azobairi

Japan or the US? What %?

Wondering what kind of workmanship to expect....

smak01

it will be made in the same plant as the TL in Ohio.

vicpai

......John Mendel, the RDX will be built in the good old US of A, in Marysville, OH, alongside the TL and Accord .....compared to other auto manufacturers, the quality should be good, but don't expect the workmanship to be on par with models that are actually made in Japan!!

....and, besides, most of them are built here anyways ....The only remaining ones coming out of Japan are the TSX and the RL!!

slo007

TSX rules!

feeenux

...the RL would be the one that rules.

Colin

....And the S2000, RSX, Insight, Hybrid Accords, Hybrid Civics and (formerly) NSX.

98AccordEx

Add to that list the 2006 CRV (made in Japan & England). 2007 and on will be made in USA.

vicpai

.....I did miss the RSX and NSX. However, I was only talking about "Acura" badged vehicles!!....and for example, the fact that it's made in Japan is another reason, in addition to it's fuel economy benefits, to get the Civic Hybrid over the "gasoline only" models!! MY uncle has an '03 Civic Hybrid and if you look carefully, you can see the slight difference over the ones made here, in "fit and finish" as well as the quality of the materials used!!!

Colin

Hey, that's an urban legend that I'd care not to propagate. There might be differences in fit and finish due to production variances, but I can't imagine there's a difference between the materials?! Could you elaborate on this? I'm really curious.

I don't believe there are ANY examples of the exact same car being built in the US and Japan. (ie, Accord LX sedan). This makes it difficult to compare two cars that are intended to be the same side by side.

Motohip

I agree. I owned 2 Civics, same generation, one made in US, other Japan. Although different trim levels (DX and LX) and both had same fit and finish and same materials, but this was in 93.

03CoupeV6

The whole Japan-built is superior is BS. I've owned Japan-built and USA built cars, neither shined over the other. And the materials are sourced from the same place.

vicpai

......I know for a fact that the vehicles actually made in Japan use materials that are sourced LOCALLY from Japan. The ones made here in the U.S. have materials that are provided by LOCAL U.S. Suppliers .....would make financial sense to do this wouldn't it?? .....FYI, I'm only talking about stuff such as dashboard panels, rubber parts etc. that are manufactured by outside suppliers.

...As far as manufacturing the actual components such as the engine, transmission etc., that is self explanatory .......and I do believe the ones made in Japan are in fact, slightly superior in quality to the ones made here. For example, I was told (off the record) by someone who works for Toyota corporate, that they generally get less complaints on Japanese-made Camrys as opposed to the ones built here in Georgetown, Kentucky!!

vicpai

....that is exactly what I mean't to say. I've not examined the 2 carefully, but on casual observation I have not noticed any specific differences in the actual quality of the materials themselves, but what I was referring to, was (like you said) the tolerances and the way they are "put together". If you look at the interior and exterior panels, the ones built in Japan (specifically the Hybrid) has much tighter tolerances and the alignment of the various panels (on close examination) is much more "perfect" and precise. For example, on my '03 MDX, made in Alliston, Ontario, the bumper was SLIGHTLY misaligned (you'd only notice this on very close inspection)...and there were a couple of interior panels that did not smoothly "flow" or integrate into one another. Besides this, the glovebox was misaligned as well, and it required a firm push to shut it close and the driver's seat had a slight "play" in it. OTOH, my uncle's '03 Civic Hybrid is a different story. Even on very close inspection, all interior and exterior panels seem to be put together with extreme precision!! ....these are the things I'm talking about!!

vicpai

.....regarding quality of materials, I was comparing my North American made MDX, which has cheaper looking "hard" materials, to the '03 Civic Hybrid, which has softer textures.....but I understand that this is an apples-to-oranges comparison as they are totally different vehicles, so I take back that statement .....but tolerances for fit and finish are universal to all vehicles, for a given manufacturer, so that is a valid comparison.

Colin

I know what you mean buy the 'hard materials" but I don't beleive this is anything more than a design choice and not a mfg issue. At one point the fit and finish was better in the domestic Accords because back then, they had the newest factorys and robots. I think this could ebb and flow between the different mfg plants as machines age and are replaced.

First generation CLs (1997) had terrible paint problems because they were trying to paint them in a 'retired' civic plan in east liberty. Again, old robots and civie quality are not up to the standards that we (Acura) were used to. I don't feel this was due to domestic production, if those machines had been in japan, the results would have been the same....

mio

If it's made in the same plant as the TL I'm worried about the quality...

Because of so many recalls for the 04TL...

PS: it's better be a rattle free...

Colin

Or what? You won't buy it? Or you'll buy it and complain about it later? I'm not trying to be a jerk, but I seriously doubt that Acura intentially puts rattles in any car.