Ok.. First things first. This post wasnt made to start a flame war or offend anyone or cause panic this is directed more for you to use against those snotty honda owners....

But if your sick and tired of hearing: "My honda is better quality then yours, ill have mine for 20 years because its an import!"

Ok. I worked a summer in the Allison, Ontario Honda plant that assembles the Civic, Pilot, And Oddessy. There is a reason why I drive a dodge.. But On with the show!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O9WM...eature=related

This defect seems to be on the rise in 2007 models...

Within 38 s the lights shut off on the van, which leads me to believe that the cause was something electrical. No flames on the windshield lead me to believe it was something mid way through the van, which if I remember correctly is where the rear wiring harness runs.

Within 50 seconds, the other side of the vehicle is spewing flames.. Which means there was no escape route.

2 minutes, the something in the van blows up..

When fire crews do show up, they inspect under the hood, but don't pursue. That part isnt on fire.

Let that be a dent in the Honda's quality armour. Feel free to show any of your annoying Honda fans.

(Did I mention honda doesnt use fire retardant interior matierials, GM and Chrysler Do!)

Thank the gods that no one was hurt.

Just had to rant! [/align]

(Edit)
Oh.. Just thought I would add something to eliminate any confusion.

Yes, a majority of Chrysler and GM products are made with fire retardant fabrics. HOWEVER do not allow this to be a false sense of security.

They will burn like this however the process takes longer. At the first sign of smoke, EXIT YOUR VEHICLE IMMIDIATELY and call your local Emergency response teams!

This has been a public service announcement from your friendly neighborhood fox.

 

I don't HATE Honda owners, I just feel sorry for their poor, misguided souls. LOL!!!!

Any discussion about foreign cars quality and reliability is just pure BS. They break down and need repairs, too.

A little story about Honda reliability.....My buddy had a 1988 Prelude, something happened to it and he needed a new top end on his engine. It took SIX months for them to get the new parts from Japan and fix his car.

A little story about BMW reliability.....My buddy bought his wife a nice, used, certified 2004 325. He has had to take it back THREE times in less than a year for warranty work. Not too bad, you say, except the BMW dealer is 45 miles away!!!

 

 

The small explosions 2 mins into the video appear to be the windows and tires blowing out. But even before that, judging by the intensity of the fire inside the van, there had to be some kind of accellerant inside the van besides the plastic and fabric. Of course once the fire got to the fuel line, then it was hell on wheels.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of Honda either. But I have to think there was something else at work in that one. Even if it was caused by a bad custom wiring job. I couldn't help but notice that the fire re-ignited 2 or 3 times after the firemen put it out. A severe electrical problem could cause this. Hence the reason most fire departments like to open the hood and cut the battery cables.

 

I personally think all car makers do their best to build a vehicle, with the highest quality they can afford, and still compete in the particular segment they are aiming at.

That being said, the automotive writers over the years have created this "Image" of the japanese cars being superior in almost allrespects toour own North American Models. Somehow, this image has been sold to the public, and now, many won't even give the domestic autos a chance, because they already have the mindset that the import is better.

I have not had any degree of problems with any of my cars or trucks for as long as I can remember. They all have worked well, and done everything I asked of them. They have mostly all been GM models,but I have even had the odd Ford and Chrysler product thrown in from time to time, and they too did the job.I have never owned an import brand.

Why would I buy a foreign brand. Yes many are now built in North America, but the offshore makers do not support anywhere near the number of US or Canadian workers that our domestic makers do. The offshore guys also don't have to shell outanywhere near the amount of money the domestic makers do for retired employees. The domestic auto makershave been and still are ahuge contributor to our economy. There sure aren't many jobs out there that pay average working men what the auto companies do.

I say......Support your own, there is a lot riding on the continued success of ourNorth American Auto Industry, and they do make good vehicles.(Sometimes, I just don't thinkpeople get it........wake up people, before it's too late.)

 

I owned 3 honda civics. First one i bought used,a 1981 hatchback. Drove it a total of 130,000 miles. Besides the preventive maint., i had to replace the carb at a cost of 400 bucks. Traded to a new `85 hatchback. Drove this one to 240,000 miles and it needed no parts.Traded that one on a `93 coupe. Drove it to 270,000 miles before selling it. Replaced the A/C clutch 3 times. I guess I can say I had good luck with them.

 

i think most cars will last a long time if you take care of them and don't do burnouts, floor it at every light, and just treat it like crap. if you drive osmething reasonably all the time, i think anything on the market today will llast a long time.

 

Yep, I agree...mine were used as commuters...140 miles a day at roughly 65 mph. Great gas mileage. But most anything will work well if it`s taken care of....

 

Exactly my point fellas. Im not trying to single out just hondas. Im just trying to point out that defects can happen to any make or model. It just seems that when a recall happens with the big 3, its all over the media. Now when something happens to an import its mostly kept quiet. And Im just sick and dog tired of the "honda aura" some owners think thier cars are invincible. it is a machine, and will eventually fail.

As for the explosions, a fireman that lives next to me has informed me that those are the airbags going off, which happens to all cars at that heat level.

I was incorrect on my analysis. He also tells me he believes the fault is was most likely related to the power sliding door on this particular one, the intense heat probably melted the tank, which is pretty much standard across the market. Not many manufacturers use metal tanks these days.

 

I can't "hate" them too much, my son is one of them. I've lost count how many he's had, 4 driveable ones and a few wrecked ones for parts. Right now I think he's putting 2 together to make one. All of his friends drive Hondas. It looks like a ricer convention when they all come over.
Here's before and after pics of the first one. The after is after some idiot decided to cut across lanes without looking.

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[IMG]local://upfiles/3339/3791B2676C4049D6A7652CCEA19A954C.jpg[/IMG]

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