Rep Power: 0

Everyone always says the handling or the VTEC, but let's get some real answers here. What are the little details that made you fall in love with your Honda that no other car offered?

Personally, I used to own a '99 EX coupe. I fell in love with that car because the ergo layout was so good, even for someone my height (6'1"). In one seating position, I could easily fully depress the clutch, easily throw the shifter, set my arms at the comfortable 90 degree position, see out of every window and mirror, and reach the cup holders without trying. In/egress was no problem either; I could get in the car without awkwardly squeezing in, bending my neck or shifting my feet to fit between the seat and the cowl garnish. My head didn't even hit the roof! I enjoy my '12 Si coupe, but it has some of the worst ergo I've ever dealt with.

So, what makes you love your Hondas?

 
Rep Power: 243

My 88 Accord started it all. Even at 290k miles it still handled great, nothing rattled, and almost everything worked. It was just a well built car! Scratch that it was a well engineered car. You can tell an engineer built and designed it.

See my sig for the other reason.

 
Rep Power: 173

I got my first and only Honda a little over 6 years ago after my '02 Corolla was killed. For the first five years, I appreciated her outstanding fuel economy and unwavering reliability. The ONLY time I've had to bring it into a shop is when I stripped the oil drain hole threading and had my pops tow it 1/4 mile to the local guy. Cheapest repair bill EVERRRRR. B)
Over the last year, I've started modding my car and as I get more experienced with automotive stuff, I appreciate my car all the more. I don't have a wife, kid or dog but I have my car dammit!

 
Rep Power: 518

I'm convinced Odysseys come with a crack pipe, and bigger rocks of crack come with the higher trim levels.


Did I just say that out loud?

 
Rep Power: 291

98-01 was probably some of the best years Honda had.
Everything was right, no funky computer tech stuff. Things were simple, efficient, and worked as they should.

Odysseys were all crack loaded, I can confirm.
When my dad used to work for Honda, he was selling those left and right.

 
Rep Power: 0

Crack-loaded Odyssey sounds about right. I don't think any other fanbase is quite as hardcore. Even Element fans don't brag as much as those guys!

Kenny, when you talk about the cars being simple with less computer interference, are you talking like dashboard layout, or something else? I'm always noticing that newer cars have so many buttons for A/C control, where the old cars used to just have 3 *****, or a **** and 2 sliders, for example. I definitely prefer the **** layout to the buttons. Way too much time with eyes off the road.

 
Rep Power: 518

Bragging was not the reason I mentioned the crack pipe. Not at all. Nothing to do with it.

I get to deal with an entirely different aspect of that particular group of crack smokin' clientele.
I'm pretty sure that's one of many things.

Jump into a brand new -EX-L or higher- Accord, Pilot, and Odyssey sometime. Amaze yourself with the arrays of buttons and touch screens and stuff, you almost need a 3 day training course just to operate anything.

Even the radio. It's not a radio. It's a computer system that just happens to make noise.

There is not a single damn thing that is intuitive in any of them.

There might even be different versions of the controls for various trim levels of each model. It's a freekin nightmare, and I get to drive any number of them in a single day.
Sometimes I damn near need to pull over just to find the right button to shut the fan off.


-----

I was sitting in a fairly new Accord with a customer the other day listening for some noise....I cycled the climate control through the range of modes ----while the owner was freaking out----because he has no clue what all the buttons do, nor how to get it back to the mode it was in-- on his own.

He had simply found the AUTO button and set the temp to 72, and never touched it again for fear of messing something up. (I hit the AUTO button for him when I was done.)

This guy said there are way too many buttons in new cars.


----

The car manufacturers seem to bow to the whims of the reviewers in the car magazines, TV, and USA Today. Those clowns are the ones that demand the crazy high-tech crap, not the majority of the true end users.

JMHO

/rant

 
Rep Power: 291

^
This is true.
Everything is controlled by a computer nowadays. Including your acceleration and braking.

Nowadays, you don't need a "mechanic" to diagnose your problem, you need a "tech"
Problems can't be solved with a mallet anymore.

Things were just so much simpler.

 
Rep Power: 518

Problem is, there aren't many. The vast majority of the work in a shop can be done by low wage flunkies.....But they can't handle everything....

You might be surprised. Even though the above mentioned low wage flunkies may attempt to make serious use of the mallet, the "tap test" and the "diagnostic hammer" are still quite viable in the right hands.



Speaking of the hammer..... Ever have a ratchet in your hands, and you just want to beat something to death?
Fear not, it's hammeratchet to the rescue!




Found it here: http://www.sears.com/wera-koloss-ham...a=00981389000P

 
Rep Power: 0

I have owned a 1997 Civic Ex coupe for about a year and a half and i ask what is there not to love? If something breaks, parts are suprisingly inexpensive, and they are super easy to work on. Not to mention the list of aftearket mods is almost never ending. My girlfriend tells me i love my car just as much, if not more, as i love her

 
Rep Power: 518

Cars don't talk back.

There is always a definite and finite answer for any issue with a car..... Unlike most women.

 
Rep Power: 173

Been there, my friend... my ex never thought she could have been jealous of a car. I sure proved her wrong!

 
Rep Power: 366

what hooks me to the civic? Ergonomics, also. the cheap seats do not kill me in 30 minutes like some GM's. Everything is in the right place to get at them, no need to stretch. Heck, i drove the vic from TN to Quebec, and back (20 hours) and my back was still intact. a cavalier was horrible. 30 minutes was how long it took. a 02 Corolla was good for 2 hours, as comparison.
then the ease to work them (except maybe for the front hubs/bearings...)
and i drive a hell of a lot of rentals due to my job, traveling engineer...
the miata can hurt my back in 6 hours, too...