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Since you've double-posted, here's mine.
You've not indicated how old your car is, or whether (if it's older) you know if any part of the fuel system may have been replaced, such as the fuel gauge, fuel tank sending unit, etc. An improper repair could cause such concerns. If it's a new car than you should consult your dealer to have them resolve the issue under warranty.
Your best path is to calculate exactly what your fuel mileage is. After filling your tank, divide the number of gallons of fuel purchased by the number of miles driven since the last fill-up. Do this for three or four tankfulls to average out your miles per gallon (mpg).
You can multipy your average miles per gallon by the number of gallons that your Owner's Manual states that your tank holds. That will tell you the maximum number of miles you can expect to be able to drive between fill-ups. You should also be able to estimate your range at various fuel gauge readings this way.
Blane's suggestion is a good one. I don't use the gas gauge to determine when I need to fill up, anyway: I reset the trip meter and refill every 300 miles, which gives a nice safety margin.
bolts at all to replace the filter. Are you sure? I will check mine again to confirm. I have not had to replace that filter yet.
Mrbill
I recently had similar problems with the paint on my 2004 Accord. There were two chips on the roof, one one each side. Car was only 6 months old. My spots were actually rusting. I took it immediately to my local dealer and was in luck. The corporate rep was in. After trying to insinuate that I caused the rust spots or that I should have identified it at pick up, he finally authorized "in good will" the repair of the rust spots. They sent my car to a local body shop and covered the rental car while mine was in the shop. No touch up paint for my car... They actually sanded and painted the spots. My car is silver in color.
The rep told me while inspecting the rest of my car, that they had been known to see paint imperfections or bubbles on the hood or front end of the car. They actually found a bubble on the back trunk hood of mine. So it seems that this is a problem they're familiar with. Hope this helps you.
And my 03EXV6 runs at 3/8 also.
I guess the gauge has changed.
In NJ, the heat this summer has been bad, but there is no problem with the interior baing black. Upholstery has held up very well, no fraying etc. However, you do need to clean it, especially the dashboard which gets dust on it. Being black, dust shows up on the dash, not so much on the seats etc. I usually have to wipe the dash almost every alternate day, also depends if you live in an area that has a lot of dust.
Looks great too.
Do you guys think there could be a problem with my specific car and steering, or is this a typical difference of the 6 vs. 4 cylinder models? I might have noticed a slight difference when I test drove them both, but now that I have driven mine and my dad's a great deal (more than a simple test drive), I do notice the difference is much bigger than I previously thought. Again -- is this normal, or is it my specific car and I should therefore get it checked out? Thanks...
When the car stops, does your engine make a (soft) rev'ing noise when you steer the wheel?
An annoying noise. I asked Honda service, the service advisor said it's normal.
He said it's the pressure on the P/S pump which causes this engine noise.
I knew that. But it didn't do it with my 89LXi.
I guess it's another characteristic of V6 steering.
I will let them hear the noise when I come in for a warranty work in August.
P.S. Since I started hearing this noise, I no longer hear the thump noise in the morning.
Don't heavier cars in general have to have adjustments to their steering vs. lighter cars, so that the "feel" is roughly the same? It seems us drivers should not have a harder time steering the car because we chose an engine with more power?! Don't get me wrong, I am "strong enough" to steer my car, but it's frustrating that the engineers didn't adjust anything to compensate.
Am I wrong? Is this just laziness on their part, or cheaper for them to make only one steering system for all Accords, to cut costs, simplify production? I really am annoyed at this...I wish I could have the 4 cylinder steering with the V6 power!
"road feel" behind the wheel. The weight difference between the two has a lot to do with it too. I have a '98 4 cyl. and the '03 V6. I noticed the same but I've had smaller "sporty cars" that felt about the same as the V6. Hondas in my opinion, have never tried for Cadillac luxury, (light steering, soft ride..). If you want that feel in the V6 Accord, it's not the ride for you.
My needs are rather straight forward...reliable and safe transportation. I drive very conservatively and do have not plans to race with anyone. The car will be used primarily to commute to work and pick kids up to and from schools. Our weekend car is the family van, a 2004 Odyssey. By the way, I plan to lease the Accord so I may not keep it after 3 years
The obvious differences...
V6 has more horse power, should be much faster in acceleration and passing other cars.
V6 is heavier and uses more gas.
V6 has 16 inch wheel rims vs. 15 on the 4 cycl.
V6 has 4 disc brakes vs. 2 disc and 2 drum for the 4 cycl.
V6 has a built-in anti-theft alarm
Everything else is the same, I believe.
The two questions I have are...
Does the V6 has a better stopping distance with the 4 disc brakes?
Are the factory installed 16" tires a better brand or grade for the V6?
Would appreciate if someone would point out other things.
6 cyl uses a timing belt which must be changed at a cost of $400-$700
4 cyl used a timing chain that lasts for the life of the engine.
6 cyl is typically harder to work on if you like to tinker on your own car, and because of that may be slightly more $$ when repairs and tune-ups are done.
A transmission shop owner felt that 6 cyl cars tend to tear up trannys more then 4 cyl models, with the added HP it's easy to strain the tranny more then you would with the 4 cyl.
My suggestion would be to drive the 4 cyl and see if you would be happy with its performance. I have been very happy with mine, and I took the savings and upgraded to the EX model. I realize that the 6 cyl would have more acceleration, but once your moving, there really isn't much difference between them. I went from an '88 Accord with 98 HP to a '04 with 160 HP. To me, the car has plenty of fun in it, and the gas mileage didnt change between them.
Mrbill
Thanks in advance
Hermann
With the EX-L you'd have an economical, near-luxury car..........Richard
Upgrades for the EX that I know are...
power moonroof
16" alloy wheels
rear disc brakes
electronic brake distribution and traction control systems (???)
security system
wheel mounted audio controls
6 disc in-dash CD
Did I miss anything? Are they worth the money? I know this is a very subjective question as everybody value these extras differently? But do share your opinion. Thanks.
P.S. I do prefer the presumably better braking systems in the EX. What do you know about that? That's why I asked about stopping distance in my first post. Thanks.
4 wheel disc brakes are suppose to be better then 2 wheel disc/ 2 wheel drum. If for some reason they were not on the Honda, they really made a huge design screw-up. Drum brakes were always known to "fade" when they heat up, and I would assume that they still do on the Accord.
We just purchased a new '05 Accord Lx auto trans. Love it. Runs smooth as silk with lots of power. Traded in our '03 just like it. Wanted to get the added safety features and other neat changes Honda added in since the 03. Had 38k on it and never a problem with anything. My lucky wife drives the new car and I still drive my old '96 Accord Lx auto trans. The '96 has 136,000 miles on it and it too has been problem free; also has the original brakes too! Really! I rotated the tires recently and the pads look new yet! Honda builds great cars. Any wonder why we bought a new one again?? ...Mobil 1 for me!
The EX-L has what you list plus:
Leather seating surfaces and leather wrapped steering wheel
Dual-zone, automatic climate control (set a temperature and forget it--nice!)
8-way, power driver's seat
Heated front seats
Outside temperature indicator
XM radio
When I bought my '04 Accord EX-L A/T sedan in August, 2003, the only way to get the side curtain airbags standard was to purchase the car with the leather--curtains were options on other EXs at that time.
I really didn't want leather nor the other features, but now that I've lived with them, I'm glad I bought the best 4 cylinder model; it really is very close to near-luxury cars that cost MUCH more.
I have no regrets about buying the 4 cylinder car which is plenty quick and economical at about 22.6 MPG in the city and 33.2 on the highway......Richard
It doesn't really matter which type is in the rear though, as the majority of the stopping work is done by the front brakes anyway. The only thing about discs all around I see as a major benefit is that they are very easy to work on since they are such a simple design. Basically there are some hydraulics, a few pads, and a rotor as opposed to the many springs and whatnot that are contained within drum brakes. It's not an important enough point though that a buyer should pass up something that is otherwise well suited to them.
Also, Crutchfield is a good place to look at specs for conventional car audio replacement items. They are pricy, so I don't recommend that you must buy from them....but it's a good place to get started for people new to car audio.
Even if this is not the case, it is easy enough to adjust the "boost" or "assist" on power steering units to overcome any weight difference. Even within GM, assist levels used to be set relative to the make of the car (Buicks were famous for overboosted steering).
The point is, the assist on the power steering could have easily been manipulated to make up for the extra weight. Perhaps the steering was made stiffer in the V-6 to reflect the emphasis on performance vs the I4? Many people feel that stiffer steering allows them to "feel more of the road". This would make more sense to me.
Anyone care to guess when information on the '06 Accords will come out? Judging by past news releases on Hondanews.com, it looks like it might be as late as September 1. Will dealers get any info (brochures, demo cars) before then?
The Honda Inspire is essentially the American Accord. Note that in the video, the front is chromed, but the car body is the same as the U.S. Accord. I think it's sold as the Honda Inspire in Japan.
The Acura TL is based on the Accord body and I think all TLs are made in Ohio--whether there's a car that looks like the Acura TL sold elsewhere under the Honda name, I don't know, but I doubt it.
The Acura TSX is an upscale European (and maybe Asian) Accord--you will see Honda Accords that look like our Acura TSX in the U.K. and elsewhere.
No guarantee about any of the above info, but I think it's accurate.......Richard
Well, I "pulled the trigger" yesterday and leased a a EX sedan 4 cycl auto cloth for 36 months. The price was right and I don't want to wait anymore. I am sure the '06 model will have better features. But I don't think the dealers would drop $3K off MSRP for a long time until the next year end clearance.
Anyway, the first 10 miles driving home was pleasant; except I notice that the 4 cycl does not accelerate very fast from a dead stop. But once it gets going, it's fine. I am used to a 6 cycl car which pulls strongly, so this is a small adjustment I need to make.
Towed it a total of 600 miles to North Carolina, mostly highway miles on 95/85. Took a lot of clutch to get moving but once I had momentum on my side it did really well. I drove at a maximum speed of about 55mph in 4th gear (did not use 5th at all). The car did not struggle and the engine did not lug. The brakes did just fine. Averaged about 23 mpg while towing. I changed the oil and the transmission fluid when I got back and the car is driving just fine now. Other than premature clutch wear I don't think there will be any long term effects.
Now I also have the hitch for our bicycle rack. Just though those who are considering a tow hitch or hauling with their Accords might be interested.
I seem to remember only 3 bolts to attach a hitch to my 99 LX. Yes it does come in handy when you need to get 10 sheets of drywall or a big TV home. :shades:
I was very careful to keep a lot of space between me and the car in front of me so as to avoid excessive braking. If I needed to make an emergency stop or maneuver I would have been screwed!
I dont much care for the solid red tail lights in my 05. Car has about 10k on it, lenses are in perfect condition. Anyone interested in a straight-up swap? I am looking for the split color lenses from the 03 or 04. They bolt right in. We can agree on a day to overnight the lenses to each other so we are not left without lights for very long. Whatever works for you. I can provide pix, expect the same in return. Thanks
-scr
May be OK, just wondering
Mrbill