Fizzboy7

There was a time in the late 80's and early 90's, Honda Civics, Preludes, Accords, and CRX's were THE cars to have when in high school and college. My school's lot was full of them. Then of course, these models led to a huge aftermarket frenzy of modding and street racing, which made them even more popular.

Flash forward to today. With a good dozen+ years of producing frumpy and stodgy designs, the younger buyer's have shifted to other brands like Scion, Hyundai, Kia, VW, and Toyota. In turn, many older people have been picking up Elements, CRV's, Accords, Insights, Pilots, and Ridgelines. I see this on the road and with my neighbors. Where Honda has lost it's youth appeal, it's been building with the seniors. Naturally, I think older people lack some good sense and lose the ability to guage what may appear to be cool. There is nothing wrong with this of course, it's just how we all end up as we age. It's likely one day I won't know or care about bucktooth grilles either.

So my point of this is, I wonder if anyone has published a study of the average age of today's Honda buyer compared to what it was 10 and 20 years ago. I would have to guess the numbers are quite opposite. Then one can ask the question, does Honda really care about the age of who buys their cars? You always hear about Buick, Lexus, and others trying to lower their age appeal. When it comes to sales though, who cares what age someone is. The more sales the better, and I would guess a 57 year old would have more funds to buy a car than a teen in high school. If that's the case, is Honda losing money or making money on this theory?

Thoughts?

KillaIS250

iTrader: (1)

I just recently graduated from college, and i gotta say Honda Civics, Accords and Prelude's are still very popular on campus. They aren't necessarily "THE" cars to have anymore, but many people are still driving them. But i agree that the new Honda cars are not appealing to youth anymore, so much so that many are preferring to stick with the older Honda's. I personally think Honda is trying to get away from being the car company associated with Ricers/Fast-N-Furious type cars and the whole teenage racer scene. Their current line of cars would definitely suggest so. I loved the styling of my old car, 98 Honda Prelude, I wish they still made cars like the Prelude! But the new line up is mostly bland design.

I think the biggest issue with Honda today is they just don't make them like they used to. And i'm not just taking about appeal in looks, quality has gone down. My brother has a 2008 Civic Coupe and no matter how careful he drives it the front brakes won't go beyond 20k miles, The sun visor is defective and keeps falling down (he's on his 3rd i believe) and apparently there's now a serious issue with them where the engine block cracks because of thin metals used on the block, requiring an engine replacement. One of my friends just got her motor replaced earlier this year for that issue, and it seems its affecting a lot of owners. My co-worker has the same exact issue with the sun visor too, and a google search yields many pissed off Civic owners. It's safe to say this will be our last Honda.

mmarshall

To me, that shows automotive narrow-mindedness and a lack of ability to think outside a narrow-box.

And, of course, to use one's vehicle for street-racing shows a gross lack of responsibility, common sense, or respect/fear of what can be dangerous

You'd be surprised to see how many older people (for many reasons) drive non-tC Scions. The tC, though, yes, has sold mostly to young people. And Hyundai and Kia are appealing to all age groups today, not just the young. Though some males do drive them, VW, in general, has more of a reputation as a female or "chick" brand than for young people in general.

Honda's reputation for reliability has also helped it wth seniors. Many older people have enough other things to take care of in day-to-day life, and don't want to concern themselves with a lot of car-problems and breakdowns.

I totally agree...who cares? This obsession in the auto marketing and in the auto press about what age group buys what car, IMO, is ludicrous.


Good point. The big problem, here, is that Buick, Cadillac, Lincoln, and (to an extent) Lexus are trying to convert much or all of their car-fleet to sport-sedans or semi-sport sedans, despite the fact that they DON'T NEED to. In doing do, and in pursuing a so-called "younger age-appeal" (which has been WAY overblown by the automotive press), they are ignoring many, if not most, of their most established, most faithful customers that supported them for many years.....yes, the ones with the money.

I don't think there's much question that Honda is making more money this way. Honda's cash-cows have traditionally been the Accord, CR-V, Pilot, and the non-sporting Civics. Many of the younger guys who, over the years, bought the Prelude, Civic Si, Acura Integra R/GS-R, and CRX Si, dealt a lot more in the used-car market rather in in new cars....and used cars, of course, don't necessarily help the company's bottom-line.

FrankReynoldsCPA

Might I just add that to use one's honda for street-racing shows a serious lack of knowledge about racing, and a strong desire to follow the herd.

mmarshall

The comparably low-torque of a lot of Honda fours, though, didn't stop some of those kids......they used nitrous-bottle kits and computer-chips. Those kits can give you some serious power.....and, or course, overstress the design-limits of the engine.

LexFather

The avg Honda owner in the U.K is 64 I believe....no joke..

What is happening is those cars you could mod and were seen as cool and at least were inoffensive or good looking have all turned into Hondas you can't mod as easily, are ugly and are huge. The 1990s will never happen for Honda again. They are slipping up and the competition has stepped it up.

Expect the age to increase. I've noticed in the past 3 years some glaring things.
1. I've yet to see a new beaked Acura at any car meet or car show.
2. All the Acuras/Hondas are older models from the 80s,90s and early to mid 2000s...it seems to stop right around the 2004 model TL/TSX.

Its sad b/c Honda enthusiasts are some of the most enthused around. These guys are hardcore. They help push the industry and Honda has completely let them down and left them. Honda guys are always at meets, shows, events and they just love their Honda. Not sure why Honda corp would tell these guys "FU, buy something else". I don't understand it. they have such a good base of fans, why would u leave them? They are young, which is what most brands want. Hell go to ImportAlliance which is nicknamed Honda Alliance b/c these guys dominate. Why would you abandon them? Makes no sense to me. They buy or get a HOnda young with the potential to move up. If they fixed Acura, they would then move up to Acuras. Talk to a Honda kid today, they hate Acuras! Its crazy what they have done to themselves.

Like many here, I think the last Honda I desire is the S2000 and the only product I find sweet is the Accord coupe. That is one good looking car inside and out.

I love the enthusiasm from Honda guys/gals and I hope Honda wakes the hell up and looks out for them. B/C they are moving on to the competition one by one and are tired of waiting.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

They have NOTHING that would remotely interest me. I'll be buying a new car soon and it'll be a USED S2000 because it's the last car from the good ol Honda era.

New Hondas are not my radar unless they can come up with something else. The CRZ was so close to being a legitimate car sports compact car, but instead they equipped the car with pantyhose instead of a real engine.