Editorial: The Accord Might Not Make The 10 Best List Come December

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

An editorial in Car and Driver given the subtitle “Deep Thoughts” tackles a favorite subject of the peanut gallery; the Decline and Fall of Honda’s Empire. Unfortunately, rather than being a critical analysis of the real problems that Honda is prone to (which author Dave Mable mentions, albeit in passing), it’s simply yet another softball lobbed at the sophists who have opinions on everything and know very little. Like C/D commenter “GolfTDI”, profiled in the above photo.

Mable is able, in some respects, to cut through the bullshit and get to the core problem. While a bunch of journalists are bemoaning the loss of the RDX’s turbo engine and SH-AWD, Mable calls out Honda product planners for green-lighting the car to begin with. Before anyone protests in the comments, it was not a good engine to begin with. The RDX is symbolic of the stifling stubbornness that plagues Honda, the belief that, as Mable puts it they are “smarter than the market” and that whatever they are doing at that moment is the right way, the only way and to suggest anything else is an act of capital idiocy. This is unfortunately a symptom of the fearless iconoclastic streak that runs at the core of Honda. This attitude brought us VTEC, the Integra Type-R and the NSX, but it also leads to the Crosstour, and a weak Acura lineup.

Where Mable falls apart is falling into the typical enthusiast trap of thinking that his desires, and the desires of C/D’s readers are also those of the market. All the world’s damnation can’t stop the Civic from being America’s third-best selling car (just barely behind the second place Altima). The Accord, Odyssey and Pilot are also selling well. The CR-V, despite its lack of fancy technology or interesting styling is far and away America’s best-selling crossover this year.

This is what separates the Honda of 2012 from the GM of 1981, despite what Mable thinks. GM did create “…highly engineered but woefully underdeveloped products.” Honda, on the other hand, is making products that may not be on the cutting edge of engineering, but actually add value and make the lives of customers easier. Nevermind the enormous delta in quality between the two companies.

While most critics (and the B&B) were lukewarm on the CR-V because it didn’t have GDI, turbocharging or whatever flash-in-the-pan technology was being touted by the buff books, I went long on the CR-V because Honda had created a well-thought out crossover with features that actually mattered to the people buying the cars. 9.9 times out of 10, a low load floor and rear seats that fold with one touch will beat MyFord Touch or Fluidic Sculpture styling. Mable also admonishes the current Accord for offering a V6 when others are moving to turbocharged 4-cylinder engines, while noting the irony of Honda taking forever to offer a V6 despite dealers and customers begging for one. Mable must have forgot that the best selling car in America, the Toyota Camry, still offers a V6, while smaller players, like the Hyundai Sonata, the lackluster Chevrolet Malibu and still-unreleased Ford Fusion are moving to the blown 4-cylinders. If you’re Honda, then you’re gunning for the Camry, not the bit players.

I’m starting to wonder if the press has reached their breaking point with Honda. No matter how hard they try to malign their products as boring, a waste of money or behind the curve, they keep selling. Could Honda really have their finger on the pulse of what the consumers want. You know, the people who actually spend their own money on cars? For every single segment Honda competes in, I can easily think of a competitive product that I’d rather have (ok, maybe not in the minivan segment). It never used to be that way. But if you really are only as good as your last product, well…maybe Honda isn’t in such trouble after all?

Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • FreedMike FreedMike on Jun 05, 2012

    There are obvious fixes here: 1) Better styling 2) Richer interiors Improve those, and keep the quality and reliability on track, and Honda should be fine.

    • Highdesertcat Highdesertcat on Jun 05, 2012

      Regardless of styling and interiors, there are a lot of Honda fans and repeat buyers in the real world. They will continue to buy Honda as long as quality and reliability remain on track. There are two Honda vehicles in my extended family that are sneaking up on the five-year mark and there is no reason to think that they will be replaced by anything other than Honda vehicles. Why switch brands if you're a happy camper?

  • Haakman Haakman on Jun 06, 2012

    I know Honda has stumbled a few times in recent years, but they do make a good product. I've owned three 80s Accords, one 90s Accord and one 80s Prelude, all of which were reliable and fun to drive. In 2009, my wife and I bought a new '09 Accord EX-L with the 190-hp motor and manual trans. It's roomy, dead-nuts reliable, plenty quick, and yes, fun to drive. 42,00 miles so far and not a single problem. We paid $23,650 out the door. I can only speak for this particular model -- not the V6 or automatic or base 4-cyl-- and no, it's not 100% perfect, but show me another car at that price that combines those qualities.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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