24th Apr 2011, 20:46

You drove your friends Honda and that is all it takes to make an informed decision about a car maker? Okay then. Sounds like you had a preconceived notion that Honda was cheaply made and such, and therefore you probably went into driving one with that in mind.

I had a 2008 Accord with the base 4 cylinder engine. It was anything but cheap and rattly. It was smooth as silk at any speed, and really performed much better than my expectations of a base car. I can't even imagine how amazing that car would be with the V6 in it. I actually chose it over the Fusion V6 model that year, because it felt peppier and smoother, even with 2 less cylinders and 44 less HP. It was also a bit larger and more comfortable, but still drove tight and cornered great like a smaller car.

Seems there are so many anti-Japanese car people on here who have such biases against anything they perceive to be Un-American. Ironically, I was reading a great story about the global auto industry just the other day. They asked the question "what is buying American mean?" Well, the Honda Accord is made up of 80% U.S. parts, is designed and built by U.S. workers in U.S. plants. They compared that to the Ford Escape, which is built with 65% U.S. parts, it is designed in the U.S., and it is made in Canada with 0% of U.S. workers. So which one is more American? More and more evidence supports that there is no actual "made in America" when it comes to cars. Just buy what you like! The parent company argument really means little too, as even the domestics put much of their profits into factories and workers that aren't even in the U.S. So, who is benefiting from that?