when buying a NEW car....

[princess]

When/if you're picking out a brand new, never been owned by anyone car what is your highest priority??

[Dave]

before buying the Accord, i test drove a number of different types of cars. mustang gt, eclipse spyder gts, infinity g35 coupe, subaru sti, dodge intrepid and the convertable chrysler makes (brain cramp..cant think of the model).
i read all the reviews. researched all the trim levels and compared that to the sticker prices. it came down to which car i felt most comfortable in and that i wouldnt mind owning for upwards of 5 years. the cars styling worked into the equation too.

[benjamming]

EXPECTED QUALITY!!!

[princess]

Benjamming, do you feel let down by the quality? If so, is it honda vs. honda quality.... their reputation or honda vs. others?

Dave, I guess comfort should have been a choice too. You did lots of shopping. I only shopped among the Honda & Acura lines. If I'd chose another brand my free labor would go out the door!! He refuses to touch any others! Years ago..... he worked for a shop that did all makes. That's when he discovered Japanese quality differences. He'd never own anything European due to the experiences then. They put more emphasis on details & not enough on making it last. Granted things are always changing.....but you know the "old dog" saying......

We're all products of what we've lived through. :)

[benjamming]

I just can't believe that you didn't include quality in the survey options. That is what Honda hangs their hat on. If Honda doesn't have quality, then there is not a whole lot to separate them from the "Big Three".

[Inspector1]

As you requested benjamming....

Hope it's ok with you Princess.

I1:)

[princess]

Good call.....I just take so much for granted! Sorry!:sorry:

[BenjiBoy650]

When shopping for cars, our family tends to look for things like what we need more than features. Money is not an object, but perceived value is ("perceived value" takes into consideration things like the prestige of the nameplate, etc). I voted for brand/quality though because we'd only shop with what we consider to be quality cars, and look for the best stuff inside that category. We would never go look at a GM or a Ford and say...well it's got a lot of cool features for the price! It's still American :)

[princess]

"Money not an object....." Can I get adopted?????:D

[BenjiBoy650]

Originally posted by princess
"Money not an object....." Can I get adopted?????:D

LOL well it's not like we just go buying expensive new cars all the time. Actually we're pretty conservative. Before the ML320, the last new car was my dads '82 Accord. It took us more than 2 years to finally decide on the ML too, looking at cars from Accords to X5 4.4i's and everything in between. "Perceived Value" tends to take out a lot of the more expensive cars too, and besides that me and my mom would never allow my dad to buy something like an S500. He barely even drives the ML and it's never seen rain or snow, I couldn't imagine how he would protect a car twice the price lol.

[princess]

The BRAND new cars in our life have also been few & far between until 3 years ago.

'79 Chevy Monza V8 (fun car, got stolen after 1 year...he put a 4b carb on it!)
'82 Accord HB (back then a lemon meant a broken knob!)
'02 Accord EXL V6
'03 Pilot EXL Nav
'03 Accord EXL Nav

MANY used ones inbetween!:)

[anysia]

Slightly obsessed with Honda...

My first car after college I chose because I had wanted a Civic for a long time and I finally had the job that enabled me to pay for one!

Reliability and looks are the 2 biggies for me. I also have to be able to afford the car....

I got the Accord because I fell in love with the look of the 7th gen coupes and wasn't going to be satisfied until I finally had one of my own! :D

My new cars haven't been too few and far between... Once I got started, I guess I couldn't stop!!

2000 Civic LX sedan (at) traded at 45k
2003 Civic LX sedan (at) traded at 22k
2004 Accord EX coupe (mt) currently has 700 miles and counting!

Of course I think alot of it comes from my upbringing. I wasn't allowed to drive my parents cars much and my big desire for when I graduated and got a decent paying job was buying the brand new car that I wanted! I felt deprived for so long, that now that I can afford cars, I have developed a bit of an addiction! Thankfully Honda's hold their value and don't cost too much! ;)

[princess]

Not a bad addiction/obsession to have!:D

Also having bought three in a row, I'm not sure if I can quit either.... Replacing the Pilot will depend on what power changes they do. Replacing the Accord, well, I'm not sure what that depends on now.....;)

[anysia]

I'm planning on holding onto the 04 accord coupe until ATLEAST the car is paid off, but I won't make any garauntees!! :D

[Unity1]

Well, this Accord is the first brand-new car I've owned. As such, I'm still tickled pink over seeing less than a 5-digit number on the odometer. :D (newest so far was the Intrepid.. with 17K when I bought it)

This Accord is also my first Honda. I've always been a Chrysler/Dodge man before this.... and I still secretly want my favorite Chrysler vehicle... the 300M.
Do I want one more than my Accord? No. :)

As for what I'm going to look for from now on... I'd have to say:

Style.. inside and out
Resale value
Price
Color
Features/trim level
Quality/Reliability
Interior build quality

Those are all the most important to me... not in any particular order. If I don't like the styling of a car, though, that's a deal-breaker.

What drew me to the Accord was the style and Honda's reputation. I was almost going to get a Mazda 6... but I test drove an Accord again... and rediscovered why I wanted one. The Mazda 6 is a great-looking, fun-to-drive car that has lots of get-up-and-go.... but it doesn't feel like a car that won't have any squeaks, rattles, and loose interior plastic in a few years and 100K miles.

With the Accord... at 100K miles, it's just getting warmed up. :)

[Coil99]

Another quality vote here.