Honda Car Forum

Sorry to hear this. If it were me I'd go and camp out at the Honda dealer
until they got points 1, 4, and maybe 5 addressed. If you got those sorted
out I bet you that you would be a lot happier with the car. The longer you
let the dealer do nothing, the more upset you will get. They are most likely
playing the waiting game hoping you will tire and go away. You must let them
know that you will not go away until you get satisfaction. Make a nuisance
of yourself.

As for squeaks, they annoy some people and not others. They annoy me, so I
can sympathise with you there. I don't expect squeaks and rattles until a
car is 2 or 3 years old at least. The CD player thing is a preference issue.
There is no excuse for cheap speakers though. Quality speakers cannot be too
expensive for a car manufacturer to buy. Even my Neon has reasonable
speakers. The ergonomics of the car is another issue which bypasses many
people, but like you, I like things to be well designed and executed. You
should have encountered at least some of these issues in your test drive...
assuming you were wise enough to take one.
--

"John Horner" <jthorner@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:vjaaies7n3uffc@corp.supernews.com...
> 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
>
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