Overview & Reviews

Why are Honda vehicles so highly regarded by American drivers? Certainly, their excellent reputation for reliability and quality is a major factor. But it also has to do with the overall driving and owning experience. Read any Honda review and you'll likely notice common themes such as thoughtful design, a friendly nature, better-than-average fuel economy and attention to safety.

Japan-based Honda Motor Company was founded in 1948 by Soichiro Honda. The company got its start making motorbikes. Japan had been rendered cash poor and fuel-starved after World War II, and its citizens were hurting for an inexpensive, fuel-efficient mode of transportation. Honda's first motorcycles mated engines with bicycles to create a motorbike that was cheap to make and operate.

Honda's bikes quickly evolved into vehicles far more sophisticated than small engines stuck into bicycle frames. The manufacturer's 1949 D-Type could reach speeds of up to 50 mph, and offered front and rear suspension. The 1950s saw the launch of the successful Juno scooter, built to steal market share from the Vespa knockoffs that were popular in Japan at that time. In the latter part of that decade, Honda introduced the ultra-successful C100 Super Cub. The motorbike was remarkably easy to operate and featured a crossbar-free frame that made it popular with women. It went on to become the first Honda motorbike sold in the U.S. via then-new American Honda Co. in 1959.

By the early 1960s, Honda had built its first automobiles for the Japanese home market and entered Formula One racing. But it wasn't until 1970 that it exported its first car, the diminutive N600, to the U.S. The automaker initially had a hard time sparking interest among American buyers, but that all changed in 1973 with the introduction of the Civic. The car was larger than Honda's previous models even though it was still very petite compared to compact American cars. The Civic's high fuel efficiency (an important selling point given that decade's energy crisis) and affordability made it Honda's first American success story. By 1976, the Civic had been joined by the Accord, which quickly became a favorite with U.S. consumers as well.

By the 1980s, Honda's success and its reputation as a maker of well-built reliable cars and motorcycles continued to grow. It began building Accords in the U.S. in 1982 and by 1989 had earned the distinction of making America's most popular car. This was also the decade in which Honda created the Acura brand as a way to sell more upscale and luxurious vehicles. Throughout this decade and into the 1990s, the Civic and Accord were huge sellers and considered class benchmarks. Also during this time, Honda continued to innovate through such technologies as variable valve timing, aluminum body construction and improved safety features.

Today, Honda's lineup runs the gamut. Included are fuel-sipping hybrids, a spacious minivan, reliable family sedans, practical SUVs and even a pickup. Although the latest Civic and Accord aren't quite the benchmarks they once were for their respective classes, Honda's brand as a whole continues to be one of the most well respected in the industry, with millions of loyal and satisfied customers.

User Reviews:

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  Honda Civic = Acura 1.7EL Problems - 2001 Honda Civic
  By Acuradriver - August 28 - 2:00 am

  The new generation Civic and Acura 1.7EL (in Canada) are not worth the extra money you have to pay, for the car and for the insurance. Side airbag sensors went out at 15000 km (costed Honda $750 for replacement and me 3 trips to the dealer). There is no protective shroud in the front wheel well; that means the engine bay is exposed to the salt and dirt from the wheel well. Various rattles and noises; car does not feel as solid. Front shocks went out at 25000 km. Huge gap in assembly of plastic trim pieces. Handbrake button cracked at 9000km. Nice design and good packaging of neat features, but poor assembly and cheap North American autoparts.

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  Buyers Remorse - 2013 Honda Accord
  By brdln - August 25 - 2:15 pm

  EX-L-4 Wish Id looked closer & at other cars first to compare. Seat is hard & seat seam hits you wrong. Lttle open space for glasses & badges. Arm rests are next to useless & Very little CD storage. No garage door button on EX-L-4? Rough & hard ride. Cant find comfort spot while seated. Test drive on salemans route didnt show hard ride, wife drove, her car. Loved previous 3 Accords, kick myself hard for not looking harder at 2013. Already has vibration rattle. Love design, looks, cameras, power, rear seat room, plus other stuff, dont like sitting & driving the car. We will adapt & adjust, have to, but have real remorse about buying it. Loved previous Accords, Not this one.

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  Interior Noise - 2008 Honda Accord
  By glen2262 - August 24 - 9:26 am

  All I can say is that I purchased this car thinking I was getting a quality car as I have done in the past. Forget it! The days of the Honda are over for me...Take it on the highway, the engine noise is so loud that its hard to hear people on the other end of your cell phone. And at the end of a long trip your ears are still buzzing with the sounds of road noise.... Honda designed a beautiful car, too bad the mechanics arent on par with the design. I have had others before with no such problem. This one is a joke. I am getting rid of this car as soon as I can. Stay away from this one. Another friend of mine bought his at the same time and is selling his too.... Sorry, Honda you lost your edge

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  2nd 7th generation Honda Accord owner - 2005 Honda Accord
  By BamaLife518 - August 22 - 5:07 am

  Onto my second 7th generation Honda Accord, my first being a 2004 Honda Accord EX 4cyl, now bought a 2005 LX sedan 4cyl, comparatively the LX is basically the same exact car minus the sunroof and steering wheel controls, plus the LX has 15 inch steelies and the EX had the much more attractive 16 inch alloys, honestly, I could care less for the EX anymore, its just more money and possibly more problems as I remember the EX had to have the weatherstripping periodically fixed on the sunroof, which just became a hassle each time I wanted to use it (fixed myself repeatedly with a screwdriver re-aligning the weatherstripping), the LX is reliable, currently holding at 173k and as usual, it looks sporty, but its slow on take off, boring on long rides, and unimpressive in the fuel economy department, but it is visually appealing compared to a Toyota Camry of the same year, still both cars are undeniably reliable, just wish they both had better take off and were a little more driver oriented. My only real complaint is that the suspension (which has been replaced because every bump was unforgiving, is still... unforgiving) nothing has helped the horrible ride on even the smallest bumps and Im running general RT43 tires, which arent the best by any means on this car. I can say though that the accord is WAY better in the snow than my old 2002 Honda Civic EX which was almost scary and I pride myself on my abilities in snow, I recommend using Goodyear Ultra-grip tires and it transforms the Accord into a tank in the snow, I love the front end appearance of the car and love how it looks fast but its frankly not.

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  unsatisfied - 2003 Honda CR-V
  By stymied - August 17 - 10:00 am

  front seat not made for anyone over 510. back seat for kids only very disappointing. will try to sell and recover losses for the price I expected heated front seats with more adjustments.

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  Downgrade from 2014 Honda Civic - 2017 Honda Accord
  By Patricia C - August 17 - 7:16 am

  Now that Ive had a couple of months to experience the 2017 Honda Accord, i truly regret not buying my old 2014 Honda Civic instead of leasing this car. I had assumed future versions of a vehicle would be an upgrade, not downgrade. In terms of voice recognition, the 2014 was superior in every way. The Accord has very limited cellphone compatibility. My OnePlus phone was compatible with the 2014 Civic, but not the 2017 Accord. In fact, the 2017 Accord supports very few manufacturers (Alcatel, Apple, Blackberry, Coolpad, HTC, LG, Motorola, Samsung, ZTE), and among the manufacturers, very few models, except for Samsung and LG. I dont know why theyre favoring Korean manufacturers, but there it is. Even Google is not on the list. Unless your phone is on the list, you cant use the voice dialing feature at all. The calling process is now much more cumbersome. With the 2014 Civic, all you had to do was press the talk button and say the name of the person you are calling, then the phone would dial. With the Accord, you have to go through a ridiculous menu system, and thats if your phone is compatible. I find it easier to just connect to bluetooth and dial from the phone, making the process rather unsafe as compared with the 2014 Civic. The mileage is horrible on this car. i drive about 75% city, 25% highway, and the mpg averages 19.5. The Civic was smaller, but the mpg averaged 28, with 80% city and 20% highway. Being a larger vehicle, the Accord has a larger engine, and that shows in the added power. It is less responsive and less maneuverable than the Civic. The Civic would respond as soon as either the gas or brake pedals were engaged. it also had a fairly tight turning radius. The Accord, well... The best features of this car are the automatic headlights and heated leather seating. Automatic headlights are great for those who forget to turn on the headlights at night. While the interior is roomier than the 2014 Civic (the 2017 Civic is larger), the one item I wish they would change is enlarge the center storage console, which has been reduced in size. I use that storage area more often than I would the glove compartment due to proximity to the drivers seat. If the cellphone issue isnt restored to something similar to the 2014 Civic (all new Hondas have the same cellphone system) in the next 3 years, this will likely be the last Honda Ill ever lease.

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  Car is disappointingly average. - 2016 Honda Accord
  By Matt Sabatine - August 13 - 9:07 am

  After racking up over 260,000 miles with my old six-speed manual Honda Accord Coupe, I decided it was finally time for a new ride, and after testing some of the competing companies offering similarly reliable mid-size sedans (Toyota, Subaru), I decided that I would get another Accord. My old 2004 Accord treated me very well, and Honda has proven to me to be an incredibly reliable car manufacturer. When I started looking into what model Id be interested in and could afford, I immediately realized that I was very limited in my choices, given that I insisted on getting another 6-speed manual, which they dont make at any model above the EX. I couldnt even get an EX-L (just an EX with a leather interior). I went with the EX, even though I could easily do without some of the "upgrade" features, like the keyless remote push button start, and the two infotainment screens, which are redundant and having two is really kind of pointless. I also wanted a black car, but, again, realized that my options with the manual transmission were very limited, to two (yes, TWO) colors, dark gray and silver, to be exact. I chose the dark gray option, and when I started actually looking into getting one, I came to realize how rare they are, and how infrequently manual transmission Accords are manufactured nowadays...as in, I had to drive over 100 miles, through New York City, to a dealer in New Rochelle, NY to purchase the only one within that radius. So, I couldnt even check out/drive the car before I bought it. The Apple CarPlay is a nice feature in theory, but the entertainment system has already caused me some problems, occasionally freezing, or not responding, or forcing me to turn the car off, and turn it back on, just so it acknowledges that my phone is plugged in...this after two months of owning the brand new vehicle, with about 3,000 miles on it. The main infotainment screen is exclusively touchscreen, which I HATE with a burning passion. There is nothing I would rather have than a good old fashioned volume knob I can turn left or right, rather than have to repeatedly tap the "volume" space on the touch screen. Ditto with navigating through the various apps within the central entertainment system, like Sirius Radio. Having everything touchscreen is incredibly distracting and frustrating, as you have to touch the screen in the exact correct position or risk hitting something you hadnt desired to hit. Maybe Im an old school 24 year-old, but when I am scanning radio stations or wishing to turn the volume up or down, Id prefer a goddamn knob to turn rather than have to tap my fingers on a screen. Its confusing, annoying and incredibly frustrating. I have the exact same gripe about the climate control system--Honda has apparently done away with the actual knobs to adjust the cool air/heat, and has replaced them with buttons. So, rather than have the control set all the way to the "cold" option previously, and be able to switch it all the way to the highest temperature heat option with one turn of the knob, you must now repeatedly tap on the red "heat" or blue "cold" button. As many people are aware, when the climate control system used to be turned off, the car would still blow out air at the temperature the knobs were set at. That is, even if you didnt have the heat on, but had the knob all the way over on the heat side, it would still blow out a little hot air. And it made it really simple and convenient to slightly adjust the control to the climate you desired without having to engage the climate control system at all. Contrarily, with this new, incredibly annoying and convoluted way of adjusting climate in the vehicle cabin, you must now turn on the heat/air conditioning to adjust the temperature. As much as I hate the touch screen infotainment system, I kind of hate this even more...sometimes simpler is better. Lastly, the vehicles performance...I downgraded to a 4-cylinder from my 6-speed V6 coupe, so was expecting a drop in acceleration, but man is this car slow...Ive had to readjust the way I dive, as in what gear Im in and when I like to shift, just to accommodate for the vehicles sluggish acceleration. Additionally, it is not a particularly smooth shift. The car doesnt shift smoothly at all when downshifting from 3rd to 2nd or from 2nd to 1st unless the car is pretty much at a dead stop. Shifting into reverse is even worse, as the car has to be at a dead stop to shift into reverse at all, and even then it isnt a smooth shift. Could be that the car is just getting "broken in" but Im a few thousand miles in and Im getting sick of my brand new car shifting more roughly than my 12 year-old Accord Coupe with 261,000 miles. That being said, I fully expect this car to be every bit as reliable as most other Hondas seem to be, and I get good gas mileage. All in all, if I could go back, I would not have purchased this car.

• 

  Problems since day 1 - 2004 Honda Accord
  By Seth Pennington - August 11 - 2:00 am

  My wife and I have only had are new Honda for exactly 1 month today, and we have already had our car towed back to the dealership twice. The first time our fuel injector went out on the vechicle while we were driving it on the interstate. Less than a week after getting the car back we had new problem and gauges had to be replaced. This is our first Honda. We purchased this vehicle because we wanted a reliable car that we would be able to count on for along time come to find out we werent even able to count on it in the first month. Beware!!!

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  Should Be But Isnt - 2013 Honda Accord
  By danielbrian142 - August 9 - 3:37 pm

  Ive always owned a Honda except for a 6 mth period of a Nissan, and I can say this will be my last one. I bought the Honda in January of 2013. By 4/12/2013, Im ready to return it. By February, the car developed rattles in the sunroof, front dash, back quarter panel, driver-side door, and center console. It has been in for these rattles 3 different times. Furthermore, the infotainment (audio/navi) system is the most unreliable software Ive ever experienced. It constantly crashes, stops responding, sends extremely loud static. The UI is backwards and cumbersome. It is so version 1.0 it shouldnt have been released. I should have bought a Ford. Honda says an update is inprogress.

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  Do not buy V6 AT - 2009 Honda Accord
  By jedk - August 7 - 10:40 pm

  As a Honda fan since 80 (first Civic) and having gone through every model since, I was pumped to get rid of my 95 accord with 240K on it. My search of reviews indicated the 09 Accord coupe was a good buy. Then I bought it and reality set in. The car constantly hunts between cylinders and when not on cruise control and is the most irritating thing I have ever experienced. Perhaps it is the letdown from my emotional attachment to Hondas. While I like everything else about the car, the VCM constantly changing speed trumps all that - and therefore DO NOT BUY.