Honda Quality Going Down?

dgreb

I own a 2009 Honda Accord and I love it. I like the drive, it's frugul, and comfortable. I drove a Camry for a month before I purchased the accord and I found that to be boring and unresponsive.

I haven't owned any cars to compare with, so it'll be interesting to hear other peopls opinions, but I personally think that Honda are skimping on quality to keep the cost of their cars down. The evidence:
1. The brake problems. I had mine replaced at 15k miles. It cost be $20 because of the settlement, but why did they use such cheap brakes in the first place? Did they hope no one would notice?
2. In my car I have a noise coming from the rear shelf. Told my dealer and they said "oh yeah, we know about that. It's a known problem"
3. The trunk metal is exposed as are other areas rather than be covered up
4. I've read other epople complain about the quality of the leather seats. I don't have them, so I can't comment

Overall it seems they want to keeo the price down, but what else are they cutting corners on? They need to think about moving production to a cheaper country othersie they might lose their stellar reputation.

rcummelin

Oh yeah, Honda keeps cutting costs on all of its products, but some of the cuts are really noticeable in the Accord.

You have an '09, so if you were to look at a '10 (what we have) or an '11, you would notice several "bells & whistles" missing, such as a) glove box light, b) ambient light, & c) chrome interior trim (although some chrome bits came back in the '11). So they added a Bluetooth system that barely works--whoopee!

When we bought our '10 over a year ago, we noticed it was extremely noisy on the highway. I pulled out the back seat and all the stuff in the trunk and guess what? Virtually not a bit of sound deadener or insulation. Just a bunch of bare sheet metal. I had some Dynamat laying around, so I covered most of that sheet metal with the Dynamat and yep, MUCH quieter on the highway.

Lastly, there are enough V6 (with VCM) owners ('08 & up) complaining about problems with VCM (see the VCM thread below) that one can only conclude that Honda has some real problems that they simply refuse to deal with, leaving owners no choice but to take a loss & dump their crappy cars.

IMHO, Hondas are not what they used to be and are continuing to get worse. Still better than Toyotas though, LOL!

isellhondas

Yeah, Honda has left out a few things that the majority of people didn't care about. Things like that ambient light (that actually bothered some drivers) and the LED tailights that nobody much seemed to care about.

They adjust some of these extras hoping the majority won't care in an effort to keep prices down. If they left all of these trival (to me, anyway) and raised prices then people would complain about that too!

rcummelin

Sure, lots of buyers don't care about some of the cost-cutting, but most likely because they are totally ignorant of what they are missing.

OTOH, Honda does the cost-cutting AND reduces the quality of their vehicles while raising prices at the same time. Every year the prices go up and up and up.

Is THAT a balance? Sorry, I personally don't think so. It's all heavily weighted in Honda's favor. Seems to me like maximum PROFIT is the primary motivation behind all this chicanery and deceptive marketing.

We still like our 2 Hondas, but rest assured the Honda dealer will be our LAST stop the next time we go car shopping.

isellhondas

Our 2007 Accord had LED tailights and I couldn't have cared less about them. The mistake Honda made was to offer them in the first place. Then when they were dropped, a vocal few complained. They didn't add one iota of safety to the cars.

ALL manufactures try to keep prices in line. Honda has never reduced quality. They continue to increase quality and safety.

Prices go "up and up" on everything we buy every year. Try gasoline or groceries.

It sounds to me that (gasp) PROFIT is a dirty word to you. Sorry about that. I'll bet you enjoy receiving a paycheck too.

So, don't buy a Honda. I sure don't care but WHAT exactly will you buy? What if they decontent that car the following year in an attempt to control prices. Then what will you buy?

Sometimes a company just can't win.

rcummelin

I guess we will have to disagree about whether or not Honda has reduced quality in their vehicles. I think 2007 was Honda's pinnacle year, and quality has been going downhill since--but that's just my opinion. It seems to me that Honda is drinking the same kool-aid as Toyota, but it took Honda a bit longer to get hooked on the stuff.

Profit isn't a dirty word in my vocabulary, but just look at what profit & greed have done to our country. It's disgusting. We have virtually no manufacturing capability left, record housing foreclosures and a 14 trillion dollar national debt.

Gas prices? Don't make me laugh. Yesterday it was announced that the major oil companies achieved ANOTHER record profit for the first quarter of 2011--UP 41%.

I'm not sure what I would buy if I had to right now. I will do the best I can at keeping my finger on the pulse of the car industry and see how the manufacturers respond to the 2014 new CAFE laws. It might be an interesting time ahead.

isellhondas

I agree. As a nation, we have sold ourselves out and at this point it's beyond repair.

I've heard amy opinions about Hondas. You think 2007 was Honda's best year, otheres think the 1997's were the best, 1993's etc.

I can honestly say I have seen no reduction in quality. Prices go up as a result of government imposed emission and safety equipment and because of all of the extra accessories that people "need" these days.

rustum

Bought 2010 LXP accord during Sept 2010. Is Altima better choice compared to base Accord in terms of fit, finish, interior quality, power/torque and price. Kinda disappointed for not giving serious consideration to Altima. And we are aslo qualified for $500 incentive with my employer. Edmunds reviews for 2010 (final score) kinda mislead me.

dgreb

IsellHondas - Aren't you biased if "you sell honds's?" What are you going to say? Yes, they are going downhill?

Prices will go up, it's called inflation. However I think Honda need to be careful that they don't cut so much that customers get disenchanted. It's a better car, but the gap is narrowing. Some people prefer to pay more to get better quality, but not as much as the hike to buy an Acura.

Maybe their whole model of building mainly in Japan needs to revisited as those costs are driving up their prices and they have to cut costs to keep prices down.

isellhondas

Actually, I retired last year so I really have no skin in the game.

It's a tough balance. People want everything it seems but they scream when prices are raised!

dgreb

ok, sorry for jumping to conclusions. Maybe you need to update your handle to "IUsedToSellHondas"

midwestddf

I am very disappointed by my 4 cylinder 2008 Honda Accord. The car has had recurring VTC issues and burns oil excessively. Weather stripping around doors is loose and falls off, and stitching in the leather seats started to come undone shortly after the car was purchased. Also have experienced various brake issues. I always thought that you couldn't go wrong buying a Honda. Luckily I still have my 2003 Honda Odyssey that runs like a champ and has been trouble free for 11 years. I am not sure I will buy another Honda.