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Comments
I guess the trade-off is you guys usually have better color selections.
http://auto.ascii24.com/auto24/issue/2002/1030/images/images668006.jpg
http://auto.ascii24.com/auto24/issue/2002/1030/images/images668007.jpg
Also, you may want to order your guards from
www.collegehillshonda.com
or
www.handa-accessories.com
They sells these accessories cheaper than ANY dealerships in my area. If you haven't finished the deal on your new car purchase have the dealer throw them in for free, they did this for us when we brought our new Honda Odyssey in August.
Thanks,
muskadine
Anyway, my point is that over the next 2 weeks, the rattles started getting fewer. But any little residual rattle drove me nuts. Every now and then I'd hit a hefty bump in the road and I'd hear that little squeak/rattle/knock sound. I tried every different scenario short of driving the car (via cruise control) while pushing on the windshield with one foot, wiggling the driver's side window with my other knee, stomach pushing up against the telescoping steering wheel (in case that was the culprit), one elbow against the center armrest, my head stretched all the way to the moonroof to try different presses and pinches and pushes, then reaching forward to steady the driver's sunshade, and somewhere in all that mess, having at least two fingers on my left hand to steer with.
In the end, I'm happy to report that none of that disgusting visual was ever necessary. The rattle is gone, all on its own. For 3 solid weeks, not a peep. I therefore figure a 3 week survival rate in the world of squeaks could be considered a cure. Good luck with yours!
price in AZ. We weighed the two cars you are
considering and the Accord wins for 2003 be-
cause of its new technology, increased hspr
and mileage as a result. The main difference
is that the Accord is a more solid ride, while
the Camry is softer.
You might want to see the "Honda Accord Owners - How Much Did You Pay?" discussion as well.
I have one theory based on cleaning the car last night: the source of the rattle may be from a molding on the OUTSIDE of the car. i'm not sure this is the right term, but i think it's called the "rain channel." there is a molding that runs from the corner of the windshield, along the side of the windshield, over the driver and back doors (along the roof edge) and terminates near the back window. while wiping down the car last night, i noticed i could make it do a muted rattle. the passenger side, on the other hand, had no such play. the give/play is minor, but i would guess that it is enough to vibrate over uneven pavement and emit a sound audible within the car cabin. my guess is that's why we can't seem to pinpoint it when in the car. when the car window is open, i think there is enough other noise, that we can't hear the rattle since it is quieter than ambient noise.
just a theory, but at least to this engineer/scientist/wanna-be rattle detective, this makes sense.
if you guys could check this molding strip out on your cars (just push down on it to see if it emits a sound), we may be able to confirm/refute this theory. my guess is that once it is "popped up" in equilibrium, the rattle ceases...but then something disrupts that equilibrium, and it starts again. hence, the coming and going of the rattle.
just my 2 bits. maybe prebmw can have this looked into during his friday visit.
FWIW, on our 2003 Accord EX, we paid about 50-100 bucks over invoice (i can't remember the exact numbers: i offered an out the door price and they backed out the appropriate pre-tax/title/license/doc fee cost) at Honda of Stevens Creek. i would imagine you could do a similar deal or better (since this was a few weeks ago) on an LX model. Other Bay Area dealers (i'm not sure which part of No. California you are located in) worthy of checking out (based on prior experiences): Anderson Direct in Palo Alto and Capitol Honda in San Jose. all 3 dealers are fairly high volume and probably can cut you a decent deal.
good luck.
anyway, i completely agree with your assessment of the car: beyond the rattle (which i admit is really driving me nuts, and subsequently, i'm driving my wife nuts!), so-so rear visibility in the rear, this is a fabulous car. i have no reservations about recommending the car, even with the rattle i'm trying to subdue. the rest of the positives outway my sniggling complaints.
the es300 and is300 are nice cars indeed although i haven't test driven the latest generation. you're right, 10k more is a quite a big difference in cost.
question though: your Lexus (RS300)has been reliable otherwise though, right? $50 for an oil change is ridiculously expensive. my guess is if you avoid going to the dealer for maintenance, ownership (after initial cost) costs of the Lexus is fairly low, right? [i do oil changes myself or, if lazy, go to my mechanic whom i trust and he charges me only $10 labor if i bring the oil, filter and washer]
Here are the power bands for the 2002 and 2003 Accords.
http://www.hondastyle.com/articles/press-releases/8.9.02_Accord/ dyno2.jpg
http://www.hondastyle.com/articles/press-releases/8.9.02_Accord/ dyno1.jpg
Please remove space between 8.9.02_Accord/ and dyno1.jpg and paste in browser.
Thanks...
So far no major complaints though there were a couple of loose pieces of trim inside the car which had to be fixed up. I was very impressed with the new interior. What does not impress me is the exterior which seems a bit bland. I guess a lot of people like bland these days so I'm sure it will be a best seller as always.
for example, at the dealer we bought www.hondaofstevenscreek.com, i see that their current inventory has 1 such vehicle of that model compared with 20 of the plain LX.
if you aren't worrying about Color, then you probably will be ok. i think if you want a particular color, then you may have a more difficult time getting your car of choice at a reasonable price.
we were sort of in the same dilemna as you: wanted front side airbags, and wife definitely wanted a white car. after looking around at inventory and getting a feel for LX with side airbag avail., we ended up with the EX. it wasn't such a hard sell for us, however, because i strongly wanted the 4 wheel disc brakes as well. the other stuff [alloy wheels, 6 disc CD changer, alarm, and sunroof] were nice but not necessary (about in that order of priority for us). in the end, i'm glad we got the alloy wheels and 6 disc changer. the other two are less useful. but i like having 4 wheel disc brakes...whether it really is much better than the disc/drum combo of the LX is probably more my subjective imagination.
but i agree, if all you want is the airbags, then why pay an extra 1800 for the other goodies that you don't care about. but if they don't have what you want around and charge a premium to get your car, you may end up looking at the EX because it makes better economic sense.
good luck.
It looks like I jumped the gun, but I still think people are waiting for the Mazda6 ( or for the economy to improve )
well, I'm taking a 3 week trip to Germany & Austria soon, I wonder if I will see any interesting Hondas over there ( is the euro accord available yet ? )
You want handling, looks, and roominess and performance and decent pricing in a family sedan? I don't think so. 4/5 maybe, but definitely not 5/5; something's gotta give.
I saw 3 more Accords today - 2 graphite and 1 white. The taillights are starting to become less objectionable.
Is it just me, or is the Edmunds TMV indicator becoming less reliable as an indicator of fair market price? This is the second or third time that there was as much as a 5% desparity between going price and Edmunds TMV.
Go figure.
Thanks again for the tips,
muskadine
Many people may be waiting for the ecomony to improve before buying a new car though.
The exterior styling of the new Accord is kind of bland and could have been better, but it is not a deal-breaker for most people. Look at the Camry! Is that any more exciting than the new Accord?
Passat and Altima exist for people who place exterior style as a higher priority. Too bad the the Altima has such a cheap interior, yet still prices out with a higher MSRP than an Accord once you match options and standard equiptment. In fact, the Altima, Camry and Passat all cost more once you add options to match an EX Accord. I can see some money in the Passat interior, but the Altima has no excuse.
From what I have read the 6 will be a very competitive car so if sales are slow, deals could make it very attractive to me in the future.
As for the poster that wanted to know about Accord LX over the Camry LE, I would go w/ the Accord. For about the same money, you can get(for the I4) ABS standard, they now have timing chains, and, I believe alloys. I also believe that the Honda LX's are getting decent deals in the western area right about now...