Does anybody buy the Accord coupe?

Happened to see a new one drive buy, thought it looked pretty nice,
and might actually fit my need. I previously owned an Acura CL, was
pretty happy with that, have been driving the Accord sedan for going
on three years now.

But hey, the coupes (and CL) were never common, and the current sales
of the coupes appears to be tiny. Anybody comment on volumes, target
market, etc?

Thanks.

J.

 

If I were king I would stop building the coupes and offer station wagon
versions in the US again. Few vehicles are as flexible and useful as an
Accord sized wagon!

John

 

that's the truth, but minivans are much more profitable, as are suv's!
no wagon [in our market at any rate] means you have to buy one of these
alternatives. thank the marketing droids that persuaded honda to go
with red rear turn signal lenses for this market segmentation "wisdom".

 

I'm in Houston. From what I see on the freeway 60 miles each day most of the
Accords are coupes. 4 doors are rare. I've been looking at the coupes myself. I
need to test drive one and compare to Mazda 6.

 

Dunno, for a little car, I want all the room I can get.
The coupes are fun to drive, but not overly practical for all
the stuff I do, unless maybe a hatchback. I actually prefer
having the 4 door accord, cuz on mine, the back seat folds
down and you can use it sort of like a wagon. Which I do
most of the time. I checked it out, and I could actually sleep
back there if I had to. If I go diagonal across, with my head
up by the front seat back, and my feet towards a tail light,
I can fully stretch out, with room to spare. I was sorta
amazed actually... I do camp , etc quite a bit, and it's
quite possible I will sleep in the thing eventually. I actually
want a small wagon, but I stumbled into the honda and
decided to try it for a while. I still may buy a wagon of some
type, and sell the accord at some point. But the accord is
usable for what I want it for. Which is mainly to save gas $$$
vs the ford trucks I've been driving, getting appx 16 mpg
highway. I still have two of those, both with camper shells.
I see a return to more small wagons to tell you the truth. The high
gas prices will be converting a goodly number of large
SUV drivers before too long.. For me with a small honda size
car, a wagon is the #1 config for me.. I wish my 89 was a aerodeck
or whatever they called it. The selection of decent small wagons
is not overly large it seems.. There are a few though.
MK

 

LOL...I see we think about alike in that regard. Hard to beat a
good wagon. You got some room, but it still drives like a car.
MK

 

Indeed! I am still miffed that the minivan and SUV craze all but killed
station wagon availability. Volvo, VW & Subaru are about the only
companies now which offer wagon versions of most of their sedans.

John

 

Way back in '92 I decided on buying the two door. I was commuting
(solo) on I77 for fifty miles every day. I liked the room and the fact
that I wasn't looking at the back edge of the side window frame when I
turned to look left.
Over the years I have removed the back seat and installed a bed and
mattress and camped at the air show in Oshkosh, folded the rear seat
down and hauled a dozen 2x4's and hauled a lot of things.
I have found the wife's Mazda ProtÈgÈ 5 to be a better vacation vehicle
when we both travel for a week or so.
If I were to replace the ole '92 today, I would look at the Accord two
door, but just from seeing them on the road it seems to me to be more
like the old Prelude (too small) bob

 

--------------------------------------

John, you mentioned Volvo, VW & Subaru . . . . I like wagons too, but
the only way I'd drive (own) the first two would be under a COURT ORDER.
I have a very bad taste in my mouth :-(

'Curly'

 

Interesting geographic difference in taste, I'm in Los Angeles.

The Accord is just a little larger than I really like driving around,
and I often find myself with work gigs 50+ miles away, so I've been
looking longingly at the Civics, 2d and 4d, but, well, traffic being
what it is, maybe they're just a bit too small. And it never fails -
when I buy a 4-door I end up commuting alone in it, and when I buy a
2-door I end up driving the gang around. Guess that's another
argument for the 4d!

I guess the TSX is about what I want, but I don't like to have to feed
it premium, and don't like feeding Acura the premium price (also my
local Acura dealer is a bit of a dog). If it were also available as a
Civic SI sedan (w regular gas), that would probably sell me! But
they'll have to bring it out in the next few weeks for me to get one
this go-round.

J.

 

Until last week, I didn't even know they existed. I'm sure I've seen
them, but never identified them as being an Accord. A cow orker just
bought a shiny new red one, and I've been checking it out with some
curiosity.

With the spacious rear seats begging to be used, the whole two door idea
seems a little silly. I've always felt slightly claustrophobic in the
back of a 2 door car, and sliding/tilting the seat to escape is a PITA.
If you're not going to carry more than 1 passenger, why not get a
slightly smaller car? If you're the carpool king, a 4/5 door would
clearly be the way to go.

As others have mentioned, the 4 door Accord wagon is a handy beast. In
the 6 months I've owned mine, I've had three people ask "how do you like
it." When I mention that Honda stopped making them some time back, all
three displayed disappointment. I'm sure wagons will come full circle
soon, now that the minivan fad has peaked and big SUVs are rapidly
becoming even more stupidly expensive to drive.

-Greg

 

You might like the Mazda 6 then. A touch bigger than the Civic and a
touch smaller than the US Accord. Available as a sedan, hatchback or
wagon with a good selection of engines as well.

John

 

You can add BMW to the list of manufacturers offering a wagon both in the 3
series as well as the 5 series.

Eric

 

Actually, the V6 engine is made by Ford. Case closed.

 

And by all reports it is a good one. Let us not be so small minded .

John

 

2 door coupes and hatchbacks are completely out of style in US and Canada
these days.

SUV's and 4 door sedans are what sells.

 

station wagon sell if you market them as an SUV or "crossover" and offer
optional all wheel drive.

 

All of which compromise handling in order to offer the vehicle-on-stilts
stance which some fools think looks cool. Most of the crossovers also
get relatively poor fuel economy and lack interior space.

Four wheel drive is great if you need it, but if you don't need it then
the extra weight and complexity means lower fuel economy and higher
running costs for no real benefit. Here in coastal CA there is no good
reason to own four wheel drive for on road use.

John

 

true. people are stupid. its that simple. why don't some people understand
this?
TL

 

Civic coupe is common enough in LA, commuter-specials and/or
ricemobiles. Acura RSX is respectable, though I think less common
than a few years ago.

J.