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Honda Accord VCM

2715 messages,  Last post on Oct 23, 2012 at 6:25 PM

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What is this discussion about? Honda Accord, Transmission, Sedan

Messages Page 232 of 272

#2310 of 2715 VCM took me away buying another Accord by robtroxel

Mar 15, 2010 (5:47 am)

My wife and I have had 4 Accords starting with the 2004 model year. The last ones were 2007 EXL Accords with the V-6.We loved the turbine smooth V-6 and on the highway we have seen 33 MPG! Our overall average was 27.8 for all types of driving.
Recently we drove the 2010 Accord V6 and saw many things to like...more room..better stereo system Finally the Auto dimming mirror and fog lights standard! Looked good on paper having more horsepower on the 3.5 V6 too.
 
 Driving was a different story! Unfortunately the VCM constantly hunted even on staight open road driving. No comparison to the 2007 in smooth running execution..I kept looking at the gauges and realized Honda had also taken away the electro luminecent lighting on the 2010. They also took away the fabulous LED tailights our 2007s had! Finally the larger 2010 tires 225x50x18 transmited quite a bit of road noise! I admit the the 2007 was not very quiet either..we ended up having sound deadener installed by a local stero shop which made the 07 a much quieter car. I was never a fan of the leather quaility on the 07s but in balance they mights have been some of the best cars we ever had!
 
In summary, the 2010 Accord is OK but it pales in comparison to the 2007 Accords. They took away any reasons we had to buy Accords again

#2311 of 2715 Re: Still having problems [dinofl] by blue_boy

Mar 15, 2010 (1:00 pm)

Replying to: dinofl (Mar 14, 2010 9:16 pm)
Some rep!

#2312 of 2715 Re: VCM took me away buying another Accord [robtroxel] by blue_boy

Mar 15, 2010 (1:04 pm)

Replying to: robtroxel (Mar 15, 2010 5:47 am)
Sounds like you should have kept your 2007! I only trade every 10 or 11 years. If something works well and satisfies my needs, I keep it. You can save a lot of money that way and if you ever want to you can buy a decent car.

#2313 of 2715 Good point by robtroxel

Mar 15, 2010 (1:57 pm)

Yes, the 2007 Accord was a great car. I had leased it and looking backwards, I should have bought it at the outset. Honda's leasing program is one of the best though my declared residual was jus too high to buy it after the lease.

#2314 of 2715 Re: VCM took me away buying another Accord [robtroxel] by rcummelin

Mar 15, 2010 (4:41 pm)

Replying to: robtroxel (Mar 15, 2010 5:47 am)
Recently we drove the 2010 Accord V6 and saw many things to like...more room..better stereo system Finally the Auto dimming mirror and fog lights standard! Looked good on paper having more horsepower on the 3.5 V6 too.
 
I kept looking at the gauges and realized Honda had also taken away the electro luminecent lighting on the 2010. They also took away the fabulous LED tailights our 2007s had! Finally the larger 2010 tires 225x50x18 transmited quite a bit of road noise! I admit the the 2007 was not very quiet either..we ended up having sound deadener installed by a local stero shop which made the 07 a much quieter car.
 
My belief is that Honda has totally perfected the art of "Giving (adding features) with one hand while taking-away (removing features) with the other hand."
 
Granted, some of the new(er) features are nice, but not all are useful to all people, like Bluetooth and RDS, which are totally useless to me. OTOH, some of the "taken-away" features were useful to lots of people too (like the glove box and ambient lights).
 
I think Honda engineers have found Toyota's supply of "cost-cutting" Kool-Aid and have drunk a bunch of it. Too bad as Honda could have pointed to their standard features as a value differentiator had they kept them.
 
It could be worse.
 
BTW- I had to install Dynamat under the rear seat and in the trunk of our 2010 sedan to quiet it down on the highway.

#2315 of 2715 Re: Still having problems [dinofl] by rcummelin

Mar 15, 2010 (4:43 pm)

Replying to: dinofl (Mar 14, 2010 9:16 pm)
Had my 2010 Coupe V6 automatic in the shop for the 4th time in two months now for vibration, surging issues. Three times did a tire rotation and balance, last time did the high speed, forced balance. Still vibrating, surging, pausing and other wierd stuff. I finally called the Honda corporate office. I told them I had four other Hondas and they were all smooth running cars, even cheap $13K Civic. The rep said, "did any of the other cars have VCM? That's what VCM does.". Pretty much tells the whole story right there. They definitely know about it. At this point I wouldn't recommend anyone buy an Accord with VCM. Maybe the majority of them are perfectly smooth and no problems. But what percentage? Is it worth the risk? Not from my experience.
 
Sounds like it may be time to give it up and find another car. That sucks!

#2316 of 2715 Re: VCM took me away from buying another Accord [rcummelin] by robtroxel

Mar 15, 2010 (6:05 pm)

Replying to: rcummelin (Mar 15, 2010 4:41 pm)
I totaly agree with you. Some times it's the little things taken away that push the car back to average. The 2006/2007s Accord LED tail lights in my mind were a safety enhancement..they really lit things up at night and while braking. I did not realize the bean counters at Honda extinguished the glove box and ambient lighting as well. I remember the sales rep touting the 2010 Accord Tire Pressure Monitoring system. I learned that the TPS only give a general report on low tires. It's up to you to figure out which tire is low. GM on the other hand reports which tire is low and gives actual air pressure status on each tire their mid priced cars.
 I'm glad you were able to quiet things down with the Dyna Mat! I had the doors done too on my 07 and the difference was dramatic.

#2317 of 2715 Re: VCM took me away from buying another Accord [robtroxel] by rcummelin

Mar 15, 2010 (6:25 pm)

Replying to: robtroxel (Mar 15, 2010 6:05 pm)
I remember the sales rep touting the 2010 Accord Tire Pressure Monitoring system. I learned that the TPS only give a general report on low tires. It's up to you to figure out which tire is low.
 
Yeah, the TPMS system is sort of a joke. When the light comes on, you have to find a compressor & a tire gauge (gas station for $.50??) and check/fill all four tires. THEN, it may take 3-4 cycles (on-off) of the engine before the light goes out. I guess that 's what we get with a government mandated "feature." Sheesh!

#2318 of 2715 Re: Still having problems [rcummelin] by dinofl

Mar 15, 2010 (8:40 pm)

Replying to: rcummelin (Mar 15, 2010 4:43 pm)
How do I get out of a lease with 34 months left?

#2319 of 2715 Re: Still having problems [dinofl] by hackattack5

Mar 16, 2010 (3:45 am)

Replying to: dinofl (Mar 15, 2010 8:40 pm)
"How do I get out of a lease with 34 months left?"
 
Take your payment x 34 and add your residual value (should be on your truth in lending form that you signed) and thats what you will need to sell it for. Chances are you will not be able to get close to that amount so you will have to be willing to pay the difference. I am not sure about the tax on your 34 payments so you might save that amount. If you trade it in at the dealer you will be going in "upside down" and you will leave even further upside down. There is a company called Swapalease that will list your car and someone might want to take your lease over but they are looking for a good deal so that will cost you too.

Messages Page 232 of 272

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