I have a new Accord V6 without NAV made in Ohio. The driver's seat is
flawless. No rattles on the dashboard or otherwise. The paint is fine.
The CD player is as you describe but I don't care. The speakers are an
improvement over my previous Accord EX. I find an improved midrange. I
don't think the stock sound system will let you boom bass and play
extremely loud while you are doing 80 MPH, but I don't want that. I find
the car is quiet enough to play sound at a reasable volume level at
ordinary speeds and have it sound very good. What speakers did you put
in and how are they better?

As for the NAV, you asked for it. It's the first year out. I wouldn't
even trust Honda with that. Voice recognition and GPS are things that
will depend on your voice and the reception of GPS signals which depends
on the topography of the areas you drive in. Even the best system might
be unreliable for you. On the other hand, maybe the NAV system isn't
fully ready yet. We all know how reliable software can be.

Maybe you got a bad apple.

I hear these horror stories about the Accord V6 and wonder how folks are
driving their cars. I doubt your minivan can accelerate, corner, or stop
like an Accord V6. Any chance you punish the Accord V6 much more than
the minivan? I find the car so quiet during hard acceleration that I
don't even know when I am whipping the engine. The car just moves out. I
see other cars get small quickly in the rear view mirror and hear the
muffled whoosh of air moving around the car.

Oldsmobile is better? <LOL> That's gotta be a fluke otherwise GM would
not be killing the brand. The Accord isn't one of the best selling
vehicles in the US because it's a horrible value.

JD Power did report overall new car quality for Honda took a slight hit
this year but it is still far above average. It seems someone has to
get the bad apple.

Good luck.

John Horner wrote:

>About one month ago I purchased a 2003 Accord V6 with navigation, which
>means with every factory installed option available. So far I have not been
>impressed by the supposedly amazing level of quality Honda is reputed to
>provide.
>
>Problem 1: The driver's seat rocks back and worth when stationary. After
>the dealer had the car for three days to "fix" this problem they told me
>that Honda USA would be sending them some special bushings to fix it and
>that they would call me when these special parts arrived. That was three
>weeks ago, and no call.
>
>Problem 2: The dash board has multiple annoying squeaks, thumps and rattle
>which come and go depending on how much sunlight is beating down on the
>dash. Dealer was not able to do anything about this.
>
>Problem 3: Both front door inner panels also have random squeaks, buzzes
>and rattles. Again, dealer unable to do anything about it.
>
>Problem 4: Paint has a large particle of foreign matter in it which clearly
>happened at the factory. Dealer agrees it should not be there and "will
>advise" what to do about it.
>
>Problem 5: The navigation system's lookup function is so badly designed as
>to be almost unusable. Tell it to find the nearest "Wells Fargo Bank" and
>it is more likely to lead you to one 1500 miles away than it is to the one 2
>miles away. The software is lacking sorely in real ease of use
>sophistication.
>
>Problem 6: The built in CD player does not offer a fast forward or reverse
>function. You can only go ahead one full track or back one full track.
>Considering that the interface is a touch panel LCD, offering the normal
>expected range of controls is a simple thing to do which Honda left out.
>
>Problem 7: The factory speakers were some of the cheapest, most horrible
>sounding things I have run across in a long time. Considering that this is
>the top of the range Accord, Honda should have done better. I fixed this
>problem with good aftermarket speakers.
>
>Problem 8: The handbrake control has sharp edges at the mold lines of the
>plastic. This is the kind of thing auto magazine reviewers always pillory
>GM for, but here it is on that supposed paragon of excellent, the Honda
>Accord. The transmission shift lever is likewise a very cheap feeling bit
>of plastic.
>
>If I had bought a Hyundai I would expect to find these kinds of problems.
>Now I'm wondering if Honda's cost reduction engineers have taken their jobs
>too far. Maybe the Ohio plant where my car was built doesn't really have
>their act together on the new generation Accord. In the past I have always
>followed the policy of not buying the first model year of any design. This
>time I thought that Honda would not have such problems, but I was wrong.
>Yes, my expectations when spending $27,000 for a new car are high. So far I
>regret having bought a Honda. Our two year old, much maligned Olds
>Silhouette minivan has delivered a much better initial owner experience (30k
>miles so far) than has the much vaunted Honda.
>
>John
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>