...Honda is a market driven company. The new Accord is a result of many focus groups made up of likely buyers. More than likely, the focus groups in Canada told them that SAB would be nice but only at X dollars addtional cost. If said cost was less than Honda's profit requirement, then the feature will not be available.
Same with heated seats/mirrors - Honda's largest market in the US is most likely Southern California - how many bun warmers/heated mirrors would really sell there? In Canada, it is almost a requirememt.
It is Honda's stretegy to introduce new features on low volume cars first & then apply them to the big volume cars. They did the same thing with VTEC (NSX-Prelude then Accord Civic), Double Wishbones, Side airbas, Airbags with sensors & dual-speeds etc. This ensures that if there are any issues/corrections not many of the cars are recalled or affected. I am sure the curtains would make their way to lower trims in the next few years.
I agree with sobers. i am guessing the Side curtains will be an option in a year or so with all Accords from the LX up. i wanted this feature as well, but didn't want a V6 [for environmental reasons]. we bought the EX-I4, but would have paid an extra 1000 if it were available as an option. [to me, it was certainly a more practical option than the leather seats]. in fact, i would have gone as far as getting the leather seats/dual climate/etc package if it included the side curtain airbags.
in fact, the LX with side airbags would have sufficed fine for our needs, but they seemed less common on the dealer lots [than the standard LX], and we wanted the 4 wheel disc brakes as well.
then again, even if side airbags were available as an option, it doesn't mean it will be easy to get. case in point: when considering the Civic, we didn't see too one car equipped with side airbags [which is an option].
i'm guessing that 4-5 years from now, side curtains will be standard in all Hondas.
I also agree with Sobers about introducing new features on low volume cars. Heck, I was in Hong Kong last year and they were selling [right hand drive] American spec 6th. gen Accords EXs there complete with Rear Object Sensors!!!
Given the huge geographical and cultural gap, I can understand the difference in the spec levels/features.
But U.S. & Canada....???? We're not that far apart, is it?
Then if the U.S. is having Side Curtains on their [low volume] V6's, what's stopping them from Canadians having them as well....can we still have them as an OPTION??? Instead of removing them outright??? Canadians are getting the same cars from the same U.S. plant too for the matter.
Sorry if this is late but VSC (Vehicle Stability Control) is not just limited to high price luxury cars.
The Toyota Avalon has it and think it is competition to the Honda Accord.
The real question is why Honda (Acura also), Nissan (infinit also) and Toyota (Lexus also), do not offer some type of skid control on manual transmission cars. BMW has always offered this.
From Inky post #900 "The V-6 is sweet and all should try the 93 Octane for one tank. good for 10hp and 10 ft-lb."
Actually the 2003 Accord is set up for regular gas. Regular gas actually has more performance than the higher octanes. The ONLY thing higher octanes add, is even burning to prevent pinging on high compression engines. The Honda engines and most other modern advanced engines now have electronic control to effectively retard the ignition if pinging is detected.
However, The 2003 Honda engine was designed to run with regular and therefore if you put anything higher grade than regular you are probably actually lowering the performance because there is actually less power in higher grades of gasoline.
The 10 extra horsepower with premium was quoted from Charlie Baker. The same is supposably also true of the Ody. They program the engine to run on regular to keep operating costs down, but the computer must recognize the higher quality petrol and make adjustments accordingly to increase performance...
Navigation Systems are very useful if you need one. I just moved to the Houston area and find one very very beneficial. However currently I am using one of the best if not the best non-factory auto units, the Garmin Street Pilot III with voice. You can get them dully loaded at discount places for about $1,000.
No let me discuss GPS in general, they are very good if you live in a large metropolitan town and need to find your way to actual street address. However you cannot do this in smaller cities and rural areas. Even with software updates maps run 6-12 months behind.
There are a few standard car based navigations systems that are DVD based and cover the entire metroplotian city areas in the continental US. Honda/Acura and Toyota/Lexus make these. All others are hard drive based and only cover a specific region in the US (usually about 6-8 regions). If you go outdside your region you only have major highways.
The new Accord DVD is one of the best out their add advertises 7,000,000 points. This is almost twice what is currently being offered in the Acura line (3,400,000).
If you are new to an area or are trying to find something in a new city then a Navigation system is great.
From Pda97 #916 "Finally, all Honda 4 cyl VTECs are buzz bombs, OK ?? You need to rev the hell out of the engine to get any juice. And there's absolutely very little torque at the bottom end....very useful on race tracks, but useless on city streets."
I still have a 95 Acura Integra GSR VTEC (5-sp 2 door hatch-back red with black leather) and it has been one of the best cars and cars I have kept the longest.
It is only slightly modified with APEX cat back exhaust, AEM cold air intake, apline stereo and speakers and alarm ,But it does not sound buzzy and it has plenty of power and torque.
The only problem it has is insurance, it is very very high. Especailly since the movie Fast and Furious. It was even more fun to drive than my M3
The only people that think VTECs are buzz bombs have never owned one!
The new paints and finishes on the market do not need any additional paint sealants, fabric protection or extra protection, unless you have the word "sucker" written on your face in red paint.
Are side curtain airbags a substitute for a solid structure now? I would rather have a solid car and do without the airbags than to have the airbags and have jello for a door.
I agree that a stiffer structure is more important then a side curtain airbag when comparing "two different car". But we are talk about the same car "2003 Honda Accord" here. I believe that a stiff chase + a side curtain air bag is safer than just an identical stiff chase. In vancouver, I just need 2 hours drive to the border. We are so close, why there is a differencein safety features. I can understand different country may have different options. Like in a country have lots of snow, they need heated mirrors. But we are talking about "safety features" here, not convenience package. I DO NOT believe that CANADA has a much lower side impact collision rate when compare to US. Side impact collision can happen in any country. We just have a cop got kiiled when his police car got T-bone by a high speed civic Si-R.
03 V-6 on 87 Octane 25.1 mpg in very mixed driving over a two week period of 350 miles. Will try 93 Octane again for comparo of mpg. last tank on 93 Octane yielded 26.5 mpg which is very good for a 240 hp car.
Anyone else unhappy with outside temp indicator? Mine is 6 too high. INKY
the 1st accords with the navi system will be arriving on our lot in about 2 weeks. it surprised me as well, but its right here on my allocation list. we have 6 on the way, 2 silver, 2 graphite, 1 black, and 1 gold.
You have just purchased your spanking new Accord EXV6. Later in the evening, you saw your neighbour pulling into his driveway in an identical EXV6 Accord.
You went over to chat over your new purchase and suddenly realised that his car have the Side Curtain Airbags and yours doesn't.
You called up Honda and they tells you that your Accord didn't have the Side Curtains because 1) They think you probably couldn't afford it. 2) Even if you can afford it and willing to fork out the dough, they don't think it's worth their trouble. 3) If your head smashes against the window in an accident, well, good luck.
I was told by a Houston dealer they should have a navigation system available in another month or so.
Hoiwever, the navigation is very very simlar to the Acura CL/TL navigation systems except the Honda is advertises to have 7 million points compares to Acura's 3.4 million.
I just went on three extensive test drives: 2003 Accord Sedan 4 cyl 5-speed 2003 Accord Sedan 6 cyl auto 2003 Acura CL-S 6 speed
hen I say extensive in each case the salesman gave me the keys and didn't go with me. I drove each car somewhere between 15-25 miles.
First let me say I have always been a performance and car buff and have had all kinds of cars mostly manual shift. Most recent cars are (98)BMW M3 5-speed sedan, 95 Acura GSR 5-speed hatchback , 2002 Lexus IS300 5-speed. 93 Lexus ES 300 5 speed (son's), 2000 Toyota Avalon XLS auto (wife's). The last 4 we still have.
Anyway the 5-speed Accord was very peppy and felt fine and should satisfy most people. It shifted well and cornered pretty good.
The Accord V6 was very smooth , good downshifting and strong take-off. I had driven an Automatic V-6 Altima several months ago and the Altima felt more aggressive, but the Accord was actually faster. The fit and finish of the Honda was so much better than the Altima it was night and day.
I drove the CL-S 6-speed ( it was the only six speed I have driven since I briefly tested a new S2000) and it was wonderful. The car was very powerful and would squeal in first and 2nd gear. The shifting was smooth Honda like and in my opinion better than BMW and Lexus.
My choice after driving all three is to wait for the Coupe 6-speed. I would rather buy a sedan 6-speed but it isn't and won't be offered. I actually carefully looked at the CL-S 6-speed and Coupe V-6 6-spped literature and think the Accord is actually a better car.
However, having said all that, I don't think you could go wrong buying either Accord or the CL-S
I have had good luck with Hondas and Acuras in the past. Quality problem with Nissan 280 ZX turbo 2+2 5-speed and have never even considered Mazda. Looked at a Mazda Protege 5 for my son and dealership was so low class and unsophisticated I left. I will look at the new 6 everybody keeps talking about, but I am sure I won't buy one.
Only good domestics cars were a 442 and a SHO until it turned into a Ford.
does anyone have pictures for a new accord with the fog light option and not the close up of the one supplied on the accessory site. I would like to see what they look like from a distance. the round lights for the 98-02 accord looked like pepboys additions. why doesn't honda integrate them into the design like vw, nissan, acura(funny)..to state a few. well any pics post them if you can. thanks.
Unfortunately, I already have one. I was just wondering if anyone knew a good method in which I can use touch-up paint to hide this blemish as much as possible. Like how to apply and if anything else is needed like sanding?
Did you take your test drives in the pouring rain today? I live in Houston also and bought my 03 Accord at Sterling McCall in Kingwood. They have a V-6 03 Coupe in red with tan interior in the show room today and it was absolutely gorgeous. They have ordered one 6 speed coupe this month in the red color.
On a different note - has any one had trouble starting their new 03 Accord? In the past week, I have had to try to start the car more than once until it starts. Sometimes, I just get all the instrument lights lit up and then it starts the second try.
The foglights are well integrated into the bumpers of the coupes, but they look tacked-on on the sedans. This is just like the 01 and 02 Accords. I think the Honda website lets you build one online and add the fodlights so you have an idea of what it would look like.
Can anyone please tell me how much more expensive is the MT V6 both in the US and Canada? Also, other than the suspension, sounds system and seats what else is different?
with my '02 BMW 325i. I thought I'd save some money and buy premium gas at the local truck stop. Bad move..because of the bad gas (so to speak) I lost performance and it took me 2x to start up my car (if my car sat there for a period of time). I've switched to Texaco gas and now starts on the first try. Try switching gas stations and see what happens.
Hope this is an isolated problem but....my '03 Accord EX V6 had a puddle of power steering fluid underneath it this morning, and the fluid reservoir was at the min. mark. Dealer fixed the problem--bad o ring in the pump. Says its the first one he's seen--but who knows given the car is so new.
If you want a Kia, buy a Kia. This putrid car looks like Kia and Daewoo had an illegitimate child.
What amazes me is that just because of the "H" on the hood, the press gives it good reviews. If it had a Pontiac emblem on it, the car would be labelled as yet another failure by an American car company. On top of that, it gets lousy gas mileage. The larger, more comfortable Chrysler 300M with 255 hp gets better mileage than that.
To top it off, Honda does not have a single car that qualifies as a JD Power Quality award.
This is my first new car (2003 LX V6), and I do want to take a good care of it. But I don't know where to start.
Is it just taking my car to car wash like every other week and wax it a month? Or do I have to anything more than that?
On a side note, I notice that my car is not holding its position in a slope (like 15 degree) even when it's on D3. It's actually going backward if I take my foot off the brakes. Is this normal?? I remember even my dilapidated nissan holding its position on D (not even D3) without any breaking efforts.
car care and frequency: depends on several factors:
- how do you want your car to look? after spending a lot of money on a car, i am willing to put time into making it look immaculate. this probably comes from having an anal retentive father who wipes down his cars every other day even though they are all garaged and sometimes not even driven! [FWIW, his 10-15 year old cars look showroom quality]
- how much time does your car spend outside? our our garaged at home and under covered parking at work. With this scenario, i like to wash the cars once a week (all exterior surfaces including tires, wheels, and windows...i also clean the interior windows as well and wipe the interior surfaces for dust with a damp cloth). at worst, i perform this set of operations twice a week. if i do it more frequently than once a week, a damp rag will suffice at removing the fine dust on the car exterior and it looks pristine.
- what color is your car? dark cars show dirt easily; white cars are as bad [a lot of people would disagree], and silver/beige hide dirt well.
- waxing: with my scenario having my cars "under cover" all the time, i only need to wax them twice a year. if your cars are out in the sun for several hours a week, wax should probably be applied 4-6 times a year.
-vacuuming: i *should* do this once a month, but it probably happens every 2-3 months due to my laziness. yes, even anal-retentive people have their limits.
Finally, i NEVER use "car wash places" to clean my car. in general, the auto ones are rough on the exterior of the car and do a less than thorough job. Hand wash places are better, but i still don't think they do as thorough a job. i don't trust anyone to clean my car as much as myself. then again, i find washing my car relaxing and a good break from other activities. others would probably think of it as a horrible chore. again, it all comes down to personal preference and how well you want to take care of your car. i have friends who buy 40 thousand dollar cars and treat them like crap. to me, a car is the 2nd most expensive thing i own [at least at purchase price], so it is worthy of being meticulously taken care of. YMMV.
Thanks for all of the great pre-release discussion. As I mentioned earlier, since this car is now available, we'll continue the discussion in the existing topic on the Sedans board, Honda Accord.
We'll close this one and send it to the archives in a few days.
kirstie_h
MODERATOR /ADMINISTRATOR Find me at kirstie_h@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name. 2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h) Review your vehicle
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Same with heated seats/mirrors - Honda's largest market in the US is most likely Southern California - how many bun warmers/heated mirrors would really sell there? In Canada, it is almost a requirememt.
The point is that they aren't even available as OPTIONS!!!!
This is a passenger safety device. Yes, they were in Merc's and Bimmer's 5 years ago. And they are there for a reason.
If 1% means the life or death of a loved and precious human life, then is 1% too many.
in fact, the LX with side airbags would have sufficed fine for our needs, but they seemed less common on the dealer lots [than the standard LX], and we wanted the 4 wheel disc brakes as well.
then again, even if side airbags were available as an option, it doesn't mean it will be easy to get. case in point: when considering the Civic, we didn't see too one car equipped with side airbags [which is an option].
i'm guessing that 4-5 years from now, side curtains will be standard in all Hondas.
Given the huge geographical and cultural gap, I can understand the difference in the spec levels/features.
But U.S. & Canada....???? We're not that far apart, is it?
Then if the U.S. is having Side Curtains on their [low volume] V6's, what's stopping them from Canadians having them as well....can we still have them as an OPTION??? Instead of removing them outright??? Canadians are getting the same cars from the same U.S. plant too for the matter.
Thanks in advance.
The Toyota Avalon has it and think it is competition to the Honda Accord.
The real question is why Honda (Acura also), Nissan (infinit also) and Toyota (Lexus also), do not offer some type of skid control on manual transmission cars. BMW has always offered this.
"The V-6 is sweet and all should try the 93 Octane for one tank. good for 10hp and 10 ft-lb."
Actually the 2003 Accord is set up for regular gas. Regular gas actually has more performance than the higher octanes. The ONLY thing higher octanes add, is even burning to prevent pinging on high compression engines. The Honda engines and most other modern advanced engines now have electronic control to effectively retard the ignition if pinging is detected.
However, The 2003 Honda engine was designed to run with regular and therefore if you put anything higher grade than regular you are probably actually lowering the performance because there is actually less power in higher grades of gasoline.
No let me discuss GPS in general, they are very good if you live in a large metropolitan town and need to find your way to actual street address. However you cannot do this in smaller cities and rural areas. Even with software updates maps run 6-12 months behind.
There are a few standard car based navigations systems that are DVD based and cover the entire metroplotian city areas in the continental US. Honda/Acura and Toyota/Lexus make these. All others are hard drive based and only cover a specific region in the US (usually about 6-8 regions). If you go outdside your region you only have major highways.
The new Accord DVD is one of the best out their add advertises 7,000,000 points. This is almost twice what is currently being offered in the Acura line (3,400,000).
If you are new to an area or are trying to find something in a new city then a Navigation system is great.
"Finally, all Honda 4 cyl VTECs are buzz bombs, OK ?? You need to rev the hell out of the engine to get any juice. And there's absolutely very little torque at the bottom end....very useful on race tracks, but useless on city streets."
I still have a 95 Acura Integra GSR VTEC (5-sp 2 door hatch-back red with black leather) and it has been one of the best cars and cars I have kept the longest.
It is only slightly modified with APEX cat back exhaust, AEM cold air intake, apline stereo and speakers and alarm ,But it does not sound buzzy and it has plenty of power and torque.
The only problem it has is insurance, it is very very high. Especailly since the movie Fast and Furious. It was even more fun to drive than my M3
The only people that think VTECs are buzz bombs have never owned one!
A fool and his money are soon parted.
Also, the brochure isn't clear as to whether the Nav includes all of North America or just the US (helpful for when we visit our friends in Canada).
Anyone else unhappy with outside temp indicator? Mine is 6 too high.
INKY
You have just purchased your spanking new Accord EXV6. Later in the evening, you saw your neighbour pulling into his driveway in an identical EXV6 Accord.
You went over to chat over your new purchase and suddenly realised that his car have the Side Curtain Airbags and yours doesn't.
You called up Honda and they tells you that your Accord didn't have the Side Curtains because 1) They think you probably couldn't afford it. 2) Even if you can afford it and willing to fork out the dough, they don't think it's worth their trouble. 3) If your head smashes against the window in an accident, well, good luck.
That's how we Canadians are feeling.
Hoiwever, the navigation is very very simlar to the Acura CL/TL navigation systems except the Honda is advertises to have 7 million points compares to Acura's 3.4 million.
2003 Accord Sedan 4 cyl 5-speed
2003 Accord Sedan 6 cyl auto
2003 Acura CL-S 6 speed
hen I say extensive in each case the salesman gave me the keys and didn't go with me. I drove each car somewhere between 15-25 miles.
First let me say I have always been a performance and car buff and have had all kinds of cars mostly manual shift. Most recent cars are (98)BMW M3 5-speed sedan, 95 Acura GSR 5-speed hatchback , 2002 Lexus IS300 5-speed. 93 Lexus ES 300 5 speed (son's), 2000 Toyota Avalon XLS auto (wife's). The last 4 we still have.
Anyway the 5-speed Accord was very peppy and felt fine and should satisfy most people. It shifted well and cornered pretty good.
The Accord V6 was very smooth , good downshifting and strong take-off. I had driven an Automatic V-6 Altima several months ago and the Altima felt more aggressive, but the Accord was actually faster. The fit and finish of the Honda was so much better than the Altima it was night and day.
I drove the CL-S 6-speed ( it was the only six speed I have driven since I briefly tested a new S2000) and it was wonderful. The car was very powerful and would squeal in first and 2nd gear. The shifting was smooth Honda like and in my opinion better than BMW and Lexus.
My choice after driving all three is to wait for the Coupe 6-speed. I would rather buy a sedan 6-speed but it isn't and won't be offered. I actually carefully looked at the CL-S 6-speed and Coupe V-6 6-spped literature and think the Accord is actually a better car.
However, having said all that, I don't think you could go wrong buying either Accord or the CL-S
I have had good luck with Hondas and Acuras in the past. Quality problem with Nissan 280 ZX turbo 2+2 5-speed and have never even considered Mazda. Looked at a Mazda Protege 5 for my son and dealership was so low class and unsophisticated I left. I will look at the new 6 everybody keeps talking about, but I am sure I won't buy one.
Only good domestics cars were a 442 and a SHO until it turned into a Ford.
Thanks,
Midnightcowboy
Thanks in advance.
On a different note - has any one had trouble starting their new 03 Accord? In the past week, I have had to try to start the car more than once until it starts. Sometimes, I just get all the instrument lights lit up and then it starts the second try.
I think the Honda website lets you build one online and add the fodlights so you have an idea of what it would look like.
Also, other than the suspension, sounds system and seats what else is different?
Wonder if that is what they used in the test.
INKY
Supposedly, premium nets an additional 10hp.
-nobee
What amazes me is that just because of the "H" on the hood, the press gives it good reviews. If it had a Pontiac emblem on it, the car would be labelled as yet another failure by an American car company. On top of that, it gets lousy gas mileage. The larger, more comfortable Chrysler 300M with 255 hp gets better mileage than that.
To top it off, Honda does not have a single car that qualifies as a JD Power Quality award.
But to compensate for that, Honda and Toyota did manage to be the top ranking non-luxury brands in JD Power's 2001 Vehicle Dependability Study.
Is it just taking my car to car wash like every other week and wax it a month? Or do I have to anything more than that?
On a side note, I notice that my car is not holding its position in a slope (like 15 degree) even when it's on D3. It's actually going backward if I take my foot off the brakes. Is this normal?? I remember even my dilapidated nissan holding its position on D (not even D3) without any breaking efforts.
- how do you want your car to look? after spending a lot of money on a car, i am willing to put time into making it look immaculate. this probably comes from having an anal retentive father who wipes down his cars every other day even though they are all garaged and sometimes not even driven! [FWIW, his 10-15 year old cars look showroom quality]
- how much time does your car spend outside? our our garaged at home and under covered parking at work. With this scenario, i like to wash the cars once a week (all exterior surfaces including tires, wheels, and windows...i also clean the interior windows as well and wipe the interior surfaces for dust with a damp cloth). at worst, i perform this set of operations twice a week. if i do it more frequently than once a week, a damp rag will suffice at removing the fine dust on the car exterior and it looks pristine.
- what color is your car? dark cars show dirt easily; white cars are as bad [a lot of people would disagree], and silver/beige hide dirt well.
- waxing: with my scenario having my cars "under cover" all the time, i only need to wax them twice a year. if your cars are out in the sun for several hours a week, wax should probably be applied 4-6 times a year.
-vacuuming: i *should* do this once a month, but it probably happens every 2-3 months due to my laziness. yes, even anal-retentive people have their limits.
Finally, i NEVER use "car wash places" to clean my car. in general, the auto ones are rough on the exterior of the car and do a less than thorough job. Hand wash places are better, but i still don't think they do as thorough a job. i don't trust anyone to clean my car as much as myself. then again, i find washing my car relaxing and a good break from other activities. others would probably think of it as a horrible chore.
again, it all comes down to personal preference and how well you want to take care of your car. i have friends who buy 40 thousand dollar cars and treat them like crap. to me, a car is the 2nd most expensive thing i own [at least at purchase price], so it is worthy of being meticulously taken care of. YMMV.
We'll close this one and send it to the archives in a few days.
kirstie_h
MODERATOR /ADMINISTRATOR
Find me at kirstie_h@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name.
2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h)
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