Mokos23

My friends and carmax associates have told me that Acuras made in Japan vs. the ones assembled in the USA have better quality and reliability, is that true? One of my friends had a CL-S made in USA and had bad quality, but now traded it in for an Rsx-S which he notes is made in Japan and has had no problems with it so far.

larchmont

Most of us assume there's a difference (in favor of the Japan-built cars, of course).

I find the TSX (Japan-built) much more impressive in build/quality than my "old" '03 TL-S (US-built).

SPUDMTN

At the same time, however, the old TL isn't in the same "generation" as the RSX, TSX, and new TL. What I'm saying is that the old TL (and CL) was from the Acura "dark ages". I'd say that the new Acuras produced in North America are going to be equal to their Japanese counterparts. Sit in a TSX and then switch into the brand-new TL. I'd say that they're at LEAST equal in build quality. I have to remind myself that the car isn't built in Japan...

I must admit, however, that I like the sound of the car actually being built in Japan. It gives a piece of mind (who knows if it's false or not).

PS-
Larch--know we've discussed the Acura dark ages before...just thought it appropriate again

saccorator

I like the sound of a Japanese built car as well. I have heard that there are more quality standards from Japanese built cars, but who knows. I had a 350Z that was 100% japanese built and I can say that car was a complete piece of Sh!t. The 350Z has numerous rattles, had numerous quality issues with the paint, transmission fraying cloth on interior parts and bad suspension. I just hope Honda/Acura pay more attention to design and quality than Nissan does.

phile

I think it's an unfair comparison. The models built in Japan and exported to the US are often the low volume models (e.g., TSX, RL, RSX, NSX). The Acuras built in NA are the big sellers, of course except for the CL, and everytime you have greater production numbers, there will be more problems. But anyways, has anyone sat in the new Accords? That's US built, and the build assembly is impressive.

larchmont

....But, my old '88 Legend, which of course was also from those "dark ages," was fine.
I guess we'll see. I hope they will be.

2004_Acura_TSX

I have the opposite view....I find my TSX is poorly built compared to the US-built 2001 Honda Accord EX sedan that I traded in for my TSX, but then again I bought the TSX back in the early days of its release...maybe the build quality of the TSX got better since May?

larchmont

Whatever it may be, that ain't it (as you can see from my sig).

jartzt

I've had an opportunity to work with several Japanese auto makers including Honda and Toyota who have US manufacturting operations. These companies do not allow for differences in the quality metrics of their operations in one county over another. Rather, their philospophy is that every activity in which the company executes will be perfect (regardless of what that activity is, how often that activity is performed, where that activity is performed, or who performs that activity). These companies place metrics around EVERYTHING they do and then constantly analyze how they are performing and seek improvement. I am honored to have had the opportunity to work with these companies and wish that their approach to the market and serving their customers was the norm rather than the exception.

1killercls

From my 99 Integra GSR to my 2002 CL Types....NO DIFFERENCE in Quality.

hondaloyalist

Regardless, If i had to choose where i bought my car from, I would definitely choose japan built over U.S built.I have better piece of mind that way.

G2Ray

It's true the saying....."they sure don't make them like they used to". Even if a Honda/Acura is made in Japan, the overall quality is not where it used to be. They are still great and I would prefer them over a US assembled Honda/Acura, but IMHO Honda's best years were 92-95.

Brad

I've owned three Accords, one Japan-built and two Ohio-built.

I consider myself to be rather anal about quality, but I would be hard-pressed to say that any of those 3 cars were of better or lower build quality than the others. If anything, it was the Japan-built Accord that developed warping plastic in the trunk area.

My two former US-built Accords were solid and reliable. Oh, I heard that the 88 Accord with 210,000 original miles needs its _first_ clutch work. tsk, tsk. The one bad thing about the '90 Accord was that it needed a distributor (or some part) a few years ago that Honda covered even though the car was long-passed warranty. It turned out that the distributors were not up to Honda specifications.

I would not have hesitated if the TSX had been built in the US or Canada.

JeffTSX

Hmm...actually. The rsx-s has a very famous tranny problem.

type-s

My brother-in-law who used to work at the Honda dealer here swears by Japan Built Cars.

He actually has a UK built Accord (LOL) and always said my 5th Gen Prelude (Japan) was a lot better....now I have a Euro Accord (Ironically built in Japan) and the difference in style and drivability is imenense.

The UK built car feels very heavy whilst the Japan built car is light and quick and nimble.

Ernie

larchmont

How about that -- even the insiders disagree.

In which case, until there's a consensus among them, it looks like it means our outside judgment is as good as their inside judgment. And our judgment, for the most part, is that the Japanese-built cars have tended to be better.
Or maybe more accurately, the non-Japanese-built cars have tended to be worse but perhaps with some exceptions.

Brad

Regardless of the origin of manufacture, the reliability ratings that I've seen still look relatively good.

Perceptions vs. reality come into much more serious discord with competing brands. Just look at the recent marketing perceptions of Mercedes and BMW and contrast that with their respective worse-than-average and mediocre reliability. That's where perceptions dictate that worse-off is better?

1killercls

my AMERICAN MADE ACURA does not rattle.

YBA

nice try...

Mokos23

can someone help me out on this?

Acuras (Japan-made)

Tsx, Rsx, Nsx, and RL

Hondas (Japan-made)

s2000, Crv??, prelude, some accords? , is the civic-si made in japan?

type-s

5th Gen Prelude and Euro Accord both made in Japan.

Saintor_RENAMED

I think that the Si (our Si-R) comes from England.

leo leo

LOL "low volume" ? the RSX is probably by far is the most massed produced Acura (much more so than US built CL, TL, EL, etc.)

But the important thing is that it has just as much if not more TSBs and problems as US built Hondas/Acuras ie. the Accord.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

This is because the FRENCH!! run Nissan these days. Remember the quality issues the that the old Peugot and Citroen cars sold in the US had? Of course, I've sure they've cleaned that up by now, but in order to pull Nissan out of the financial gutter, they had to cut spending somewhere and I'm betting QA was one and interior material/design was another.

helloha

Yeah.. My 97 Ohio-built CL does not have any windshiled/center console rattle in 7 years vs 2 months old Japan-built TSX....

Stokeless_TSX

my TSX has great quality...i dont have any rattles or problems u guys have...im very happy...only thing that rattles is the coilovers and i have never had a set that didnt squeak so im used to it...the 04 TL's arent made in japan and i have a friend that workds for acura and said he would never buy one. the fit and finish on them supposedly suck. one side of the trunk a much larger gap than the other as an example. i have never looked up close but i know my TSX fits perfect

mcaron

I own an Accord Wagon which was built in North America and I can assure you the car did not have any quality problem (I still drive the car 1991 with 260000 Km). On the other hand I also own a 4Runner which was built in Japan and had numerous problems (2 blown transmission, 2 blown set of head gaskest and on and on). So junky cars are not limited to North American assembly plant

Javier Sanchez

Currently sitting at a red light in my 2002 Acura RSX Type-S with 204k miles. Hope she never quits.

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

Michael Jackson was still alive the last time this thread was posted to. And Myspace was still relevant.



Really though, I think it has more to do with design than where the car is built. My 2007 TSX was built in Japan and plenty reliable as my '06 TL and '12 TL, both of which were built in Ohio. And all of them had just as many rattles.

dopeboy1

You shouldn't be resurrecting 15 year old threads while at a red light its not safe!

Seriously though my girlfriend is made in Japan and she is just stunning, an amazing job they did. So im firmly on the side of Japan build quality.

kurtatx

Count me in as being fairly indifferent for Japan vs US. Also, I would give post Jesus more crap, but the "related topics" section when you scroll down doesn't really consider thread age.