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2008 Honda Accord Coupe and Sedan
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http://automobiles.honda.com/future-cars/index.asp
I hate fluff and gadgets.
leather- cold in the winter( even with seat heaters), hot in the summer.
Seat warmers- Fire starters
Stability control- If you need it, your driving to fast for road conditions
ABS- See above line and add - also too close to the car in front. You can also stop in snow and gravel faster without ABS.
Traction control- Your foot comes as standard equipment and doesn't cost you anything more.
Sunroof-Price a new one for when the seal gives out and water comes in.
Navigation system- I already know how to get to work and play. Mapquest on your printer is a hell'av'lot cheaper.
Bluetooth- could be useful as long as the standard doesn't change.
Homelink- I don't have a garage door to open up.
Compass in mirror and auto dimming- you got to be kidding right.
The real concern I have with all these gidgets and gadgets is maintainence and cost of repair. I would imagine that some of these systems are ganged with others, so if one system packs up it will take others out with it. Adding to the cost of repair as the mechanic has to check all to find fault. Have you checked on the price of a ABS pump with Traction and Stability control lately? How much does a rear view mirror with a compass and outside temp cost if your kid wacks it? :confuse:
I keep my cars for longer than the average. :shades:
Do you live under a rock or something? I mean seriously, in this day and age. You really have some backward thinking, there have not been any incidences of heated seats starting fires and there are a lot of cars with them, ABS/Stability Control/Traction Control, not likely to cause any problems and can actually help you out a lot. Moonroof seals leaking? Maybe in the 70s and early 80s, not likely in 2007.
Why not add to your list a few other items....
Disc Brakes, why stop better when drums will get the job done!
Multi-reflector Halogen Headlights- Just cost more than sealedbeam old fashion type
Air Conditioning- It's cold up here in Canada, I have no use for it.
Front and Rear Defrosters- People can just get out and wipe em down themselves
Power windows- people are soo lazy
6speed transmission- I can drive with a 3 speed manual, a 6 speed will cost a ton to replace
Tachometer- another waste of money, I can shift w/o it
Cloth Seats- Bring back the nice cheap vinyl seats, easy cleanup too
Safety Glass- It's so expensive, I want the non-safety glass back, would make the car much cheaper
Airbags- again, why do I need safety equipment, I am the best driver out there
Seatbelts- Jeez, see above line
Remote Controls and power door locks- People are so lazy!
-mike
Rocky
This time around I got a car with the important to me extras, like 4 wheel disk brakes, and the automatic transmissions due to countless stop lights and traffic leading to shifts of only a couple gears. But, I can see if a person wanted a basic car, with no fluff at all, how it could be right for that person. Don't know why you unloaded on this person for just stating an opinion on what is important in a car.
I think we all could live without power windows. And in some cases be better off while doing so.
As I start buying a little more expensive cars, as years roll by, perhaps I will be getting more and more fluff along the way. So far no leather seats though.
Loren
Don't remember the site address - getting ready to buy another car and if anyone knows of the site - I'd be interested.
Might be useful for some of the posters asking geography price questions also.
rj
Not sure what you mean, I was just pointing out how it's a little odd in this day and age... I guess we should go back to carb engines too? It's just progress
-mike
I agree about the fluff part, but there is a number of convenience items I wouldn't live without. But I realize my definition of convenience might be your definition of fluff. Power windows? Haven't bought a car without power windows since 1990. Fluff to me might be a ML stereo on the Lexus, or the backup monitoring systems now available on a number of cars. But other people might consider them necessities. Depends on your point of view.
Look at any Ford and Chrysler product and you will see why my OLD sealed GLASS beam head lamps produce the same light over their entire life than peering through a gravel, dust pitted yellowed lense. How much does it cost to replace an old seal beam? Twenty bucks? How much is your dulled and pitted multi reflector? My nineties Bonneville had the best of both worlds with a multi reflector that had a glass lense.
The clutch and slave cylinder in a three speed tranny would probably be the same to replace as a six speed, if they still made them.
How many people even know what a tachometer is? If your a half decent driver, you do shift with out looking at the tach, but people so use to automatics wouldn't know that.
How many kids last year died with wind up windows?
You didn't hear me rant about safety items or performance items as I could get by with a four cylinder if that were the case. It is the electronic fluff and electronic nannies out there that make people believe that they can drive like Mario Andretti and that their cars electronic nannies will bail them out if they do something insanely stupid.
Not everthing that is new and "IMPROVED", is. It is often the case that it is cheaper to produce and install and their are people that will pay for it wether they need it or not.
I am just hoping that Honda will make a V-6 with a manual tranny stripper with safety in mind for a resonable price. If I could get wind up windows all the better. :shades:
http://automobiles.honda.com/models/specifications_descriptions.asp?ModelName=Ac- cord+Sedan
While I love the V6, the i4 tested Accord, was pretty impressive. Ever consider the i4 with a stick?
Loren
Welcome to 2007, you might as well give in because it's only going to get more and more feature packed as time goes on.
Heck I used to ridicule the Escalade guys who had backup sensors, they came std on my Armada and guess what? I can parallel park 100x better with them than I could without them, and I park daily in Manhattan.
-mike
I have deleted what I wanted to say in order to remain civil.
I was initially excited about the Accord diesel (for 2008 or 2009). But realistically, I'd settle for a bit more power and economy from the trusty 2.4L.
The 2008 Accord took a lot of styling cues from Volvo. I like it.
6000lb Race Car Trailer
9000lb Cigarette Boat
Both of which can't be towed by a Prius
I didn't realize I had to justify it to you guys here on Edmunds, but there it is!
-mike
Has nothing to do with a poorly built car, has to do with progress in technology, the lighting is better on a multireflector than a sealed beam.
-mike
We're all different. Different needs, different mind-sets.
Thankfully we live in a country that can supply us with automobiles that satisfy any particular need OR desire.
If you can afford it and want to drive a Silver Spur, who am I to find fault.
Paisan is correct. The safety items that are becoming more and more standard are here to stay. Personally, I don't think that's a bad thing. Remember back when airbags were first being introduced and some vehicles only came equipped with a drivers side airbag? How incredible was that? You're driving along and have a head-on collision with a drunk driver and you survive because of the airbag but your wife dies in the crash because she didn't have one!
-mike
-mike
-mike
Honda needs this option
Although it's an extreme long shot, here's one other convenience feature I'd love to see in the '08 Accord: a hard drive for music storage. I'm getting tired of always switching CDs!
And we still have to keep our fingers crossed for AWD.
-mike
You are mistaken. Edmunds has not contradicted that.
My Accord is a real 5 speed, and it makes it so much more fun to drive. If you don't know how to drive a stick, it only takes a half hour to learn. It's really easy. Heck, it only took my 16 year old daughter two lessons before she was a champ at rowing through the gears. Now if a 16 year old girl can learn how to shift, surely you can, bvdj84 ;-)
I had a single lesson on a stick when I was 16 in high school. I drove my first new car I ever bought (a 1984 5-speed Z-28) off the lot 7 years later. This was the first time I had touched a stick shift since that one & only lesson at 16. It's like riding a bike.
It really ain't that difficult. Pretty much the entire rest of the world has learned how to drive a stick.
>>You are mistaken. Edmunds has not contradicted that.
No, you are mistaken. Edmunds says:
2009 Honda Accord Midsize Coupe
Available: 2008
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/FVDP/Preview/styleId=100849243
Loren
I have a "manumatic" tranny on my Benz, and if you're accelerating, you might as well leave it in full auto mode instead of shifting up.
The only times I use mine is when cornering when I need to downshift, otherwise it's pretty pointless.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
In some countries you actually get 2 different lisc. designations, if you tested in an AT you get a restricted lisc. whereas with an MT you get a full one.
-mike
1. I think it looks better than having P-R-N-D-4-3-2-1 or in the case of my wifes VW w/6 speeds P-R-N-D-5-4-3-2-1.
2. Might be useful to downshift 1 or 2 gears, in advance, when preparing to pass on a 2 lane road.
3. Marginally easier to down shift when descending a long grade.
Based on the price of 5 speed automatics in Mazda6 vs. Fusion, this feature only adds about $50 to the cost of the automatic.
Prior to my most recent car I have had manuals. To me the down side of the automatic is all about the torque converter not losing the requirement to move a lever around to choose gears (or lack of a clutch pedal). If it were available for a reasonable cost, in car I wanted, I'd probably have taken a DSG or CVT to get the automatic gear selection without the slushbox.
Also people will be less likely to borrow your car.
-mike
Actually real world numbers favor the manuals even when the EPA numbers do not (CR tests show this). Also manuals are often at a dissadvantage gearing wise (shorter gearing) for the highway to prevent a need for downshifting. Hence the sometime advantage for automatics. If the gearing were equivalent the manual would do better.
The Edmunds link is probably a misprint., Here's what Gary Robinson, Honda's Senior Product Planner, says about the 2008 Accord due out this Fall:
http://vtec.net/news/news-item?news_item_id=651899
There are two videos there, a long and a shorter one.
They test very few manuals. In the short list from April 2006, one automatic did beat the manual (Chevy Aveo). There were only 6 others where they listed results for both manual and automatic and manual was 1-3 mpg better.
But there is more to the story...in the test of Honda Civic from Feb. 2006 the automatic got better highway mpg and the manual better city. The CR version of city driving does not seem to match driving I typically do...never get mpg as low as they measure.
Also manuals are often at a dissadvantage gearing wise (shorter gearing) for the highway to prevent a need for downshifting. Hence the sometime advantage for automatics. If the gearing were equivalent the manual would do better.
The, imo, dumb gearing of manuals today is one reason I switched. If I had gotten a manual in my mazda6, the engine would be running 25% faster when cruising in the top gear.