OK today was the day that I gave my accord to the local Honda dealer for it's 90K checkup...


The dealer knows I drive 2 accords and what does he give me for a loaner? a 2006 Civic 4 door so I am thinking this will be OK since i liked the 1997 Civic that my friend had....boy was I wrong.........

On the outside the Civic looks very nice so I think it should be OK on the inside....so now I have to ask


WHO PUT THE FORD ESCORT INTERIOR IN THE CIVIC? I mean it looks cheap can this thing really be a Honda?

Next I look down at the dash and it has to have one of the UGLIEST clusters I have ever seen. Wassup with the silver rings around each instrument? The only cool thing was the LED lighting. The shift indicators do not light up as they used to on the older models, instead you get a little green LED that lights up on the left side of the gear indicator.

The shifter looks like it is made out of plastic and is way too small with the button in the front versus the side. I like the button on the side myself

The center console looks like it was made from imitation LEGO quality plastic.

Now for the drive home I start the car and immediately notice that the I4 is way louder than the I4 in my 1994 accord or what I remember in my friend's civic and even with light thottle you can hear the engine growl (Maybe young kids like this?).

Now I get onto the FWY and the car seems to have pretty good accelleration but the road noise just plain sucks and the steering is very light on this car. On the plus side though it does have a nice steering wheel although it is a little small for my taste.

The car seems to absorb road bumps well and the suspension is very good for a car that is so small and light and the car tracks straight even though it is on skinny tires.

Overall I am dissapointed in the new Civic and I really cannot see why everyone likes it so much. Before anyone tells me "well it's only a $XX,XXXX car, what do you expect?" I say take a look at the late 90's civic and then you'll know what I mean..

Well at least the loaner was provided free of charge so I am not ungrateful to the dealer since they treat me so well. I am just suprised at the lack of "quality" that I have come to expect from Honda no matter how cheap the price of the car is.

I was so happy to get my car back

 

No kidding You've hit the nail on the head, I refurbish the hondas for our used car lothttp://www.hondapro.com/ The newer cars are getting worse as far as the 'fit and finish' and believe me the consumer knows this as well. 94-97 accords are sold right off my lift as I'm doing the used car inspection and the newer civics 98+ will be on the lot for 2 months while the older civics will be sold in a weeks time. Honda gave over the company to the "product cheapening dept." in 1998 and they think they will ride along on the past history of quality. But I think it's going to bite them in the *** sooner than they think.

 

I dont know, my 1994 accord is not that great compared to my 2003.... heated seats are the best addition to the accord. The 1994 has some features the 2003 doesnt have:
I can smoke in it
I can eat in it
I can drink in it
I can play bumper cars when parking
I can park as close as possible to any car
I can park right next to shopping carts at the grocery store
I can run over potholes at full speed without a worry

the list goes on .... The 94 is the car to take out for a worry free experience doing errands.... the bmw and 2003 accord for longer trips

 

My brother bought a 2005 civic coupe to commute in. It's kind of like a honda made from beer cans. Who would want a car that doesn't even have upper ball joints.....or an upper A-arm for that matter. Everything just feels cheap.

 

yeah, they switch from the double wishbone to a mc pherson strut design and the wonderful handeling of the car was compromised.

 

Reminds me of the Camry. I can't believe they compare the Camry to the Accord in toyotas sales pitches. It's also a dogbone front and rear car. The Accord managed a strut while still utilizing a full A-arm with upper ball.