2008 Honda Accord EX from North America - Comments

What year Consumer Reports, as I have seen recommendations to the contrary. Toyota is a foreign import based mfr - I have seen more options and better warranty on our domestics. Price a new Tacoma and a new Ranger equivalent, and see what costs less for example.

Who owns Toyota...Japan or USA. there lies the insistence that any of their models are domestic. If a crown vic was made in canada does that. mean fords are imports?

"Also, Accord outscored Fusion in a recent road test looking for build quality, ownership cost and dependability"

When making such statements the citing of a SOURCE would be helpful. I suspect this "road test" was conducted by Honda. Consumer Reports (which is VERY Japanese-biased) even ranks Fusion higher in reliability than Accord.

Also, NO, the Tundra is not a DOMESTIC. It is a Japanese vehicle made in The U.S. by a tiny handful of Americans. Toyota is Japanese-owned and employs only about 3-4% of the people in the U.S. who work for auto-related industries. Again (as has been REPEATEDLY stated) buying anything other than a TRUE domestic (a vehicle built by an AMERICAN company) hurts 91% of the citizens of the U.S. who work in auto-related jobs. There is no way around this. Buy Japanese or German, help 9% of our people in the industry. Buy American help 91%. You're free to choose to hurt your fellow Americans, just admit it and not try to make up excuses.

"domestics are far more unpredictable"

Most of us have heard about "Monday cars", but maybe not everyone knows what that means. The UAW negotiated contracts that allow workers to call in on Monday morning and say they are taking a day off without any penalties. The result is that every Monday morning in a unionized plant is chaos as they try to figure out which workers are cross-trained and can fill in at positions they do not normally work. So you get assembly problems. Cars made on a Monday at a unionized plant are more likely to have reliability problems than a similar car built at a Toyota or a Honda plant in the southern US.

With the Fusion, Ford has been able to match Toyota and Honda build quality because it is made in Mexico. I don't think they could have done that with a car made in Michigan.

With my 1993 Taurus, I was perfectly happy with the little blue and white round sticker that said something like made with pride by UAW workers in Chicago, and I was always happy when I flew into Atlanta and looked out the window of the airplane and I could see the plant where my 1998 and 2005 Sables were made. And I never had any reliability problems. But I am a little bit happier to know my Fusion was made in Hermosillo by fellows who show up and work hard everyday and don't build "Monday cars."

Again Toyota is an import and read consumeraffairs.com.

Ford Ranger is a much, MUCH older and less technologically advanced vehicle than the Toyota Tacoma. The Ranger dates from 1993 while the much better Tacoma dates from the 2000's. You get what you pay for, and if I was looking for cheap, I'd buy a Ford Ranger, but for quality and a newer, better performing vehicle, I'd buy Tacoma.

Also, the Ranger is such a poor vehicle it doesn't make Recommended Buy lists and is rarely ranked, rated against similar vehicles in the class. Don't try as much as you like American, to make Ranger more than it is.

I would like to see any Tacomas in the million mile club

"I would like to see any Tacomas in the million mile club"

Me too. There is at least one Ford and one Cadillac I am aware of, but NO Japanese brands. The Million Mile Club requires that a vehicle go 1,000,000 miles with the original engine and transmission with NO rebuilds. No Japanese car or truck can do that. A Ford Ranger featured in Consumer Reports (October 2007) was well on its way to a million trouble-free miles. It was right at 500,000 miles with no problems.

Million mile club is nothing when patch-work is constantly being done on it just to keep it on the road. Sorry!

Look at the warranty to see if the mfr has confidence long term. I do not plan on any more issues with new Hondas.

"Million mile club is nothing when patch-work is constantly being done on it just to keep it on the road. Sorry!"

READ THE COMMENTS. The Million Mile Club consists of vehicles having the ORIGINAL engine and transmission. NO major repairs. The Fords and Cadillacs in the Million Mile Club had only routine maintenance. No engines, no transmissions and no body work. The current late-model contender for Ford is a Ranger with over half a million miles and no repairs beyond routine maintenance. Not even the frame components on Japanese vehicles can last that long. No Honda, Toyota or Nissan will EVER make 1000,000 miles. They are DESIGNED to be disposable. The VERY FEW that actually make over 200,000 miles are flukes.

Wasn't this just a review of a Honda Accord?

Can't we please get back to car reviews?

No offence, but all of these opinions are just that, opinions. That and a dollar fifty will get you a cup of coffee.

"A Ford Ranger featured in Consumer Reports (October 2007) was well on its way to a million trouble-free miles. It was right at 500,000 miles with no problems."

Sorry to burst your bubble, but 500K is quite a ways away from a million miles, by a long shot.

So how many Tacomas are in the half million club? Are there any half a bubble 500,000 mile ones that are well documented?

Another factor is why... who would want to drop money when so many inexpensive low mileage small truck of any kind is available in 2009. The papers are loaded with deals - used ones some parked long periods. For that matter a large V8 nice used model to me would be more useful carrying, towing that can be picked up for a song vs. high mileage repairs. Everything on a truck ages even more than cars... if used as a real truck. It's hardly worth it to keep an old vehicle anymore especially if the engine, trans even other components wear out.

I dumped an old import over needing the A/C replaced and some front end issues at 100.000 miles, let alone 500,000, if it didn't rot out by then and found another low mileage one vs repairs outlay. I think it works out cheaper to replace an old import.

"The VERY FEW that actually make over 200,000 miles are flukes."

What a very uninformed and biased opinion this is. From my experience it would be the other way around. My GM lasted 225K miles before the motor blew out. The Nissan lasted 352K until it was totalled so please re-examine your logic. Its flawed.