Allen K

iTrader: (4)

I don't care about the V8 (although sick might ), but their overall lineup is just full of blah. The engines are midpack at best and the styling is very...polarizing. Even on the Acura boards the enthusiasts are wondering wtf happened. I miss my dad's old Legend

rogers2

I'm one of those MB sheeps. My MB CL was some what of a nightmare but Mercedes-benz reliablility has gotten alot better. My CL was 100k nightmare but let me tell you pants would drop when a women see the interior.
The truth is no other car company other than (Porsche/Ferrari Aston and few others) has the image Mercedes-Benz has. Sorry not even Lexus and BMW imo
But I will never make a Benz my only car.

cjf_moraga

This comment is becoming outmoded. MB did go through a quality bad patch in the 2000-2005 period but has made major improvements more recently, not only anecdotally - even Consumer Reports (latest 2009) has 6 MB models (all core: S, C, E, SL, M, SLK) now at average reliability or above and marked as recommended buys. (There were none last year) MB does deserve some credit here...

Chris

leedogg

I wouldnt say a huge mess, but I would definitely say they are a little off track right now. In the past, they wouldnt necessarily have the best performing vehicles, but they provided the best luxury values in stunning designs. With the latest generation, they still arent performance leading, but the luxury value is being seriously tarnished by the head averting designs. IMO they dont need to be the performance kings. Aside from the car enthusiasts here, most consumers consider many other factors (fuel economy, safety, features, design) at a higher priority than performance. Right now, the main things Acura has going for it are interior styling, build reliability and the latest safety studies. I will give Acura props for coming out with a bold design that looks different from everybody else and is easily identifiable on the road, however it was poorly implemented and clearly insufficiently test marketed. Despite the daily Acura bashing that goes on here, Acura's problems are minor compared to most of the rest of the auto industry, all they need to do is come out with appealing designs and people will happily jump aboard the Acura bandwagon.

Gojirra99

to the very small % of die hard British car fans ?

Allen K

iTrader: (4)

Jaguar is where MB would have been IF they didn't improve their quality after splitting from Chrysler. Name can only carry you for so long if you're producing bad cars like Jaguar was for a while.

CDNROCKIES

I find it really odd that Honda can be #1 and Acura is way down at #25 out of 36 brands listed. Toyota at #2 is closely followed by Lexus at #3. Why is it that if Honda's are such great cars (I am not disputing this), that they cannot keep up with their luxury division? I find it strange that they do one level so well, and apparently struggle to keep people in their luxurious Acura's?

Any theories as to why?

ffpowerLN

iTrader: (1)

Because Honda is approaching Acura the same way that they are approaching Honda? In my opinion that's a big no-no to a luxury brand, Honda needs to realize that people in the luxury market aren't just looking for a reliable A-to-B commuter, they demand more on almost every aspect from the initial sales to maintenance and ultimately the overall ownership experience. It's a whole new ball game.

Just think where will Lexus be today if Toyota had approached it like they did with the Toyota brand.

speed_Demo

Honda dealer service suck big time.

I was going to buy a accord over the summer, went to the dealer to look at '08 accord. One saleman asked first question "are you planning to buy today?" I have my check book in my pocket, but i told him I'm looking to buy, but not sure today. Surely, he slowly drift away. Didn't really try to sell me the accord, even though I did research about the accord, but it would've been nice if he keep some conversation going instead of standing there waiting to do the paper work.

I went across the street, Lexus dealer, treated me like king! walk away w/ the IS250 almost same price as a fully load Accord!

I bought a Ridgeline for the family, and have serval Honda products at home. But, that one experience just lost me that day. I went home, and tell some friends to go buy Lexus!!! ahah or at least go there for the free water.

rogers2

I agree they service do sucks. If I own a honda I would probaly take my car to the service station vs the dealership. I convince two of my best friends to buy a honda accord. Yes they are good cars but I can't believe how the dealer nickel and dime them for everything. Honestly honda service cost the same amount as Acura service in my area.

UDel

Right now Acura only has 5 models which is just not enough to choose from with one model the RDX only competing in a very small niche segment, they need more selection. Acura has no sports cars, coupes, convertibles, large flagship lux sedans, and not many powertrain options and some customers go elsewhere when they want those different type of vehicles Acura does not offer. Honda has like 9 or 10 models to choose from covering many more segments and has coupes, a sports car, and a convertible which is disappointing that Honda has these vehicles and Acura does not. Lexus has 9 models to choose from, Mercedes has like 12 or 13 and BMW has like 9 models with several coupes and convertables, etc. If Acura has more models to choose from and fills in more segments they will retain more customers who have to go elsewhere to get certain types of cars they may want.

UDel

You can't judge an entire brand just based on one experience with a bad salesman or dealership. I was very happy with the Honda dealerships when I had my Honda and the always treated me right and were honest, the Acura dealerships have treated my parents excellent and have went out of their way to make them happy even doing things out of warranty for free and finding a buyer for their 99 TL who bought the car sight unseen which they made no money from. The guys at the Acura dealership near me let me test drive their vehicles and talked to me for over an hour about cars even though I said I was not interested in buying, they never pressured me to try to get me to buy something after I said I was not interested that day. It depends on who the people are, not just the brand name. Honda and Acura surely have good and bad salesman and dealerships as well as Lexus, you just have to find one with better people working for them. I have generally had bad and disappointing experiences at Lexus dealerships I have been to and they also rip you off with their prices so it is not just one brand that only has good salesman and dealerships and the other only has bad. Considering how much more you pay for Lexus vehicles you should have better experiences then from a Honda dealership but no matter what brand you buy you should still be treated with respect.

If you were disappointed with your experience with the salesman at the Honda dealership I would have told him I was ready to buy but my experience with you turned me off and I bought a different car from a different brand and I was treated much better at the other dealership. I am sure hearing about losing a sale because of the way he treated you would help him adjust his attitude and try to improve the way he does business. I would also call Honda corporate if the experience was really negative and nasty but from what you said it did not seem like the experience was that nasty, just disappointing and you expected to be paid more attention too and treated better, still I understand why you were turned off and looked elsewhere and luckily found a salesman that treated you the way you expect to be treated.

Janizary

I'll fully admit that even though I've had, and continue to have, a number of other vehicles in my corral, there has always been at least one Honda in the garage. I had to think about that a bit, going back for about 20 years, but sure enough that's the way its rolled out. The current Honda is a Ridgeline for our 'family utility' (shopping, kid hauling, bike hauling, light towing of Quads, trips, etc.). The wife has a VW EOS 3.2L, and my IS350, a F350, and two jeeps round out the corral (leaving aside motorcylces, etc.).

One item in the stats I did find confusing: Do Scion buyers really buy another Scion? They've only been out a few years. xB buyers getting tCs? xA buyers 'stepping up' to xD? I'm not picking on Scion, I just don't understand the 'retention'. Part of the Scion marketing plan was to use it as a 'stepping stone' into Toyota or Lexus.

speed_Demo

Hey I agreed w/ you about being treated w/ respect @ Dealer no matter what brand. Like wise a customer like myself treat the saleman/woman w/ respect.

Like I said, that one experience deter me from spending more time @ Honda and went across to the Lexus. True, it will vary up on individual sales skills. But a saleman can't expect a customer to tell him "I am planning/buying...today", and be motivate to talk to the customer.

I have nothing against Honda producst since I also drive a Ridgeline, bike, ect. I had a great experience buying the Ridgeline, that I referrer another friend to the saleman to buy another Ridgeline through him. But this was at a different dealer.

I too had a bad experience at a Lexus dealer for a service on the car. But that one bad experience @ Honda, got me here at a Lexus forums. The first saleman at lexus dealer expected me to accept the MSRP price, until I told him I'll think about it over night. Then he ran off and got someone to really work with me.

I thought about writing a letter to Honda Co. about the bad experienced. But instead, I wrote a letter to the Lexus Dealer about the saleman that sold me the car so he can get a promotion/bonus. That way, future hook up might be easier.

LexFather

Yeah they bled Chrysler, took their cash to fix quality and expand their lineup. Then they left Chrysler for dead and lost billions on it. Its clear Benz quality has seriously improved, I believe the last couple surveys had them ahead of Infiniti, Acura and Cadillac.

If you going to say there is "bashing" then be FAIR and also say some of you will wear the daily "Acura save them thong". If you read ALL forums, even non car related ones, Acura is nearly a laughing stock. So its not just here, its EVERYWHERE, Acura has a HUGE problem, not a minor one.