honda or toyota?

this will probably be my next car (will go on sale late this year, IIRC), and it's a honda of course!



Civic-Si-sedan-10.JPG
 
As a former Honda technician, I would choose a Honda second to none. The reliability is perfect, AS LONG AS THE OWNER PERFORMS THE SCHEDULED MAINT.-i 7500, 15k, 30k, 90k.

I have seen numerous Honda owners ***** because they had to put a new trans, head gasket, etc on their car @ 100k, the reason for this was that they believed that "Honda's are zero maint.".

Oh, and I have nothing againt Toyota, they make a great automobile too!



IF YOU ARE GOING TO OWN A HONDA, PERFORM THE SCHEDULED MAINT., IF YOU FAIL TO DO THIS, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO OWN ONE OF THE MOST RELIABLE VEHICLES ON THE ROAD!!!
 
I'm a Toyota guy, they're a more conservative image than Honda though. They're starting to change their Lexus lineup, they used to be the little luxury brand with bland cars. Now all their designs look better than any of the other luxury brands in its price range. The new LS460 looks better imho than the A8, S550, and 7 Series, and the Q45 or whatever Infiniti offers.



As for reliability, they're on par with one another. Interior is getting better at both ends, both are years ahead of any American brand. You can't really go wrong with either brands.
 
Toyota does seems to be having some quality issues of late. Have you guys seen the latest global recalls? Toyota has recalled nearly 1 million trucks (Tacoma, Tundra and Sequoia) for faulty ball joints that can wear prematurely.



They have also recalled nearly half a million compact cars like the Prius and Echo and a few other models for a faulty engine part that can cause an engine oil leak leading to engine failure. Another recall for a console trim piece in Toyota and Lexus SUVs that can come loose and interfere with the gas pedal. Then there is the bizarre recall to remove airbage shutoff switches in Tundra trucks because of some obscure rule about child safety seat latches.



Toyota recalls more than 750,000 SUVs, trucks

Problems with front suspensions may hinder steering

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7887155/



Toyota Recalls Vehicles Over Faulty Engine

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?Feed=AP&Date=20060718&ID=5873092



NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- This fall, Toyota will voluntarily recall nearly 160,000 Toyota Tundra pickups so that they can be made less safe for children riding in the front seat.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/07/11/bad_recall/index.html



Toyota Recall Information

http://www.nbc11.com/newslinks/9512996/detail.html



Do a search on Google for Toyota and Recall. I got curious when I saw a piece on Autoline Detroit today mentioning all the recall troubles Toyota was having.
 
honda havening its problems too

2006 Honda Civic

Recall: EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS

2006 Honda Accord

Recall: EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS

2006 Honda Accord

Recall: AIR BAGS:FRONTAL

2006 Honda Civic

Recall: AIR BAGS:FRONTAL

2006 Honda Civic

Recall: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:ACCELERATOR PEDAL

honda 2006 recalls
 
atticdog said:
honda havening its problems too
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Cool site although it doesn't seem to be complete as it is missing the latest recalls. I did poke around though and saw that even the 2007 Camry has an air bag recall. Have you checked yours to see if it needs to have the recall done :D



Here is the link to Toyota, looks like there are far more for Toyota than Honda.

http://www.automotive.com/new-cars/recalls/01/toyota/index.html



If you look at just the recalls I listed in my previous post the total number of vehicles involved is somewhere between 1.5 and 2 million.
 
Back in Jan. of 2000 I was in the market for a new car. Something in the 20k-30k range. My heart & my ego wanted a BMW 5 series, but my wallet couldn't support such a purchase. Growing up, my entire family drove nothing but GM vehicles. ( My parents & uncles drove nothing but Chevy's & Caddy's) Since the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree, I too, drove Chevy's through the mid 80's & 90's. ( 86 IROC-Z & a 96 Silverado ) I started my quest by looking at everything out there at the time. GM's, Ford's & Dodges just did nothing for me back then. A guy I worked with had owned nothing but Honda's all his life & swore by them. He urged me to check them out. The ripple effect that was created in my family when I told them I was test driving a Honda Accord almost cost me my seat at the Sunday Dinner Table! (lol) To make a long story short, I bought the 2000 Honda Accord EX-V6, Dark Emerald Pearl. The fit/finish was terrific. The V6 was as advertised......Revy & silky smoothe! The innocent styling of the Accord was somewhat appealing to me coupled with the more than capable V6 & smoothe tranny. I owned my Honda for 4 1/2 years & never had a single problem with it. I loved that car! I kept it in "showroom condition" through my detailing efforts & always performed routine maint on it. It was also the 1st vehicle I ever used synthetic oil in. (Mobil 1 Synthetic) In October of 2004, I got caught up in the J.D Power "Truck of the Year" claims on the 2005 Toyota Tacoma. Since my honda retained so much value, it was a trade in value that worked in my favor. At the time, I owed about $1K on my Accord & the smart thing to do would've been to keep the Accord. but the dealer said he's give me $11k for my mint Honda if I bought the Tacoma & my "itch" for the newly re styled Tacoma V6 was "scratched". (lol) I drove home with the 2005 Toyota Tacoma V6 Access Cab-Pre Runner. Color: Black Sand Pearl. Like my Accord, the Tacoma is well built with a nice V6. It lacks the lower end torque of my Honda V6 & you really have to punch the throttle to get her to "pur". But it's a truck, not a car. As of today, my Tacoma has 10,400 miles on it without any problems at all. My only complaint is the paint finish. Orange Peel!! It's a nice truck, but deep down inside I still miss my Accord. If I had to do it all over again, I would've stayed with Honda for no other reason than the Honda powertrain. Perhaps a Ridgeline is in the future for me, but I just can't warm up to the Ridgeline Body Styling, yet. But hey............It's a Honda!!!
 
As far as the recalls go, The manufacturer is recognizing the problems and fixing them. No matter what you drive, it is going to have recalls. When I worked at Honda, the recalls I was seeing most were the oil seal retainer on Accords, and the seat belt recall on the CRV's back in 02.

most of this does not affect the reliability if the consumer addresses the recall.
 
rjstaaf said:
Cool site although it doesn't seem to be complete as it is missing the latest recalls. I did poke around though and saw that even the 2007 Camry has an air bag recall. Have you checked yours to see if it needs to have the recall done :D



Here is the link to Toyota, looks like there are far more for Toyota than Honda.

http://www.automotive.com/new-cars/recalls/01/toyota/index.html



If you look at just the recalls I listed in my previous post the total number of vehicles involved is somewhere between 1.5 and 2 million.
Click to expand...



Ill look into it but since I bought it in July I would imagine it wont need it since they started the recall in april



as arenner80 mentioned with these recalls at least the manufacturer is recognizing the problems and fixing them. When i had a dodge it took forever to get the company to issue a recall for the bad ball joints that only lastes 30k miles finally after years they did the recall only after dakotas,durango wheels were falling off.
 
atticdog said:
Ill look into it but since I bought it in July I would imagine it wont need it since they started the recall in april



as arenner80 mentioned with these recalls at least the manufacturer is recognizing the problems and fixing them. When i had a dodge it took forever to get the company to issue a recall for the bad ball joints that only lastes 30k miles finally after years they did the recall only after dakotas,durango wheels were falling off.
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The big recall is not on new vehicles, they are recalling trucks dating back to 2001. This was not voluntary either. Customers were complaining to the NHTSA regarding failing ball joints. Geez guys you portray Toyota like they are the Mister Rogers of the automotive world. Toyota is just as inclined to ignore a problem until they are forced to fix it as any other manufacturer.



http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0505/19/C01-186791.htm



WASHINGTON -- Longtime quality champion Toyota Motor Corp. showed this week that it too is struggling with an industrywide increase in vehicle recalls.



The Japanese automaker is recalling 775,000 trucks and SUVs after customers told government investigators the vehicle's ball joints collapsed without warning, leading to a loss of steering control and sometimes thousands of dollars of damage.
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I think that it's interesting too that Toyota uses ALOT of Delphi parts...a company that many percieve to be mainly a GM pats manufacturer....hell the entire air conditioning and cooling system on a new Tacoma is from Delphi. Toyota lists Delphi as their third largest supplier....



Just figured I would mention that as I have run into alot of people recently under the impression that GM was the only one really using Delphi.







CHRIS
 
You know its one thing that Toyota recognizes those recalls. Most other companies will just say tough ****. You know on my IS300, we had premature wear on our OEM Potenzas (Which is common since the majority of IS300 owners drive their car aggressively). They issued a recall and you know what, I got myself a new set of tires courtesy of Toyota (There was nothing wrong with my tires).



Every brand has its problems, its a matter how they address it.
 
Having owned both brands I'll agree with others in saying that it depends on which model you are interested in. I owned an '03 Corolla LE and it was well made, peppy (5 speed stick), quiet, and reliable. What I DIDN'T discover during the test drive was... it had the most uncomfortable seating/driving position of any car I've ever owned after an hour+ behind the wheel. In this instance the Civic would have been a better choice on my part, hindsight being 20/20.



The back pain was killing me so I traded on an '04 Accord EX 5 speed stick. Without a doubt this is the nicest car I've owned. Quite by accident I discovered after purchase that mine was a J-Spec (built in Japan) car. Unlike the Ohio made 7th generation Accords mine has no rattles, squeaks or problems. The Camry manual shift only came in the lower end model and lacked features that I wanted along with a nice but floaty ride. The Accord has a firmer ride and is a bit more sporty in the handling department.

I'm very pleased with my choice of the Honda. Hard to believe but dealers are asking just under $22K for used 2004 Accords like mine with low mileage. That's what I paid for it brand new!!!!



Figure out what size car you are looking for, along with desired features, and drive both brands for a weekend to really check them out. Both brands are reliable as all get out but one may have an edge over the other that suits you better.
 
Chan said:
You know its one thing that Toyota recognizes those recalls. Most other companies will just say tough ****. You know on my IS300, we had premature wear on our OEM Potenzas (Which is common since the majority of IS300 owners drive their car aggressively). They issued a recall and you know what, I got myself a new set of tires courtesy of Toyota (There was nothing wrong with my tires).



Every brand has its problems, its a matter how they address it.
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Toyota isn't any different than any other manufacturer in regards to how they handle recalls. They aren't performing these recalls out of the kindness of their hearts. This latest recall on Toyota trucks and SUVs is a prime example. These trucks date back to 2001. The NHTSA has been getting complaints for some time. This is far from Toyota all of a sudden seeing a problem and fixing it, this is an instance where there were too many complaints for them to ignore any more without tarnishing their "Quality" reputation and costing more in lost sales than a recall would cost.



Personally I don't see this as an issue of how they handle recalls but rather the fact that Toyota currently is recalling nearly 2 million cars, trucks and SUVs for various problems right now. That to me says something is going on...
 
I bought a 2002 is300 brand new 4 yrs ago, now with 90,000 miles I havent had any problems other than tires. So now the fiance has it, so I got a 2001 BMW 325ci 5 spd w/ 90,000 miles, I wish I woulda got another IS300 instead. I am having all kinds of problems with it.

I would go with Toyota!
 
jequirk said:
I bought a 2002 is300 brand new 4 yrs ago, now with 90,000 miles I havent had any problems other than tires. So now the fiance has it, so I got a 2001 BMW 325ci 5 spd w/ 90,000 miles, I wish I woulda got another IS300 instead. I am having all kinds of problems with it.

I would go with Toyota!
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I wouldn't touch any BMW thats over its warranty.
 
why only toyota and honda? I would choose honda of those two, but have you considered VW? I love VWs, an unbelievable build quality for such a low price, even though they are now made in mexico :-/. I would also through Subaru into your mix. Go take them all for test drives, and then decide, dont leave anything out though even if you think the price is a little high, maybe their giving out good lease deals or something.

my two cents
 
odonnellb said:
why only toyota and honda? I would choose honda of those two, but have you considered VW? I love VWs, an unbelievable build quality for such a low price, even though they are now made in mexico :-/. I would also through Subaru into your mix. Go take them all for test drives, and then decide, dont leave anything out though even if you think the price is a little high, maybe their giving out good lease deals or something.

my two cents
Click to expand...



VW are very nice cars. I think their styling, fit and finish, and powertrains are awesome. They definitely are more "german," havig more soul to them than Honda or Toyota.With that said, I don't think most people preceive VWs as being as reliable as Honda's or Toyota's. Every VW owner I've ever known has had more problems with them. Most of these problems being electrical. I'm definitely not crazy about them being made in Mexico either.



My family is a Toyota family. We have 1999 4runner, 1991 truck, 2000 Celica, 2003 Camry and a 2004 Camry. Never have had any major issues with any of them. My dad still drives his 15 yr old truck to work everyday. I wouldn't hesitate to get a Honda either. I think Honda's are more of a driver's car since you actually feel as though you're driving instead of the numbness of a Toyota.
 
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