Kaydee

redesign the acura grille and they will see profits back up

jwong77

Explain this, Acura is a small part of Honda's overall income. If you look at the numbers.

LexFather

Honda is overrated plain and simple. They have the badge cred from the 1980s though, like Toyota. Their cars today are pretty average and sure as hell are ugly as sin. When you can sell ugly cars for over a decade, and you sell more of them, that equals sheep+ badge cred= profit.

As for Acura, the Accord pretty much makes Acura redundant.

Now for profits, no big deal, everyone has had a drop in profits and revenues. Honda is not immune to the economy.

So overall, not raising an eyebrow about this report.

FKL

I don't agree with this either, and I own two Hondas (02 ex V6, 04 ex-l). Honda seems to get a lot of praise becuase yes their overall build quality is far above the domestic nameplates, but as far as being top of their class, no way in hell. You mention the sound of the door when it closes - Yes it shuts with a nice quality noise (much better than a Taurus for instance), but is far from the vault like sound (or heft) of the Passat I also own. You mention sheet metal - Both of the Accords I have have larger body tolorances than the Passat. Both of the Accords have cheaper paint. They also both have unlined trunks with exposed wires and struts that intrude into the carrying area. On the inside you don't have to wait for one second to spot your first exposed screwhead (below the guage cluster overhang). The radio/HVAC bezel creaks when you push it inward - the leather that lines the seats is obviously inferior to the stuff found in the Volkswagen as too is the overall materials mix. Everything from the weather seal around the doors to the way the gear shifter shifts is inferior to the VW. Oh, and Honda doesn't have quite the illumination light show at night. Now you mention that for the price Hondas have a nice tradeoff, which I have to agree with (and why I have two). As for being the class benchmark for overall build quality and fit/finish, that they are not. Swiss-watch like build quality has always gone to the Germans and I don't see how Honda has ever truely enmulated that. Take a look at the new TSX/Pilot/Accord - They are all inferior, materials wise, to their predecessors.

dunnojack

demand my ***.

stop making ugly cars, and you can be in the black again.

mmarshall

OK, no problem. I'll respect youir opinion, but I will point out that Consumer Reports, who deals with the experiences of millions of car owners and their own tests, also has come to the conclusion that Honda, in general, makes the best overall cars for the money, considering reliability and test results. However, for my personal needs, I'll take a Subaru.

JDMUSCLE

iTrader: (1)

Honda's main strong point was in Leasing its vehicles, now that the banks are having a hard time figuring out what these trucks and minivans are going to be worth in the future, the residuals are droping tremendously...ultimately raising the lease payment!! Couple this with an ugly truck(Honda Pilot) you can see why thier operating profits have dropped!!.

JDMUSCLE

iTrader: (1)

Nice write up, I do agree with on the fact that the VWs interior looks and feels better. on the other hand, try driving a 5 year old VW, and tell me if that interior creeks and squeeks more or a Honda's interior does!! VW are electrical nightmares.....I can name more than a few instances where the dealer couldn't figure out the problem after having the car there for a good few months!! Yes, I do agree with you on the fact that that interior quality has gone down in the newer cars in general compared to the models they replaced....there is a reason for that....5 years ago...new camry's msrp was around 21k, now that same car's msrp is around 22k.....but now that same car comes with 5 more airbags, and few other options that are standard....what do you think is sacrificed....quality of the parts used, one of the best places to do that and not cost the reliabilty is in the interior accents and materials used!! VWs are nice cars....only to lease, not to own. Matter of fact that applies to all German cars in my opinion!

FKL

Well the Passat is a 2002 with 94K, so it's not exactly a new car. The car hasn't fallen apart and still displays a sense of vault-like rigidity that the Hondas don't, simple as that. For instance, you can hear the body of the 2002 Accord flex when you go over bumps, it's a noise in the sunroof area. The volkswagen feels impossibly tight by comparison, like one solid unit. The Hondas also have numerous rattles in the interior. The 04 has a mystery rattle under the rear shelf, as well as an annoying screatching noise behind the HVAC unit. Also as I said before, manipulating either the navigation screen/toggle/buttons or HVAC controls ellicits creaking noises - There was obviously money cut here. The plastics in this area are very cheap, cheaper than the 02 Accord. Also, the 02 has an obnoxious rattle from the sunroof track area, and the drivers power seat has partially fallen off it's frame. It's just things like that - When you get below and really look to see how the car is built (under the power seat for instance), you can see how far the Germans went to designing a substantial mechanism and layout - The Hondas seat looks simpler, but it's also harsh in it's operation, and as I said, fell out of it's (measly looking) track lines, so now it tilts slightly forward and back, the entire seat. But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself - These two Accords quality doesn't even compare to the domestic nameplates that were/are sold at the time (Taurus, Malibu, Impala, etc.). So yes they are well built, but not quite the best It's all in the details, and after years of ownership, you start appreciating little things. The only cheesy and underthought part in the Passat is the glovebox, which is frequent to going broke. Germans don't open the glovebox from the drivers side, the passenger does, so the Americans grab the handle the wrong way and break it off.

inLine4

Honda had the best year back in 2000. Every car in their line-up had its own unique design and engine/trim. Now the design has gone down the drain and fit and finish has gone down too along with other issues IMO.