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Honda Accord Quality Control Issues
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Comments
Honda has to address the road noise issue in the Accord. They are just not that well insulted from road and tire noise.
As far as quality differences between Japanese and American Accords/Hondas; prove it that the Japanese cars are better. The most important aspect of any car is the design and engineering. Not point of assembly.
As far as Japanese workers being better - that is dying . They had lifetime employment, that no longer exist.
So do you go to work each day and consider yourself infereior. I don't get the Japanese superiority thing. It died awhile ago.
I disagree what you are saying about the Japanese work ethics As mentioned in other posts, Lexus, Acura, Infiniti, Nissan Maxima etc. are built in Japan. They are some of the highest rated cars for customer satisfaction by J.D. Powers. Your typical Japanese auto worker is far different than your US/Canada/Mexican UAW worker.
Look at the electronic industry an Sony and JVC dominate the industry. The Japanese superority issue in cars and electronics is still there!
I disagree and go back to the point of engineering. Yeah - bad products have been designed by engineers - I don't think Honda and Toyota are perfect like some on this board!
Honda and Toyota put out better "quality" products than Ford, GM, or Chrysler. So what is your point?
Japan is still the leader in the auto industry and has proven it with the success of the Honda, Toyota and Subaru.
So they sell more. That means everyone who buys one knows exactly what they're getting for there money? Or are they following the crowd?
Notice how some of the remarks on this board to American products are factless and hostile.
I take this attacking as a defense mechanism because you don't agree with another opinion and you have to rationalize your decision to own a Honda.
The latest Car and Driver rated the Accord LX V-6 First Place over the 2002 Camry SE and 2002 Nissan Altima. I suggest everyone read the issue and make your own conclusions.
No, she doesn't drive with the break pedal depressed and the car is automatic.
Some have to defend Honda to no end. Wake up folks, Honda is no longer the BEST in the automotive industry. They lost their way sometime after 1993 when Mr. Honda passed away. The most boring unspiring designs in the industry and a marked declined in overall product quality and product customer service.
Wanna see tangible proof?
Go to an Auto Show and see for yourself how outdated Honda/Acura products look before the Europeans or other Japanese automakers.
Oh and that new 2002 Honda Civic Si Hatchback is HIDEOUS looking. The Sterling of the 21st Century..barf!
The 1988-91 Honda Civic hatchback was the best looking model of the Civic hatchback lineup. Oh and the CRX was a benchmark of its time...where are those cars now, Honda lovers?
Hey, I think they still make a good car and no auto maker is perfect. But some of the post here glorify the Accord and refuse to see any faults.
Your sister is an abusive driver!!
Our 98 Accord LX was traded with 50,000 miles.
Original brakes. Front pads had 5MM of pad remaining. They come new with around 9MM.
Our 99 V-6 coupe. 40,000 miles. brakes just inspected...5.5 MM remaining.
Lots of hills and traffic here in Seattle too!
I follow people like your sister every day. Since their brake lights are on half the time, I never know what they are going to do.
And...I'll bet she's a two footed driver.
1. She drives abusive.
2. They were bad when she bought the car and the mechanic is an idiot.
Properly functioning brakes that aren't abused just don't wear out like that. I'm sure you know that. Why are you blaming the manufacturer? No manufacturer puts out brakes that wear like that and for you to blame Honda is irresponsible. I try to ignore ignorant posts like yours.
I'm not defending Honda, my 99 Odyssey had problems, my 99 CRV has been faultless as well as my 01 Accord (knock on wood).
Still, lugwrench you like to constantly bring this up for some reason...
Anyway, Honda has/is replacing all of these for free with an update so it can't happen again.
Seriously, I think I've heard more from YOU on this issue than I've heard from all other sources.
That's why I continue to wonder why this is such a big deal to you.
Of course I have no way of determining the percentage of cars that actually did develop an oil leak from that seal. It was, however, a low percentage.
And like I said before, if it were 1/10,000, that's still too many.
You have beat this to death. The problem has now been solved by Honda...O.K.?
I also had a '97 Acura TL,and I had to replace the pads after 60K. The service adviser told me something to the effect of "Those I believe are the factory originals...you have done really good". Seemed to me that he was used to seeing a lot less mileage on factory pads.
Honda has slipped quality wise and needs to take a hard look at itself to improve. Every time someone has a problem with a Honda isellhondas, you make it sound like it is the driver's fault or an isolated incident. Well, read some of the posts here and the other Honda boards at Edmunds. It seems there are more and more posts regarding problems with Hondas.
Let's get back to the real world and address the real issues that need to be corrected.
Brake life is largly determined by the habits of the driver. A person who wears out their brakes inb 7000 miles is clearly an abusive driver.
I'm surprised even you wouldn't agree on that.
I also stopped to think....there could be another factor perhaps? A teenage driver maybe?
My parents used to wonder why the rear tires on their Skylark didn't last long....
As Black Tulip stated, I also had a made in Japan 1997 Acura 2.5TL that had premature rear brake wear at 19K miles and the front pads were gone at 25K miles, Oh yeah and I must be one abusive driver....sure!!!!
I have owned several Honda products since 1989 and my late model vehicles began to have brake issues prematurely.
So I sell, since when you became Judge, Juror and executioner? I find your comments highly inflammatory...
91 Accord with 154K miles. Front brakes were replaced at 65K and 120K. Rear brakes are original.
97 Accord with 80K miles. Front brakes replaced at 78K miles. Rear are still fine.
2000 Accord with 23K miles. Front brakes still have approx. 75% of pad left.
If someone is only getting 7K miles out of the front pads either there is a serious problem with the car, or there is a serious problem with the driver.
Never had a balancer shaft seal blow out in any of these cars. Had the retainer put on the 97 at 75K miles.
I know one person that blew his seal on his 1994 after an oil change. Had to be towed to the garage and he was presented a bill for over $600.00. This is before the Honda recall. He wasn't to happy when presented the bill but fortunately he kept the receipt and turned over to Honda for payment after the recall. He was though without a car for 2 days. Balancer shaft seal, water pump and timing belt were replaced. At that time, Honda installed the clip without ever letting him know. They knew back before the recall that their was a problem and design flaw.
isellhondas-brakes do have problems not related to driving habits. It sounds as if there is definitely a brake rotor problem. Could be another "supplier" problem at Honda's end.
teo-I tend to believe everything you presented regarding your sister's car. Remember, isellhondas is sort of the resident gadfly of this board. He makes contributions and at times sounds as if he is the Honda PR machine.
Unfortunately, it is not as well built as Accords from the late 1980's. Quality is still there overall but has gradually slipped over the past 5 years.
Personally, the 6th generation Accord ushered in an era of more quality problems. Hope that the new 7th generation Accord coming out in 2003 is built a lot better.
Teo, forget the fact it's a Honda if you can...ANY car that go's through a set of pads that quickly has a problem. My years of experience point directly to the driving habits of the driver (s).
Like I said, I knew you wouldn't want to hear this.
Brakes are funny---but there is always the possibility is due to a supplier defect. Hard driving isn't the only factor as isellhondas proposes. Remember, the supplier defect effecting the V-6 transmission?
1989, 1990, 1994, 1996, 1999 Honda Accord LX's, all automatics with the exception of the 1989.
1995 Acura Integra LS 5-speed and 1997 Acura 2.5TL Premium Both assembled in Japan.
The 1989, 1990, 1994 & 1996 Accords never ever gave us any grief with the braking systems or as a matter of fact any other major component. Well I take that back....the 1989 Accord had the steering rack replaced and the air conditioning compressor went out twice and twice Honda covered for the repair/replacement expenses even when the car was well beyond the basic warranty period.
The 1989 was the only Japan made Accord we ever owned. The rest were made in Marysville, Ohio. The 1990 Accord was fantastic (First year model after a major redesign)and we kept it for nearly 4 1/2 years and 70K miles with ZERO problems. That gem was made in the Ohio assembly plant and turned out to be better than the 1989 Japan made Accord.
The 1995 Integra LS sedan was great car, no problems there.
The 1997 Acura 2.5TL "Premium" was a mixed bag. At 4K miles, the power door lock actuator went south, at 7K miles the A/C fan went and had to be replaced, at 10K the left headlight yellow "Fog" light bulb went/replaced, at 19K miles the rear brake pads were gone (Dealer could not offer an explanation and dare not to accuse me of racing the car), at 22K miles the front pads were gone/replaced, at 25K miles a water trunk leak which turned out to be a broken taillight seal, battery died at 33K miles/replaced, Factory Bridgstone Potenza tires had to be replaced at 35K in despite of 5K miles tire rotation intervals, tire balancing and religiously performed 12K mile per year 4-wheel electronic wheel aligments. The 4-speed automatic was aweful, shifted erratically and often jerky going from 1st to 2nd gear and grade logic function did not help much.
So in despite of all attempts by Mr. IsellHondas to disqualify my claims, I am more than fully qualified to issue a down to earth opinion on Honda products made during the last 12 years. Almost $160,000 spent on Honda products alone, without taking into account servicing expenses... (Lots of loyalty don't cha think??) and the latest samples have been major let downs.
Hondas and Acuras are good cars, but not perfect, infallible or indestructible. Honda simply doesn't make the same quality product it did during its heyday when virtually every domestic product was garbage and the Toyotas were good cars but utilitarian and boring.
Today there are a lot of cars in the market that clearly have surpassed and dusted Honda in the process. Whomever keeps pouring their hard earned money into Honda products does it out of pure loyalty, given the better choices from all manufacturers available.
But of course, dare to talk bad about Honda because our resident troll (Remember the Judge, Juror and executioner) immediately labels you as a "Honda Hater" and other number of names and adjectives well known to the regulars in this forum and which I don't need to repeat.
Would you trust the biased opinion of a salesman with the second most important money purchase in your life after a home??
Honda's PR department did a real good job indoctrinating their salesmen. When you don't agree, you are labeled a Honda hater. (Even if you own a Honda?). Why would you pay good money for something that you hate?
Honda's quality has been slipping and needs to be corrected. There are to many quality problems of late that need to be addressed.
Myself included. That makes me a "gadfly"...whatever that means?
My opinion, and it's only an opinion mind you...
If a driver go's through brakes pads once in 7000 miles, I guess that's one thing. Defective pads?
Well....possibly, I guess.
More than once? Better look at the driver.
And...yes, I did manage a very large Sears auto center in a far prior life. This was back in the days when they hired good mechanics and did everything.
I remember we used to do brake jobs with a 40,000 mile warranty on the pads and linings. Usually we wouldn't see the car again for brakes. They either outlasted the 40K or the people sold the car. Of course, there were quite a few replacements around 25-40K.
And...there were a few...just a few that would be back every 5-8000 miles with worn out or burned up pads. After about the fourth time I would usually just refund the price of the brake job and suggest they take it somewhere else.
Hard drivers?...You tell me!
Hope this doesn't offend you isellhondas but all are entitled to post their respective problems relating to Honda Accords. Right or wrong, everyone has their own opinions.
And I certainly agree with you re: people posting problems. That's the title of this forum.
But...please bear with me a bit here...
People who read these forums can often be swayed by what they read.
I can already hear someone saying..." Oh, I would never buy an Accord...I hear the brakes have to be replaced every 7000 miles! " I read this on the internet, it must be true"
" Oh...that's HORRIBLE! I wouldn't buy one either!"
Now, I think, or at least I hope most of us here know this would be highly unusual and not a normal behavour of the car.
I guess that's why I feel compelled to at least state my opinion based on my experiences.
But, since I do sell Hondas I know my posts can look pretty self-serving.
Anyone with half a brain who reads a post stating "my sister's Accord had to have the brakes replaced 3 times at 7K mile intervals, therefore Accords have bad brakes", should be able to conclude that either she's a hard driver or there's something else wrong with the car.
However, that's usually not the case. For every post such as this, there's usually more idiots right behind who post the same negative crap concluding that all Hondas have bad brakes because of this.
Come on people, come on. Don't form opinions about different cars solely from these message boards. Read Consumer Reports, read recent reviews, read everything you can about any particular class of vehicle you're interested in. THEN form an opinion. For my money, Honda still beats the competition.
And no I don't sell Hondas. I'm just your average worker stiff who uses the internet as just another source of information.
Hey Isell, change your username to soemthing like IworkonHondas.
Mind you I love Accords but they do have problems.
isellhondas at times gets carried away and off on a tangent. Teo-I wouldn't pay any attention to his comments.
Finally,I am coming to my point.She has all the cars over-serviced at the dealer.She had a transmission replaced on her 98 or 99 Accord about 2,000 miles past the warranty period that she paid for.Her sons ACURA also had a transmission replacement shortly after the warranty period,which she also paid full price for.Her other son,s Accord a 2000 model ,I think had a brake job done at about 28,000 to 3,000 miles,the cost -almost $800.00.About 2 mos later he took it back.The brake job supposedly had a 12,000 mile warranty.They told her that it would not be covered because of his "driving style".She was told it would cost her another$800.00.When she asked me if I would talk to them for her I agreed to.I called the service manager and got nowhere.I then called the salesman who sold her the car.After getting double talk for about 20 minutes he offered a 10% discount on the brake job.A friend of my brother who has a shop fixed the brakes for $140.00.
I think the main problem with Honda is that the sales depts and the service depts believe their own BS about Honda quality and cannot even consider that there may be a problem.As a result they have lost a "goldmine"for sales and service.This lady is now intent on buying Saturns from here out.The local Saturn dealership,if they are more customer orientated,will now reap the benifits of her business.
Honda has a customer appreciation day at the dealership where I purchased my Accord every October. You bring your car in and they inspect it and tell you what problems that need to be corrected. Upon completion, they give you a free oil change certificate. The last time I went, I was told that my brake pads were worn and needed replacing with only 31K on the odometer. I passed and took my car to another Honda dealership.
I was told when they checked the brakes that I had 70% left on the front pads! Found an honest dealership that wasn't going to take advantage of customer. Needless to say, I have never gone back to the dealership where I bought my vehicle.
I'm no mechanic, but I do know a little about cars, enough to trigger the BS meter when some mechanic says I need to replace things. I would always get a second opinion on something like a transmission. I can check the brake pad thickness myself to verify that.
Here's a story about my son's truck. He bought a 1987 F150 with only 65000 original miles from his grand mother. The truck went through NY winters and the parking brake cables were seized so he took it to a local Firestone shop for new cables. His grand mother just had the vehicle fully checked over by a local mechanic who has serviced her cars for years. The Firestone shop also said he needed pads, rotors, calipers, and the front wheel bearings repacked. Along with new shoes on the back brakes. All to the tune of about $1000. He freaked out, never been in an experience like that. Well with what little I knew about brakes, are they squeeking, does the wheel vibrate when braking, are the rotors within specs, I knew the mechanic was full of it. I told him in a nice way to eat sh*t and just do the parking brake cables. That was over a year ago and the brakes have been fine, a good learning experience for a teenager.
But that just shows what some shops will do if they think they have someone who isn't knowledgeable.
Again, sorry to hear about your friend. I hope she's happy with her Saturn.
It seems the two in question are also those that heavily discount their cars and always have the "best deals in town"! Seems from my prospective there is a correlation on how they do business with the consumer. Sell low and make it up on repairs.
I realize that this could happen with any make.I just feel that,due to the self brainwashing of Honda sales and serevice people,they are more likely to put all responsibility on the customer then most dealers.
I also believe that this lady should have confronted them much sooner in the relationship.With all of Honda's concern for customer satisfaction,one would think that customers like her would be tracked and pampered.
Still, the customer should always be given the overwhelming benefit of any doubt.
A service dept can be 100% right but by their actions and words lose a loyal customer forever.
What other side of the story is there?This lady had shown by a decade of paying top dollar that she was not a chisler.In my opinion,a customer like this is worth many "free" brake jobs.I believe this "bullying"customer service approach is becoming more and more prevalent at Honda.
I think you do"hate" hearing these kind of stories and I think customers are picking up on this.
I have other friends who are diehard Honda buyers(yes they will associate with a Leganza owner),even they have their warranty service done at non-dealer shops.There seem to be a lot of independent shops run by factory trained mechanics.This leads me to believe that after working at a dealership,these mechanics see an opportunity to charge reasonable prices and still make money.These shops seem to have the equipment necessary to maintain these cars and offer prices that are well below Hondas.Here again I think customer indifference on Hondas part plays a role in this.
Knock on wood, the new transmission on my V-6 has been flawless to date but I did not like the attitude that was presented when my car was towed to the dealership. The service manager was less than accommodating and it took a call to Honda Regional to get my car fixed.
Honda needs to improve its customer service and be less arrogant and more like Lexus, Saturn or Infinity. Just my two cents to the discussion!