Honda Car Forum

John Horner <jthorner@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> 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.

Is it still possible to buy Japanese-manufactured accords? I made sure to
buy an Accord with a VIN that started with J.

Andrew

"Andrew" <andrew532217@aol.com> wrote in message
news:bh3aqj$t64$1@news-int.gatech.edu...
> John Horner <jthorner@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> > 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.
>
> Is it still possible to buy Japanese-manufactured accords? I made sure to
> buy an Accord with a VIN that started with J.

Accords are designed differently for each continent... or so I have been
told. Apparently the USA Accord is bigger than the Euro/Jap models. Can
anyone confirm this?

> Is it still possible to buy Japanese-manufactured accords? I made sure to
> buy an Accord with a VIN that started with J.


At our local dealer all of the 4 cylinder Accords were made in Japan and all
of the V6s were made in Ohio. I don't know if this trend is consistent
everywhere.

One thing which may have caught me out was that I did most of my test
driving in a Japan built 4 cylinder Navi Accord, but wanted a V6 with Navi.
The dealer ordered in my car and I only took a short test drive in it before
writing the check.

At the time I assumed that it didn't make a difference where my Accord was
manufactured. Now I'm thinking that might have been a bad assumption.

Clearly I relied too much on Honda's "reputation".

John

In article <0oidnYQ3IJMPqqiiU-KYgg@comcast.com>,
"Greg" <Greg@noreply.com> wrote:

> > Is it still possible to buy Japanese-manufactured accords? I made sure to
> > buy an Accord with a VIN that started with J.
>
> Accords are designed differently for each continent... or so I have been
> told. Apparently the USA Accord is bigger than the Euro/Jap models. Can
> anyone confirm this?

That is true. HOWEVER, it IS possible to buy an Accord that was
designed solely for the American market but which was BUILT in Japan.

Just like it's possible for the Japanese to buy an Accord which was
designed solely for the Japanese market yet which was built in the US.

Location of manufacture has nothing to do with the product actually
being manufactured. Just because it was manufactured in Japan doesn't
mean it was meant for sale in Japan.

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" <elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote in message
news:dubZa.67761$ti2.8085@fe06.atl2.webusenet.com. ..
> In article <0oidnYQ3IJMPqqiiU-KYgg@comcast.com>,
> "Greg" <Greg@noreply.com> wrote:
>
> > > Is it still possible to buy Japanese-manufactured accords? I made sure
to
> > > buy an Accord with a VIN that started with J.
> >
> > Accords are designed differently for each continent... or so I have been
> > told. Apparently the USA Accord is bigger than the Euro/Jap models. Can
> > anyone confirm this?
>
> That is true. HOWEVER, it IS possible to buy an Accord that was
> designed solely for the American market but which was BUILT in Japan.
>
> Just like it's possible for the Japanese to buy an Accord which was
> designed solely for the Japanese market yet which was built in the US.
>
> Location of manufacture has nothing to do with the product actually
> being manufactured. Just because it was manufactured in Japan doesn't
> mean it was meant for sale in Japan.

So that begs the question... are any Accords *currently* being built in
Japan for the US market? I'd find it very strange if there were. Maybe it's
as cheap to ship from Japan to California as it is from Ohio?

> So that begs the question... are any Accords *currently* being built in
> Japan for the US market? I'd find it very strange if there were. Maybe
it's
> as cheap to ship from Japan to California as it is from Ohio?

a couple gens ago, the EX was made in japan. i guess the higher markup made
shipping more reasonable.

In article <OJ2cnaR2g6Su1aiiXTWJiw@comcast.com>,
"Greg" <Greg@noreply.com> wrote:

> So that begs the question... are any Accords *currently* being built in
> Japan for the US market?

Yes. In fact, I own one.

Look for the serial number to start with J.

"Greg" <Greg@noreply.com> wrote in message
news:OJ2cnaR2g6Su1aiiXTWJiw@comcast.com...
> So that begs the question... are any Accords *currently* being built in
> Japan for the US market?

Yes, there are.

> I'd find it very strange if there were. Maybe it's
> as cheap to ship from Japan to California as it is from Ohio?

It's not as cheap, but still profitable. Ohio can't manufacture enough
Accords to satisfy the North American demand, while somewhere out in Japan,
there are factories running at less than full capacity, so they make a
portion of the US-spec Accords there and ship them here.

Cheers,

Pete

> So that begs the question... are any Accords *currently* being built in
> Japan for the US market? I'd find it very strange if there were. Maybe
it's
> as cheap to ship from Japan to California as it is from Ohio?


Yes. All of the 2003 4 cyl Accords on our nearest dealer's lot were marked
Made in Japan at the Satayama (sp?) plant.

"John Horner" <jthorner@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:vjbfr8pskfsofd@corp.supernews.com...
> > So that begs the question... are any Accords *currently* being built in
> > Japan for the US market? I'd find it very strange if there were. Maybe
> it's
> > as cheap to ship from Japan to California as it is from Ohio?
>
>
> Yes. All of the 2003 4 cyl Accords on our nearest dealer's lot were marked
> Made in Japan at the Satayama (sp?) plant.

Where are you... California?