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For whatever reason, dealer inventory is pitiful in Colorado, so I was only able to test drive the automatic transmission models.
I4 EX-L: Great car, reminds me of my 98 Accord Coupe, except more like a BMW. I want it in my driveway as soon as possible.
V6 EX-L: Between 70 and 80 mph, it felt like the front wheels were out of balance. I even got the salesman to acknowledge the problem during the test drive. From what I've read in this forum, the vibration could be related to the VCM. If so, Honda did not fix the problem for 2009.
I've enjoyed reading about this, and appreciate being steered away from the V6 with VCM.
Has anyone driven the V6 MT? Any drivetrain problems?
cheers,
--Seth
Colorado Springs
A warning to potential buyers of the 2009 Accord, it has the same problem as the 2008. The VCM V6 is not the smooth powerful engine of the previous generation. There are much better cars available for the cost of this car.
Wow.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Too bad they didn't put the same thing in their brochures and other marketing and promotional materials. I could have saved myself a lot of money and aggravation.
If they were smart, they would get rid of the notification of the ECO light, and perhaps give the driver a button to turn off or on the feature. When they wanted the feature on, a simple icon would be nice to let you know that when the condition is right the VCM will engage, but you will not know exactly when it does engage. I am sure some find it annoying for it to be flashing on the dash anyway, and who wouldn't want to feel it switching over. Doing the above would give drivers to be able to take full advantage of the V6, but when they want to be more conservative, then they could simply push the button to engage the feature, then you know that at anytime it would engage.
Dealers are of course wanting to cover for this dilemma,I am sure it is not the norm of what "Honda" wanted. Dealers make excuses, when "we" the consumer know our cars, and know when something is not right. Hopefully Honda will look at all the cases of this, and are working on this for the 09 models.
I know if I had a V6, I wouldn't always want that feature on, I would love the option to turn this option off, and wouldn't want to see a light flashing on and off all the time, making me observe if it was working.
Also, the ECO light doesn't bother me at all.
I totally agree. The eco light is not intrusive at all, in fact if I did not look for it, I would not even know the VCM was activated. For those who don't want the ECO on all the time, that's easy, just stay on the gas!
Options are growing here, the last recommendation about a couple of months ago was to put a piece of duct tape over the light
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
Navi should make NO impact on the suspension, struts, wheels/tires etc. but we proved this out with several cars yesterday and at 2 diff dealerships in our area..
very very odd.....
Could it be because the Navi system introduces some frequency interference to the the active control engine mount (ACM) used to decrease engine-to-chassis vibration when the engine is in cylinder pause mode, rendering the ACM less effective at certain speeds/RPMs?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120111703171810629.html?mod=todays_us_weekend_jo- urnal
Good luck to all those having the problem.
FYI - Dealers have been low balling me on trade in with this car. I suspect they know what we all know.
i'm very angry that honda is getting away with this when its a known problem. i feel like i have to drive a death trap!
Honda, do what is right! :mad: This disappointment will erode your previously good name. It isn't worth it.
Me72, I hope you get even cent you paid on that Lemon back.
By the way, do you have navigation in it?
i finally heard back from the case manager. claims he's never heard of any problems with the vcm. :mad: :lemon:
By the way, he shouldn't even be in his position if he's walking around blindfolded as to a very significant issue with the new Accords. I find it unbelievable that he's unaware.
Honda, you designed, engineered, and distributed this car, no? Shouldn't you know more about it than anyone else and shouldn't you put that engineering talent to coming up with a fix for the poor folk who are enduring the problem, i.e. your customers? :sick:
Sorry for the ranting folks, but this is just stupid.
As in the past we expected a new car with no problems. We test drove the car in the city at 35-40 miles per hour without any problems. However, after we took the car on the highway from 55 miles per hour to 62 miles we felt vibration in the steering wheel and some vibration in the accelerator pedal. Additionally there was a humming sound. The humming sound was a lot more noticeable when we drove next to the highway divider.
I took the car to the dealer and complained of the problems. The Assistant Manager test drove the car, he thought that perhaps the tires were imbalanced so he rotated and replaced 2 tires. The problem did not get alleviated. The Assistant . Manager and a mechanic both test drove the car and both admitted in front of me that they noticed the same problem. The Asst. Manager told me that they were presenting this problem to their engineering people in Los Angeles with the request to respond. After numerous calls to see if they received any response from their L.A. engineering department. In the meantime the service center borrowed a 2008 Honda Accord ( exact model as mine) for me to test drive. I confirmed that there was also a vibration problem with this new car so the Asst. Manager also drove this car and confirmed after he test drove the car himself that indeed there was vibration.
A month went by when the service center still had no response from their engineering department in L.A .
They suggested that I'd bring in the car back in when their Service Manager from Honda Motorcar Co. in Michigan who is in charge of all the Service Centers belonging to the car dealer in this region visited their service center. He calls on all service centers on a regular basis.
At their request I brought the car in and met the Service Center Manager from Michigan. He was accompanied by the local Service Manger, their mechanic and myself to drive the car on the highway.
I proceeded to explain the problems to the Michigan Service Manager and what the local Service Center had done for this car up to this point, namely replace two tires and balance all tires, that they had borrowed a new 2008 identical car model to mine to test drive and found the same vibration when the speeds reached 58-64mph.
The Honda Service Manager from Michigan, he was accompanied by the local Service Manager , myself and the mechanic took a test drive and he also experienced the vibration. While test driving . While he noticed the vibration at speeds of 58 mph. I called to their attention about the humming noise and they did not acknowledge nor deny it. They told me that they would arrange for another new car, same model for test driving and asked me to bring the car back the following week.
I took the car back the following week, they had a new Honda with same model waiting . The Service Manger from Honda Motor in Michigan , local service manager and a mechanic accompany me for the highway road test. I told them I felt the vibration as well as the humming notice with this new car. do not see any difference with my own car.The Service Manager from Honda Motor said this was normal performance of Honda 2008 model therefor they are nothing they can do for me.
I called Honda Motor Customer Service and complained about the vibration and humming noise . She said her record indicated this was a normal designed performance of their new Honda Motor. Therefore they are not obligated to do anything about this complain. I asked her why Honda Motor failed to disclose to us when we purchase the 2008 Honda Accord that this car model will vibration at 58 to 62 + MPH? She just said this is a normal performance of the Honda Accord 2008 model,
Okay, I have to ask, just how BAD is it? Does it feel like the wheels are going to fly off the car? Is the steering wheel shaking your hands, or is it just something you can feel? I can tell when my car is in 3 cyl mode, and I have to be honest, I love it! It's a harmonic hum and it puts a smile on my face knowing I'm running on 3 cyl vs 6. I even try to coax the gas pedal to try to get it in, and keep it in 3 cyl mode. At higher speeds, generally 65+, it will run in 4 cyl mode. For perspective, I also have a Chevy Avalanche with cyl deactivation, and I can also tell when it's in 4 cyl vs 8 mode. It's just the nature of the engine - when you have less than all cyl's working, it's unbalanced, and I think Honda has done an excellent job in minimizing the effects. Now, if you're experiencing shaking and vibration where it feels like the wheels are going to fall off, then I think you have another problem altogether. If it's something you can just feel and you don't like it, I'm afraid Honda Motor Co won't be able to make you happy under any circumstances.
"unbalanced" motor operation....
I wonder what percentage of the VCM's have the problem.
"unbalanced" motor operation....
I'm not invalidating anyone's experiences, but to say it's a systemic problem I think is a stretch. The fact Honda has changed their advertising from "completely seamless" to "nearly seamless" was a response to those who are sensitive to the changes going on with VCM. Honda admitted their mistake in advertising by changing the description of operation to a more accurate statement.
Not sure where you are seeing the advertising change.
http://automobiles.honda.com/accord-sedan/features.aspx?feature=vcm
This is what the page to which you linked says. Note what it doesn't say here. It doesn't say "driver" anywhere. It says the "transition" will be unnoticed. It does not say running in any one of the modes will be unnoticed. And it says this will be unnoticed by the _passenger_, not the driver. I like the slick way they have written the advertising to make people think it says one thing while it says another, and says less.
You may have another page where they mentioned driver.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
1. The car is very jerky in general. Mostly when coming to a stop.
2. The car surges/de-surges on the highway like it's trying to shift.
I have my 2008 Honda EX-L in the shop for the 3rd time for these issues. After this, I'm most likely looking at the lemon law. :lemon:
Either way, i would like to see Honda offer a switch to turn the VCM on/off. I personally would shut it off due to the surge/de-surge issue. Just like turning off the VSA.
May I ask what you drove previously, and what mileage it got?
I imagine your highway mileage in the Honda would be noticeably better than the Infiniti.