Honda Quality

maynard001

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I've seen a lot of threads in here lately from people belly-aching about the supposed lapse in quality from Honda. Maybe this is just a case of the (very) vocal minority out-representing the silent majority. I for one am very happy with my 2017 EX-T. Is it perfect? No. But it's pretty damn good. No car is perfect and anyone that expects perfection should get over themselves. Our family has owned Ford, Subaru, Toyota, Saturn, and Buick automobiles and I'd easily stack my 2 Honda's up against all of them. A couple of those cars (I'm looking at you Subaru/Ford/Saturn) were absolute trash.

So what are the issues with the CivicX. The paint chips....yes...not perfect. The fabric on the inside of the EX-T is already showing wear...yes...not perfect (I'm in the middle of swapping the fabric pieces out for the leather for this exact reason). The seat vibrates when idling....yes....not perfect.

On the positive side....the car looks amazing, still drives smooth as silk, gets 40MPG during my commute to work, has pep thanks to the turbo, has intuitive controls, android auto integration, etc etc etc etc all for under $25,000. I still think it's an amazing car and would buy one all over again today if I could. The only difference is that I would maybe get the leather. I've given multiple friends rides and they've all been impressed.

To those of you expecting perfection, I'm sorry the car has let you down. If you apply those same lofty ideals to everything in your life you will probably live in constant disappointment. If you truly hate the car, sell it (if you're financially able) and move on.
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250GTCalifornia

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People should be able to voice their concerns about products they purchase without having to sell it and move on simply because a certain "vocal minority" doesn't like to hear negative things about products they purchased.

By the way, these corporations hope everybody becomes the "silent majority". What incentive would they have to do recalls if they didn't have to? It's okay if the rear of your car sounds like it's falling apart when it's cold. It's okay if your AC sounds like it's whistling a tune when you use it. It's okay if there's too much fuel in your oil. Nobody complains, so nothing is wrong.
 

Monnk13

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I've seen a lot of threads in here lately from people belly-aching about the supposed lapse in quality from Honda. Maybe this is just a case of the (very) vocal minority out-representing the silent majority. I for one am very happy with my 2017 EX-T. Is it perfect? No. But it's pretty damn good. No car is perfect and anyone that expects perfection should get over themselves. Our family has owned Ford, Subaru, Toyota, Saturn, and Buick automobiles and I'd easily stack my 2 Honda's up against all of them. A couple of those cars (I'm looking at you Subaru/Ford/Saturn) were absolute trash.

So what are the issues with the CivicX. The paint chips....yes...not perfect. The fabric on the inside of the EX-T is already showing wear...yes...not perfect (I'm in the middle of swapping the fabric pieces out for the leather for this exact reason). The seat vibrates when idling....yes....not perfect.

On the positive side....the car looks amazing, still drives smooth as silk, gets 40MPG during my commute to work, has pep thanks to the turbo, has intuitive controls, android auto integration, etc etc etc etc all for under $25,000. I still think it's an amazing car and would buy one all over again today if I could. The only difference is that I would maybe get the leather. I've given multiple friends rides and they've all been impressed.

To those of you expecting perfection, I'm sorry the car has let you down. If you apply those same lofty ideals to everything in your life you will probably live in constant disappointment. If you truly hate the car, sell it (if you're financially able) and move on.
I’m not looking for perfection. I have owned Honda/Acura since I bought my integra type r almost 20 years ago. I noticed a few things that seem to be cost saving measures. I wanted to see if it was just me or if it seemed to be a trend (paint, interior fabrics among my biggest concerns). It doesn’t mean I don’t really like my car or the overall quality of Honda, but is will be a factor when I buy my next car.
 


saz468

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Unfortunately every auto manufacturer has problems some more than others Honda has a better reputation in my opinion also remember theses cars are mass produced. But what I can’t understand is when a $60,000 plus car is having the same or worse problems as a $20,000 car
 
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bluehatch17

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People don’t necessarily go looking on a forum to say this is the greatest car ever. They search out forums for an audience to air out their grievances. Plenty of people are totally content getting point a to point b and don’t have any major attachment to a vehicle. So they don’t care about car forums. But As car people, we have vested interests in our own cars.

I agree with you. The civic is an awesome car. I have owned 3 generations and own a 2018 and 2019 currently. There are things that could be better but I am also not paying $50/60k or over $100k for every little detail and luxury. I like that my coupe sport is relatively basic and doesn’t have heated seats and mirrors and leather. If I want more luxuries, I drive the sport touring turbo.

The main thing is ease of ownership and reliability. Honda’s are easy to work on and the 9 or 10 Honda’s/Acura’s that I have owned, none of them have let me down.
 

Rickmeister 48

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People should be able to voice their concerns about products they purchase without having to sell it and move on simply because a certain "vocal minority" doesn't like to hear negative things about products they purchased.

By the way, these corporations hope everybody becomes the "silent majority". What incentive would they have to do recalls if they didn't have to? It's okay if the rear of your car sounds like it's falling apart when it's cold. It's okay if your AC sounds like it's whistling a tune when you use it. It's okay if there's too much fuel in your oil. Nobody complains, so nothing is wrong.
You said it man! Had I sit with my mouth shut, if be driving a defective lemon around instead of a brand new civic, which has NOWHERE near the issues but still has things that need to be taken care of. I actually think the bigger problem is the dealerships and corporate Honda just plain sucking and its a bigger issue than the cars themselves.
 

gtman

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I've driven a lot of cars over the years. I've always considered Honda to be a quality car. I owned a CRX, Integra and Civic back in the day. My past few cars were Hyundai and Kia products. And that's what I want to reference here.

When I bought my first Hyundai, an Elantra GT hatch, I didn't know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised that it was as reliable as my Hondas had been. The difference was in the drive. It simply didn't have the slick shifting manual my Hondas did. And it didn't handle as well. I traded that for a top of the line Kia Forte SX. That car was also super reliable and the handling was much better than the Elantra.

In 2017, I went back to my roots and bought my Honda Civic EX-L. I expected huge improvements over my Kia. And my Civic didn't disappoint in tech, mpg's and overall performance. But, I was surprised (shocked actually) that the Kia paint held up better. The exterior fit and finish (tighter panel gaps) on the Kia was also better overall. On the other hand, the interior of the Civic is way better.

The Civic is a fantastic car but there are definitely areas where corners have been cut and improvement could be made.
 

Lifesabeach

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Look at the reviews Jeremy Clarkson does, yes its entertainment and the blokes an arsehole, but and the crucial but is whether its a super car or your average hatchback he always finds something that could have been designed better with each car. Opinions are subjective to each individual, my car is not perfect and has been back to the dealer and I have complained to Honda. I think we all forget these days that cars in the main are no longer built by engineers but by the accountants and therefore to a price depending on the target market. Unfortuneatly its a fact of life that spills over to all areas of manufacturing but that said it does not give a manufacturer carte balnche to design, build and market a shoddy product. So for consumers its a balance of expectations and manufacturers a balance of cost and quality, I yearn for years gone by when some car manufacturers designed a high quality robust product remember merc taxis built in the 80's easily doing hundreds of thousands of miles, they were built like tanks and in recent years they have traded on their reputation of the past, lets hope that Honda does not end up the same way.
 


Green82

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People should be able to voice their concerns about products they purchase without having to sell it and move on simply because a certain "vocal minority" doesn't like to hear negative things about products they purchased.

By the way, these corporations hope everybody becomes the "silent majority". What incentive would they have to do recalls if they didn't have to? It's okay if the rear of your car sounds like it's falling apart when it's cold. It's okay if your AC sounds like it's whistling a tune when you use it. It's okay if there's too much fuel in your oil. Nobody complains, so nothing is wrong.
Funny I have none of the problems you mentioned from my hatchback sport. But the one thing I have noticed on the car is thin paint but all car companies have problems with something to cut cost and sell higher.
My family has.went through many different brands of vehicles through the years and all of them had problems dodge transmissions fords frames breaking and other things falling off, my brothers 2016 GMC Z71 has several recalls and has other problems that's Not on recall but should be
 
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maynard001

maynard001

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So, for all of you that are bemoaning the "lack of quality" and Honda "cutting corners to save money"...does that mean you'd happily pay more to get these problems fixed? What if the base Civic started at $24k rather than $19k? The NA automobile market is super competitive. If Honda is indeed cutting the corners that you mention on interiors, paint, and windshields, don't you think it's likely in an attempt to keep the price down rather than just pocketing the money?

I'm not sure why so many people jump to the conclusion of "they're trying to screw us" rather than "they're making choices in an attempt to keep the price of the car below $XX".
 

gtman

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I understand the economics of car manufacturing. My main point is this...

Having owned two Hondas and an Acura back in the 80's and 90's, I considered them to be little "jewel-like" cars. They were really well built. Maybe it's the fact my new Civic was built in Canada not Japan, but compared to other Hondas I've owned, the build quality isn't as good. Obviously from a technology standpoint this 10th gen is head and shoulders better.

Maybe it's just bad build quality on my particular car. Trunk panel gaps I can nearly put my hand through. I can literally see the blue washer fluid cap through my passenger side hood panel gap. And new chips in the paint weekly.

I love my car's comfort, looks, performance etc., but as someone who owned other car brands and came back to Honda for the 10th gen, my experience is they aren't as well built as they once were.
 
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maynard001

maynard001

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I understand the economics of car manufacturing. My main point is this...

Having owned two Hondas and an Acura back in the 80's and 90's, I considered them to be little "jewel-like" cars. They were really well built. Maybe it's the fact my new Civic was built in Canada not Japan, but compared to other Hondas I've owned, the build quality isn't as good. Obviously from a technology standpoint this 10th gen is head and shoulders better.

Maybe it's just bad build quality on my particular car. Trunk panel gaps I can nearly put my hand through. I can literally see the blue washer fluid cap through my passenger side hood panel gap. And new chips in the paint weekly.

I love my car's comfort, looks, performance etc., but as someone who owned other car brands and came back to Honda for the 10th gen, my experience is they aren't as well built as they once were.

Thanks gtman. That's a reasonable, measured opinion that I can't argue with. My 2000 manual Accord was built in Japan. We'll see how my 2017 Civic is holding up in 2035 :). My guess is that you're right, and it won't hold up as well as my 2000 Japan-built Accord.

I guess my irritation is with the people jumping straight from minor irritation to full-on internet outrage. I think it's less of a "honda quality" issue than it is a simple matter of global production lines and the fact that everything these days is getting cheaper and more disposable.
 

turbo lover

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So, for all of you that are bemoaning the "lack of quality" and Honda "cutting corners to save money"...does that mean you'd happily pay more to get these problems fixed? What if the base Civic started at $24k rather than $19k? The NA automobile market is super competitive. If Honda is indeed cutting the corners that you mention on interiors, paint, and windshields, don't you think it's likely in an attempt to keep the price down rather than just pocketing the money?

I'm not sure why so many people jump to the conclusion of "they're trying to screw us" rather than "they're making choices in an attempt to keep the price of the car below $XX".
The car lacks some features that I'm used to having, I'd happily pay the extra cost to have these: auto up / down on all four windows, height adjustable passenger seat, variable speed sensing wipers, remote control open and close for windows, horn that doesn't sound like it belongs on a 50cc scooter.
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