Honda Car Forum

"Duran" <nospam@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<bjo1ev$r7b@dispatch.concentric.net>...
> Well, I have now owned and operated my 2003 Honda Accord 4cyl. EX for a week
> and a half and 1,000 miles (a lot of miles for under 2 weeks, I know...lol).
>
> Here are my impressions so far. I would love to hear what other '03 Accord
> 4cyl owners have to say as well.
>
> PRO's:
>
> - I love the drive, handling and overall feel of this car.
> - I have filled up my gas tank twice with a MPG rating of 32.5 and 29
> respectively. I used the AC quite a bit more after the second fill-up due
> to the Oklahoma heat.
> - This is minor, but I love the fact that they keyless entry is built into
> the key itself. I HATE adding more things to my keychain. 1 car key and 1
> house key along with a tiny keychain holder is all I want...thanks Honda!
> - The 4cyl. is a great engine with more than enough power for most normal
> driving needs.
> - The dash controls, in my opinion, are positioned perfectly. This is a BIG
> improvement over my old '92 LX accord where whenever I needed to adjust
> anything I had to physically lean forward, not comfortable at all for long
> trips.
> - (As noted below), I have only found 3 CON's with this car so far.
> - About a thousand other minor things that add up to make a truly amazing
> vehicle.
>
> CON's:
>
> - I wish the steering wheel controls would light up. Even though I now
> memorize where they all are, I have to feel them all on that one side to
> make sure that my thumb is on the correct one. Maybe I will get more used
> to hitting them right on as I drive the car more.
> - This is minor: I wish the doors locked themselves after taking the car
> out of park or something.
> - The front center cupholders are awkward to use. Thank goodness I don't
> drink much in the car. The front center cup holder (as opposed to the rear
> one) is OK to access, but that rear one requires me (with my seat positioned
> the way I like it) to fold my arm around awkwardly to get the drink out.
> When using the front center REARmost cupholder while driving, I find it more
> comfortable to use my left arm to get the drink out.
>
> GENERAL:
>
> Is it just me, or does there seem to be a "Love / Hate" thing going on with
> the look of the new Accords. Some people tell me they love it, some people
> tell me they hate it and think it's ugly. I - of course - love the look of
> the sedan as I purchased it.

Bought an '03 EX V6 with Navi (Graphite Pearl)- Runs great; gets 27-30
MPG (70% highway). Had a 2000 EX V6 prior. Agree with the side
mirrors way out. Agree with the steering wheel button lights. I
added the wing to dress up the rear. long with SS tips. Also helps
with backing up. My #1 problem is rattles in the drivers door and
center console. Got the car on 7/31 and it now has 3000 miles on it.
V6 power is amazing. Drove the I4 and that was great also. I was
just used to the Ex V6 so I stuck with it again in '03.

Good luck!

In article <fde0447e.0309131942.3865c8e1@posting.google.com >, jebinc@gte.net (John) wrote:

>Bought an '03 EX V6 with Navi (Graphite Pearl)- Runs great; gets 27-30
>MPG (70% highway). Had a 2000 EX V6 prior. Agree with the side
>mirrors way out. Agree with the steering wheel button lights. I
>added the wing to dress up the rear. long with SS tips. Also helps
>with backing up. My #1 problem is rattles in the drivers door and
>center console. Got the car on 7/31 and it now has 3000 miles on it.
>V6 power is amazing. Drove the I4 and that was great also. I was
>just used to the Ex V6 so I stuck with it again in '03.
>
>Good luck!

I have an EX 4 cyl/5 MT. Agree with rattle/vibrations in center console, also
my passenger door. In , fact rattles are worse with this car than any I've
ever owned, which is sad because otherwise interior is very quiet.

nospam@adelphianospam.net wrote:

>- This is minor: I wish the doors locked
>themselves after taking the car out of
>park or something.

>I agree about not getting locked in. My
>old car did that, and I got spoiled. Sure,
>it's not hard to lock the doors, but it
>almost feels like being tucked in when
>the car does it for you. Not a big deal,
>but I wish it did that.

IMO, it *is* a big deal. I live in SoCal, and the necessity of locked
doors is enormous. My Lexus RX300 doesn't have this feature either, and
it really sticks in my craw. I had a RAV 4 that auto locked, my son's
Civic auto locks, my husband's Grand Prix auto locks, but my 'Lexus'
doesn't.

When we were growing up in the '60s and '70s, the general thinking was,
'Don't drive with doors locked because of accident potential and
extracation.' Nowadays, the threat of being carjacked outweighs any
threat of being stuck in the car because the doors are locked, IMO.

Give me auto locks!

riccardo@smile.org (Ric) wrote in message news:<aoW8b.20732$pd5.10088@nwrddc03.gnilink.net>. ..
> In article <fde0447e.0309131942.3865c8e1@posting.google.com >, jebinc@gte.net (John) wrote:
>
> >Bought an '03 EX V6 with Navi (Graphite Pearl)- Runs great; gets 27-30
> >MPG (70% highway). Had a 2000 EX V6 prior. Agree with the side
> >mirrors way out. Agree with the steering wheel button lights. I
> >added the wing to dress up the rear. long with SS tips. Also helps
> >with backing up. My #1 problem is rattles in the drivers door and
> >center console. Got the car on 7/31 and it now has 3000 miles on it.
> >V6 power is amazing. Drove the I4 and that was great also. I was
> >just used to the Ex V6 so I stuck with it again in '03.
> >
> >Good luck!
>
> I have an EX 4 cyl/5 MT. Agree with rattle/vibrations in center console, also
> my passenger door. In , fact rattles are worse with this car than any I've
> ever owned, which is sad because otherwise interior is very quiet.

This post might help with your doors rattles....
http://homepage.mac.com/julioardz/pa...efix/index.htm

The center console rattle is the console doors vibrating side to side.
Wedge something between the side bottom of the door and the console
side and it will stop. From there you can determine your own long
term fix. I told the dealer to install some felt.

On 9/14/2003 11:21 AM, ravelation wrote:

>
> nospam@adelphianospam.net wrote:
>
>>- This is minor: I wish the doors locked
> >themselves after taking the car out of
> >park or something.
>
>>I agree about not getting locked in. My
> >old car did that, and I got spoiled. Sure,
> >it's not hard to lock the doors, but it
> >almost feels like being tucked in when
> >the car does it for you. Not a big deal,
> >but I wish it did that.
>
> IMO, it *is* a big deal. I live in SoCal, and the necessity of locked
> doors is enormous. My Lexus RX300 doesn't have this feature either, and
> it really sticks in my craw. I had a RAV 4 that auto locked, my son's
> Civic auto locks, my husband's Grand Prix auto locks, but my 'Lexus'
> doesn't.
>
> When we were growing up in the '60s and '70s, the general thinking was,
> 'Don't drive with doors locked because of accident potential and
> extracation.' Nowadays, the threat of being carjacked outweighs any
> threat of being stuck in the car because the doors are locked, IMO.
>
> Give me auto locks!

I agree with you, and after all these years of autolocks I have to
remind myself to lock the doors - it always surprises me when I don't
hear that little click that they are locked when I hit speed. I'm
surprised to hear that the Civic locks...I wonder why Honda REMOVED auto
locks, since they obviously had them.

In article <fde0447e.0309141053.376b32ab@posting.google.com >, jebinc@gte.net (John) wrote:

>The center console rattle is the console doors vibrating side to side.
> Wedge something between the side bottom of the door and the console
>side and it will stop. From there you can determine your own long
>term fix. I told the dealer to install some felt.

Thank you. I'm not ready to disassemble the passenger door just yet but I
will try the fix for the vibrating console door. Thank you.

riccardo@smile.org (Ric) wrote in message news:<Be69b.13895$NX3.9266@nwrddc01.gnilink.net>.. .
> In article <fde0447e.0309141053.376b32ab@posting.google.com >, jebinc@gte.net (John) wrote:
>
> >The center console rattle is the console doors vibrating side to side.
> > Wedge something between the side bottom of the door and the console
> >side and it will stop. From there you can determine your own long
> >term fix. I told the dealer to install some felt.
>
> Thank you. I'm not ready to disassemble the passenger door just yet but I
> will try the fix for the vibrating console door. Thank you.

Rick,
I'm taking that fix with me to the dealer tomorrow when I get my first
oil change. I'm going to ask them to fix it correctly. I printed out
the pictures so they know where to look. I will post my results later
in the week (Wed)

From: nospam@adelphianospam.net
wrote:

>I'm surprised to hear that the Civic
>locks...I wonder why Honda REMOVED
>auto locks, since they obviously had
>them.

It was a feature of the alarm he had installed, like my Rav 4 had. But
my Lexus cannot be programmed like that.
It's bums me up.

To be honest with you I am glad my doors don't auto lock, my brother has a
01 focus that auto locks, and it drives me nuts...
If I want the doors locked I will lock them, I don't want the car doing it
for me.


"ravelation" <ravelation@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:21986-3F64877D-16@storefull-2337.public.lawson.webtv.net...
>
> nospam@adelphianospam.net wrote:
>
> >- This is minor: I wish the doors locked
> >themselves after taking the car out of
> >park or something.
>
> >I agree about not getting locked in. My
> >old car did that, and I got spoiled. Sure,
> >it's not hard to lock the doors, but it
> >almost feels like being tucked in when
> >the car does it for you. Not a big deal,
> >but I wish it did that.
>
> IMO, it *is* a big deal. I live in SoCal, and the necessity of locked
> doors is enormous. My Lexus RX300 doesn't have this feature either, and
> it really sticks in my craw. I had a RAV 4 that auto locked, my son's
> Civic auto locks, my husband's Grand Prix auto locks, but my 'Lexus'
> doesn't.
>
> When we were growing up in the '60s and '70s, the general thinking was,
> 'Don't drive with doors locked because of accident potential and
> extracation.' Nowadays, the threat of being carjacked outweighs any
> threat of being stuck in the car because the doors are locked, IMO.
>
> Give me auto locks!
>

On Mon, 15 Sep 2003 12:24:29 -0400, "Adam Clarke"
<pd2rist@sympatico.ca> wrote:

>To be honest with you I am glad my doors don't auto lock, my brother has a
>01 focus that auto locks, and it drives me nuts...
>If I want the doors locked I will lock them, I don't want the car doing it
>for me.
>
I can understand that. My Passat locks at 10 mph and I thought at
first it would drive me crazy. Turns out to be a kind of nice feature.
However, what's nice about the capability is that you have choice. My
understanding is that if the car comes with the capability, you have
the option to leave it on or turn it off. I like having the option.