Honda has a new CEO
- Thread starter Hounds
- Start date
- Status
He as a LOT of work to do, Honda's reputation has been really badly damaged by a number of things first being the
lack of great products, everyone remembers the best Honda days back in the 80s-90s. Those days seem long gone of well engineered, simple, durable, and high quality, at reasonable prices and they all had a special feel that at that time nobody else had....
The CRX, Prelude, Accord, Civic at that time were really outstanding products, to think that the Civic, and Accord had wishbone suspensions and independent rear suspensions and were reasonably priced was really amazing. I was around and worked at Honda stores during their hey day, and the cars really were that good.
lack of great products, everyone remembers the best Honda days back in the 80s-90s. Those days seem long gone of well engineered, simple, durable, and high quality, at reasonable prices and they all had a special feel that at that time nobody else had....
The CRX, Prelude, Accord, Civic at that time were really outstanding products, to think that the Civic, and Accord had wishbone suspensions and independent rear suspensions and were reasonably priced was really amazing. I was around and worked at Honda stores during their hey day, and the cars really were that good.
Originally Posted By: GiveMeAVowel
He as a LOT of work to do, Honda's reputation has been really badly damaged by a number of things first being the
lack of great products, everyone remembers the best Honda days back in the 80s-90s. Those days seem long gone of well engineered, simple, durable, and high quality, at reasonable prices and they all had a special feel that at that time nobody else had....
The CRX, Prelude, Accord, Civic at that time were really outstanding products, to think that the Civic, and Accord had wishbone suspensions and independent rear suspensions and were reasonably priced was really amazing. I was around and worked at Honda stores during their hey day, and the cars really were that good.
What?!?!?! Honda is still the best manufacturer in terms of overall quality and reliability. Look at a new Accord vs any other 4 door family sedan and the Accord beats them in ever category. The Civic vs Corolla......the Civic is far away the better car.
He as a LOT of work to do, Honda's reputation has been really badly damaged by a number of things first being the
lack of great products, everyone remembers the best Honda days back in the 80s-90s. Those days seem long gone of well engineered, simple, durable, and high quality, at reasonable prices and they all had a special feel that at that time nobody else had....
The CRX, Prelude, Accord, Civic at that time were really outstanding products, to think that the Civic, and Accord had wishbone suspensions and independent rear suspensions and were reasonably priced was really amazing. I was around and worked at Honda stores during their hey day, and the cars really were that good.
What?!?!?! Honda is still the best manufacturer in terms of overall quality and reliability. Look at a new Accord vs any other 4 door family sedan and the Accord beats them in ever category. The Civic vs Corolla......the Civic is far away the better car.
Agreed. I had a 90 Civic base model that was a joy to drive, 75 hp and all. Honda needs to get back to it's roots and a good way to start that would be to go back to double wish bone front end. I remember when they made the switch to struts, the Honda tuning crowd abandoned the brand in droves.
Honda's response was that the car was now designed for an imaginary customer named "Jennifer". I don't know how many secretary's Honda thought would support the brand, but I know plenty of office people of both sexes that like good driving dynamics no matter what the brand or price.
I dont care a hoot about focus groups or branding or any of that stuff, all I want is a light weight, sporty driving, manual shift car that'll do 0-60 in seven seconds or so. This something Honda used to know how to do. I started driving BMWs when they were simple cars but now they are so reliant on technology that I feel like they lost sight of the goal in building a BMW. I could go on and on but y'all know what I'm getting at.
Honda's response was that the car was now designed for an imaginary customer named "Jennifer". I don't know how many secretary's Honda thought would support the brand, but I know plenty of office people of both sexes that like good driving dynamics no matter what the brand or price.
I dont care a hoot about focus groups or branding or any of that stuff, all I want is a light weight, sporty driving, manual shift car that'll do 0-60 in seven seconds or so. This something Honda used to know how to do. I started driving BMWs when they were simple cars but now they are so reliant on technology that I feel like they lost sight of the goal in building a BMW. I could go on and on but y'all know what I'm getting at.
Originally Posted By: Chris B.
What?!?!?! Honda is still the best manufacturer in terms of overall quality and reliability. Look at a new Accord vs any other 4 door family sedan and the Accord beats them in ever category. The Civic vs Corolla......the Civic is far away the better car.
I'm not saying the over product is "bad", but in no way are the products today as high quality as they were back during that time.
The same could be said for Toyota, all those companies have lowered the bar on quality and durability for the sake of profits.
I think the current Accord is one of the best mid sized sedans you can buy, but it isn't as durable, bullet proof, and high quality overall compared to the cars from the 80s-90s. I know I was there. The new Accord and Civics have regular struts up front which compromises the ride quality, while the previous generations has WS which allowed for superior handling and no sacrifice in ride quality.
What?!?!?! Honda is still the best manufacturer in terms of overall quality and reliability. Look at a new Accord vs any other 4 door family sedan and the Accord beats them in ever category. The Civic vs Corolla......the Civic is far away the better car.
I'm not saying the over product is "bad", but in no way are the products today as high quality as they were back during that time.
The same could be said for Toyota, all those companies have lowered the bar on quality and durability for the sake of profits.
I think the current Accord is one of the best mid sized sedans you can buy, but it isn't as durable, bullet proof, and high quality overall compared to the cars from the 80s-90s. I know I was there. The new Accord and Civics have regular struts up front which compromises the ride quality, while the previous generations has WS which allowed for superior handling and no sacrifice in ride quality.
Originally Posted By: GiveMeAVowel
The new Accord and Civics have regular struts up front which compromises the ride quality, while the previous generations has WS which allowed for superior handling and no sacrifice in ride quality.
I agree with you in concept, but I think the new Accord's front struts have proven themselves on the road and on the track. The new Accord rides better and out-handles the old one. BMWs and Porsches both use front struts as well. Struts aren't necessarily bad. They're more limiting in what they can do compared with a wishbone design, but there are ways to mitigate some of that.
The new Accord and Civics have regular struts up front which compromises the ride quality, while the previous generations has WS which allowed for superior handling and no sacrifice in ride quality.
I agree with you in concept, but I think the new Accord's front struts have proven themselves on the road and on the track. The new Accord rides better and out-handles the old one. BMWs and Porsches both use front struts as well. Struts aren't necessarily bad. They're more limiting in what they can do compared with a wishbone design, but there are ways to mitigate some of that.
The need to do something about Acura pronto. Their SUVs are OK, but the sedans are a joke at that price point and when compared to the competition.
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
I agree with you in concept, but I think the new Accord's front struts have proven themselves on the road and on the track. The new Accord rides better and out-handles the old one. .
No, according to most folks that are able to compare the newest car does NOT ride better than the previous versions with DWS.
I agree with you in concept, but I think the new Accord's front struts have proven themselves on the road and on the track. The new Accord rides better and out-handles the old one. .
No, according to most folks that are able to compare the newest car does NOT ride better than the previous versions with DWS.
Last edited:
I used to work at Honda as an engineer for all of 2 months
I had moved across the country for the opportunity, took out a lease on an apartment and started working. However, when I started, the person whom had hired me did not work there any more. (definitely strange)...
Two months later, I got a call on Sunday evening, they told me not to come in on Monday. After that, I worked at a local grocery store in the town of Marysville OH of which Honda is located. Meanwhile I was being in part supported by unemployment. I found out from other Honda employees that they had fired a number of contract engineers like that overnight. In addition there was one other particulary fishy and not-so-ethical thing that they did when they fired me but I won't go in depth.
That being said, given how contract engineers work, firing me, and the other contract engineers, without warning was legal and I was taking on a known risk. However I still found it to be a very poor way to treat employees.
I since managed to secure a different job in another state before going into debt and found someone to take over my lease back in Ohio.
I had moved across the country for the opportunity, took out a lease on an apartment and started working. However, when I started, the person whom had hired me did not work there any more. (definitely strange)...
Two months later, I got a call on Sunday evening, they told me not to come in on Monday. After that, I worked at a local grocery store in the town of Marysville OH of which Honda is located. Meanwhile I was being in part supported by unemployment. I found out from other Honda employees that they had fired a number of contract engineers like that overnight. In addition there was one other particulary fishy and not-so-ethical thing that they did when they fired me but I won't go in depth.
That being said, given how contract engineers work, firing me, and the other contract engineers, without warning was legal and I was taking on a known risk. However I still found it to be a very poor way to treat employees.
I since managed to secure a different job in another state before going into debt and found someone to take over my lease back in Ohio.
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: 7055
I used to work at Honda as an engineer for all of 2 months
Thanks for the post 7055. It is always interesting to hear about how things work "behind the scenes" at big car companies. I too work at a tier 1 OEM supplier and it is certainly interesting, and that is NOT always in a good way. I'm glad you got yourself on your feet again and things are working out now. I'll never understand why big companies that are more than able to let folks go in a reasonable manner chose to "[censored]" them. After all the person affected will ALWAYS have a negative memory of that employer, they will never buy anything from that company again, and they will tell ANYONE that will listen NOT to buy from them either. Completely counterproductive actions on their part.
I used to work at Honda as an engineer for all of 2 months
Thanks for the post 7055. It is always interesting to hear about how things work "behind the scenes" at big car companies. I too work at a tier 1 OEM supplier and it is certainly interesting, and that is NOT always in a good way. I'm glad you got yourself on your feet again and things are working out now. I'll never understand why big companies that are more than able to let folks go in a reasonable manner chose to "[censored]" them. After all the person affected will ALWAYS have a negative memory of that employer, they will never buy anything from that company again, and they will tell ANYONE that will listen NOT to buy from them either. Completely counterproductive actions on their part.
Last edited:
Anybody who ever worked at Honda can tell you that Sochiro Honda would never get a job at Honda today. Hopefully a new CEO can turn that around. It would be nice to see the old level of innovation WHERE IT MATTERS be brought back to their product line.
Originally Posted By: carock
Anybody who ever worked at Honda can tell you that Sochiro Honda would never get a job at Honda today. Hopefully a new CEO can turn that around. It would be nice to see the old level of innovation WHERE IT MATTERS be brought back to their product line.
What do you mean ? Honda today is so bad such that Sochiro Honda himself would not work at Honda at any position ?
Anybody who ever worked at Honda can tell you that Sochiro Honda would never get a job at Honda today. Hopefully a new CEO can turn that around. It would be nice to see the old level of innovation WHERE IT MATTERS be brought back to their product line.
What do you mean ? Honda today is so bad such that Sochiro Honda himself would not work at Honda at any position ?
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2002
- Messages
- 4,197
My neighbor bought a redesigned 2013 Civic and while the car is attractive it is incredibly cheap.
The door panels buldge when you roll the windows up or down as if they've used the plastic panel as a stressed member. It's amazing how poor this thing is made.
The belly pan is just a flimsy piece of sheet aluminum which is already deformed to the point of being discarded.
The car does deliver impressive fuel economy but to state that Honda is the best engineered vehicle in their class is naive.
The door panels buldge when you roll the windows up or down as if they've used the plastic panel as a stressed member. It's amazing how poor this thing is made.
The belly pan is just a flimsy piece of sheet aluminum which is already deformed to the point of being discarded.
The car does deliver impressive fuel economy but to state that Honda is the best engineered vehicle in their class is naive.
Originally Posted By: FowVay
My neighbor bought a redesigned 2013 Civic and while the car is attractive it is incredibly cheap.
The door panels buldge when you roll the windows up or down as if they've used the plastic panel as a stressed member. It's amazing how poor this thing is made.
The belly pan is just a flimsy piece of sheet aluminum which is already deformed to the point of being discarded.
The car does deliver impressive fuel economy but to state that Honda is the best engineered vehicle in their class is naive.
The 2013 Civic was a mistake by Honda (probably the bean counter), they immediately changed/modified shortcomings for model year 2014.
Honda didn't do everything right from the start, especially that 2013 Civic, but they did have many good products almost right from beginning, such as 1991 NSX and 2000 S2000 and 1986 Accord.
If you look at the Accord, they didn't make many mistakes since early '80 until now. Accord was/is one of the best selling sedans for more than 30 years. Especially the model years 1986-1989 Accord was better by far any compact sedan available in US, back then it was on order only(no dealer had any car to sell) and selling price was several thousands above MSRP.
My neighbor bought a redesigned 2013 Civic and while the car is attractive it is incredibly cheap.
The door panels buldge when you roll the windows up or down as if they've used the plastic panel as a stressed member. It's amazing how poor this thing is made.
The belly pan is just a flimsy piece of sheet aluminum which is already deformed to the point of being discarded.
The car does deliver impressive fuel economy but to state that Honda is the best engineered vehicle in their class is naive.
The 2013 Civic was a mistake by Honda (probably the bean counter), they immediately changed/modified shortcomings for model year 2014.
Honda didn't do everything right from the start, especially that 2013 Civic, but they did have many good products almost right from beginning, such as 1991 NSX and 2000 S2000 and 1986 Accord.
If you look at the Accord, they didn't make many mistakes since early '80 until now. Accord was/is one of the best selling sedans for more than 30 years. Especially the model years 1986-1989 Accord was better by far any compact sedan available in US, back then it was on order only(no dealer had any car to sell) and selling price was several thousands above MSRP.
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
If you look at the Accord, they didn't make many mistakes since early '80 until now. Accord was/is one of the best selling sedans for more than 30 years. Especially the model years 1986-1989 Accord was better by far any compact sedan available in US, back then it was on order only(no dealer had any car to sell) and selling price was several thousands above MSRP.
Perhaps CA was different but I was working at the local Honda
dealer in SE PA and we had a reasonable stock of Accords during the 86 model year, my folks both one DX for slightly below MSRP as well, it was a very good car, better than anything else in its class at the time, sadly it was in an accident and totaled in 1995 and only had about 120k miles on it.
If you look at the Accord, they didn't make many mistakes since early '80 until now. Accord was/is one of the best selling sedans for more than 30 years. Especially the model years 1986-1989 Accord was better by far any compact sedan available in US, back then it was on order only(no dealer had any car to sell) and selling price was several thousands above MSRP.
Perhaps CA was different but I was working at the local Honda
dealer in SE PA and we had a reasonable stock of Accords during the 86 model year, my folks both one DX for slightly below MSRP as well, it was a very good car, better than anything else in its class at the time, sadly it was in an accident and totaled in 1995 and only had about 120k miles on it.
I wonder if the new guy has the word "torque" in his vocabulary.
Ed
Ed
The 94-97 accords are some of the best cars ever made IMO. Honda took a big quality dip when they starting building in the U.S. I still think they are very good vehicles. For what it is worth a engineer friend of mine was hired by Honda a few years ago. He loves it there and is paid well. He works very long hours. My impression is that there is not much disarray there. I have been a shareholder a few times and buy up long call options whenever the stock gets in the high $20 range.
Originally Posted By: GiveMeAVowel
Perhaps CA was different but I was working at the local Honda
dealer in SE PA and we had a reasonable stock of Accords during the 86 model year, my folks both one DX for slightly below MSRP as well, it was a very good car, better than anything else in its class at the time, sadly it was in an accident and totaled in 1995 and only had about 120k miles on it.
I was in Rochester, Minnesota at that time. Honda dealer in that town didn't have any for sale. They accept deposit and have customer names on large black board. The selling price was $1k above MSRP for DX, 1.5-2.0k for LX and $3k for LX-i.
About 5-6 Honda dealers in Minneapolis/Saint Paul didn't have any Accord for sale either. Only accept orders with few thousands above MSRP.
I heard that LX-i in New York city was sold for $5k above $13-14k MSRP.
There wasn't any compact sedan close to Accord(especially LX-i) in the mid to late '80.
Perhaps CA was different but I was working at the local Honda
dealer in SE PA and we had a reasonable stock of Accords during the 86 model year, my folks both one DX for slightly below MSRP as well, it was a very good car, better than anything else in its class at the time, sadly it was in an accident and totaled in 1995 and only had about 120k miles on it.
I was in Rochester, Minnesota at that time. Honda dealer in that town didn't have any for sale. They accept deposit and have customer names on large black board. The selling price was $1k above MSRP for DX, 1.5-2.0k for LX and $3k for LX-i.
About 5-6 Honda dealers in Minneapolis/Saint Paul didn't have any Accord for sale either. Only accept orders with few thousands above MSRP.
I heard that LX-i in New York city was sold for $5k above $13-14k MSRP.
There wasn't any compact sedan close to Accord(especially LX-i) in the mid to late '80.
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2013
- Messages
- 3,220
Originally Posted By: Shark
Honda took a big quality dip when they starting building in the U.S.
The early Accords were built at the Marysville plant and are considered some of the best cars Honda made. Almost all newer Hondas are made in the US, IIRC, but correlation doesn't equal causation.
I'd say the legendary reliability and character Japanese cars were known for started deteriorating in the early-2000s. Nineties staple cars like the Accord, Camry, Corolla, Civic, Sentra and Maxima were truly special vehicles. Fast forward to now and many of these cars feel hollow, cheap and are awash in crudely cut plastics. My 2013 Pilot, for example, had body fit and finish issues from the factory the dealer had to address. A lot of other Pilot owners complain about the same thing. Despite the tranny issues with my Accord, I still love the rock solid feel of the car after so many years. The ride with the DBW simply cannot be matched.
Honda took a big quality dip when they starting building in the U.S.
The early Accords were built at the Marysville plant and are considered some of the best cars Honda made. Almost all newer Hondas are made in the US, IIRC, but correlation doesn't equal causation.
I'd say the legendary reliability and character Japanese cars were known for started deteriorating in the early-2000s. Nineties staple cars like the Accord, Camry, Corolla, Civic, Sentra and Maxima were truly special vehicles. Fast forward to now and many of these cars feel hollow, cheap and are awash in crudely cut plastics. My 2013 Pilot, for example, had body fit and finish issues from the factory the dealer had to address. A lot of other Pilot owners complain about the same thing. Despite the tranny issues with my Accord, I still love the rock solid feel of the car after so many years. The ride with the DBW simply cannot be matched.
Last edited:
- Status
Similar threads
