kurtatx

Did you get a fortune cookie?

slogsr

iTrader: (2)

Bingo!!! Doesn't matter where it was built, Japan or USA, still the same specifications.

That's the whole point of quality control. The specs are reviewed and they look at there CP and CPKs in the bell curves when reviewing the data. Depending on the numbers it gets shifted accordingly to meet the tolerances. Honda will hold the States to what they put in Japan. The exceeding of standards will come from the top down...

fsttyms1

When things are placed in jigs, built by machines you dont exceed standards unless those who do the setting up of the machine do so.

hadokenuh

Then how do you explain some of the new 2014 MDXs have mis-aligned body panels, rattles while some do not?

Would you say those with the issues met the standards and those without exceeded the standards?

OR

Those with the issues didn't meet the standards but made their way to consumers anyway, and those without the issues met the standards?

BEAR-AvHistory

No, I would say the robots had a bad day & QC zoned out from boredom. Wonder if you have been to a current auto plant. In a lot of the construction areas you could fire a shotgun & not hit anyone.

boe_d

Same could be said for the plant I used to work at - over 1000 employees nearly a 1/2 mile long and you'd have a hard time hitting anyone with a shot gun on the production floor or anywhere else work might accidentally occur. Go to any of the break rooms, locker rooms, bathrooms, glue rooms or any of the exit doors and you'd have a hard time not hitting someone with a BB gun.

NwTSXmt

Yeah so management can pay workers $8 an hour...Very few items are built in the USA any more solely because of profit...cool aid drinker grow up

boe_d

Or you could get a completely unskilled "worker" pushing a broom demanding $22 an hour even and frequent breaks, company paid for boots and uniform who is stunned when the factory packs up everything and moves some place else. They made more money short term, made an enemy of management and lost their job as the entire operation moved. Seems like a foolish short-sighted trade.

I took a job as an assistant floor porter for the night shift at a union store. They actually managed to fire my boss and so instead of two people hired for eight hours a piece they just had me. I completed the whole thing in 2 hours and had time to do some waxing that hadn't been done in years. The place hadn't looked that good since it was opened. Because of the union, I couldn't get a pay increase even though more was getting done. I couldn't make more until I got transferred to unloading trucks - again accomplishing more in less time than any other employees accept a friend of mine however because of union rules we couldn't work as many hours as we wanted so again the union works against anyone willing to work hard.

A union at a municipality I used to work for couldn't fire an employee because he stabbed a fellow union employee with a pitch fork. We actually had to NEGOTIATE to put you can't use agricultural equipment to harm coworker into the union bylaws. The union would rather collect money from their members than worry about the safety of their members. Whose drinking the Kool-Aid?

George Knighton

My 2010 TL had 86,000 miles on it and it was without a doubt one of the most solid cars I've ever owned. Not a penny spent other than new tires at 65,000 miles and regular maintenance.

I could tell that the 4G TL was an American car designed for Americans and built for Americans. Even the back seat was roomy and comfortable.

I have to say that my RLX is no more comfortable in the back than my TL was, if you discount the better climate control for the RLX. Now that I think of it, I believe I even had slightly more head room in the TL than the RLX! :-)

Looking forward to the TLX and its impact on Acura sales.

George Knighton

I'm surprised at some of what I've read in this thread after having ignored it for a while.

All I want to say is that I know people in management at Honda and Acura, and the human component is very important. This human component and our inability to properly recruit and train is responsible, for example, for the perceived difference in quality between Alabama and Ohio.

It's not the specifications as much as it is how the specifications are managed, and how you've recruited and trained the people who are managing the specifications.

That's probably all I have to say about that, before I get into huge trouble.

docboy

Well said and agreed. And such info above applies to not only the auto industry, but everything else in life as well.

keith7120

First I must say, I'm not a union person. I was in the union for two different company's. I wanted to forfeit my fees to the union because I didn't feel I needed them. However, the union is a necessary evil with some companies. I have a none union friend who is being abused by her company. The took her from hourly to salary and extended her responsibilities and hours without any increase in pay. She is doing a job of 3 people. Those are the sorts of things that unions can protect you from. Yes I have heard of many union horror stories but you have to understand that there are many horror stories for none-union folks that you NEVER hear about. So please, lets get back to talking about the TLX or go join a political forum to bitch about President Obama or the unions. The company I work for is 85% union and its very successful. We have been profitable for 40yrs plus.

KeithL

Keith7120,

Agreed, especially in down economy, but as economy improves and job market gets tight the employee gains the upper hand, it comes in cycles. Where unions run foul is when they get greedy in their effort to justify to their existence to their membership. There is a fine line and difficult balance between pure capitalist society and socialist practices to protect the people.

fsttyms1

Well if you are unskilled and slacking showing no want or desire to move up the ladder you do deserve 8$ an hour, not the 30+ to stand there and watch a machine.

Oh and i dont drink cool aid, its not good for you, and i dont want to grow up. Im quite happy the way i am. Maybe you should take your own advise

George Knighton

For the most part, I think we have to leave it up to the locations to decide whether or not they want to unionize.

At one time in American industrial history, workers were abused and unions were a huge help to straightening it out and helping to get people more of a living wage.

Then we got a little carried away and the American automobile industry suffered, and our rail industry suffered because we supported a different industry because that is where the unions were pushing us. We allowed unions to get political...too political, and they had too much money to ignore.

Now the pendulum has swung more the other way.

We don't need unions quite as much as we did when they started, that time in American industrial history that the working classes were being abused. But the pendulum's swung pretty far, now, and I can very well see the *possibility* that unions will gain in popularity again, especially if we don't stay focused on supporting the workers properly as the profits come in.

We're a very selfish and unfocused society right now.

MTEAZY

I thought the RL, 1G TL, and TSX had better build quality than the 2G TL/CL and 3G TL. I know the 2G trans is made in Japan, but it fails due to inherent design flaws, not quality issues.

Also, Lexus has some of the most well-constructed cars on the market, and nearly all are made in Japan. For Toyota and Honda I believe it does make a difference.

Ken1997TL

The 1st gen TL and RL's were also much more expensive than the American-built models.

My '97 3.2 TL's MSRP was almost $8,000 more than the my '03 TL's. So there was cost-cutting in materials and such. Fortunately, most of that was deflected by newer materials and design.

boe_d

I used to work for a public works department. We built the gas island 1 foot off the ground so they wouldn't run over it with their trucks. We thought it was foolproof. After it was run over a few times, my boss said we underestimated the level of fools we were dealing with at our location. Honda might build a "foolproof" jig or whatever but I'm sure you've met your share of people who would use a hammer to put a square peg in round hole.

George Knighton

LOL....

Why, yes. Yes, I have met them. :-)

BLACKURA_NY

iTrader: (6)

Ive had

2010 4G AWD
2009 4G AWD
2008 3G Type S
2006 3G
2003 CL Type S

& my ex had an 04 TSX

Of all the cars, I think the 4G was the tightest...My 09 had some rattles, but the 2010 was like a rock. even on H&R springs

Rocketsfan

How did the ride of your '10 4G compare to the ride of your Q50?

KeithL

If you look at my history I had numerous cars and 6 Acura TLs and my 09 AWD was probably the tightest car I have ever owned, bank vault quiet/tight and nit a single squeak/rattle and not a single problem for the 18 months 19K miles I owned it.

SinCityTLX

Well I am still most likely going to buy a 2nd year TLX.

SinCityTLX

That is cool. In my observation, the 4 or 5 4th Gen TLs Ive driven just seem more hollow, not as solid, and the drive shaft seems clunk on decal to rapid acceleration. Maybe they were just flukes, but as an auto enthusiast whose owned well over 25 different cars, that is just my perception.

Im buying a 2nd TLX for sure, (AWD, black on black on black, with hopefully HFP 20x9.5 wheels)