2008 Honda Accord EX from North America - Comments

15:54 I am grateful there are 5000 auto workers no longer working a 1/4 mile from my neighborhood as well. Lots of high end homes for sale too. My home dropped another 100K in value so maybe I can get my best value driving a cheap import now.

I no longer drive Mercedes as well from the excessive 80's era... I drive domestics today.

"18:54 the Nissan has had nothing in 360,000 miles? What's your secret to never needing timing belts, starters, heater cores, shocks, ball joints universals, A/C issues at even half that mileage? My Nissan was not as perfect."

Maybe it didn't last as long because you never maintained it. In the 360K the car NEVER stalled or left me stranded. Unfortunately you must be one of those who believe in the myth that imports never need maintenance.

My Nissan Z car needed maintenance from the dealership. My comment saying never needing maintenance in 360000 miles is impossible. Not a domestic view instinctively overprotective.

My Nissan required Routine Maintenance plus AC replacement and other mechanical issues at 70,000 miles, maybe the next 290,000 never a bill?

Yes, it is outrageous that "cash for clunkers" turned into a US government funded subsidy for Japanese cars! Worse yet, the government and media seem to want to promulgate the myth that the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic are the top sellers in the program, in contrast to Edmunds who clearly show that the Ford Escape, Ford Focus, and Dodge Caliber were the biggest winners. Why the desire to glorify Japanese cars???

"15:54 I am grateful there are 5000 auto workers no longer working a 1/4 mile from my neighborhood as well. Lots of high end homes for sale too. My home dropped another 100K in value so maybe I can get my best value driving a cheap import now.

I no longer drive Mercedes as well from the excessive 80's era... I drive domestics today."

I'm not sure what if any point you are making with this post.

Is it Honda's fault that GM, Ford and Chrysler put out sub par products for decades, and then overpaid those 5,000 workers that lived near you and mismanaged their companies to the point of needing billions of dollars of tax payer money in order to survive?

If you want to support that kind of business practice as a patriotic thing in the US good for you. They've already gotten enough tax money out of me for support thanks. Believe me though, it is not going to help your house gain back that 100K you lost and it's not going to blow up that nice little bubble you once lived in.

It is time for the US to wake up and see the light. These large companies have been living on borrowed time for decades and it is about time things got shaken up and we got back to reality. Your house is a good example of how ridiculous things got in this country. It was never worth that extra $100K in the first place! The banks should have failed as well as the auto industry and all other large, greedy business here. Yes it would have been more painful than it has been, but how long did you think this was going to last? We have been living in a dream land for years thinking we were all making so much on investments and real estate... ha. Yeah right... money doesn't come out of thin air and we haven't been a viable producing country for a long time. Even the auto industry you are so quick to support has put out inferior products until very recently... too little too late. Even you must have agreed with that having driven your old Mercedes in the 80's.

It's funny how people jump on the bandwagon when the problems hit home and their little worlds are about to crumble. We are in a catastrophic spending spree right now trying to churn tax money around into these businesses like it is going to help anything. Now the experts are saying we will have double the debt within 10 years at the rate we are going. That should help the economy! Thanks to the big 3 and all the companies like them for that!! Keep thinking that buying a domestic car is going to prevent the inevitable from occurring.... it was a nice dream.

""18:54 the Nissan has had nothing in 360,000 miles? What's your secret to never needing timing belts, starters, heater cores, shocks, ball joints universals, A/C issues at even half that mileage? My Nissan was not as perfect."

Maybe it didn't last as long because you never maintained it. In the 360K the car NEVER stalled or left me stranded. Unfortunately you must be one of those who believe in the myth that imports never need maintenance."

Where did you live with this Nissan. Climate would have a lot to do with how well a car lasts. I can't imagine you'd have no problems if you drove it in the snow and salt every winter. And you didn't even need an AC charge in all that time? That would be a record. Good for you on such a lucky car ownership experience.

My Maxima was gone at two years old due to transmission issues and too many recalls, one of which caused the whole front end to fall apart and another that was $425 for a fill tube sensor that was not covered under any warranty. Thankfully I never fixed it but I found out it was recalled for that right after I got rid of it.... nice. The transmission was supposedly an "unadvertised recall" as well but the service manager "never said that" when they refused to fix it for the third time. I traded it at only 47K for about 40% of its value new at only two years old. Great investment there LOL. JUNK.

Nissan and Mitsubishi are off my list as to ever buy again due to poor quality. Nissan is a double whammy as their dealer network is the worst as well.

ALL VEHICLES NEED MAINTENANCE. With proper maintenance, a Toyota or Honda will last a very long time. I know this firsthand. My first car was a '72 Honda Civic, my grandfather gave it to me in 1983, when it had 420,000 miles on it. It had the completely original drivetrain and the only really new part on it was the exhaust pipe. I drove it till it had 480,000 miles, and then sold it, while it was still in perfect running condition. As for a Toyota, a very good friend of mine bought a used 1985 Toyota Corolla as his first car in 1987. He bought it when he was 17 years old, he is now 38. HE STILL HAS HIS COROLLA!! The same exact one! He regularly drives from here in Boston, Massachusetts, across the country to San Francisco, California to visit his family twice a year! He has never had anything major repaired on it. It still has the original transmission and engine. He now has over 700,000 miles on it! It's your choice to believe it or not, but this is all true. I'm still very much in touch with him and we talk all the time. It seems pretty obvious to me what great cars Honda's and Toyota's are.

My thoughts on any keeping vehicles over 200000 miles in 2009 are that they will chance spending repairs on even a unreliable one to avoid a loan. With uncertain economy and possible job loss downsizing, many risk a high mile car. There are many maxed with bills, mortgages, kids to raise so keep and squeeze car life. A big car loan and not have a job tomorrow is frightening. An old car you can park and or discard and take a bus.

I know someone that keeps pumping repairs into her import well beyond its value. Single parents cannot afford a loan for a new car. Her Honda may make 200000 miles, but it's been costly to make that claim. To her she has so much in it and hopes there will be no more issues. Just because you nursed a car to high mileage does not mean a high import parts and labor does not arise.

This comment says a LOT. Of course import owners will rationalize it away as they do EVERY pro-American comment.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2009-07-20-gmtown_N.htm

Again, this has much more to do with mismanagement for decades and producing sub-par quality vehicles than it does with people not buying domestic cars today. If we keep supporting this type of business practices, in the US, things will not get better overall, they will continue to get worse and the next recession will truly be even more disastrous than this one has been. Yeah, it is a terrible consequence we are all suffering as my house and job are on the line like many others, but I still refuse to support lame businesses just because it may delay the inevitable and keep the false "American Dream" alive. America has failed miserably and grown at an unrealistic rate on unrealistic money that we have been borrowing for years. Now it is time to get back to reality and start the payback, however hurtful it is going to be. This is about much more than just buying a GM or Toyota.

I think we should indicate all overseas car mfrs, European and Japan as that's an excellent view. There are a lot of people out of work and it's time to quit throwing jobs away. I would like to see more Americans prosper instead of sending profits to Europe and Japan.

Since we keep hearing all the unfounded claims about how "95%" of import owners are wild about their cars and domestics get such "awful" reviews, I decided to begin a project of going back through all the reviews on here back to 2000 and totaling and averaging the ratings for 3 domestics and 3 Japanese cars in the same category (midsize sedans). Here are the results:

Percentage of owners who would buy another:

Accord: 63%

Camry: 43%

Altima: 54%

Taurus: 62%

Grand Prix: 63%

Dodge Avenger: 75%

As you can see, over a ten year period of ALL reviews, They are VERY close. Surprisingly, the Dodge Avenger takes top honors, and Camry brings up the rear. Accord, Taurus and Grand Prix are virtually tied for 2nd place. OK, let's see how import owners manage to explain away THESE figures!!

15:51 is it too late to make a concerted effort even one family per community throughout the country?

I admit I was wrong buying a new Mercedes in the 80's and new imports before and up until 2004.

Some members of my family, friends and downtown fellow merchants are closing or on furloughs, reduced hours or jobless.

I am 100% domestics now. Maybe my small effort however late is an effort. I saw no significant quality or repair advantage in the past several years with new imports anyway. I will certainly include my German car purchases as well as Japanese models. The ones actually made here with smaller salaries and less benefits is not offsetting the higher salary loss. If your comment on everyone including first time buyers should pay and lose their homes now; is that the punishment you wish on people?

Everyone can buy whatever they want and I certainly did. In times of prosperity it was easy to pay off a home, buy a new luxury import Mercedes, BMW, Jaquar, Lexus, etc. who cares? Everyone was working, no friends or family out of work. It's a bit hard feeling that way for us right now. I could buy a new Lexus... why not, my home is paid off and drive over downtown and park in front of the store. I am sure my fellow merchants would appreciate my purchase... and it's a free country and I can buy whatever I want. Maybe the 80's attitude has remained reading this import forum; buy for today and forget tomorrow.

"Where did you live with this Nissan. Climate would have a lot to do with how well a car lasts. I can't imagine you'd have no problems if you drove it in the snow and salt every winter. And you didn't even need an AC charge in all that time? That would be a record. Good for you on such a lucky car ownership experience."

I had the Nissan in Texas, actually. We do not have much snow, but now that you mention it, the Maxima did GREAT in snow and rain. I didn't hydroplane, skid, excellent car. As for the AC, this is a regular maintenance issue. I never said I didn't do regular maintenance, along with oil changes, timing belts, alignment, brakes. That may be people's problem, when someone says 'no maintenance' they believe it literally means NO maintenance. There were no costly repairs on my Nissan Maxima. Really, had a poor 16-year old not ran into it last year, I'd still be driving it. It was my daily driver from the day I bought it in '87 until it was forced into retirement in 2008. I was scared to put my GMC on the road after it hit the 200K mile mark, it lasted to 225K with two lists of long, costly repair bills. That truck broke so often I dreaded the thought of driving it.

"I am 100% domestics now. Maybe my small effort however late is an effort. I saw no significant quality or repair advantage in the past several years with new imports anyway. I will certainly include my German car purchases as well as Japanese models. The ones actually made here with smaller salaries and less benefits is not offsetting the higher salary loss. If your comment on everyone including first time buyers should pay and lose their homes now; is that the punishment you wish on people?

Everyone can buy whatever they want and I certainly did. In times of prosperity it was easy to pay off a home, buy a new luxury import Mercedes, BMW, Jaquar, Lexus, etc. who cares? Everyone was working, no friends or family out of work. It's a bit hard feeling that way for us right now. I could buy a new Lexus... why not, my home is paid off and drive over downtown and park in front of the store. I am sure my fellow merchants would appreciate my purchase... and it's a free country and I can buy whatever I want. Maybe the 80's attitude has remained reading this import forum; buy for today and forget tomorrow."

Of course I don't wish any bad luck on anyone, and I wish we could all go back to the way things were when we were in good times. That reality is gone though, and supporting poor business practices isn't going to make it return to the good old days. America is one big mismanaged business that has been controlled by greed for a very long time. Every day you read the paper, there is another scam going on or another company is failing because of poor business practices and shady dealings. The punishment, as you call it, is living in these times when the money is gone and we, as a country, are in debt beyond belief... and it is only getting worse due to the "bail out" of these failing industries. You can blame the overpaid execs in these businesses who drove their companies into the ground and still got handsomely rewarded for it, more than you can blame the guy next to you at the light in his Accord, for the misfortunes of your neighbors. The big 3 are some of the worst offenders... showing up in private jets to ask for tax payer money! Give me a break.

I am not saying that abandoning US companies is the only way to go or even a good idea, but I would like to see a viable plan for our domestic companies to produce the high quality cars they are capable of producing AND stay competitive in their pricing all, while continuing to prosper on their own. I would then be more than happy to support them again. Big changes have to occur in order for this to happen with the current companies. Believe me, I would rather be looking at another solution for our future... but greed seems to rule all and the 200 year life expectancy of the empire has expired, just has it as done many times before throughout history.

Throwing money at this situation will only end up more disastrous down the road for all of us and our children. We need to break the traditions of bad business and start anew and head into a new direction toward a more viable prosperity in the USA. Many of us will lose jobs and homes and everything else in the process, but is there really any alternative? We simply can't keep living in the dream world we've been in for so long.

Not sure how a Honda review got this far off track, but it just goes to show how interconnected one industry is to another in this world.