Comments on: 2008 Honda Accord Euro First Steer

By: g

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:32:21 +0000

From my records, I have had the following customer service experience at these Mazda & Honda sites:

Good (Staff were attentive, respectful, informative, not pushy)
- Honda Heidelburg (Victoria) 2002-2006
- Honda Austral (Qld) 2006-2008

Bad (Staff unattentive, arrogant, lack of helpful product info, rush you to make decisions)
- Honda Brighton (Victoria) 2002
- Mazda Austral (Qld) 2008

Hope this info is useful for others… as for me, I tend to only stick to GOOD customer service providers, as evident from my loyalty of a number of years staying with them.

But on a realist point of view, the customer service can be controlled/managed by head office through policy and training, etc. But Dealers can also employ GOOD staff and avoid terrible sales people. Heck i even had good experience with a trainee at Honda Austral; informative, enthusiastic and attentive.

(FYI, I’m thinkiing of getting the prev Honda Accord Euro, most likely 2005-2008 model, rather than new 2009 model, mainly coz global economy is bad shape and also I still like the sharper looking older model, which is cheaper to buy!)

By: Colin

Colin — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 02:53:34 +0000

I have just bought the latest Accord Euro. Now 2400 km. And I want to trade it !!!!!!

Had a 2003 model (purchased Jan 2004) as ex-demo car. Really onlu one problem that I put up with for 4 1/2 years. Otherwise the Honda experience was good. Problem – a completely inaccurate speedo reading. Had the RAA (Adelaide South Australia) check it out. The variation was around 6% under correct reading. Honda Australia refused to do anything – the dealers said their hands were tied as HA did not give them the capabilities to make adjustments.

When the new model was to be released I waited for the deal to happen. What I have found is the new instrumentation is out by 8%. UNACCEPTABLE. Again, nobody wants to try to do anything

For heavens sake, Honda run an F1 team – you cannot tell me they wioll accept an 8% error in instrumentation readings !!!!

Holden Commodores are tested by RAA before delivery to SA Police – if speedo error more than 2% the car is rejected !! So if it is good enough and possible for a little Australian carmaker to get it right, it should be mandatory for a global carmaker like Honda to do it just as well – and even better !!!

I expect better for the amount of money outlayed.

Anybody else had a similar experience??

By: brabus

brabus — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:50:59 +0000

looks great when you see one out on the road, even in boring silver. the guards and overall profile is perfect. the old one was bland bland bland.
interier on this one is a bit messy though, would have prefered something more elegant

engines… well 4 cylinder’s are ordinary, but atleast its not unreliable like the aweful Mexico built Jetta

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:23:25 +0000

Does anyone know when the diesel Auto will hit the market in Australia?

I drove the 2008 Accord Euro Auto on the weekend and was underwhelmed by the noisy high reving low torque petrol motor.

By: Dennis

Dennis — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 05:59:59 +0000

Despite the parity of Aussie Dollar to US Dollar in recent times, the Euros prices dropped by a mere 1K. The equivalent Luxury version with Navi is around USD34K in US (from memory), versus AUD44K downunder.

Aussie car buyers are fleeced – BIG TIME.

By: Nik

Nik — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:49:59 +0000

I saw the car in the flesh today and it looks even better. But I am confused, this car seems bigger than the new Accord 6. So why make two cars (accord-soft/ accord euro-hard) when the Euro is not that sporty anymore. And still don’t know why they persist with the Accord name for both cars. Regarding the wagon, big mistake not to sell it here. Odyssey argument doesn’t stack up, unless euro wagon is a seven seater. I think the Mazda 6 has always been more feminine in the style department, whilst the Euro is opposite.

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:11:42 +0000

Hi
i was just on this website randomly and realised that there is no honda accord diesel in australia i live in england and own a accord diesel its very smooth and powerful will it go to australia? In England accords are also much more expensive mine was £25,000 and its not even top spec i think thats around $50,000 is that alot? the diesel is well worth waiting for. i would have prefered a BMW but they are even more expensive for the 320d its about $70,000.

By: Know nothing

Know nothing — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:55:18 +0000

Well I drove Euro and Mazda 6 both horrible cramped, very noisy little buzz-boxes…I’ll stick with my Maxima which costs no more that either of these “applauded and lauded” vehicles.

By: peter

peter — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 12:40:46 +0000

gentlemen

I have driven 6, jetta tfsi, 2009 accord euro amongst others. Interior of honda is quality at base level compared to ALL. I agree with comments about honda sales staff being unhelpful, seemingly believing their car sells itself compared to others (adelaide). With that said, nice drive, more controlled but yes, seemingly less squirt than the old. I have never felt 148kw doing less, for a 4cyl, the jetta hammers, for the honda it revs, and revs but it does not launch. The 6 is again a nice drive but to claim ’sports’ pretensions is marketing brief conquering actual delivery.

By: TP

TP — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:12:06 +0000

My worry is that the power increase doesnt match the size and Im assuming weight increase. The one American review I watched noted that it seemed more sluggish then the outgoing model. Also, pricing seems quite high… thats in the league of the big Aussie sixes where it cant compete for performance and features wise aint that much better.

By: Giraffe

Giraffe — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 08:25:06 +0000

Don
You are “spot on” Honda has lost the plot, well as far as customer service goes at least.
I have owned several new Hondas since 1995 and have found that, warranty coverage is nowhere near as good as it used to be for one thing.

The fact I am a tall bloke exempted me from buying a Accord Euro in ‘05. So I found myself a second hand Lexus.
It is time to change again for me, but Honda Sales staff attitudes at some franchises leave an awful lot to be desired. (Adelaide) That coupled with Hondas warranty attitude to its buyers in recent years, leaves me cold frankly!

I think this new Euro looks & seems to have the goods this time (for me at least). I wonder if the leg room has improved from last Euro?
But Toyota and Mazda have some fine products to compare as well. This segment of the market has plenty of choice for consumers.

By: SteveH

SteveH — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:17:56 +0000

Finally had a test drive of the Accord from New World Honda in Berwick. Very good car and better than the Mondeo XR5 and Mazda 6 in my opinion.

Didn’t need to claim I was going to buy the car there and then. Just said I was comparing it to a couple of others and wanted to get an idea of how the Accord Euro stacked up.

By: AC COBRA

AC COBRA — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 04:42:00 +0000

I would rather the Ford Mondeo and Mazda 6 thanks more desirable and better looking. Honda for some reason has a toyoda image problem, selling to the ageing masses wearing bowler hats, cardigan’s with no sense of where right or left is, Honda drivers are the worst in the world for it, I have stopped in the middle of Sydney Rd Melbourne for nearly a minute until this idiot made up his mind holding up a tram and about 50 cars, I guess that is where road rage starts….

Honda drivers licence come from weet bix box’s

By: DON

DON — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 03:33:56 +0000

Honda Australia is now out of touch. Honda Australia believes that customer will come and beg. In Sydney, Honda Australia shuts down one of the oldest Honda dealer because this dealer does not fit to Honda’s image (big showroom and located on the main road). Good luck in the future Honda.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 03:33:15 +0000

SteveH & John, what dealer did you go? The trick “I want to test drive this model. I’ll make a deal today if I like the car & the price is right” always work for me.
May be I’ll pay a visit to that dealer. See how I go. I too want to test drive the new euro.

By: John

John — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:52:09 +0000

SteveH I have the same experience with the Honda sales rep. in Melbourne. I rang for a test drive and make a time for Sat morning, on arrival got a call from the rep saying they are too busy better come back weekdays. Like Jerry said if they know you are just testing around they are not interested. Wait till the car sales drop then these sales rep will come running. It is like most arrogant sales rep too busy dont care.

By: SteveH

SteveH — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:56:12 +0000

Hi Jerry. I am in Melbourne. I can’t even get hold of a salesman to ask for a test drive at the moment as I must not fit some sort of pre-determined demographic that they have. Plus I am after a manual transmission, so they seem to be pretty thin on the ground. Seems like a really nice car to sit in at least.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:07:05 +0000

where do you live SteveH? Are you in Melbourne? I guess it’s a matter of timing. This happened to me before.
I bet you want to have a test drive, don’t you. If you want a test drive, it’s good if you tell them straight away that you want to test drive. Give impression that you know what you want and you’re ready to make a deal straight away (even if you’re not prepared. There is always a way/excuse to cancel if you’re not ready).
Tell them “I want this Accord. I’m ready to make a deal today if the price is right”. You’ll get attention straight away. If you want to ask a lot of questions, get the salesman into the car while you test drive and ask him/her during the test drive.
Best of luck with your hunting and your coming baby.

By: SteveH

SteveH — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:20:06 +0000

Bob, I would like to tell you what I think of the Accord, but no Honda dealer seems to want to help me. One dealer valued my car at a low trade in value, so I basically told them where to go. I have been to another dealer twice, first time they were busy, so I can sort of understand, but second time I went in with my 8 and a half month pregnant wife, sat in the cars and had a good look around and still got no help. I prefer the look and feel of the Accord, but I can’t get over the poor attitude of Honda’s sales staff.

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:55:57 +0000

Thx Jerry.
I think new euro looks like the transformer. lol
I just had test drive of both euro and m6. I found they were basically the same, but euro seemed more powerful. I will ask Mazda’s saleman about what they would do to their car.