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#30496 of 32000 Redesigned 2013 Accord is tops, beats Malibu by xrunner2

Jan 12, 2013 (9:33 am)

Replying to: imidazol97 (Jan 12, 2013 8:53 am)
As far as the LTZ test by whatever car mag, I consider those tests of the nonmainstream vehicle for nonmainstream purposes to be just testosterone-driven magazine/review sales. It's like the car mag a few years back testing some obscure highly sporty foreign brand, Lamborghini?,
 
In contrast to "testosterone driven" car magazines, CR is pragmatic. Their latest issue has top rating for the Honda Accord LX and 4th place for Malibu in the Entry Level Family Sedan segment. CR said that the Accord "had a major redesign for 2013".
 
People looking to buy/lease a sedan in Entry Level should at least look at and test drive the Accord and compare to other brands or their favorite brand(s). With Honda and Accord, their is a long record of quality/reliability (per CR ratings) vs that of Chevrolet family sedans

#30497 of 32000 Re: Redesigned 2013 Accord is tops, beats Malibu [xrunner2] by imidazol97

Jan 12, 2013 (9:55 am)

Replying to: xrunner2 (Jan 12, 2013 9:33 am)
>With Honda and Accord, their is a long record of quality/reliability
 
I think you should post that over on the Honda discussion.
 
As for here, I'd consider their long-lived transmission problems, the VCM problem with oil usage currently, the VCM problem with engagement/disengagement, road noise, road vibration, the brake wear problems (have they cured those yet?), and many others that the fanboys tend to overlook for the perfect vehicles. As for here, they have problems just as do other brands like toyota, Nissan, Mazda, Subaru, Hyundai, Kia, and GM. For Accord, if I do drive one, my big concern will be the NEW CVT transmission on the 4-cylinder. Who wants to be an early adopter from a company with transmission problems in their history? Hold your hand up.

#30498 of 32000 Re: Hyundai Sonata sales growth greatly outperforms Malibu [xrunner2] by uplanderguy

Jan 12, 2013 (10:44 am)

Replying to: xrunner2 (Jan 12, 2013 9:18 am)
Kia's and Hyundai's reliability, and repeat ownership, were so poor, they only had one place to go, and its lengthy warranty, highly publicized, certainly helped (as did more palatable styling IMHO). Plus, as has been said many times here, people tend to be sheep and not car enthusiasts, so rely on what a handful of magazine writers say.
 
My guess is that the average new car buyer has no idea that GM's powertrain warranty is longer than anybody's except Kia/Hyundai. Why they don't trumpet its length in ads is a mystery to me.
 
Malibu sales in 2012 were higher than in 2008, when it was a press darling. I was surprised to see that. Although, one could also buy the same car at another GM division then--Aura.
 
Obviously--as I've noted--the current Malibu is a sales disappointment. But if only the best-selling vehicles were any good, guess all those Fords and Mopars of the '60's were 'lame' too.
 
The price will go down, and sales will go up, until whatever mid-cycle 'refresh' happens. I've heard they plan to put the '14 Impala/'13 Traverse style grille on it, which I think is an improvement.
 
xrunner2, you were rather disgenuous by omitting some highly relevant info from the Feb. CR in your 'review'. What say you that the 1LT Malibu (next to the lowest Malibu model) tested better than the Optima, Subaru, Passat, and Altima? I haven't heard one single regular GM basher on this board comment one iota on that. Who could be genuinely surprised though?
 
Confession is good for the soul, gentlemen.

#30499 of 32000 Re: Redesigned 2013 Accord is tops, beats Malibu [imidazol97] by bpizzuti

Jan 12, 2013 (10:26 am)

Replying to: imidazol97 (Jan 12, 2013 9:55 am)
That's where Honda's reputation comes in, they won't have any problems finding early adopters, whereas if GM came out with one on a Chevy people would be questioning if the CVT were going to explode within 5k miles or not, especially if they developed it internally like Honda.
 
Then again, given GM's more Euro focus, they're more likely to go DCT instead. Except that didn't they co-design this 6-speed automatic with Ford and basically commit to standard slushbox-style automatics?
 
FYI, said automatic does seem to be getting praise in the Malibu, whatever other problems there might be. But I bet that automatic's gearing is part of their fuel economy problem.

#30500 of 32000 Re: Redesigned 2013 Accord is tops, beats Malibu [imidazol97] by dieselone

Jan 12, 2013 (10:40 am)

Replying to: imidazol97 (Jan 12, 2013 9:55 am)
>With Honda and Accord, their is a long record of quality/reliability
  
I think you should post that over on the Honda discussion.
 
Honda's aren't perfect, but I'd wager my money that the average Honda will be more reliable than the average D3 vehicle.
 
Just look at the sales numbers. Nearly 3x more people vote with their wallets on an Accord vs the Malibu.
 
As for the CVT. I wouldn't be scared of it. But I'd buy the Accord 4cyl with a manual trans anyway. Same with a 1.6T Fusion.
 
The same things were said about 6 speeds. My '07 Expedition is the first year Ford used a rwd 6speed. 115k and no serious issues (did require a software reflash at around 30k miles). The "old" tried and true 4 speed in my Suburban didn't make it 50k miles w/o needing a rebuild.

#30501 of 32000 Re: Redesigned 2013 Accord is tops, beats Malibu [dieselone] by uplanderguy

Jan 12, 2013 (10:45 am)

Replying to: dieselone (Jan 12, 2013 10:40 am)
Did you buy your Suburban used and your Expedition new, or the other way around, or both used? I can't remember.

#30502 of 32000 Re: Redesigned 2013 Accord is tops, beats Malibu [uplanderguy] by dieselone

Jan 12, 2013 (10:47 am)

Replying to: uplanderguy (Jan 12, 2013 10:45 am)
Did you buy your Suburban used and your Expedition new, or the other way around, or both used? I can't remember.
 
Both used. Regardless, it's almost shocking how many I know with late 90's to mid '00 1/2 ton GM trucks and SUVs that have needed a trans rebuild at low miles and I know a few that have rebuilt 2 or 3 transmissions on one vehicle over the course of 150-200k miles.

#30503 of 32000 Re: Redesigned 2013 Accord is tops, beats Malibu [dieselone] by uplanderguy

Jan 12, 2013 (11:05 am)

Replying to: dieselone (Jan 12, 2013 10:47 am)
Wonder what CR's circles said about that back then, versus what you've heard. Just curious. I have no idea.
 
Which was lower mileage when you got it?

#30504 of 32000 Re: Redesigned 2013 Accord is tops, beats Malibu [uplanderguy] by dieselone

Jan 12, 2013 (11:10 am)

Replying to: uplanderguy (Jan 12, 2013 11:05 am)
Both had around 30k miles. But the suburban was 3 years old and the expel was only 1.

#30505 of 32000 Re: Redesigned 2013 Accord is tops, beats Malibu [uplanderguy] by dieselone

Jan 12, 2013 (11:18 am)

Replying to: uplanderguy (Jan 12, 2013 11:05 am)
The CR data I briefly looked at only goes back to 03. 03 was average for trans major and minor. But 04 was half black for both and 06 and 07 were solid black. All red since so the 6 speeds appears to be much better.

Messages Page 3051 of 3201

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