Today on the 490 (Rochester, NY area), I saw a charcoal colored 2003 Accord EX Sedan. It was the first one I have seen on the road. The owner had all his windows tinted all the way around and the car looked pretty sharp.
I agree, the cutlines for the hood is an impressive detail and one of the sharp features on the exterior of the car. The only pictures I saw that showed this were those in MT parked face forward and hood-up next to a Camry. Nice...
I too really like the S2000-esque fenders. But the hood itself is flatter than the plains of Nebraska (as Johnny Carson used to say). Maybe a subtle crease or two would make it look better?
Wind noise was almost non-existant; however, tire noise was definitely present. Our highways here in Iowa are mostly concrete, which makes the problem worse. YMMV on asphalt.
Maybe some day there will be standards for tire noise-concrete roads that have been grooved and new concrete roads that have a lot of stipple on them really make my tires howl.
Tire noise seems to be a problem on this model. Is there any answer to this or do we need to live with it? Are the change in tires for this year's model the reason?
All Honda Accord's that have Michelin tires have tire road noise. Consumer Reports has made note of this problem every time they rate the Accord. I definitely think it is a Honda insulation problem.
You put the same tire on a Toyota Camry or Subaru Legacy and you don't hear tire noise. Both are better insulated from road and tire noise. The reason I am bringing this up is that I have friends that have Michelin tires MXV4 tires on their respective cars and there isn't any tire noise.
isn't related soley to the tires. I know that snow thrown up into the wheel wells from the front tires sounds like its coming through the firewall. Its definately a lack of insulation.
The Michelin MXV4 tires are definately louder than other tires on the market. And as far as OEM tires go, they are one of the louder tires for family sedans. The reason Honda puts them on cars is for fuel economy ratings-the Energy MXV4 tires slightly improve gas mileage, and Michelin probably sells it to Honda for dirt cheap.
FWIW, i think the 03 Accord is much quieter overall in comparison to the last generation Accord. Road noise (via tires or other wise) is less so in this model. i'm sure the Accord could use even more sound insulation; but i'm sure the tires are a partial culprit to the issue at hand.
I recently replaced my horribly noisy (and poor handling to boot) OEM Firestones on my 2000 Civic with a set of Pirelli's. The road noise is appreciably less with the new tires. However, i've also noticed a 1-2 mpg decrease in mileage. oh well...can't have everything i guess.
During our test drive of both an Accord EX I4 auto and a EX I4 5-speed I found it to be noticably quieter than the previous generation and quieter than an Altima. I've never been interested enough in a Camry to take it on a long test drive so I can't compare it to a Camry.
is an issue. Am about to replace Michelin X-One's on 97 I4 accord. The X-One's are quieter and a vastly better performing-both wet and snow than the MXV4's that came on the car. After talking with the tire rack people and my local chain tire store-they both strongly recommend the Bridgestone Turanza LST tires. Both better handling than the X-one and quieter. Also they said the MXV4+ is a much better tire than the MXV4 but not up to the Turanza and maybe not the X-one. The delivered price for 185/65TR15 Turanza LS-T from TR was 266.58 vs 400 for X-One. Best mounting price I got was 52 for all 4.
Yeah I drove for 11 hours a couple of days ago and freshly grooved concrete roads and some new ones are a PITA in a honda.
I'd like to know how many Accord EX owners have experienced squeaks and rattles from the moonroof, from any year. My only EX was a 1990 model and the squeaks made a well built car seem less than solid. My recent Accords have been LX models for this reason alone.
Have an '02 EX V6. Tight as a drum and rattle free from the moonroof with the shade in place. Tilt it up, though, and the quality is disappointing. Mentioned it to the dealer first time I had it in for service, but it was very slight at that time. He lubed the track, etc. Simple, "don't bother me" approach. Much more pronounced now. I'll get it looked at next time I'm in.
accord7, Have a 00 Accord EX V6 Coupe. It's got the moonroof rattles. Honda took the cheap way and installed tape around the opening of the moonroof. It's quiets the squeaking alot. But I wish they came out with a real fix, like a redesigned thicker rubber seal around the moonroof. Disappointed in Honda, and probably won't buy another Honda again because of some little problems like these and they way Honda addresses them.
My sunroof wouldn't rattle if the shade was closed or if the roof was open but if the shade was open and the roof was closed sometimes it rattled. Nothing major though.
I have had my 03 EX-V6 for one week and the only problem has been the the sunroof. It is not a "squeak" or "rattle" but more like a muffled click,click,click when I drive over a bump in the road. I realize this may sound silly but this noise occurs behind the sunroof whether it is open, tilt position, or closed. I can recreate the noise by pushing up on the roof of the car while driving. I hesitate to have a dealer look at the problem since it is not very loud at all and I do not want anything taken apart and become a larger problem. As far as road noise, my accord's tires were all at 35 psi which is a little high, you may want to check tire pressure, although the tire noise will remain for the most part. All this being said, this is a great car for $24,200 + T & T.
Thanks to everyone who replied to my post earlier today. This is really an excellent way to determine if a problem we have is an isolated case, or perhaps a larger design and manufacturing problem from Honda. With rattles and such a pet peeve of mine, I think I'll likely go the LX route again.
I have a 2002 Accord SE 4dr and like a few others my sunroof started to squeak and rattle with the roof closed and the shade open. Try spraying DRY silicone along the weatherstripping. It worked like a charm for me. Its been 6 months since I did it and the noises haven't returned. Hope this helps.
I heard that there is a recall on certain models of the 2002 Honda Accord regarding the timing belt. It seems that the timing belt is rubbing up against a bolt that causes the belt to fail. Has anyone received a notice on this in the mail?
This Saturday, my 2001 LXV6 (4000 miles only) started making a thumping noise whenever the engine was "cold-started." Since I had read about this problem on this forum, I checked out the nhtsa site and sure enough there was a TSB from Honda dated Feb.2002 (there are earlier ones on this topic also) regarding this issue which is caused by insufficient manifold vacuum at startup. Affected models are all 1998-2002 (basically, the 6th generation) Accords. What annoys me is that even though Honda knew about this problem and has issued TSBs on this way before my car was manufactured, it did not take any corrective action. Why could it not have done the TSB corrective procedure for all new Accords after the problem was discovered? I find this highly irresponsible.
I believe this is related to the same problem I had with my water pump replacement. Due to some faulty alignment with the position of the pump and the way it spins, it can cause the timing belt to vibrate and can tear it up over time. I believe the recall was only for the V6's. I received a postcard in the mail, but even having received it, it was never posted on the owner's link as a problem, so I wouldn't rely on that. I also don't think it's only for the Accord V6, as the shop manager described a customer with an MDX (3.5 liter vs. 3) where the belt tore up while he was on the highway and disabled the car in the middle of the night. Not a nice scenario. What you're refering to might not be related to the water pump, but it might be worth looking in to. Good luck.
Honda does have a problem relating quality problems to the consumer. This is one of the reason I started this topic. It took years before Honda admitted their was a transmission problem in its 6th generation Accord. It also took Honda quite sometime to address the balancer shaft seal issue which it finally did after two years in the 5th generation Accords.
The NHSTA is the place to log your consumer complaints. It also provides a listing of potential problems.
Just switched over from the OEM Michelins on my Accord to the X-Ones. There is a remarkable difference especially in cornering. Also noticed that are quiet as compared to the OEM Michelins.
Advisor at Tire Rack claims Bridgestone Turanza LS-H tires are an even better choice than X-Ones in virtually all applications. Claims its quieter, has better wet weather traction and is H rated vs the X-One being Q rated. Plus, apparently, the LS-H has a tread compound where wet traction doesnt degrade as the tire wears. This is a common complaint of some Michelins, notably the MXV4 Energy that's OEM on Accords. For what its worth. By the way, LS-H's are $86 at Tire Rack for 205/65/15.
anselmo1, I very much regret selling my 1988 Accord LX. It was a beautifully made car. It had 125K odd miles when I replaced it with my current 2001 LXV6. It never gave me any problems, never needed any top-offs between oil changes and gave me 31-32mpg with the AC on. Since I live in NYC and have just one parking spot, I had to sell it. My current Accord has the "ignition thump" problem, who knows when the engine will start leaking oil (as you know there is a TSB on this) and, of course, there is the transmission failure issue! Long drives/road trips make me uneasy and sometimes I wonder why I bought a new car. Since I drive only on weekends, my plan was to hold on to my 2001 LXV6 for the next 15 years. I guess my 1988 LX had spoilt me and raised my expectations, but I have now decided to sell it before my extended 7 years/100K miles warranty expires in 2008.
You never mentioned the warranty on the Bridgestone Turanza. I know that Michelin X-Ones have an 80K treadwear warranty. I have yet to see a Bridgestone tire ever make 35K on it. I had Bridgestone S402's on a car that I owned that made 15K and that was it. Worst tire I ever owned. Wasn't it Bridgestone that bought out Firestone?
According to information on the Tire Rack website, NEITHER the Michelin nor the Bridgestone tires have what they refer to as a "treadlife" warranty. They both have replacement warranties if there is a problem in the first few 32nds. of wear. The guy I talked to at Tire Rack did talk about a 50.000 treadwear guarantee so I guess now I'm confused. Wonder why they're so high on Bridgstones--maybe they make more $$ on them
about where you'd get your tire rack tires put on. I understand that if you get tires/wheels, they come pre-balanced, which means you could do it yourself.
Just bought a set of tires for my 2000 Oddy. Had them drop shipped to my installer - my personal car mechanic. If you enter your zip code, you should be able to see a list of installers dealing with Tire Rack. Listings should include pricing and customer feedback. I saved about $100 in the process.
Well not all people are as hungry as car sales people Isell and when I told the guy at the local tire chain store I was going to buy from tr and have them install the tires-cool they said. These kids are all in college and here to pay their way through school. Yep I will save a hundred bucks also. Oh have got 72K on current set of X-One's and am down to 6/32 tread depth. Only BS tires I have ever owned came on orig 80 accord and they were excellent tires.
The guys at the local store sold me on X-One's over MXV4's when I had to quickly replace the original tires on my 97 accord-was really pleased with that suggestion. Now the same guy just put a set of Turanza's on his father's car and recommends them over either X-One's and MXV4+. Too bad most of the 03 accords I have seen still have that crappy MXV4 tire on them.
I've found you have to do the math before deciding if Tire Rack saves you money--sometimes they do, sometimes they dont. Case in point--boughta set of Michelin Arctic Alpins for my Odyssey mounted on steel wheels. Package price was $536 I think, much cheaper than I could do locally, even with paying one of their local installers for mounting (they came balanced). However, on the Bridgestone Turanzas for my 2000 Accord, their price is $86 but when I add the $15 per tire or so mounting and balancing at a local dealer, its pretty close to just buying them at Tire Kingdom.
I used the Tire Rack twice and was very pleased with service, product and pricing. Recently, replaced Michelin Symmetry's with Yokohoma Avid Touring's for my wife's van......great tires...quite, great wet and dry weather traction, greater treadlife ratings, cheaper, etc. All upside vs. the Michelins. Regarding service centers to do the install, this was not a problem either. I priced mount, balance, stems and rotation/balance/alignment 3 year contract with shops before discussing the tires. I then ask if I source, do they want that business. All wanted it. I gave them the opportunity to win the tire portion of the business too for the same price, but they couldn't match it, even with a lesser rated tire. Plus, the Yoko's were the best rated tire for my wife's van, which no one else carried. So, like Labboss, I saved $100, got a better product than the shops carried and had the tires delivered to my home the same day I schedule the shop for the mounting.
After doing much research using tirerack as my primary research vehicle, it was cheaper for me to have Wal-mart order and install the set of X-Ones I put on my CRV. With tirerack, the shipping charges often eat up whatever savings there is, but they do have shops in your area where they will ship them to, just follow the links on tirerack. Wal-mart charged me about 10 buck for installation and included new stems, mount, balance, lifetime rotation and lifetime road hazard.
I had a set of Bridgestone Potenza 950's put on my 2k v6 accord(about 800 miles on them now) and they seem to be a good tire in most respects, but there are some negatives as well. Took a 300 mile all hiway trip last weekend and only got 27 mpg. This car always got 30-32 hiway with the Turanza EL 42 that came stock. Found out by reading the pamphlets of the 950's that they won't be covered by the manufacturer's warranty since they are H speed rated and the car requires V rated tires. A very serious drawback since the Platinum Pact warranty is a very good one which provides free tire replacement within first 3 yrs of purchase and prorated btw third and 5th years. I am reluctantly going to have to take advantage of the 30 day test drive and probably go with the Turanza LS-V just to protect myself from having a worthless warranty. Wish there was more feedback about the Turanza on the tirerack site, but since they have the same technology as the 950's they should be alright. They also will cost more.
I haven't used Tire Rack ever since they screwed up my order for a replacement wheel. I ordered a replacement steel wheel for my '94 Accord; they instead sent one for a Civic. That in itself wasn't so bad; everyone screws up once in a while. The attitude the sales guy gave me when I called back about the screwup was not acceptable, however. The replacement wheel still wasn't right, either; it was a different shape and my wheel cover wouldn't fit. I bit the bullet and ordered one from the local Honda dealer. It was twice as much money, but at least the stupid thing fit. Should have done that in the first place.
I replaced the lousy (truly awful) Michelin MX4s on my Accord with Continentals last year. They're OK; nothing special, but they sure do wear much better than the old tires. I had heard good things about the X-One and was prepared to replace the (again, lousy) MX4s that up until yesterday darkened the wheel wells of my '89 Volvo 740. The guy sold me on the Bridgestone Turanza LS-H, which was both less expensive and (from what I've read in many places since) a superior tire. So far they seem to be doing well, but it's only been 24 hours. I can already say that wet performance is better; if the weatherman is right, I can report back about snow performance in about 48 hours.
PS. I've gotten good prices and service from my local Tires Plus franchise. Since when did Sears become the most expensive place to get tires? I think a little crack-smoking is going on in the pricing department over there.
For outstanding performance in any driving condition, including dry, wet and snow, this is truly the "One" tire that does it all. Its advanced technology in both design and rubber compounds delivers at least 80,000 miles of driving satisfaction.
The rich look of DURABLACK™ Sharp new sidewall design Best in Class wet traction Longest tread life we offer Extra all-season control Backed by 80,000 mile Manufacturers Standard Limited Warranty
I believe the Tire Rack is "hawking" the Bridgestone tires as the salesman receives more commission selling those tires. Bridgestone tires are not a quality tire in the same class as Michelin, Pirelli, or Dunlop.
Isellhondas: Tire Rack prices don't always work out the best but it has always paid off for me. I've bought 3 sets of tires for different cars from tire rack, and after doing the math, buying from Tire Rack came out cheaper than if I bought the same tires from a local shop. True, you do pay about $10/tire shipping, but tire rack also doesn't charge tax, so some of the difference is made up there.
The big advantage to Tire Rack is that you can just about any type of tire you want from them. Whereas, if you go to Pep Boys or Wal-Mart or Sears, they only carry certain brands, which means you have to go hunting around sometimes if you're looking for a specific tire.
"I believe the Tire Rack is "hawking" the Bridgestone tires as the salesman receives more commission selling those tires."
Read carefully. I bought locally. I won't do business with the Tire Rack again (though they do have a pretty neat website; I'll give 'em that.) Gee, now I regret missing out on the "Sharp new sidewall design." :-P
"Bridgestone tires are not a quality tire in the same class as Michelin, Pirelli, or Dunlop."
Yup. Schumacher and Barrichello are running around on off-brand tires. :-P
:-)
Like I said, I was willing to give Michelins another shot, but the Turanzas came highly recommended. I'll keep you posted.
I asked a simple question and not a question that invited the nasty sarcasm I have come to expect from you.
I was just thinking that many (most) shops are reluctant to install parts customers bring in.
Bring a Pep Boys water pump into your local repair shop and you'll see they won't be too happy. If they do install it, they will probably charge additional labor and they will make sure you know there is no warranty for their labor.
I was only wondering if Tire Rack had pre arranged shops set up that will do their installs.
i bought a wheel/tire package from tirerack 2 years ago, i guess. prices were pretty good, shipping was the best and the sales guy i talked to was wonderful. when i put the tires on, it seemed that the car was vibrating so i mentioned this to my guy and he said to take the wheels to be rebalanced and tirerack would pay for it. so i did... and was told that one of the wheels was prolly "out of round." i mentioned this to my tirerack guy and he said that if, when next i rotated the tires and the problem still existed, they'd take care of it. luckily, i think the rebalancing helped, since after several rotations, the problem hasn't resurfaced. but i received excellent customer service from them.
my bf purchased his falken azenis from vulcantire.com (a shop based in PA) and found really good prices and shipping with them. then he just got them put on at a tires plus locally. no problem. they still made their $80 to mount the tires.
Has anyone had problems with their gear selector getting stuck in park? We have a 1998 LX Accord, and from time to time, we have difficulty getting it out of park. I've heard of this happening with Civics, which have a similar gear selctor safety lock that requires the brakes to be pressed down before releasing from park. If you've experienced this, what did you do to fix it?
Comments
model. Is there any answer to this or do we
need to live with it? Are the change in tires for
this year's model the reason?
You put the same tire on a Toyota Camry or Subaru Legacy and you don't hear tire noise. Both are better insulated from road and tire noise. The reason I am bringing this up is that I have friends that have Michelin tires MXV4 tires on their respective cars and there isn't any tire noise.
I recently replaced my horribly noisy (and poor handling to boot) OEM Firestones on my 2000 Civic with a set of Pirelli's. The road noise is appreciably less with the new tires. However, i've also noticed a 1-2 mpg decrease in mileage. oh well...can't have everything i guess.
Yeah I drove for 11 hours a couple of days ago and freshly grooved concrete roads and some new ones are a PITA in a honda.
What you're refering to might not be related to the water pump, but it might be worth looking in to.
Good luck.
The NHSTA is the place to log your consumer complaints. It also provides a listing of potential problems.
I guess I'm thinking that a lot of tire shops wouldn't be happy about installing tires that were bought on the cheap over the internet?
Oh, I know they will charge for mounting and balancing, but still, it just seems to me that most shops wouldn't like it.
Do they have places they work with?
The guys at the local store sold me on X-One's over MXV4's when I had to quickly replace the original tires on my 97 accord-was really pleased with that suggestion. Now the same guy just put a set of Turanza's on his father's car and recommends them over either X-One's and MXV4+. Too bad most of the 03 accords I have seen still have that crappy MXV4 tire on them.
Isell is frothing
Regarding service centers to do the install, this was not a problem either. I priced mount, balance, stems and rotation/balance/alignment 3 year contract with shops before discussing the tires. I then ask if I source, do they want that business. All wanted it. I gave them the opportunity to win the tire portion of the business too for the same price, but they couldn't match it, even with a lesser rated tire. Plus, the Yoko's were the best rated tire for my wife's van, which no one else carried. So, like Labboss, I saved $100, got a better product than the shops carried and had the tires delivered to my home the same day I schedule the shop for the mounting.
Works well.
I replaced the lousy (truly awful) Michelin MX4s on my Accord with Continentals last year. They're OK; nothing special, but they sure do wear much better than the old tires. I had heard good things about the X-One and was prepared to replace the (again, lousy) MX4s that up until yesterday darkened the wheel wells of my '89 Volvo 740. The guy sold me on the Bridgestone Turanza LS-H, which was both less expensive and (from what I've read in many places since) a superior tire. So far they seem to be doing well, but it's only been 24 hours. I can already say that wet performance is better; if the weatherman is right, I can report back about snow performance in about 48 hours.
PS. I've gotten good prices and service from my local Tires Plus franchise. Since when did Sears become the most expensive place to get tires? I think a little crack-smoking is going on in the pricing department over there.
For outstanding performance in any driving condition, including dry, wet and snow, this is truly the "One" tire that does it all. Its advanced technology in both design and rubber compounds delivers at least 80,000 miles of driving satisfaction.
The rich look of DURABLACK™
Sharp new sidewall design
Best in Class wet traction
Longest tread life we offer
Extra all-season control
Backed by 80,000 mile Manufacturers Standard Limited Warranty
I believe the Tire Rack is "hawking" the Bridgestone tires as the salesman receives more commission selling those tires. Bridgestone tires are not a quality tire in the same class as Michelin, Pirelli, or Dunlop.
The big advantage to Tire Rack is that you can just about any type of tire you want from them. Whereas, if you go to Pep Boys or Wal-Mart or Sears, they only carry certain brands, which means you have to go hunting around sometimes if you're looking for a specific tire.
Read carefully. I bought locally. I won't do business with the Tire Rack again (though they do have a pretty neat website; I'll give 'em that.) Gee, now I regret missing out on the "Sharp new sidewall design." :-P
"Bridgestone tires are not a quality tire in the same class as Michelin, Pirelli, or Dunlop."
Yup. Schumacher and Barrichello are running around on off-brand tires. :-P
:-)
Like I said, I was willing to give Michelins another shot, but the Turanzas came highly recommended. I'll keep you posted.
I was just thinking that many (most) shops are reluctant to install parts customers bring in.
Bring a Pep Boys water pump into your local repair shop and you'll see they won't be too happy. If they do install it, they will probably charge additional labor and they will make sure you know there is no warranty for their labor.
I was only wondering if Tire Rack had pre arranged shops set up that will do their installs.
And it sounds like they do...thanks!
my bf purchased his falken azenis from vulcantire.com (a shop based in PA) and found really good prices and shipping with them. then he just got them put on at a tires plus locally. no problem. they still made their $80 to mount the tires.
just my $.02...
Comparing racing tires especially designed for Formula I racing cars and everyday tires is a little inane isn't?