I had a horrible experience with my '98 Accord V-6 EX, but most people seem to like theirs (perhaps they have drastically improved since then). Certainly it seemed nice in terms of the major drivetrain parts, but the interior fit and finish was disappointing, the car had a number of warranty repairs, and I felt the steering and ride were surprisingly mediocre given Honda's overall reputation. I strongly preferred my '84 base-model Accord with 206K miles to my high-zoot '98 - to each his own I guess.
hello to my fellow accord owners. i have a question. i have a 5 speed LX sedan...and i know it has power brakes. does the LX 5-speed come with ABS. i'm not sure. because i was reading the manual the other day and it said it did. but anyways, my brake pedal, since it being a stick shift seems to be kind of soft when i'm on the business streets. it ocassionally gets hard on some business streets but i notice the difference when i'm on the freeway. when i'm going at higher speeds, the break seems harder giving me more brake power. i hope i'm pretty clear with this question. because sometimes i get scared when i'm on the freeway and the brake pedal feels kind of soft and i'm horrified that i won't be able to stop in time. does anyone else have a problem with this because it happened when i had a 1999 honda civic EX 5-speed. any coments?
I currently own a '95 Civic which is well on its way to lasting me a good 10 years. I'm planning to buy a second vehicle and was looking at the Accord. This vehicle seems to last almost forever and retain its good looks. The current model Accord seems to have the same kind of timeless styling, but can anyone give me their input on whether it's going to last as long as those earlier-model Accords?
Until I bought my '98 V-6 EX, I too thought Honda was perhaps the best carmaker in the world - now I am not so sure. I think the quality of the American-made cars is considerably worse than the older, all-Japanese cars. I frankly doubt it would have shown the longevity of my previous Hondas, as it had a variety of not-insignificant problems in the first 40K miles or so. I would at least shop the competition if I were you.
Our 98 LX 4 cyl automatic was as nearly flawless as any car I have ever owned, and we have had over 40 cars since 1962. Our 01 EX V6 sedan is too young for predictions, except to say that it is noticeably tighter, quieter, and of course much quicker, than the 98. We couldn't be happier.
These are mass-produced, man-made objects, so of course "your results will vary"...I am still convinced that only Honda and Toyota really have it together in the auto business at the moment. Can't go wrong with either company's products...we've owned plenty of both, as well as everything German [13 Mercedes over the years], and for the money, it is very hard to beat the current generation Accord. Of course, the new Camry will be out in the Fall, and that could raise the bar again...
Last night we picked up our firepepper red sedan. We are not new to the Honda family, in addition to the new accord we also house an 00 RL and a "can't wait for spring" 01 S2000. I can say with the amount of money we have recently given up to Honda we have tons of faith in these products.
I was anxious to get the accord after reading several post here about road noise etc. We paid 19,600 for this car and after one day of ownership I feel we got a hell of alot car for the money. I also felt this way towards the RL. My only complaint with the RL is the resale value is awful on this car. (no thanks to Acura's $5000 incentive on 00's) but back to the Accord. If anyone is considering this car you owe it to yourself the think hard about not buying an Accord. Especially the 5-speed EX.
One of the reasons that I opted for ordering the EX 5-speed rather than the LX 5-speed was that the LX manual had no ABS available. My understanding is that ABS is an option on the 4 cylinder auto LX. EX versions come with ABS as standard equipment, as does the V6 LX. The Honda material that I've read says that the LX 5-speed comes with front disc brakes and rear drum brakes. I don't know what accounts for the variation in your brake pedal resistance, though.
I'm the proud owner of a 2001 LX 5-sp and would like to purchase a new mobile ham radio (2M or 2M/70cm) for installation in the car. I'm curious if any of you are hams and, if so, what are you using in your Accord? Also, I would be very interested in hearing how you installed your rig.
Along the same lines... has anyone installed a radio of any type in the storage space beneath the factory radio? If so, how were you able to remove the fold-down door? Also, did you just "drop" the radio in the box or did you remove the box (somehow)?
I need some advice. Should I buy a used 98 or 99 Honda Accord for around $15,000 or a '98 Mazda 626 for $11,000? Both have around 30,000 miles. I like the idea of a lower price. Am I not seeing the whole picture?
Ok, while probably not totally related, I have to share my experience with Mazda. My very first car was a 91 Mazda 323 hatchback. After owning it just a few days past 5 years with very low mileage (to/from school car essentially), my automatic tranny ate itself. I only had about 30,000km on the car. The tranny warranty was for 5 years/100,000km. When we opened the pan, it was full of metal. A rebuild cost me approximately C$1700. The attitude of the dealer when I went back to them was basically "tough sh*t, it's out of warranty". Mazda corporate basically told me they wouldn't do anything since it's out of warranty. While I can appreciate that it was indeed out of warranty (albeit maybe only a week or two - give me a break), a properly maintained car shouldn't disintegrate the tranny at 30,000km!! This was also a Japanese-made Mazda.
I bought a 1997 Civic shortly after (Canadian-made). That car ran flawlessly for over four years and 75,000km before I traded it. I now run a 2001 Accord EX-V6 and so far, it's been very good. I expect to get the same experience with the Accord as my Civic.
Now I'm sure that there are lots of happy Mazda owners out there, but I think you do get what you pay for. FYI, my other first car choice was a 91 Civic hatchback but I considered it too expensive at the time. Funny.
Whatever car you choose though, make sure you get all service records and have the car checked thoroughly.
Some how I made a big mistake and bought 97 626 LX Auto at 22K. I changed all 4 Deathstone tires because of factory defect, shortly the engine started to tick, dealer could not make it stop. LAter on I learned that MAzda engines are very famous for this ticking sound. It was pretty loud tough. Irratic idling, dimmed headlights and interior lights while in the stop and go traffic. Engine cut off several times with no reason. At 30K transmission replaced, they replaced it with another generation of FORD transmission. Never run properly, it was banging when you get the R and shifthing was very rough. 1K later they changed the ValveBody, right after that auto doors lock were replaced, I called Mazda many many times, they did not let me go to different dealer because according to them it was first dealers reponsibility to correct the problems, original dealer was stating that transmission was OK. Finally they deny to work on the transmission. All these things were happening to 2 years old 30K miles car. On July the 3th 1999 I drove to Honda dealer and left that piece of s@#% and I was driving silver 99 5spd LX on my way to home. I consider myself pick about what I drive and my accord runs like Swiss Clock.
Hello! I am new to this site and so far I love it. I'm from the Philadelphia area and am shopping for a 2001 Honda Accord EX 6 cyl. By my calculations (using this site's guide) my adjusted TMV should be $22,681 + $440 destination charge - $500 for the dealer incentive (effective until 2/28/01)= $22,621. I offered $22,600, that should give the dealer their profit as Honda has a 2% holdback. The dealer I saw tonight would not budge from $23,279. Is my math wrong? Are the Accord EX 6 cyl's selling regularly over $23,000? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated as this is my first new car buying experience.
Actually, the dealer's offer isn't bad. Why? Your $500 dealer incentive is for a 2000 model Accord, not a 2001, which is what you are pricing. Whew. I got nervous when you talked about the incentive. Honda would never offer an incentive on a current year V6 Accord in February.
Offer $23,100, adding the $500 you took off. That means the delta between you and the dealer is only $179. That should be very easy to bridge.
Thank you for pointing out my error. I guess I was paying so much attention to the formula I did not see that, in fact, the incentive is on the 2000 models. The dealer is Conicelli, they were very nice, and now I know my numbers were wrong. Any experience with them, or any other Honda dealers in the Philly area for that matter?
I just bought a 2001 EX 6cyl in northern IL. I paid $23,175 (which included dest. chg.) That was $400 over invoice. I didn't get a great deal but I felt like I didn't get hurt either. Sometimes it just isn't worth haggling over a couple hundred dollars. The dealerships have to make it worth their time. I was happy, they were happy.......
I just bought a 2001 Accord EX V6 for $22875.00 (this includes invoice + 100 + destination charge). This was basically a no haggle deal I worked out via email with the sales manager at my local dealership. Dealers around here have 50-100 Accords on their lots and don't seem to particular about trying to hold out for top dollar.
First, check out the All Encompassing Honda Accord Topic under Smart Shoppers.
I bought my 2001 Accord EX-6 in December and paid $22,974 plus $160 for mud gards and wheel locks, plus tax and license. This is in Southern California. That was the price quoted to me by Autobytel. Carpoint came in about $300 more. I still think I could have shopped it around and gotten it for about $300-$400 less because two weeks later Edmunds dropped its TMV a few hundred dollars on the car. I would recommend you try walking into a dealership, pointing out the car you want, and offering the lower price. No haggling. Take it or leave it. Do this about three or four times. If there are no takers, take the price you were quoted. Let us know what happens.
I've never dealt with Conicelli, but I haven't heard any horror stories.
My father and I have bought 4 Hondas from Keenan in Doylestown (Business 611 near Fred Beans and Thompson dealer conglomerates). I've obviously been pleased with their service. They don't compete heavily on price; they emphasize their service. It's a smaller dealership, not an auto mall, if you care about these things. That said, I did get my EX-L coupe for near invoice because I took delivery on the last business day of year 2000...they wanted to make year-end quotas and were more willing to deal.
But if Conicelli is doing fine for you, you might want to try them. I'd stay away from Potamkin Honda in Langhorne. Heck, avoid all those Route 1 dealerships. Scott Honda in West Chester is PA's largest, so they probably have great inventory, but they probably are into volume, not personal service.
bgabel1260 - I have heard good things about Keenan as well. I'll give them a call. I have heard mixed reviews on Conicelli, but I thought I'd give them a try.
Hi, I am new to this site and like everything I have seen so far. Its time to sell my 87 prelude and buy a grown up 4 door sedan. I love my prelude and am guessing I would also like a Honda Accord, probably a 2001 EX-4. Does anyone have any good experiences with dealers in New Jersey? Should I consider other sedans that would be similar in reliability, safety, dependability, etc.? Is this a good time to buy an Accord or should I wait until later in the year? the financing seems very good to me. thanks for any advice and help!
i just bought my accord a month or so ago from scott honda in west chester. i was told when i moved here last year by a number of people that scott was well-thought-of.
my experience was......OK. that's about it.
salesrep, though, was quite good: alex hajj, scott's Internet sales rep.
I would recommend Paramus Honda in New Jersey. I bought my 98 Accord EX-4 from them and my experience was a professional and pleasant one. I hooked up with them through AutoByTel.com. I used edmund's buying guide as a starting point for price negotiations. Overall, I'm happy with my Accord except for a few squeaks and rattles from the dash (19,000 miles). BTW, stay away from Bob Ciasulli Honda (if they're still in business). They were very pushy and disrespectful and very unprofessional.
I purchased a 2001 Accord EX 4 Auto sedan at Clinton Honda, in Clinton NJ last week for $20,414 plus tax. The sales person was Bill Thompson. Low pressure dealership. I would recommend them. I also got a quote from the internet manager from Joyce Honda in Denville, NJ for $20,448 for the same car. You may want to try carsdirect.com. On their web site they say $20,097, about $100 below invoice for the same car. Special financing ends February 28th.
Again, thank you for your advice and the reference. I am picking up my new Accord on Saturday from Keenan. The deal was done over e-mail and the phone. $22,990 + tax and tags, I can't argue. Even told me to check Edmunds when I inquired about the price. I never thought I would actually enjoy buying a new car. Thanks to jpster, maryg2, kaycee41, steve05401, tgppnp and last, but not least, rrussell. The only dealer who admitted edmunds existed.
Keenan offered you $22,990 for the EX V6? I'm impressed...that's a very good price for them at $215 over invoice. What color is your Accord?
I've always been impressed by their detailing job. I hope you get goosebumps when you see your car for the first time. No wonder I think "immediate delivery" is a farce...I love to see a mint car all shined up!
Just recently purchased a new 01 Accord LX and am having an issue with the factory radio. The CD and AM dial works fine, but when I am listening to FM radio, it seems like it isn't receiving a very strong signal at times and it seems fuzzy. Dealer could not duplicate (of course). I don't know if it is the radio, the antenna, or something in between. Anybody with similar problems??
Glad you got your new Accord, sounds like you had a good experience with the dealer too! Maryg2 is right...it's a fun car to drive. Let us know how you like it.
who listens to FM anymore? it's talk radio, guys..AM, baby--- sports talk-- and cd's...maybe mp3's.... FM radio is soooo 20th century-- get in the game....
hello all. does it really matter what kind of gas you put in the car. i use 92 octane on my car. i have an 2000 LX 5 speed. but i did notice that when i use 89 or 87, my mileage goes down. meaning, i get more mileage when i use 92. is it just me or do any of you see that as well.
I word of advice for new car buyers...be knowledgeable about the price of accessories or "add-ons" before you sit down with the salesman to make your purchase. My Accord Coupe was the first "new" car I had bought, and I did alot of research before buying. When I told the salesman I wanted a spoiler added he brought out a list of accessories and price list, then proceeded to add $637 to my contract. Whoa, that was $68 more than Honda's website for sug. retail and I told them so. They lowered the price because I was such a "good customer". Ya, right! I would like to have splash guards added, but now I know this dealership has inflated prices, so I hate to go back there and have to haggle price again. I'm thinking about going to a different dealership that's closer to my house for this service, but wonder how I'll be treated since I bought the car a few weeks ago at a competior. (They offered better trade-in on my old car, $800 more, and same price for new car). What experience have the rest of you had when going to a different dealership for service? Also, has anyone installed their own Honda splash guards and did they have any problems. I think I have a screwdriver here somewhere.............
I know what you mean. One dealer that I used to go to, CARTER HONDA in Vancouver which I would advice everyone to avoid, said they would sell me all accessories at cost. Well I checked around and it turned out that their "at cost" prices in some cases were higher than other dealer's retail prices. The sales department at CARTER is absolutely crap.
When I owned my Contour, I serviced my car at a different dealership than where I bought it. The selling dealership had a lousy service department, so why should I be forced to deal with it? Ford is Ford (which isn't saying much).
I have a good Honda dealer, so I haven't taken my cars anyplace else. You should be able to take your Honda wherever you like for service. If you need warranty work, the servicing dealer, even if it is different from where you bought your Accord, isn't losing money...they are billing Honda back and they probably make a small profit as well.
That said, a few car lines - I think Toyota is one - say that you should take your car to the selling dealership for service. Whatever their reason, I think this is bogus. An unsatisfied customer is an unsatisfied customer. Try out your selling dealer's service operation first. If it does not meet your expectations, feel free to look elsewhere. The point of factory warranties is that they are valid at ANY factory authorized dealership.
On the topic of accessories, I ordered a rear sunshade and a trunk apron for my Coupe through some online Honda accessories place. The parts cost about half of the dealership's installed price. However, looking at the instructions, I didn't realize how complicated installation really is. You need to drill through sheetmetal to install the $25 trunk apron...kind of silly and I'm certainly not doing it. The rear sunshade requires removing the rear speakers and cutting a hole in the rear deck. It's not difficult work, but I'm not too happy with the prospect of ripping down the headliner and popping off some plastic pieces. I think I'll have my dealer install it and just bite the labor charges.
I was looking to install fog lamps myself since you can save almost $200, but saw the 14 page installation guide and said "no way!"
I picked up my car today, Satin Silver, quartz interior, car looks sharp! You are right kaycee41 and maryg2, the car is soooo much fun to drive. I was at the dealer maybe an hour. I'll check in later.
This topic comes up from time to time. In my experience, you can find a lot of information on the net from seemingly credible organizations that says that you're wasting your money using higher octane fuel than recommended by the manufacturer. On the other hand, most of the "evidence" cited by the pro-"premium is better regardless" faction is anecdotal in nature. "My car seems faster, runs smoother, etc.", "I get better mileage" are common claims.
I have seen several claims that higher than recommended octane fuel can actually be harmful to your engine over time. The reasoning behind this makes sense to me. Modern engine systems can compensate for engine knock by retarding the timing. Beyond this, the system can't magically determine the octane of the gas you put in your tank and compensate for the change. This system will normally come into play if you need to or decide to run lower octane gas in a car that requires higher octane (recommended only in an emergency). If the engine knocks with the lower octane fuel, the timing will be automatically retarded to stop the knocking. Performance and gas mileage will probably suffer as a result.
However, it usually doesn't work the other way around. If 87 octane is recommended and you don't experience knock, the timing will remain set for 87 octane even if you use 92 octane. The major difference between octane levels is that higher octane gas burns slower than lower octane gas. The engine system is set to optimize the burning of the recommended octane. When 92 octane gas is used in a car set for 87 octane, you can experience incomplete burning, which can result in faster and greater development of carbon deposits in your cylinders. This is not a desirable thing.
My position has been that, if fuel with a higher than recommended octane "fixes" something with your engine or really makes it run smoother, there's a problem with your engine. Instead of band-aiding the problem and masking the symptoms with higher octane fuel, get your car serviced to remedy the problem.
My 2000 Accord V-6 runs beautifully on 87 octane gas. A few months ago, I got into an exchange with a "premium gas is always better" zealot who challenged me to try it for myself. I thought it would be a waste of time, so I said no. However, a local station had a promotion where once a week, 92 octane was sold at 87 octane prices. So I thought I'd give it a try, so that I could cite my own anecdotal results when this topic came up again.
You can probably guess the results. I ran 92 octane for 2 full tanks. There was absolutely NO difference in the way the engine ran (not surprising, since it runs so well with 87 octane). Also, my gas mileage for those 2 tanks was identical to what I get with 87 octane.
So, for what it's worth, you can find lots of official sounding advice that says not to use higher than recommended octane. Best case scenario is that it's a waste of money, worst case scenario is that it can harm your engine over time. On the other hand, you can find lots of anecdotal "evidence" from individual car owners that higher than recommended octane has benefits. My personal anecdotal "evidence" shows that this is not the case.
So, if you're asking for advice, I'd say don't do it. However, as they say, your mileage may vary (no pun intended).
Amen. This is another topic that tends to be beaten to death with misinformation and campfire legends. If your car that is supposed to run on regular reguires premium, or does anything at all "better" on premium, then there is something wrong with your engine. And that old sawhorse about more additives and better cleaning is no longer true, either: most name-brand regulars have all the same "secret sauce" in them that are in the premium grades from the same refinery.
Spending more money is always a personal choice - I've got better things to do with mine...to each his own...
When I bought my car, I didn't think about going to another dealer for the service. However, now that I've changed dealer (after 1 unsuccessful try to find a better one), I couldn't be happier and only regret not doing so earlier. Why was I sticking with the dealer who sold me the car?
A) I thought he knew my car well.
This turns out to be a load of crap since all the dealers use computer systems to store data on your service history. Also, Honda dealers don't sell many models, so they're bound to know of all the possible problems on these cars.
I thought that the service would be at par with the high (relatively speaking...) quality of the sales dep't.
That turns out to be pure BS. In fact, from my experience and from what I've heard, the service and the sales dep't are totally independent.
C) I thought I'd be getting better service as a long-standing customer.
Some dealers are more than happy to get new customers. The level of service you get on your first visit is a good clue to what you can expect at that dealer.
Congratulations!! I know you're going to love your car. I passed a guy with a silver 01 EX Coupe yesterday, had a spoiler and black nose guard, looked sooo sharp. I have absolutely no reqrets about choosing my Accord Coupe over all the other cars I looked at, but I'm still undecided about the color....just couldn't makeup my mind (it's a "girl-thing",you know). I was about equal on black, silver, white & red, liked them all. The gold is pretty, but just doesn't look right on a coupe, IMO. If they offered the Eternal Blue in a 6cyl I would have gone for that and been a happy pup. I like the black, but I still had a pang of envy when I saw that silver coupe yesterday.....humm, maybe I should get one in each color....................anyone got a good feeling about lottery numbers today???
Gentlemen; After looking at many,many cars I finally setteled on the 2001 Honda Accord EX VL with a V6. The price was $22974 and done over the internet with Classic Honda of Turnersville NJ, everything went very smoothly and on the up+up. My car is Firepepper Red and sure looks good .I was really amazed at how well this deal went down. Time to go for a drive now.
Congratulations on your new EX-6. I paid exactly the same price (to the dollar) on Dec. 28. I bought it after shopping around for about 6 months, and it was my fourth Accord, but the first EX. I am now glad I got the 6 cylinder--what a pleasure to drive.
Where did you get yours? I got mine through Autobytel at Costa Mesa Honda in Orange County, CA.
BTW, I had my heart set on a Camry after doing my research, but I could not make myself like the interior styling--so boring. And Toyota charges you through the nose for every option. The EX is loaded. Great car.
Hey you look at the Emerald Green Pearl yet, it's aboslutely gorgeous. I think with a car like the Honda Accord, the darker the color the better. I've just recentenly acquired an Accord Sedan and I've got the Emerald Green color, let me tell ya I can't stop admiring that car.
Anyway, we are looking at an EX automatic for about 200 over invoice. No leather, no V6. For the flat lands of south Jersey, talking on cell phone, chatting with the kids in back seat, the 5 speed doesn't make as much sense. Driving in VT, though, would be a ton more fun with the stick.
What do folks think of the fire pepper red? It is our # 1 choice. The deep emerald green would look sharp each of the 4 times a year it gets waxed, but dingy all the other 361. Silver isn't a bad choice either, but our current accord is silver.
Comments
Reading the posts of many different kinds of sedans, it seems that Honda still makes the highest quality cars at a reasonable price.
These are mass-produced, man-made objects, so of course "your results will vary"...I am still convinced that only Honda and Toyota really have it together in the auto business at the moment. Can't go wrong with either company's products...we've owned plenty of both, as well as everything German [13 Mercedes over the years], and for the money, it is very hard to beat the current generation Accord. Of course, the new Camry will be out in the Fall, and that could raise the bar again...
We are not new to the Honda family, in addition to the new accord we also house an 00 RL and a "can't wait for spring" 01 S2000. I can say
with the amount of money we have recently given up to Honda we have tons of faith in these products.
I was anxious to get the accord after reading several post here about road noise etc. We paid
19,600 for this car and after one day of ownership
I feel we got a hell of alot car for the money.
I also felt this way towards the RL. My only complaint with the RL is the resale value is awful on this car. (no thanks to Acura's $5000 incentive on 00's) but back to the Accord. If anyone is considering this car you owe it to yourself the think hard about not buying an Accord. Especially the 5-speed EX.
I'm the proud owner of a 2001 LX 5-sp and would like to purchase a new mobile ham radio (2M or 2M/70cm) for installation in the car. I'm curious if any of you are hams and, if so, what are you using in your Accord? Also, I would be very interested in hearing how you installed your rig.
Along the same lines... has anyone installed a radio of any type in the storage space beneath the factory radio? If so, how were you able to remove the fold-down door? Also, did you just "drop" the radio in the box or did you remove the box (somehow)?
Thanks and 73s!
I bought a 1997 Civic shortly after (Canadian-made). That car ran flawlessly for over four years and 75,000km before I traded it. I now run a 2001 Accord EX-V6 and so far, it's been very good. I expect to get the same experience with the Accord as my Civic.
Now I'm sure that there are lots of happy Mazda owners out there, but I think you do get what you pay for. FYI, my other first car choice was a 91 Civic hatchback but I considered it too expensive at the time. Funny.
Whatever car you choose though, make sure you get all service records and have the car checked thoroughly.
Offer $23,100, adding the $500 you took off. That means the delta between you and the dealer is only $179. That should be very easy to bridge.
BTW, what dealership are your negotiating with?
Thanks for your help.
I bought my 2001 Accord EX-6 in December and paid $22,974 plus $160 for mud gards and wheel locks, plus tax and license. This is in Southern California. That was the price quoted to me by Autobytel. Carpoint came in about $300 more. I still think I could have shopped it around and gotten it for about $300-$400 less because two weeks later Edmunds dropped its TMV a few hundred dollars on the car. I would recommend you try walking into a dealership, pointing out the car you want, and offering the lower price. No haggling. Take it or leave it. Do this about three or four times. If there are no takers, take the price you were quoted. Let us know what happens.
My father and I have bought 4 Hondas from Keenan in Doylestown (Business 611 near Fred Beans and Thompson dealer conglomerates). I've obviously been pleased with their service. They don't compete heavily on price; they emphasize their service. It's a smaller dealership, not an auto mall, if you care about these things. That said, I did get my EX-L coupe for near invoice because I took delivery on the last business day of year 2000...they wanted to make year-end quotas and were more willing to deal.
But if Conicelli is doing fine for you, you might want to try them. I'd stay away from Potamkin Honda in Langhorne. Heck, avoid all those Route 1 dealerships. Scott Honda in West Chester is PA's largest, so they probably have great inventory, but they probably are into volume, not personal service.
I'll let you all know how I make out.
Thanks again.
my experience was......OK. that's about it.
salesrep, though, was quite good: alex hajj, scott's Internet sales rep.
Overall, I'm happy with my Accord except for a few squeaks and rattles from the dash (19,000 miles). BTW, stay away from Bob Ciasulli Honda (if they're still in business). They were very pushy and disrespectful and very unprofessional.
Good Luck.
Accordian
I've always been impressed by their detailing job. I hope you get goosebumps when you see your car for the first time. No wonder I think "immediate delivery" is a farce...I love to see a mint car all shined up!
my '01 LX sedan's FM reception is just as lousy as yours apparently is.
so... there's probably no "problem" per se with yours.
you and i are SOL, unless we swap the radio, i think.
disappointing..........
I have a good Honda dealer, so I haven't taken my cars anyplace else. You should be able to take your Honda wherever you like for service. If you need warranty work, the servicing dealer, even if it is different from where you bought your Accord, isn't losing money...they are billing Honda back and they probably make a small profit as well.
That said, a few car lines - I think Toyota is one - say that you should take your car to the selling dealership for service. Whatever their reason, I think this is bogus. An unsatisfied customer is an unsatisfied customer. Try out your selling dealer's service operation first. If it does not meet your expectations, feel free to look elsewhere. The point of factory warranties is that they are valid at ANY factory authorized dealership.
On the topic of accessories, I ordered a rear sunshade and a trunk apron for my Coupe through some online Honda accessories place. The parts cost about half of the dealership's installed price. However, looking at the instructions, I didn't realize how complicated installation really is. You need to drill through sheetmetal to install the $25 trunk apron...kind of silly and I'm certainly not doing it. The rear sunshade requires removing the rear speakers and cutting a hole in the rear deck. It's not difficult work, but I'm not too happy with the prospect of ripping down the headliner and popping off some plastic pieces. I think I'll have my dealer install it and just bite the labor charges.
I was looking to install fog lamps myself since you can save almost $200, but saw the 14 page installation guide and said "no way!"
I have seen several claims that higher than recommended octane fuel can actually be harmful to your engine over time. The reasoning behind this makes sense to me. Modern engine systems can compensate for engine knock by retarding the timing. Beyond this, the system can't magically determine the octane of the gas you put in your tank and compensate for the change. This system will normally come into play if you need to or decide to run lower octane gas in a car that requires higher octane (recommended only in an emergency). If the engine knocks with the lower octane fuel, the timing will be automatically retarded to stop the knocking. Performance and gas mileage will probably suffer as a result.
However, it usually doesn't work the other way around. If 87 octane is recommended and you don't experience knock, the timing will remain set for 87 octane even if you use 92 octane. The major difference between octane levels is that higher octane gas burns slower than lower octane gas. The engine system is set to optimize the burning of the recommended octane. When 92 octane gas is used in a car set for 87 octane, you can experience incomplete burning, which can result in faster and greater development of carbon deposits in your cylinders. This is not a desirable thing.
My position has been that, if fuel with a higher than recommended octane "fixes" something with your engine or really makes it run smoother, there's a problem with your engine. Instead of band-aiding the problem and masking the symptoms with higher octane fuel, get your car serviced to remedy the problem.
My 2000 Accord V-6 runs beautifully on 87 octane gas. A few months ago, I got into an exchange with a "premium gas is always better" zealot who challenged me to try it for myself. I thought it would be a waste of time, so I said no. However, a local station had a promotion where once a week, 92 octane was sold at 87 octane prices. So I thought I'd give it a try, so that I could cite my own anecdotal results when this topic came up again.
You can probably guess the results. I ran 92 octane for 2 full tanks. There was absolutely NO difference in the way the engine ran (not surprising, since it runs so well with 87 octane). Also, my gas mileage for those 2 tanks was identical to what I get with 87 octane.
So, for what it's worth, you can find lots of official sounding advice that says not to use higher than recommended octane. Best case scenario is that it's a waste of money, worst case scenario is that it can harm your engine over time. On the other hand, you can find lots of anecdotal "evidence" from individual car owners that higher than recommended octane has benefits. My personal anecdotal "evidence" shows that this is not the case.
So, if you're asking for advice, I'd say don't do it. However, as they say, your mileage may vary (no pun intended).
Spending more money is always a personal choice - I've got better things to do with mine...to each his own...
A) I thought he knew my car well.
This turns out to be a load of crap since all the dealers use computer systems to store data on your service history. Also, Honda dealers don't sell many models, so they're bound to know of all the possible problems on these cars.
That turns out to be pure BS. In fact, from my experience and from what I've heard, the service and the sales dep't are totally independent.
C) I thought I'd be getting better service as a long-standing customer.
Some dealers are more than happy to get new customers. The level of service you get on your first visit is a good clue to what you can expect at that dealer.
D) I thought all dealers had lousy service dep't.
They don't. Shop around.
After looking at many,many cars I finally setteled on the 2001 Honda Accord EX VL with a
V6. The price was $22974 and done over the internet with Classic Honda of Turnersville NJ, everything went very smoothly and on the up+up. My car is Firepepper Red and sure looks good .I was really amazed at how well this deal went down. Time to go for a drive now.
geo25
Where did you get yours? I got mine through Autobytel at Costa Mesa Honda in Orange County, CA.
BTW, I had my heart set on a Camry after doing my research, but I could not make myself like the interior styling--so boring. And Toyota charges you through the nose for every option. The EX is loaded. Great car.
Anyway, we are looking at an EX automatic for about 200 over invoice. No leather, no V6. For the flat lands of south Jersey, talking on cell phone, chatting with the kids in back seat, the 5 speed doesn't make as much sense. Driving in VT, though, would be a ton more fun with the stick.
What do folks think of the fire pepper red? It is our # 1 choice. The deep emerald green would look sharp each of the 4 times a year it gets waxed, but dingy all the other 361. Silver isn't a bad choice either, but our current accord is silver.
Paul