on ABS pulses (pumps) the brakes several times a second. This is magnitudes beyond any pumping a mere human can apply.
2005 Accord EX 4 cyl. I was looking in the owners manuel and it says you should change the oil every 10,000 miles. The dealer says every 5,000 miles, I thought that it was about every 3,000 miles. What is right to keep the warranty up to date?
My handme down 70 Olds Cutlass had today's vacuum assist brakes which I assumed was the norm of the era. They didn't require pumping. They were drum but worked OK.
The number of times a typical car sees the activation of the ABS system is very, very few. If one was driving so that the ABS activated every day, I'd venture to guess that things would wear out faster than normal (and something is wrong with that person's driving habits). If someone is pumping the brakes on every stop day in and day out that has to put wear on the system that normal braking doesn't. This issue has nothing to do with the car having ABS or not. You just don't need to pump brakes on any car less than 30 years old.
Oil Changes intervals have lengthened significantly. 3,000 mile change is an old wives tail. Many of the higher end luxury cars have more and more sophisticated oil life montioring and only receommned changes as needed, up to 10,000 on normal oil and 15,000 on synthetic.
Honda 4 CYL now have a normal interval of 10,000 miles and a severe interval of 5,000.
If you don't have real short drives ( less than 15 minutes) and quite a bit of highway driving and no dusty conditions then you are nromal, otherwise probably severe. Somewhere around 5,000-7,500 is good for 4 cylinders. If you just want to keep warranty up-to-date you could get by with 10,000 change interval. You can check your oil periodically and determine you exact needed interval.
As long as you have documented oil changes done more often than the manual calls for you will never have any oil relatd warranty issues, even if that interval is more than what the dealer recommends.
"This issue has nothing to do with the car having ABS or not. You just don't need to pump brakes on any car less than 30 years old."
What are you talking about?
In emergency stops to provide maximum stopping without locking up the wheels the brakes need to be pumped. If you have ABS then, ABS automatically pumps the brakes. If you don't have ABS, and many cars in the last 30 years if not most cars, do not have ABS brakes.
The primary reason you don't want the brakes to lock up is so that you can still steer the car. If you lock up the brakes you lose sterring ability and skid forward in the current direction of travel.
The brakes in 1970 cars were very, very weak even with optional front disk brakes. Stopping distances were much, much longer. tire quality was much less. I know I had a new 1970 442 4-speed. The true muscle car era.
Taking my '03 EX in for it's 60k maintenance and am wondering if anyone else has done so and what they paid. My dealer is qouting me $359.00....which seems like an awful lot of money.
Just make sure that your service includes ONLY the items specified by Honda in your Owner's Manual. Dealers usually add lots of unnecessary tasks to inflate the price. For instance, at my 15,000 mile service they tried to sell me on a transmission flush for about $79.00. Honda recommends it at something like 105,000 miles.
Oil change interval after the warranty expires probably means something only if you plan to keep your car for many years and drive it many miles.
If an engine would last 250,000 miles with frequent oil changes and only 60,000 with very few, it really wouldn't matter if you dumped the car at 50,000 miles.
If you thought you could sell the car at a higher price because you produced a record of frequent oil changes and other maintenance, that's a consideration......Richard
I just got an 05 4Cyl Sedan and live in South Texas where we get little or no freezing weather. I intend to go synthetic after the first oil change and will probably go 5-20w. At what point would it be OK to go 5-30 and would that cause issues if warrenty work is needed? I have already switched my 02 V6 Accord to 5-30w Amsoil/Royal Purple and would like to run the same oil in both.
As far as oil interval, I would not hesatate to run 10k intervals with synthetic but I change the filter at 5k. I just sold a 04 Saturn Vue witht he 3.5 Honda engine and it had a oil life monitor on it and the last change went 9k.
I'd just follow directions from the Owner's Manual that came with your car. It says to use 5-20 oil and Honda knows the car better than anyone else ..........Richard
Yesterday I checked the evaluations of the 05 Accord on the Yahoo site. A very large number of the negative comments concerned brakes. rotors, discs, pads etc. I was shocked. my own car went in last week and I received a call asking for more time to resurface the rotors and replace the back brakes. at 24000. How long has this been going on. In passing most the evaluations of the Accord were very positive.
Were those "evaluations" for the 2005 Accord? If so, that would be strange, since brakes were only an issue on some 2003 and some early 2004 Accords. My 2004 Accord Coupe has been perfect in all respects since December 2003.
Are you able to post a digital picture of the damage?
If I had side airbags and curtain airbags for just this kind of accident, I would expect them to have deployed. We'll hear all kinds of excuses why they didn't, but I'd like to see a picture and then my recommendation would be to contact an attorney specializing in this kind of failure for automotive cases who can have determined by specialists whether the airbags should have deployed.
The injury should have been reduced by airbags having deployed based on your initial description.
There was a report of an accident months ago in one of these discussion where an airbag didn't deploy in a frontal impact.
I'm talking about non-emergency situations. The original poster pumps the brakes all the time - that's not needed in routine driving and over a very long time it may be detrimental to the car.
While looking for the maximum payload for my 03EXV6 (no luck so far), I ran across this. This might also explain why the rear pads wear out faster than the front besides thinner rear pads.
Donn't get me wrong I like the car. No one said there was much of a problem with the catalytic converter but mine was replaced four months after June 2003 because of a rotten egg smell. Fine since then I've owned a Honda back in 88 and it's biggest problem was the airconditioner which disintegrated at 118000 miles and seven years
I am a young professional who is looking to keep my car looking the same but I would like to improve my gas mileage and increase the horsepower in a small way. I would like to know and get some feedback on the best spark plugs and wires, the best air filter, and little things like that, that will, as I mentioned, give me better gas mileage and slightly increase my horsepower. I don't know much about cars so as much as anyone could tell me would be helpful.
I appreciate your concerns to "improve my gas mileage and increase the horsepower in a small way. I would like to know and get some feedback on the best spark plugs and wires, the best air filter, and little things like that, that will, as I mentioned, give me better gas mileage and slightly increase my horsepower." However, scuttlebut and advertising hype notwithstanding, none of those types of modifications is likely to affect your vehicle in any major way.
It's easy to increase your gas mileage by modifying your driving habits (less aggressive starts, steadier pressure on the accelerator, less braking, less use of your air conditioner, etc.) All of those cost you nothing but a few seconds longer to get from point A to point B and a bit less fun. But, if you are looking for more horsepower, that's another matter. In fact, it's guaranteed that the more power you have (or use) the lower your gas mileage will be. It's pure physics.
Unless you go to a major expense, horsepower gains will be minimal with 95 or more percent of the gadgets claiming to make a difference. Save your money and enjoy your ride with OEM parts.
Keep the air pressure up in the tires. Maybe run 2 pounds over the recommendation.
You cars manual probably says the plugs and wires will last 100,000 miles. I recommend at 50,000 or 60,000 it might pay to replace both. No reason to do this sooner.
Don't buy K&N aircleaner, Toronado 'air turbine' devices, maganetic fuel polarity aligners, etc. These things don't work.
More horsepower takes more fuel. You don't get both. Although there are some very powerful motors that get very good milage. A late model Corvette with a 6 speed will get 28-31mpg at 65 or 70mph. A Cadillac Northstar will pull the heavy Deville to 25-28mpg at 70mph.
Just maintain you car according to the owner's manual service intervals.
Do they make a kick plate, I think that is what it is called for the 05 Accords. Its the plate that goes at the bottom of the door where it closes. I've seen them on other cars and trucks and some say dodge ram ect. Also do they have a remote start that you can put on from Honda. If so then I guess that you would have to have another key fob to do that. I was just wandering we went to the new Honda owners meeting at the dealership that we bought the car from and won $100 in free accessories and was just wandering what to get. We already have the trunk mat and the splash guards, so I'm not sure what else there is to get. Any suggestions.
:lemon: My husband bought a new 2004 Accord last year and honestly it has turned into a nightmare car. Unfortunately the dealer has been able to stall us and now we are about a week outside of our 1 year to file a Lemon Law claim. It started with the leaking of a mysterious pink fluid - a problem that took 4 trips into service for and resulted in a new transmission being put in -- about 2 weeks ago. So 2 days ago he's driving in downtown Chicago and his steering freezes up and fluid explodes all over his engine. He gets it towed to our dealer who determines that an O ring wasn't properly installed, probably something done when the transmission was replaced. Are these people trying to kill us?! We already have an American Honda customer service rep involved, who is totally brain dead. The dealership seems to think this is all fine and dandy and since they are covering all of this under warranty we should smile and nod and go on our merry way. We should have contacted an attorney sooner. I am pretty sure my husband is going to pick his Accord up this afternoon and drive it to a rival Toyota dealership and trade this car in for a Camry and hope for the best. We are going to lose money. I drive an Odyssey, my first car was a 75 Civic CVCC, my second car was an 87 Prelude SI that we just sold last year. I am so disappointed in Honda and our dealership. I am not sure what the "right" thing for them to do in this case is but we feel like we have been stuck with a lemon and they are not willing to make things right for us. Thanks for letting me vent!
I can appreciate your frustrations. You have had two major problems with your Honda and, in my opinion, that is two too many.
Still, as reliable as Hondas are, they can and sometimes do have problems. that's why we have warranties in place. No, you shouldn't smile and nod your heads and go on your merry way. You have every right to be frustrated.
But, before you do something rash out of anger and frustration, remember that Toyotas and EVERY other make of car out there are apt to do the same thing or worse. I honestly think these problems are isolated and your Accord is far from being a lemon.
Hopefully your nightmare is over and you can put this behind you. If not, you probably SHOULD sell it and move on if you are going to constantly worry about additional problems.
It sounds like you got more of a raw deal because of the dealer then from Honda. If they would have found the transmisson leak sooner, and fixed it correctly, you probably would not be here.
A friend gave me one of these devices a while back, and I didn't see any fuel savings or performance improvement.
1) What they are according to a vendor:
A device attached to the fuel delivery system, "...applying a magnetic field to ionizing fuel to be fed to combustion devices we can ensure more complete combustion, obtaining a maximization of the fuel economy, improving the fuel efficiency and reducing polluting emissions"
2) Here's the Federal Trade Commission's advisory on such a device:
"...the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has evaluated or tested more than 100 alleged gas-saving devices and has not found any product that significantly improves gas mileage. In fact, some "gas-saving" products may damage a car's engine or cause substantial increases in exhaust emissions..."
Devices below "...have been found not to increase fuel economy...
...Fuel Line Devices (magnets). These magnetic devices, clamped to the outside of the fuel line or installed in the fuel line, claim to change the molecular structure of gasoline."
"applying a magnetic field to ionizing fuel to be fed to combustion devices we can ensure more complete combustion"
wow, that's some big load of BS. It's pretty awesome that we can change the molecular structure of gasoline using a few crappy magnets though I would love to let someone install magnets INSIDE my fuel line though, that's even better.
Juts goes to show that once a car's major component is taken apart, you may never get it back together as good as at the factory. Getting a car with a replaced tranny is like getting one that has been in an accident - you're not quite sure of it.
I certainly would be very wary of getting my car serviced at a dealer that can't put the power steering system back together correctly.
Honda has been known for years to have very firm seats with firm bolstering. Its one of there trademarks
Our 05 accord ex, 4, auto has very firm seats and we love them. Im 6' 3" 260 lbs, wife is 5' 2" and 135 lbs and the only seat position either of us change is front to back. She moves it all the way up and I move it all the way back. Recline and height are the same.
We once owned a Olds delta88 it had soft none supportive seats in it. We felt like we where seting in a bean bag.
I would never let a oil change go 10k no matter what the oil. Our new accord will see oil and filter change every 4k and auto trany fluild and screen checked every 25k. 20 bucks for the oil and filter change and 40 for the auto trany service. We expect 200k plus out of this car
Honda doesn't make one. I got mine off of E-Bay form a guy in Hong Kong. They were two-tone brushed aluminum sills that said Accord. Front and back were a total of $25. The had adhesive on the back and they stuck right on the OEM ones currently on the car. They look much better that way than without the OEM underneath (IMO). I started searching with "kick plates" and found nothing, until someone told me they can also be called "door sills".
Honda doesn't do an OEM remote start. My dealer outsourced it and said all the others do as well. They wanted $699 (that was two months ago). I am going to have it done elsewhere- I can get it for $200.
Thanks for all the comments!! Get this - we picked the car up from the dealership last night. They told us it would be done Tuesday but then they spent a little time addressing the SRS light that stayed on. They determined that they needed to replace some cable that held the airbags (yadda yadda). So they did that. Now there is a squeek when you turn the wheel and the blinkers won't go off after a turn! We are so fried on this! (Dealership is Continental Honda in Countryside, IL, by the way!!)
My husband had another conversation with our Honda Cust Service rep and the rep said if we do sell the car we shouldn't disclose that we felt it was unsafe!! After my husband told him that he couldn't ethically do that the rep said to disclose this but we'd surely have to take a substancial financial hit in doing so! Hello!! This is exactly our point. We have a car that we now feel isn't "sound." My husband drives (when he has a functioning car) to and from work on one of the fastest, busiest freeways in the nation in the 3rd largest city in the country and into one of the worst parts of this city!!
What should Honda do for us in this case? What should we be asking for? They all say they want to "work with us" but what does that mean? Keep trying to fix this car and keep the ball of problems rolling? We bought a brand new car and have had more problems with it than any used car we've ever owned! I feel like a fair deal would be for Honda (not the same dealership!!) to give us top trade in dollar and a great deal on a new one. I think we'd be happy with that but they offer nothing and keep telling us to keep bringing it back for repair!!! They should take the loss on this - not us. We didn't do anything wrong!
We recently moved from one suburb to another - 40 miles away. I have a call into the service manager at the dealership where we bought our 02 Odyssey. I felt confident in their service work so they may have some insight for us. Thanks!
Geez, who can keep all these model names straight?
Right now we sit with an 02 Odyssey and 04 Accord. By the way, my husband is on the phone with American Honda right now to follow up with our Cust Service guy who told us he'd get back to us today. He's already gone home for the day. So the husband got out of the voice mail system and was told there were no records of our calls to customer service in their system. Nice, huh?
We contacted a Toyota dealership about a Camry and just for kicks contacted the BMW dealership about a 300 series. When my husband told the BMW dealer about his trade in (the problem car) the dealer said, "Well we will really have to check it out. We've had these cars come in and 3 days later the transmission goes out." WOW! But we kind of decided we didn't want to spend $31K for a car with vinyl interior!
On another tangent we may end up taking this car down to our old dealer for one more round of service. We bought this car to get 120K miles out of it, not 10K.
If I had a nickle for every time a dealer has told me that, trying to devalue my trades, I would be a very rich man.
Remember - sales reps are there for ONLY one reason - that is to maximize their profit margin. Fact of the matter is - even with your "problems" - your car is one of the 3 highest value holding and reselling cars ON THE PLANET... the others include the Camry and the 2000+ Passat. Best thing they can do to maximize their profit margin, since you were only looking at an entry level 3 series BMW is to devalue your trade and then sell it at a much higher markup, which it will hold.
OK, I understand that you have lost faith in the car. Keep in mind that you did have everything fixed, so the past issues should have no effect on it's value because they don't exist anymore. If the car has transmission problems, and you were trading it in, you may have problems not disclosing it, but if it's fixed, don't worry about it.
A dealer that says the car is worth less because it had something fail but was repaired is a dealer not to deal with. Would you have problems trading in a car that had worn out brakes that you fixed? Yes, bad brakes that were repaired is not as serious as a transmission, but it's not anything that devalues a car, so your car should not be devalued as well.
We had the car towed 40 miles to our old Honda dealer this morning. It now has a new leak and there was no way we were going to drive it anywhere. The car is in no position to be traded or sold in the condition it is in right now. We don't have confidence that the dealer installed the new transmission correctly, there is a new leak, the steering still squeeks and the blinker problem still exists. We faxed all of the repair records to the other dealer and gave them our Honda Cust Service contact information. We will see what they come back with in a few days.
(Meanwhile we had a microburst on our street last night - lost power, trees, etc. What a mess!!)
Well, after years of looking at cars I finally broke down and bought a new Accord sedan, a 4cyl ex w/leather. It was a very tough choice deciding between a sedan and the coupe so I went for sedan because it's just a little more practical but I do love those coupes. I've seen complaints about the back end and so forth but the car is so awesome I don't think it'll matter in the long run. I was also able to pay cash so no payments. yippee!!!!!!
Does the Honda Accord give the option of choosing an exterior and an interior color? For example, if I choose Silver exterior, do I then have a choice of interior color?
The Accord's interiors are not optional with exterior colors. I think the combinations are as follows:
White, Black, Dark Green, Desert Mist: Tan interior;
Graphite, Red, Blue: Gray interior
Silver: Black interior.
There are 8 exterior colors and 3 interior colors. Tan is the most common followed by gray. Interesting that the only way to get the black interior is with Silver exterior (my '04 EX-L is silver with black and it's a beauty).
These color combinations are the same for both cloth and leather models.........Richard
My girl has a 2000 accord. Needs help with tire choices for car. Shes looking for tires that last pretty good, good over all ride, good in rain and snow. Had 2 different michlins so far, not totally happy with either for 1 reason or another. Thanks!
Comments
But 30-40 years ago cars were much, much slower. A 65 perfromance mustang Shelby 350 GT only got 0-60 mph in 7.5 seconds. Now there are many sedans and even some SUVs that can equal that speed.
Pumping brakes with ABS has no detrimental effect. Think about it, steady pressure on ABS pulses (pumps) the brakes several times a second. This is magnitudes beyond any pumping a mere human can apply.
Brake On!
MidCow
I was looking in the owners manuel and it says you should change the oil every 10,000 miles. The dealer says every 5,000 miles, I thought that it was about every 3,000 miles. What is right to keep the warranty up to date?
Thanks
The number of times a typical car sees the activation of the ABS system is very, very few. If one was driving so that the ABS activated every day, I'd venture to guess that things would wear out faster than normal (and something is wrong with that person's driving habits). If someone is pumping the brakes on every stop day in and day out that has to put wear on the system that normal braking doesn't. This issue has nothing to do with the car having ABS or not. You just don't need to pump brakes on any car less than 30 years old.
Honda 4 CYL now have a normal interval of 10,000 miles and a severe interval of 5,000.
If you don't have real short drives ( less than 15 minutes) and quite a bit of highway driving and no dusty conditions then you are nromal, otherwise probably severe. Somewhere around 5,000-7,500 is good for 4 cylinders. If you just want to keep warranty up-to-date you could get by with 10,000 change interval. You can check your oil periodically and determine you exact needed interval.
Cruis'n in 6th :shades:
MidCow
"This issue has nothing to do with the car having ABS or not. You just don't need to pump brakes on any car less than 30 years old."
What are you talking about?
In emergency stops to provide maximum stopping without locking up the wheels the brakes need to be pumped. If you have ABS then, ABS automatically pumps the brakes. If you don't have ABS, and many cars in the last 30 years if not most cars, do not have ABS brakes.
The primary reason you don't want the brakes to lock up is so that you can still steer the car. If you lock up the brakes you lose sterring ability and skid forward in the current direction of travel.
The brakes in 1970 cars were very, very weak even with optional front disk brakes. Stopping distances were much, much longer. tire quality was much less. I know I had a new 1970 442 4-speed. The true muscle car era.
Time to Move on,
Cruis'n in 6th :shades:
MidCow
Just make sure that your service includes ONLY the items specified by Honda in your Owner's Manual. Dealers usually add lots of unnecessary tasks to inflate the price. For instance, at my 15,000 mile service they tried to sell me on a transmission flush for about $79.00. Honda recommends it at something like 105,000 miles.
We have paid for repairs to the power steering, electrical system, brakes, CV joints, radiator, transmission, etc. - none related to the oil.
If an engine would last 250,000 miles with frequent oil changes and only 60,000 with very few, it really wouldn't matter if you dumped the car at 50,000 miles.
If you thought you could sell the car at a higher price because you produced a record of frequent oil changes and other maintenance, that's a consideration......Richard
As far as oil interval, I would not hesatate to run 10k intervals with synthetic but I change the filter at 5k. I just sold a 04 Saturn Vue witht he 3.5 Honda engine and it had a oil life monitor on it and the last change went 9k.
Thanks for any help.
I was shocked. my own car went in last week and I received a call asking for more time to resurface the rotors and replace the back brakes. at 24000. How long has this been going on. In passing most the evaluations of the Accord were very positive.
Were those "evaluations" for the 2005 Accord? If so, that would be strange, since brakes were only an issue on some 2003 and some early 2004 Accords. My 2004 Accord Coupe has been perfect in all respects since December 2003.
Now, how often you should be changine the oil, will only lead to unending arguments here.
I've changed the oil and filter every 4,000 miles in all kinds of my vehicles, for the last 40 years.
I really, really hope this doesn't start the 'when I change the oil' arguments.
If I had side airbags and curtain airbags for just this kind of accident, I would expect them to have deployed. We'll hear all kinds of excuses why they didn't, but I'd like to see a picture and then my recommendation would be to contact an attorney specializing in this kind of failure for automotive cases who can have determined by specialists whether the airbags should have deployed.
The injury should have been reduced by airbags having deployed based on your initial description.
There was a report of an accident months ago in one of these discussion where an airbag didn't deploy in a frontal impact.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
across this. This might also explain why the rear pads wear out faster than the front besides thinner rear pads.
http://automobiles.honda.com/info/news/article.asp?ArticleID=2002072936652
Look under Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD).
This statement is false. In ABS-equipped vehicles, pumping the brake turns the system on and off:
http://www.nsc.org/library/facts/abs.htm
I appreciate your concerns to "improve my gas mileage and increase the horsepower in a small way. I would like to know and get some feedback on the best spark plugs and wires, the best air filter, and little things like that, that will, as I mentioned, give me better gas mileage and slightly increase my horsepower." However, scuttlebut and advertising hype notwithstanding, none of those types of modifications is likely to affect your vehicle in any major way.
It's easy to increase your gas mileage by modifying your driving habits (less aggressive starts, steadier pressure on the accelerator, less braking, less use of your air conditioner, etc.) All of those cost you nothing but a few seconds longer to get from point A to point B and a bit less fun. But, if you are looking for more horsepower, that's another matter. In fact, it's guaranteed that the more power you have (or use) the lower your gas mileage will be. It's pure physics.
Unless you go to a major expense, horsepower gains will be minimal with 95 or more percent of the gadgets claiming to make a difference. Save your money and enjoy your ride with OEM parts.
Keep the air pressure up in the tires. Maybe run 2 pounds over the recommendation.
You cars manual probably says the plugs and wires will last 100,000 miles. I recommend at 50,000 or 60,000 it might pay to replace both. No reason to do this sooner.
Don't buy K&N aircleaner, Toronado 'air turbine' devices, maganetic fuel polarity aligners, etc. These things don't work.
More horsepower takes more fuel. You don't get both. Although there are some very powerful motors that get very good milage. A late model Corvette with a 6 speed will get 28-31mpg at 65 or 70mph. A Cadillac Northstar will pull the heavy Deville to 25-28mpg at 70mph.
Just maintain you car according to the owner's manual service intervals.
Thanks
Still, as reliable as Hondas are, they can and sometimes do have problems. that's why we have warranties in place. No, you shouldn't smile and nod your heads and go on your merry way. You have every right to be frustrated.
But, before you do something rash out of anger and frustration, remember that Toyotas and EVERY other make of car out there are apt to do the same thing or worse. I honestly think these problems are isolated and your Accord is far from being a lemon.
Hopefully your nightmare is over and you can put this behind you. If not, you probably SHOULD sell it and move on if you are going to constantly worry about additional problems.
Just my two cents...
Sorry to hear things turned out so badly.
1) What they are according to a vendor:
A device attached to the fuel delivery system, "...applying a magnetic field to ionizing fuel to be fed to combustion devices we can ensure more complete combustion, obtaining a maximization of the fuel economy, improving the fuel efficiency and reducing polluting emissions"
http://trade.allproducts.com/show_message.php?sn=78217
2) Here's the Federal Trade Commission's advisory on such a device:
"...the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has evaluated or tested more than 100 alleged gas-saving devices and has not found any product that significantly improves gas mileage. In fact, some "gas-saving" products may damage a car's engine or cause substantial increases in exhaust emissions..."
Devices below "...have been found not to increase fuel economy...
...Fuel Line Devices (magnets). These magnetic devices, clamped to the outside of the fuel line or installed in the fuel line, claim to change the molecular structure of gasoline."
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/autos/gasave.htm
wow, that's some big load of BS. It's pretty awesome that we can change the molecular structure of gasoline using a few crappy magnets though
I certainly would be very wary of getting my car serviced at a dealer that can't put the power steering system back together correctly.
Honda has been known for years to have very firm seats with firm bolstering. Its one of there trademarks
Our 05 accord ex, 4, auto has very firm seats and we love them. Im 6' 3" 260 lbs, wife is 5' 2" and 135 lbs and the only seat position either of us change is front to back. She moves it all the way up and I move it all the way back. Recline and height are the same.
We once owned a Olds delta88 it had soft none supportive seats in it. We felt like we where seting in a bean bag.
It's something that's done all the time, and I would not worry at all as long as it is done correctly.
If you read the recall for 04 Accords due to transmission case issues, new cars on the dealer's lots had them replaced before the car was ever sold.
Honda doesn't do an OEM remote start. My dealer outsourced it and said all the others do as well. They wanted $699 (that was two months ago). I am going to have it done elsewhere- I can get it for $200.
Get this - we picked the car up from the dealership last night. They told us it would be done Tuesday but then they spent a little time addressing the SRS light that stayed on. They determined that they needed to replace some cable that held the airbags (yadda yadda). So they did that. Now there is a squeek when you turn the wheel and the blinkers won't go off after a turn! We are so fried on this! (Dealership is Continental Honda in Countryside, IL, by the way!!)
My husband had another conversation with our Honda Cust Service rep and the rep said if we do sell the car we shouldn't disclose that we felt it was unsafe!! After my husband told him that he couldn't ethically do that the rep said to disclose this but we'd surely have to take a substancial financial hit in doing so! Hello!! This is exactly our point. We have a car that we now feel isn't "sound." My husband drives (when he has a functioning car) to and from work on one of the fastest, busiest freeways in the nation in the 3rd largest city in the country and into one of the worst parts of this city!!
What should Honda do for us in this case? What should we be asking for? They all say they want to "work with us" but what does that mean? Keep trying to fix this car and keep the ball of problems rolling? We bought a brand new car and have had more problems with it than any used car we've ever owned! I feel like a fair deal would be for Honda (not the same dealership!!) to give us top trade in dollar and a great deal on a new one. I think we'd be happy with that but they offer nothing and keep telling us to keep bringing it back for repair!!! They should take the loss on this - not us. We didn't do anything wrong!
Quite the saga!!!
Let them check out the turn signal switch before the warranty expires.
Thanks!
You wrote: I felt confident in their service work so they may have some insight for us." I thought that you had an Odyssey.
http://automobiles.honda.com/models/model_overview.asp?ModelName=Insight&bhcp=1&BrowserDet- ected=True
Right now we sit with an 02 Odyssey and 04 Accord. By the way, my husband is on the phone with American Honda right now to follow up with our Cust Service guy who told us he'd get back to us today. He's already gone home for the day. So the husband got out of the voice mail system and was told there were no records of our calls to customer service in their system. Nice, huh?
We contacted a Toyota dealership about a Camry and just for kicks contacted the BMW dealership about a 300 series. When my husband told the BMW dealer about his trade in (the problem car) the dealer said, "Well we will really have to check it out. We've had these cars come in and 3 days later the transmission goes out." WOW! But we kind of decided we didn't want to spend $31K for a car with vinyl interior!
On another tangent we may end up taking this car down to our old dealer for one more round of service. We bought this car to get 120K miles out of it, not 10K.
Remember - sales reps are there for ONLY one reason - that is to maximize their profit margin. Fact of the matter is - even with your "problems" - your car is one of the 3 highest value holding and reselling cars ON THE PLANET... the others include the Camry and the 2000+ Passat. Best thing they can do to maximize their profit margin, since you were only looking at an entry level 3 series BMW is to devalue your trade and then sell it at a much higher markup, which it will hold.
A dealer that says the car is worth less because it had something fail but was repaired is a dealer not to deal with. Would you have problems trading in a car that had worn out brakes that you fixed? Yes, bad brakes that were repaired is not as serious as a transmission, but it's not anything that devalues a car, so your car should not be devalued as well.
Mrbill
We had the car towed 40 miles to our old Honda dealer this morning. It now has a new leak and there was no way we were going to drive it anywhere. The car is in no position to be traded or sold in the condition it is in right now. We don't have confidence that the dealer installed the new transmission correctly, there is a new leak, the steering still squeeks and the blinker problem still exists. We faxed all of the repair records to the other dealer and gave them our Honda Cust Service contact information. We will see what they come back with in a few days.
(Meanwhile we had a microburst on our street last night - lost power, trees, etc. What a mess!!)
I think the combinations are as follows:
White, Black, Dark Green, Desert Mist: Tan interior;
Graphite, Red, Blue: Gray interior
Silver: Black interior.
There are 8 exterior colors and 3 interior colors. Tan is the most common followed by gray. Interesting that the only way to get the black interior is with Silver exterior (my '04 EX-L is silver with black and it's a beauty).
These color combinations are the same for both cloth and leather models.........Richard
http://www.1stoptireshop.com/html/tireratings.htm
mrbill