Bloodred

I originally planned this as a response to the article How the Civic Went From First to Worst, but my post kept getting longer, and I figured it would make more sense as its own thread. It's a bit sentimental and probably melodramatic, but as someone who grew up around Hondas it's what I've been feeling lately. Maybe some of you share my sentiments.

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Consumer Reports' disapproval of the new Civic doesn't come as a surprise to me. To me, it's just one more step in a gradual decline that's been going on for over a decade.

Hondas used to be simple, economical, and above all fun. Even the base model Civic used to scream "I'm an economy car, but deep down I'm sporty! Really I am!" Low weight, responsive steering, double wishbone suspension all around, and a tiny rev-happy motor that could take a helluva beating. And through their simplicity, they ran forever and were easy to work on.

My brother and I practically grew up in the back of a '88 Civic Wagovan 5spd, and no matter the abuse, it just kept plugging away. My parents eventually nicknamed it Bessie, which seemed to fit its plucky dependability. Even when the window cranks broke, and the radio died, and it could barely make it up hills, it always managed to get us there. Our family went on to own several other Civics and nearly every generation of Accord, and I eventually inherited our 91 Accord Coupe in high school. It was slow and looked bland, and its transmission was failing, but it still managed to be fun and twitchy. After a year or two my parents decided airbags might be a good idea, and traded me for their 2000 Accord sedan. Again it was white, and automatic, and slow. But it still gave me that little whiff of excitement when I drove it on the back roads.

A couple years later, I had saved enough money to buy the sports car I always wanted, and ironically Honda was the last place I looked. Sure, they made those peppy economy cars I grew up in, but a Honda sports car? In my mind that was a bit of a stretch. Nevertheless, after looking around at Subarus and Nissans, I took a spin in an S2000 and immediately knew. It had that same indescribable Hondaness, but refined and amplified. It felt solid and purposeful. No nonsense, no unnecessary features, just driver, motor, and rubber. Four years and a few mods later, I still love it. Sometimes I want more torque, or more space, or a softer ride. But then I nail a rev-match downshift, blast around a corner, pin the throttle, and all is forgiven.

One would think after so many great memories of a company, I'd be the first to defend Honda's reputation. But no, these memories just make what I see today all the sadder. Honda just isn't Honda anymore. Mazda is more "Honda" than Honda is right now. Hell, Hyundai is probably more "Honda" than Honda is right now.

I know he's long dead, but I feel a little sorry for Soichiro Honda. To put blood, sweat, and tears into building such a unique company from nothing, only to have it passed on to greedy executives who seem bent on running it into the ground. It really is tragic, but such is life, and much of the blame lies on the consumer for accepting (and even demanding) this mediocrity.

In the mean time, all I can do is hope that some day the Honda of my youth will return. But those hopes are fading fast.

redwing497

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I agree with you completely and this is coming form a Honda noob. The S is only my 2nd Honda. Sold my 09 Civic Si to get it. I'm hooked on Hondas now, but not the boring, bland, and soul-less appliances that they are currently building. Honda got me hooked with my 2 cars because they had (have) emotion. So what if they lack on the the low end? They have a personality that no other car has. I grew up driving and wanting Camaros. I loved them and still do but I changed somewhere. Part of me absolutely loves the high tech nature of our F series motors (K series too) even though they don't have the low end grunt of a muscle car.

This is the world we live in now, unfortunately. Honda is a business and its executives only care about one thing, and that's keeping stockholders happy. SO, they will continue to make drivable appliances that lack innovation, are a step behind their competitors is a lot of respects, and whose driver have no emotional connection to their car. Just so they can sell a ton of cars. Unfortunately it works. The enthusiast is often forgotten. So companies are coming around, but as of now Honda definitely is not.

Honda motors do friggin' last forever though haha

thielepr

Kike the insideline comparo of the 2012 Si vs 2000 civic si. The new is a better car but the old is a better Si.

takeshi

Odd use of "running it into the ground". The idiom generally doesn't mean "not making products that I like". If consumers still want Hondas they don't seem to be running it into the ground to me whether or not Honda makes any cars that I (or any one particular person) wants. I can see asserting that the Civic is just another sign of Honda's change of direction but I'd be surprised if Honda just sits there and accepts criticism from entities like Consumer Reports.

Personally, I get don't get the brand loyalty of affinity that many people seem to have. Sure, I love my S2000 but that doesn't mean that I'm going to dedicate any part of my life to Honda. I prefer evaluating not companies but individual products based on their own merits. To each his own I guess.

Bloodred

Agreed, consumers do still want Hondas, regardless of if I don't right now. However, go talk to any loyal Honda buyer over 30, and ask them why they buy Hondas. Their answer will most likely involve a past connection with the company, and ties to "that old civic we had that ran for 300,000 miles".

Honda has gotten lazy and rested on its past reputation. They know most Honda buyers don't buy Hondas because of what the company is doing NOW, they buy based on what they did 10 or 20 years ago. Now, publications like CR that traditionally supported Hondas are recommending other brands. The brand loytalty and great reputation Honda has earned will only last so long if this continues. And when those core Honda buyers start moving away from the company in droves, Honda will be in big trouble.

Everyone experiences brand loyalty, whether you think you do or not. Imagine for example: your favorite burger restaurant decides that there's not enough profit margin in making handmade burgers out of high quality beef. In order to turn a higher profit, they go after mass market appeal, and start cranking out average, boring burgers just like McDonalds or Burger King. A lot of people that have been eating there for years see it as "just a phase" and keep eating there despite the mediocre food. You, however, would probably be pissed off. Your favorite restaurant has seemingly ditched you in an effort to make a quick buck. They blatantly abused their brand loyalty, but most people still go there just to remember "the good old days". See the connection?

Brand loyalty is everywhere. Remember how many buyers Coke pissed off when they changed their formula in the 80s? Well, eventually they saw the error of their ways, and got back to their core principles under the name "Coke Classic". What I'm hoping for is a return of "Honda Classic" so to speak.