Honda Car Forum

Honda quality nose diving? Hardly.

* My 1996 Integra has 101k miles and is as reliable as the day I bought it.
Now I am saving up to buy a TSX with cash in about 3 years or so. I have
no plans of trading in the Integra.
* My mom's 2000 Accord hasn't had any problems. She paid it off in 2002 and
is driving it payment free.
* My brother's 2002 RSX too has been problem free.
* My sister's Cherokee started developing transmission problems
2 years after he bought it. Her husband couldn't believe it.
He is a die hard Chrysler/Dodge guy but he was commenting on
getting an Odyssey to replace the Cherokee.
* My dad was die hard Chevrolet man. Now his new wife drives
a 14 year old Camry that is still very reliable and he traded in
his 2001 Astro Van for a 1996 Toyota Tacoma because he was tired of
constantly having to fix the Astro.

On a good note for Chevrolet, my dad had an '87 Astro Van that he
put 400,000+ miles on. He worked over an hour from work and used the
van to drive a car pool. He carried at times 4-7 other men in the
carpool and generated an extra $200-$300 a week in income for the
family. After 400,000 miles the transmission was developing problems,
the roofliner was hanging and the interior was pretty worn. However
the engine never leaked and the only issues he had was related to
bad alternators, failing AC and peeling paint. He drove that van
for 12 years before trading it in. Needless to say he drove that
van for 6 years without payments and the money generated from the
carpool probably paid for the van during the first 6 years of
payments. Though I am a diehard Honda guy, I have won't do any
Chevrolet bashing...

The abuse he put on that van is more then I will ever put on my Integra
so I can't compare the two. Too bad Chevrolet hasn't poured any real
money into R&D to improve it (dual sliding doors, better seats). It
is a very useful platform and GM's 4.3L V6 is a solid engine when
probably maintained.

JD Powers only measures quality for the first 2 years or so. Usually
this is minor stuff that people get fixed under warranty but ignore
after their warranty expires. Quality to me is having a reliable
source of transportation for the period you own your vehicle.

What this basically boils down to is what type of car buyer are you.
If you are the person who drives a car 2-5 years before trading it in
for something flashier then it may be best to buy a domestic brand.
It is much easier finding a bargain among domestics then the imports.

However if you are the person who drives a car until it falls apart on
you 7-15 years down the line then, imports like Toyota, Honda and Nissan
will better suit you.

Master wrote:
>
> With all the problems with new Hondas (Trannie failures, poor mileage
> and scores- of hardware issues), it is not surprising that consumer
> satisfaction is dropping. The latest JD Powers survey shows buyers are
> most likely to opt for 1) Chevrolet 2) Toyota 3) Mercedes 4) Ford with
> Honda a distant 5.
> Something to keep in mind!