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Detroit, 7:25 PM
Wed Nov 25
26 posts in the last 24 hours
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10/30/08
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This new design with the broad sides looks monotonous, like a postal van. And not the funky, cool Jeep postal van, but the weird, modern Grumman type.
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(I know how that feels.)
10/30/08
I used to hate the Element styling, but after riding around in a coworkers all the time I'm loving the utility of this thing. Just wish it got better mileage. My wife's CR-V gets excellent mileage, but my coworker said he does well to average 18mpg with his.
10/30/08
I hadn't seen that Honda Crossroad before - is that like a smaller version of the Pilot? I'd consider a Pilot but for the fact that it is really too large.
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10/30/08
60,000 miles, unless that belt was certified by Jesus Himself. And even then I'd probably still get mine changed.
What happened to Hondas being compact, neat, and economical? This thing looks big, overwrought, and thirsty. Pass.
10/30/08
Conveniently, their powertrain warranty was 100k at the time. No coincidence.
Water pumps often failed well before 105k, which would blow the timing belt and often all 20-30 valves on the engine. Other engines had the timing belt tensioner go bad early, same results.
So even if you documented all your maintenance and got VW to pay for it, you were still without a car for a couple weeks, then you're left wondering if they even fixed the engine correctly.
Preventive maintenance, always, ftw.
10/30/08
The Honda K-series motors use timing chains, not belts. I'd think if a belt failed before the scheduled maintenance interval, that would be a fairly simple warranty claim, no?
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It's a hell of a lot cheaper to just replace the belt more often than to replace the engine even once. That's where I'm coming from.
10/30/08
The other 19% are florists and caterers.
And 1% are Honda's original "hip, young" target market for the vehicle.
10/30/08
The IT guy at my school's considering one, as well, but he's got two greyhounds, which is as good a reason to buy a small wagon you can mop out as any other I can think of.
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Probably stickier tires and bigger wheels (I doubt ECU remapping or anything like that). The base model numbers are usually boosted with hard compound tires which are often crap.
10/30/08
I still like this box. Even the SC looks okay, but I think it's a stupid package for this kind of car.
10/30/08