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Comments
while the brushed metal in the ex-l looks contemporary and sophisticated, i'm thinking if wood can somehow blend with the metal to provide some warmth to the interior (m-benz supposedly did this successfuly in the new sl).
saw today at a dealership, installed on an ex-leather, the $180 "interior trim kit" from collegehillshonda.com and partscheap.com. (unfortunately this car had the birdseye wood trim, not the metal trim). url is http://partscheap.com/accordinterior03.htm#woodtrim
if you'll look at the picture, one of the major pieces, an approximately 1.5 inch band of wood, runs along the "ridge" of the dashboard (top edge of glove box door has that ridge) from one end to the other. a piece that goes under the a/c switches bridges the left and right bands.
in addition, this band of wood (shaped like a boomerang) continues on to cover the left and right lips of the shifter console a la acura tl.
will appreciate knowing any experience/opinion you might have on this risky if not kooky idea.
thanks.
well, visited them today (above metal/wood mix post of mine talks about a car in their showroom) and i had the same "sell extremely high" (new car) and "buy extremely low" (trade) experience.
the silver DEMO ex-v6 coupe i was looking at was offered to me for $4k over invoice (and it had 2k miles) and their trade offer was likewise laughable.
i was there on an off-chance that they'd extend their business month til today, as they did the 3.49% apr. this not being the case probably explains the indifferent pricing they offered.
enjoying your new coupe, i assume. it's emerging as a great enthusiast car.
Their offer to us was ludicrous. I will NEVER step foot in there to buy a car again but their service coupons are good and they had some nice accessories in their showroom. We are going to try and find a meatier shift knob for ours.
And yes, we love it. It's getting smoother and smoother as the miles go by. Can't help but get a case of green eyes when I see my significant other driving it. But I love my SI and I do have a key to it so he better watch out or it might go missing one morning
you're right about their service coupons - great deals. and the accessory store is stacked with goodies tho expensive (they're selling the $180 trim kit for $250).
i also found that the 2.9% promo they advertised last weekend was dealer's own buy-down of honda's national apr promo. the 0.5% differential roughly equals only $150-$200 in apr discount, which can be no discount if same is added to car's price. it's a good attention-getter though, isn't it?
I am wiring Hella fog lights onto my '02 EX V6 tomorrow morning. I have worked the logistics on switches, mounts, connections, etc. The one area I'm not sure about at this point is getting the two wires needed for the switch from the engine bay through the firewall and to the switch. I have integrated the switch into the blank dash panel next to the cruise control button, but everything is connected and sealed so well on this car, I'm not sure how to create the route for the wires to this spot.
I would appreciate it if anyone with experience in this area can provide suggestions on the easiest and most effective way of doing this.
Thanks much.
I have an 03 coupe with black interior and brushed metal trim. I do not like the look of combining metal and wood trim. I am going with a kit from wooddash.com that is real wood and covers all of the metal surfaces.
I started to notice the tires of my vehicle don't seem to have enough air from the appearance of the tires starting this winter , especially the front pair. Besides, I kinda can feel the vibration when running over those reflectors on the road. (It used to be smoother.) I then measure the pressure of the tires and I usually get readings around 27. (I then would pump them to around 31). The manual says 30. So I guess it is ok to have the pressure between 27 to 34. I am still uncomfortable with the shape of the tires and the unsmoothness though. Would anybody give me any suggestions on this problem? I ‘d appreciate any input.
Have a happy new year!
- Trunk liner: a must have; one spill pays for it
- Mud flaps: easy to add, protects paint around the wells and looks better.
- Windows tinting: costly, but worth it...go to a good place. Keeps the car much cooler and interior protected.
- Stainless exhaust accents; just a vanity thing, but looks nice.
- Door and wheel well guards: fight those door dings and paint chips.
However, i also have the same feeling of its bad shape and unsmooth.
You may consider changing the front tires to another brand.
unless you have the v6coupe (not sure about the 4 cyl coupe) that has bridgestones, i believe all other accords have the slightly noisy but highly rated michelins. they're long-wearing, can keep tire temps low during long road trips and look good too.
because they're decathlon (good all around) tires, there's a tradeoff - other than being noisy - in their being low grip. i think this primarily explains why braking distances of hondas are particularly long.
on tire pressure - staying within the range, go for the setting that meets your needs. low pressure=slightly lower fuel economy=higher comfort. reverse is true for high pressure.
hope this helps.
I would say thatthe tires make a difference. Michelin's are the best....Bridgestone/Firestone the worst.
but this brings up a perplexing, annoying and downright dangerous incident when i purchased rims & tires from a chain store here in atlanta couple of months back.
thinking that the car felt too skittish, i found that it had 46 psi all around, evidently because a technician understood "max 46 psi" on the tire sidewall as to mean "maximize to 46 psi." LOL - coming as it did from a professional rim & tire retailer.
going back to the topic, you're right in that a car wouldn't feel earthshakingly different with a high psi setting.
and since we're on the subject of "accessories & mods," we'll all be for the better understanding our purchases in addition to what the salesman has to say.
on the rims & tires incident, i checked with at least 3 retailers on what i should get, with 1) a well-known department store [non-permissible content removed] car service establishment saying that they won't go on a limb recommending any "plus sizes," they'll just sell you same-size alternatives of rims & tires, 2) an independent retailer selling me a civic-size set for a toyota solara, and 3) the chain store claiming that "treadwear" ratings are loose, arbitrary and meaningless. yes, the salesman was pushing a low-treadwear type. treadwear numbers, in truth, are based on benchmarks established by a government body.
food for thought...
btw, the wiring was passed through a large grommet in the firewall that houses much of the wiring coming into the dash. Couldn't feed it into the harness, but cut a sliver into the grommet, which closed around the wires when pulled through.
In essence, wear ratings can only be compared against tires made by the same manufacturer. A 240 on a Michelin may be equal to a 460 on a Joe's House O' Tires house brand.
i guess what we can rely on, at best, would be the mileage life statements of the tiremakers.
here's a caption of a tiremaker's explanation:
"The tread wear grade is a comparative rating based on the wear rate of the tire when tested under controlled conditions on a specified government test track. A tire graded 200 would wear twice as long on the government test track as one graded 100. Your actual tire mileage depends upon the conditions of their use and may vary due to driving habits, service practices, differences in road characteristics and climate. Note: Tread wear grades are valid only for comparisons within a manufacturer's product line . They are not valid for comparisons between manufacturers."
the dash with a navi, i noted, has a separate, narrow display panel above the center vents which the non-navi doesn't have. this is for vital info while using the navi, i read somewehre.
since the accords have the 3-piece dash, looks like the whole center part has to be replaced to take in the navi config.
come to think of it, equipping the regular accord with a navi would be a challenge because of the dedicated audio/hvac unit, otherwise upgradable with an aftermarket single din-type system.
Re: tire pressure - there is tire inflation information on the driver's side door sill. Look for the label..Just glanced at it but I think 32 psi front and 30 rear is recommended.
Finally - any thoughts on installing the sunroof wind deflector? Is it functional or just a useless frill? Stylish or tacky???
on the coupe which i'm thinking of getting, i'll consider foregoing it for a smoother outline - considering further the coupe's no-frills purity of design.
The lights are installed on an '02 EX V6 Sedan.
How do you like it?
thanks,
chiggaraccord4
if you really want one, i believe it easily installs, without drilling. don't get from dealer, it's only $76 or so plus shipping from online stores.
Regarding the switch, there are a few wiring diagrams for the fogs. You can mainline it into your lights, but then they will always be on when the lights are on (no switch req'd for this setup). You can wire it with a switch (lighted toggle switch provided) to come on when parking lights are on, which is what I did. That setup allows the fogs to be used with parking lights only, with headlights on (since parking lights remain on) and with brights. The switch is live once normal lights are used....dormant if they are not. I mounted this switch into the existing dormant rectangular panel next to the master control button for the cruise on the left side of the dash...so, it looks like it belongs on the car and was factory installed......very sweet. I didn't want to disturb the quality of the interior, so I devised this approach.....just have to gently pry the panel off, then remove the fuse cover on the left side of the dash to access wiring and connections.
The biggest challenge was getting the wiring through the firewall. Check previous post for how I did that. Hope this helps. Good luck.
it definitely disturb the curve of the car, but is it necessary?!? or is it a market gimick from the auto manuf/dealer?
people who has it-is it worth it?
thanks,
chiggaraccord4
Alex