From the pages of Autocar the new Honda Accord looks like a complete clone of the A4. I have to say it looks alot better than it used to but has Honda no shame. Also the new Honda doesn't look all that hot to me<br>

Actually its better looking than a Civic or Corolla, but may take a back seat to the A4 Golf/Jetta. Regarding the European Accord. Its hard to understand why Japanese automakers don't bring something hot to North America. Europeans get a Type R Accord while we are getting those blend V6 Accord. I wonder if Toyota brings the TRD version Camry into the market in the coming future (read somewhere in Automobile few months ago), it may lighten up the boring family sedan market into a hotter family sports sedan competition. (TRD Camry, Accord Type R, Mazdaspeed 626 , Steve Miller Maxima).<br>Just some of my thoughts<br>Tom<br>97 A4 1.8TQM

Hi Tom,<p>This is just my thought, but maybe Japanese auto makers think selling cars that the general public wants is best in the U.S.market? <br> <br>Honda doesn't sell Accord V6 in the Japanese domestic market but manufactures V6 automatic transmission in the U.S. because it sells here.<br>Maybe something hot in your sense doesn't sell well here because most people who want a sport sedan go for a German and few people want sporty Japanese sedans which you may be interested.<br>As a result, "no character" Japanese cars and status-oriented Japanese cars dominate the market.<p>A Japanese visitor brought me a September issue of a Japanese car magazine, and<br>it carries the statistics of the number of cars registered in Japan.<br>This is for the month of June 98 and Camry ranked #23 (3330 Camries registered) and Accord ranked #45 (2245 Accords registered). Well, they don't seem popular.<br>No cars being sold as Acura in the U.S. show up in this table showing #1 to #50, so you can see how Honda/Acura has been successful in the U.S.<p>This magazine also says 837 Audis (must be many A3s and A4s!), 3359 VWs, 2423 BMWs, 4295 MBs, 151 Porsches registered in May 98 in Japan.<p>Nozomi

Why five dealers? Cultivate a relationship. Human nature plays a role here. In as polite and friendly a way possible, point out what is important to you when you present the car for service. Make sure you are on a first name basis with the service manager, perhaps in conjunction with the sales rep who sold you the car, so both of them are aware each time you bring the car in.