I just want to know about the history of the TL.

Why is the first gen TL, the 2.5 and 3.2 made in Japan, but the 2nd gen and present gen are made in Ohio?

This may be the direction for the 2nd gen TSX which might be shifted to being made in Ohio as well?

 

This may be a lame response but I think you'd have to ask someone who works for Honda/Acura to get the real answer. Why do they make Accords in Ohio instead of Japan? I'm guessing that somewhere along the line it made sense for them to move the production of certain cars to the US for whatever reason, be it demand or other economic reasons.

Here's something interesting that is only slightly off-topic: back in 1996 when I bought my 94 Accord (used obviously), my brother in law also had one. Same color, same engine, trim level, model year, and transmission. Both cars even had rear drums (4 wheel disc with Antilock was an option). His was made in Ohio, mine was made in Japan.

 

Which Accord had more problems, his OH Accord or your Japan Accord?

 

well the current gen is a north america car only, so it makes sense to build it here. the others, heck if I know. they already make the accord and TL here, as they're big quantity seller. I don't see why they'd shift the TSX here as its a smaller quantity.

 

Perhaps this queston is better suited for the TL forum?

 

I currently own 2 Honda vehicles: a 1998 Accord EX and 1996 Prelude SRV. The Accord was made in North America while the Prelude was made in Japan. Granted that 1998 was the first year the Accord was redesigned, I've had much more problems with it than I have with the Prelude. Nothing major, but it took time because I had to take it to the dealer to get stuff fixed. The Prelude has been problem-free the whole time.

Whether or not this relates to one car is made in Japan and the other wasn't, I'm not sure. But a lot of buyers insist that Japan-made vehicles have better build quality.

 

I'd love to own a US made TSX. Wouldn't bother me.
My 6th gen Accord was made at Marysville, Ohio, our TSX was made in Japan. My sister's Accord is from Ohio.

I have a good friend with a 6th gen Accord Sedan LX (made in Japan!)
Aside from a few small things like different hoses you can't tell which is which. US made Honda's are still Hondas.

Building Accords (Hondas) demostically takes the currency fluctuation out of play and sourcing parts domestically helps reduce cost. It's much cheaper to build a car here then ship one here built in Japan. That said multi sourcing the build also allows Honda to keep plants globally at peak production.

I've had the oppertunity to visit a few Ohio Honda assembly plants, (not on typical tours) and I can tell you everyone there works 110% to build a great car, it's not like other car plants. US built Accords aren't cheapened up, that's for sure.

 

Neither of us had many problems with our respective cars. He didn't have his for very long - in contrast I still have mine and drive it regularly (191k miles). So for the Japan built one!

As far as unplanned maintenance on mine, the only thing that has gone wrong was a major oil leak due to the lower balance shaft oil seal backing out of its seat. This was a known problem with the car and was the subject of a recall by Honda. First time it happened it was just fixed, second time a retainer was installed so it would never happen again. Other than that, and regular maintenance stuff aside (brakes, tires, coolant, etc) NOTHING has gone wrong with my Accord. The experience I had with this car was one of the major factors in why I became a Honda fan for life.

 

My '00 Accord coupe ex is built in Ohio but my manual tranny came from Japan. My sister's 02 Accord V6 is all domestic even the auto tranny.

At 27000mi I had the throw out bearing in the tranny replaced in my Japan tranny under warranty. Her US built car has only ever had one issue and it was repaired under a recall for the EGR valve. Her Accord is still rock solid at 100k mi now, my Accord is also still good at 62,000mi.

So both cars have been great IMO, but I've only ever had issues with my JDM pieces on my US built car.

 

The first gen TL was the redesign for the Vigor. The Inspire and Saber were the same car in Japan but one was a lux model and the other was sporty. The Vigor was brought over to fill the price gap between the Integra and the larger/ more expensive second gen Legend.

The 2.5/3.2 TL had price issues as that is when the US was imposing a trade embargo towards Japan so the price of the TL as well as other Japanese lux cars shot up in price (compare base prices of the first year Lexus LS to the second gen's base price)

Also you have to know that the TL and Accord were not the same car! The first TL's may have had more in common with the Legend, I'm not sure.

To drop the base price the second gen TL was based off of the new global mid-sze platform and producation moved to the US with the Ohio plant shipping TL's to Japan as the Inspire and Saber. Also note that the JDM Accord (Japanese version) was different then the 6 gen USA Accord. I do believe Europe even had their own version. Any how, more or less this does answer your question.