When did Honda start cutting corners on quality?

stingray

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Just so I'm being clear -- those gaps aren't the result of someone misalining or mis-fitting the trunk lid. The gaps are a result of a conscious decision in the design state somewhere at Honda.

Look at other Japanese cars of this vintage. You'll see the same wide gaps around the trunk. My wife's Prius has these same wide gaps around the trunk lid. It's not an issue of the trunk being installed on a Friday or something like that... That's how the trunk was designed, for whatever reason, and they're all like that.
None of my CR V’s, 2 of them, nor my ‘19 Si, nor my daughter’s ‘15 Civic have wide gaps. They are damn near perfect. Almost identical gaps all around, and the same basic gaps on all 4 cars. No difference in where they are made.
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ablueSI

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I am not concerned with your 4 year membership. You complain about the car you “love”. Why would you buy a car with ludicrously wide gaps? Again, why complain about something you knew about, and ignored? The paint on all my Honda’s have been the equal or better than any of my other cars. (32 of them) want to see bad...check GM
I'm in agreement with GTman, the panel gaps are horrible. That doesn't mean we hate the car. Obviously there are more positives than negatives. But Honda should have done this better.
 

stingray

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I'm in agreement with GTman, the panel gaps are horrible. That doesn't mean we hate the car. Obviously there are more positives than negatives. But Honda should have done this better.
See the dealer. They can fix it
 


Lola

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Knock on wood, I’ve had my ‘18 Rallye Red for over a year now and see nary a chip on it anywhere. And yes I drive it out in the real world every day (I do tend to give dump trucks a wide berth though). I wonder if some colors are more (or less) durable than others for some reason.
 

civicls

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AND THIS my friends is why we need ceramic coatings. I coated all my cars except my civics :(
 

Gruber

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Knock on wood, I’ve had my ‘18 Rallye Red for over a year now and see nary a chip on it anywhere. And yes I drive it out in the real world every day (I do tend to give dump trucks a wide berth though). I wonder if some colors are more (or less) durable than others for some reason.
Also 18' red, also zero chips or any paint complaints whatever after 14.5 months. Maybe some colors indeed make a better paint (besides the obviously superior esthetics of the rallye red) ? Looking at the Honda U.K. website, Rallye Red is default there and any other color costs extra. Maybe there is some reason for this.

I believe those who complain; there must be something to it. But they need to also believe me. I'm not born yesterday, I had many cars before, and I don't see any problem at all with MY civicx paint so far. No chips, no wear. Fact is, I don't wash and polish cars all the time, not only for the reason of my undeniable laziness.

Regarding the gaps, as I said before, wider gaps are simply cheaper to fit. This can't be "fixed" :spaz: the sizes of the panels are as they are made at the factory. It looks like the civicx assembly as it is done, wouldn't support much narrower gaps. How to confirm that? Take several drill bits, such as 1/4", 15/64", 7/32", 13/64" and so on, and try to slide them (not the business end of course) carefully in and along the gaps. (Any ruler measurement will be inaccurate) You will see that the widths are not perfectly the same along the gaps. They vary by 1/32" at least, sometimes more. They also are not identical between left and right. If the gaps were narrower, this could be visible.

On my car the widest gap is between the hatch and the roof, well over 1/4". It is less between the hatch and the C pillar: 15/64" to 1/4". Next is the gap between front and rear doors, about 7/32" at most. Then between the front doors and the fender panels it is still less. The hood gap seems to be still narrower..

CRV had narrower gaps, and they look even, but guess what, my CRV assembled in OH had a visibly misaligned rear door. If there was a deluxe version civicx with precisely adjusted panels and narrower gaps for a fee, I would have declined. It has to look even and aligned, but I simply don't care how wide it is on this type of car.
Now if it was a luxury car priced some 3x my civicx, I would absolutely demand narrower gaps, because a hand made mahogany dashboard just doesn't feel so satisfying when you are aware it took a soulless robot less than a minute to slap together all your body panels.
 
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Axatax

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Yeah, I also have Rallye Red and the paint is fine, besides where two small pebbles hit my bumper. That can happen to any car of any color.

Both my Civics are red. My 2000 has the factory paint, except on one fender that was replaced. The problem with red is that it will eventually fade, but you have to look really hard to see it. Red isn't really a dirt magnet either.
 

stingray

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Also 18' red, also zero chips or any paint complaints whatever after 14.5 months. Maybe some colors indeed make a better paint (besides the obviously superior esthetics of the rallye red) ? Looking at the Honda U.K. website, Rallye Red is default there and any other color costs extra. Maybe there is some reason for this.

I believe those who complain; there must be something to it. But they need to also believe me. I'm not born yesterday, I had many cars before, and I don't see any problem at all with MY civicx paint so far. No chips, no wear. Fact is, I don't wash and polish cars all the time, not only for the reason of my undeniable laziness.

Regarding the gaps, as I said before, wider gaps are simply cheaper to fit. This can't be "fixed" :spaz: the sizes of the panels are as they are made at the factory. It looks like the civicx assembly as it is done, wouldn't support much narrower gaps. How to confirm that? Take several drill bits, such as 1/4", 15/64", 7/32", 13/64" and so on, and try to slide them (not the business end of course) carefully in and along the gaps. (Any ruler measurement will be inaccurate) You will see that the widths are not perfectly the same along the gaps. They vary by 1/32" at least, sometimes more. They also are not identical between left and right. If the gaps were narrower, this could be visible.

On my car the widest gap is between the hatch and the roof, well over 1/4". It is less between the hatch and the C pillar: 15/64" to 1/4". Next is the gap between front and rear doors, about 7/32" at most. Then between the front doors and the fender panels it is still less. The hood gap seems to be still narrower..

CRV had narrower gaps, and they look even, but guess what, my CRV assembled in OH had a visibly misaligned rear door. If there was a deluxe version civicx with precisely adjusted panels and narrower gaps for a fee, I would have declined. It has to look even and aligned, but I simply don't care how wide it is on this type of car.
Now if it was a luxury car priced some 3x my civicx, I would absolutely demand narrower gaps, because a hand made mahogany dashboard just doesn't feel so satisfying when you are aware it took a soulless robot less than a minute to slap together all your body panels.
Size of gaps is not indicative of quality. Uniformity is what matters. Are all gaps equal around the car. Now, an absurd gap is different. I have never seen a Honda with bad gaps. GM and Chrysler, yes. And bad paint, and bad sheet metal.
 


flacobill

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My CTR shakes, rattles & rolls... lol

I do have a few annoying buzzes & rattles here & there. One is deep inside the dash, the other the passenger side roof area. And another from underneath car on launches... the whole car vibrates until I hit 3k rpm.
I also had a very bad clicking sound from front left wheel on slow right hand turns. It was a pebble stuck in the dust shield. Most rattles come & go based on what the RPM is at the moment.
Loyal Honda dude since 86... this one is the worst buzzbox by far.
If this was a luxury car I wouldn’t stand for this but for now I’m ok.
I do think UK mfg has a bit to do with it all & look forward to see how the next gens do....
In the mean time I’ll try to isolate & fix these myself. I Don’t trust dealers at all especially with rattles that require multiple test drives to locate & fix.
 

Giovader

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I had a first gen Fit and the paint was equally shitty (as the X Gen) and it was from Japan.

I think the paint quality started going down around the introduction of the 8th gen civics. My 06 had tons of chips early on and I always see other 8th gens with oxidation
a lot of the 8th gen civics i see on the road here in NY have a lot of paint damage especially with sun spots
 

REBELXSi

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a lot of the 8th gen civics i see on the road here in NY have a lot of paint damage especially with sun spots
I see it all the time. My mother has a 8th gen but miraculously hers is just fine. It's definitely in the minority. I always look to see if 8th gens have bad paint and almost always it's the case. That and a beetle with a headlight out lol
 

gtman

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I've been looking online and complaints about Honda paint quality are everywhere.

To see the list of topics from CivicX copy and paste this into a Google search..

honda paint bad site:www.civicx.com
 

Azjose86

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I thought I was the only one having this issue. I haven't changed my driving habits from any previous car. This car is barely at 11k and the front it already littered with rock chips, while none of my other cars ever had that problem. I'm so disappointed with Honda's recent quality. Definitely my last Honda for a while, and I use to swear by Honda, this is my 6th Honda I've bought and it's an SI and I feel like this car is the cheapest made one of them all..
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