2004 Accord: Motorweek sz interior doesn't hold up

Well, I'm just about ready to take the plunge on a 2004 V-6 MT6. My
'91 Honda with 425K miles is in need of it's 3rd clutch, so I figure
it's time ;-)

Seriously, Motorweek (PBS show) did a report of their "long term" test
of the new Accord (not sure if it was '03 or '04). They loved the
car, but pointed out that the leather on the seat faces was sagging a
bit. Didn't have that nice tight appearance anymore. Is anyone
experiencing the same thing? Any MT6 owners (perforrated leather)
that can comment on their experience? Would the right care prevent
this? TIA.

frankB

 

My 03 EX (leather not perforated) is fifteen months old with no
cosmetic problems with the seats.
Ron

 

My '04 perf seats seems to be ok, 2.5 months old. I've never had
leather before so I don't know what the standard is, but both seats do
have some creases on the seat bottom, from the time it was new. I use
Lexol cleaner and conditioner about every month.
They may have stretched a bit. I'm tall and skinny so I'm pretty
sure I'm not causing anything out of the ordinary

 

why not go with the cloth seats?

 

Because if you want the EX V6 MT6, the only option is leather.

Honda doesn't provide much for options.

 

(Im anonymous) spake unto the masses in

That's because they're spending thousands turning the cars into rolling
rubber rooms. Airbags everywhere. That's thousands that can't be used to
make the carts BETTER.

Stupid decision. It will hurt them.

--
TeGGeR®

The Unofficial Honda FAQ
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And because the leather seats are made differently, and they are
simply more comfortable!!

JM

 

It's all the rage though - people think they're industructible in those
things because some "agency" gives it a rating of 5 stars. I wonder why
they don't all just wear a Bibendum suit and be done with it, though the
later models seem to not be so well padded as the earlier ones.

OT: What do you think of the Scion tC? Any interest? It looks interesting
to me and is at least another choice as a coupe hatch. Can't believe the
price can be held to US$16465.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

Ad tagline: "Buy this car! You can crash it into things AND LIVE!" That's
what it boils down to, doesn't it?

There is an article in today's local paper about auto insurance in Ontario
and why it keeps going up. It appears that one of the big problems is
bodily injury claims, which are--and have been for years--going up
steadily. In a separate article some months ago, it was revealed that
airbags cause many, many thousands of injuries, resulting in massive
insurance claims. Largely because of fraud and injury claims, Ontario
insurers paid out $1.17 for every $1 collected in premiums last year.

Yes, they are losing money selling auto insurance. Small wonder then that
with this combined with heavy rate regulation, insurers have been pulling
out of Ontario in droves.

Air bags are not legally required in Canada, and insurance companies
neither reward nor penalize airbags or their absence/disablement. Based on
the stuff I've read, I do think that they would really rather that you
didn't have them, as injury claims would go down substantially without
them. Death/serious injury claim reductions that are due to airbags appear
to be statistically non-existent.

Also, it appears that people are compensating for the added "safety" or
airbags and DRLs by driving less safely. The collision/injury/death rates
are not going the way you'd expect if those devices were having the effect
that is claimed of them. Instead, devices appear to be substituting for
common sense.

Actually, I'd never heard of it until you mentioned it here. Some Googling
reveals that it is based on the Avensis, a model not sold here but that is
sized between the Corolla (Civic) and the Camry (Accord). It has the
Camry's 2.4L 4-cylinder engine. Not particularly refined, but powerful
enough.

Interesting? Definitely. Smaller car with a relatively big motor. Always a
winner ;^). And frankly with Honda publically wanting to spend lots of
money on stuff like airbags instead of meaningful things, I'm losing
interest in Honda in general.

The tC's styling is spot on. It may supposedly retail for $16,465, but I'll
bet initial demand will be such that it will be impossible to find anything
actually equipped so as to be that cheap.


--
TeGGeR®

The Unofficial Honda FAQ
http://www3.telus.net/public/johnings/faq.html

How to find anything on the Internet or in Usenet Groups:
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www.groups.google.com

 

the cool thing about scions is that *supposedly* (heard this from a couple
salespeople) you WILL pay the sticker price. no haggling, but OTOH, no
"added dealer markup" stickers, pinstriping packages, etc... unless you want
them after the sale. supposedly, toyota will yank the scion franchise if
they get enough complaints.

i talked my mom into buying an xA. it was off the lot, and the only thing to
do was choosing which wheel cover you wanted. they all come with AC, power
windows/locks, and a pioneer mp3 playing stereo. oh yeah- an auto tranny is
extra.

it does exactly what she wants it to, and she likes it. if they were
available in '98 i woulda bought one myself, instead of paying about the
same for a stripped civic CX hatch.

 

Yeah well the insurance industry has traditionally depended on
investments for its profits and the stock market has been depressed for a
while.

Same here in NJ - hardly any insurance companies want to do business here
any more. Any new legislation which comes up to remedy the situation gets
pruned or beaten to death by contingency lawyer lobbyists and their
legislative cronies.

I'm getting weary of the low "durability" of some Honda components - my '99
Integra has had rattling heatshields for >10K miles now, starting at just
~40K miles: the top one detached itself at 45K miles and the bottom one at
52K miles; the B-pipe has a small hole in it I patched with muffler cement
and its heatshield is now rattling; the rear rotors were corroded to hell
at <30K miles. IMO that's just too early - barely past warranty - and
poor/cheap materials. Our '93 camry went to 103K miles with nothing but
regular maintenance and one horn replacement, not even a muffler hole.

That's going to be the interesting part - the Toyota dealers around here
are all flakes... among the worst of a bad lot. I can't see them letting
the tC out the door without jacking the price some way or other but
according to Scion it's a no-haggle price and it looks pretty well equipped
from the factory, so there's not a lot of scope for scams.

Did you come across www.scionlife.com? Some good pics of the tC there.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

At the Scion dealer I visited, they had brought in the salesman from
out-of-state. I think they hired him away from VW. The idea is that Scion
dealerships are "dealerships within a dealership". They are independent
enough that the Toyota salesman hanging around weren't even able to show me
a Scion.

 

Thanks. Sounds kinda odd though because most dealerships belong to an
individual or family corp. so the Scion guys must be employees no? I mean
if you get a customer who's torn between the Celica and the tC - sounds
like the prelude to a battle zone. Do they have a demilitarized zone
between the two?

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

Well, at this dealership, they had a separate room for the Scion stuff, and
you entered this room through a separate door that led to the outside. The
door was installed when they put in the Scion room.

And speaking of turf wars: let me tell you, the dealers were clearly less than
pleased when I asked them about the Scions. They frostily directed me to the
Scion room.

 

If Toyota has placed the Celica and the tC so as to have market overlap, I
would call that a serious mistake.

That's the kind of thing that got the domestics in trouble in the '70s and
the British in trouble for decades before that.



--
TeGGeR®

The Unofficial Honda FAQ
http://www3.telus.net/public/johnings/faq.html

How to find anything on the Internet or in Usenet Groups:
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well, the scion salesman isnt going to budge on the price.the celica
salesman probably would.

me??

 

not dealers... "salesmen"

the dealer is the one on the yacht counting the money from *both* brands
sold at his dealership.

 

doesnt the celica start at over $18k? there really isnt a comparison.