New Honda being delivered Wednesday

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" wrote in message
...

In article >,
"Seth" > wrote:

> > I am sorry you're buying another Honda. You'll find out why soon
> > enough. Honda isn't the company it was 10 years ago.
>
> That's sad to hear. But really, what else is the alternative in that
> class
> (both price and what you get for it)? Our 2007 Odyssey has been holding up
> well. Over 60k on that already.

Believe it or not, Hyundai (I think) if you're talking that level of
market. Certainly Nissan.

Indeed. Current offerings by Honda have led me to look at Hyundai/Kia and
the Altima.

If you're dead-set on a Honda, buy Acura--they still seem to care at
that level (also see Infiniti). But Honda has turned into a big bag of
**** over the last ten years, and what they're turning out today is
pitiful.

Yes, I have some inside information on that.

On Sun, 16 Oct 2011 07:53:59 -0400, "tww1491" > wrote:

>
>
>"Elmo P. Shagnasty" wrote in message
...
>
>In article >,
>"Seth" > wrote:
>
>> > I am sorry you're buying another Honda. You'll find out why soon
>> > enough. Honda isn't the company it was 10 years ago.
>>
>> That's sad to hear. But really, what else is the alternative in that
>> class
>> (both price and what you get for it)? Our 2007 Odyssey has been holding up
>> well. Over 60k on that already.
>
>Believe it or not, Hyundai (I think) if you're talking that level of
>market. Certainly Nissan.
>
>Indeed. Current offerings by Honda have led me to look at Hyundai/Kia and
>the Altima.
>
>If you're dead-set on a Honda, buy Acura--they still seem to care at
>that level (also see Infiniti). But Honda has turned into a big bag of
>**** over the last ten years, and what they're turning out today is
>pitiful.
>
>Yes, I have some inside information on that.


I know I'm replying to an old post but that said, I have to disagree
(with or without your inside info). From what I read, it's still ok
but it's not advancing like some other car makers are. In my opinion,
Honda is just putting out the same product that looks slightly
different each year. Maybe they feel if it works, don't change it. I
can live with that but I think I'm in the minority.

On 12/14/2011 04:24 AM, Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
> In >,
> > wrote:
>
>> I know I'm replying to an old post but that said, I have to disagree
>> (with or without your inside info). From what I read, it's still ok
>> but it's not advancing like some other car makers are.
>
> From what you've *read*?
>
> Did I mention I have some inside information directly from a long-time
> Honda engineer?

it's a slow day - go ahead and lay it on us one more time...


--
nomina rutrum rutrum

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> "Doug" > wrote:
>
>> I know I'm replying to an old post but that said, I have to disagree
>> (with or without your inside info). From what I read, it's still ok
>> but it's not advancing like some other car makers are.
>
> From what you've *read*?
>
> Did I mention I have some inside information directly from a long-time
> Honda engineer?

Well 1 year and 31,000 miles later and she's holding up fine and trouble
free. Only "complaint" is I think the sensor for the auto headlights is a
little sensitive.

On Wed, 14 Dec 2011 07:24:31 -0500, "Elmo P. Shagnasty"
> wrote:

>In article >,
> "Doug" > wrote:
>
>> I know I'm replying to an old post but that said, I have to disagree
>> (with or without your inside info). From what I read, it's still ok
>> but it's not advancing like some other car makers are.
>
>From what you've *read*?
>
>Did I mention I have some inside information directly from a long-time
>Honda engineer?


I've read from multiple sources and you got it from one source. I'm
not discounting inside information but that might just be his opinion
too. For all I know, maybe some of what I read also came from inside
sources (I don't remember now).

"Doug" wrote

> I've read from multiple sources and you got it from one source. I'm
> not discounting inside information but that might just be his opinion
> too. For all I know, maybe some of what I read also came from inside
> sources (I don't remember now).

For what it's worth, my mechanic, who runs a Honda specialist shop (and
works on other brands), and used to work at a Honda dealership, told me last
week that he is finding Honda's reliability has indeed gone downhill, and
therefore he no longer owns Hondas. He recently bought a Toyota Avalon. I'm
starting to look at Camrys now.

On 12/14/2011 09:28 AM, Howard Lester wrote:
> "Doug" wrote
>
>> I've read from multiple sources and you got it from one source. I'm
>> not discounting inside information but that might just be his opinion
>> too. For all I know, maybe some of what I read also came from inside
>> sources (I don't remember now).
>
> For what it's worth, my mechanic, who runs a Honda specialist shop (and
> works on other brands), and used to work at a Honda dealership, told me
> last week that he is finding Honda's reliability has indeed gone
> downhill, and therefore he no longer owns Hondas. He recently bought a
> Toyota Avalon. I'm starting to look at Camrys now.

in my neck of the woods, the honda dealer techs are still driving old
integras and ef/eg civics. the toyota dealer techs are driving bmw and
mercedes. go figure.

my next new car is going to be a vw gti with dsg transmission. maybe
not as reliable as my old civics, but honda have lost the plot and i
refuse to buy another. not only is their technology sadly outdated,
they've completely lost touch with any concept of preserving "customer
loyalty".


--
nomina rutrum rutrum

On Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:28:26 -0500, "Howard Lester"
> wrote:

>"Doug" wrote
>
>> I've read from multiple sources and you got it from one source. I'm
>> not discounting inside information but that might just be his opinion
>> too. For all I know, maybe some of what I read also came from inside
>> sources (I don't remember now).
>
>For what it's worth, my mechanic, who runs a Honda specialist shop (and
>works on other brands), and used to work at a Honda dealership, told me last
>week that he is finding Honda's reliability has indeed gone downhill, and
>therefore he no longer owns Hondas. He recently bought a Toyota Avalon. I'm
>starting to look at Camrys now.


Funny you mention this because after seeing a Camry commercial, I was
beginning to think I might want to check them out for my next car.
Sorta hate to leave Honda tho as I've had 2 Accords in a row and I
liked them both but it's hard to argue with your mechanic. Thanks.

On 12/14/2011 9:28 AM, Howard Lester wrote:

> For what it's worth, my mechanic, who runs a Honda specialist shop (and
> works on other brands), and used to work at a Honda dealership, told me
> last week that he is finding Honda's reliability has indeed gone
> downhill, and therefore he no longer owns Hondas. He recently bought a
> Toyota Avalon. I'm starting to look at Camrys now.

Honda has taken a big dive in terms of longevity. But they're fine for
five years or so, before you'll likely end up with a lot of big ticket
repairs like transmissions. Toyota, despite some bad publicity last
year, is far ahead of Honda in long term reliability. For Honda it can
work out well, because the resale values on Hondas is still high so you
can sell it before it starts requiring a lot of expensive repairs and
buy another one. With a Toyota, at 15 years or so you'll start having a
bump in repair costs, mainly for cooling systems (those plastic
radiators will crack) and stuff like EGR valves and valve cover gaskets,
but pretty minor stuff.

My mechanic (any my brother-in-law) loves Hondas--he makes a lot of
money on them. He recently replaced the transmission in an Accord that
the owner didn't want to fix and gave the vehicle to his daughter. Since
he did the labor, the cost was only about $500 for the rebuilt
transmission, but if someone came in for the job he would charge
$1500-2000, which is more than most people want to spend on a 5+ year
old car.

He tells people to buy Toyotas, not just because of the reliability, but
because Toyota runs the automotive technology program at the local
community college, and he takes the advanced Toyota classes there so
he's able to repair more complicated issues on Toyotas, generally
involving stuff like the emissions systems sensors.

He's not a fan of other Japanese or Korean makes, not because they are
unreliable, but because parts tend to be much more expensive and harder
to obtain. He will use OEM parts on many repairs because the
after-market parts are often very poor quality, but in some cases the
after-market parts are fine, and far less expensive (plastic radiators
are one example).

On Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:34:55 -0800, SMS >
wrote:

>On 12/14/2011 9:28 AM, Howard Lester wrote:
>
>> For what it's worth, my mechanic, who runs a Honda specialist shop (and
>> works on other brands), and used to work at a Honda dealership, told me
>> last week that he is finding Honda's reliability has indeed gone
>> downhill, and therefore he no longer owns Hondas. He recently bought a
>> Toyota Avalon. I'm starting to look at Camrys now.
>
>Honda has taken a big dive in terms of longevity. But they're fine for
>five years or so, before you'll likely end up with a lot of big ticket
>repairs like transmissions. Toyota, despite some bad publicity last
>year, is far ahead of Honda in long term reliability. For Honda it can
>work out well, because the resale values on Hondas is still high so you
>can sell it before it starts requiring a lot of expensive repairs and
>buy another one. With a Toyota, at 15 years or so you'll start having a
>bump in repair costs, mainly for cooling systems (those plastic
>radiators will crack) and stuff like EGR valves and valve cover gaskets,
>but pretty minor stuff.
>
>My mechanic (any my brother-in-law) loves Hondas--he makes a lot of
>money on them. He recently replaced the transmission in an Accord that
>the owner didn't want to fix and gave the vehicle to his daughter. Since
>he did the labor, the cost was only about $500 for the rebuilt
>transmission, but if someone came in for the job he would charge

You hit it on the nail with my first Honda.... trans was slipping and
to repair it was $1500 + so I didn't want to spend that on a 15 year
old car so I got another Honda. I like the information you posted.
Thanks.
>$1500-2000, which is more than most people want to spend on a 5+ year
>old car.
>
>He tells people to buy Toyotas, not just because of the reliability, but
>because Toyota runs the automotive technology program at the local
>community college, and he takes the advanced Toyota classes there so
>he's able to repair more complicated issues on Toyotas, generally
>involving stuff like the emissions systems sensors.
>
>He's not a fan of other Japanese or Korean makes, not because they are
>unreliable, but because parts tend to be much more expensive and harder
>to obtain. He will use OEM parts on many repairs because the
>after-market parts are often very poor quality, but in some cases the
>after-market parts are fine, and far less expensive (plastic radiators
>are one example).