oilhammer said:
6 Hondas in 10 years...see that fits the perfect throwaway car buyer, in which case the Honda product is PERFECT for you.
I've had (as daily drivers) only half as many Volkswagens but over a 20 year span. One of them I still drive daily...and it is 16 years old! So for me Volkswagen products make more sense. I could not have bought a new Honda in 1991 and put nearly 400k miles on it in our climate and have it claim what my A2 Jetta can.
Well, aren't we quick to judge! Let's take a look at the history here boys, shall we?
1990 Accord LX - totaled in accident, not my fault
1996 Integra SE - totaled in accident, not my fault
2000 CR-V - hadn't second child, no longer fit lifestyle, upgraded to Odyssey for my wife.
2001 Odyssey - still own, may replace with VW Sportwagen TDI
1994 Accord EX - Owned for 10 years, ran her up to 180k miles, donated to an older lady in my church who did not own a car and had to walk to work in the cold Indiana winters
2006 TSX - Replaced old Accord, my current daily.
Next time you want to make critical comments toward someone, you might ask a question first. Your comments were pretty short sighted and off the cuff without knowing a darn thing about me.
And yes, you could have bought a Honda in 1991 and put 400k on it - I know people who have done it. The rear quarter panel rust issue was a problem, I'll grant you that, but it's been fixed long ago (over a decade ago).
As far as me being a “throwaway” car buyer, I take offense to that. As you can clearly see (above), life happens. Also, your insinuation seems to be that Honda’s are not good long term cars. What basis do you have for that? And before you answer, realize you are comparing your diesel engines to gassers – apples and oranges. I realize you are a diesel fan – guess what, so am I. Difference is I just learned about the benefits of diesel a year ago – forgive my ignorance to that point. I had 180k trouble free miles with our ’94 Accord, and it is still purring along today with its new owner. How many VW gasser owners out there can say that? I can show you lots of Honda owners who have that long term experience. Also, Honda data shows that the average new Honda car buyer keeps their vehicle 12 years. To me, that is pretty long term, but to each his own. Sure my old Accord had a small rust spot on one rear quarter panel. Big deal. At least it wasn’t in the shop for falling windows and coil replacements like my buddies Jetta (16 trips to the shop for
non-maintenance issues in 5-1/2 years). I had 1 trip in 10+ years.
I’m not sure what I did to solicit your remarks. My post above was to simply show that VW can draw on hard core Japanese car owners like myself into their fold by offering quality diesel cars in configurations (wagons) not offered by the Japanese. I think VW has more ergonomic cars than Honda, and they offer more standard safety features that are optional on Honda which is a big selling point for me. I like the styling better too in most cases. But if I had my choice between a diesel Honda and diesel VW both with the same fuel economy, relative cost and features, I’d be hard pressed not to go with Honda due to its much, much higher reliability factor. That was my point.
I’m open minded about switching from Honda. What more do you want?