One of my biggest gripes about some newly designed cars is the lack of a USB connector for iPods and digital music files. Some automakers like Kia and Hyundai make this feature standard on even their cheapest cars, while others only include a USB connector with expensive option packages. When I reviewed the all-new Venza last year, I was shocked that it didn’t even offer a USB connector, not even with the expensive navigation and sound system option packages. I railed about this loudly in my review and on this blog's comment section — as well as to the Toyota brass.
It seems they listened. For 2010, the Venza will include a USB/iPod port as well as Bluetooth streaming audio as standard on all trim levels. The company says the USB port allows for full control of an iPod through stereo and steering-wheel controls.
The base price of the 2010 Venza ratchets up $300 to start at $26,275, excluding destination charges. The 2010 model goes on sale this November.
2009|Toyota|Venza
In response to an avalanche of criticism on its Facebook page, Honda has issued a formal rebuttal and posted four new photos of its upcoming Accord Crosstour. We’ve posted the other three photos below, but the new set shows a red paint job and two new angles of the car. While it does look more composed in profile, the downward slope of the raised back to the narrow front is still broken up by the rather large and yes, awkward grille.
Honda says this is the car America is getting and that crossover buyers say they like the look. Presumably Honda did its due diligence and spent massive amounts of time and money researching consumer desires, but we’re still very, very unsure of this new look.
There haven’t been many new models that have stirred the ire of the internet as quickly as Honda’s Accord Crosstour. The crossover made its official internet debut yesterday on a number of blogs, including this one, Facebook and on Honda’s official website. The internet is an open forum, and people weighed in immediately with almost universal disapproval of the car’s design. Namely its ungainly front end.
We talked to Honda spokesman Chuck Schifsky about the reaction and if Honda might consider something as radical as reworking the grille.
“We’re confident with the styling,” Schifsky said. He suggested that people need to see the Crosstour in person and on the road before leveling criticism. He also said that it’s a little bigger than the Accord, so possibly the larger grille won’t seem so off-putting in person.
Schifsky said there was a lot of negative internet chatter about the new Civic when it debuted because it had small windows ahead of the door, sort of like the Toyota Prius.
Since then, Twitter and Facebook have opened up even more outlets for people to vent, and vent they did.
We knew Honda was bringing a new crossover — based on the Accord — to market relatively soon. The company even teased an up-close image of its grille. Today, we get to see the full monty, and it could have stood some shrinkage.
There’s just no discussing this car without tackling its huge schnoz. Not only is it oddly shaped, but it doesn’t fit the natural flow of the car’s front end. Follow the lines of the headlights and notice how they smash right into the grille. It’s disjointed to say the least and unfortunate in an extreme sense since the rest of the car looks fairly decent. We have images of the Crosstour grille and the standard Accord sedan grille below.
Full specs haven’t been revealed yet. A special web page for the Crosstour hints at more in 34 days; we’re not sure if that’s for more information or the on-sale date. Honda is known for putting an all-new model on sale the same day they release full details to the press, and it’s possible that the Crosstour will go on sale on Oct. 2.
How else does it differ from a typical Accord sedan? Honda says it will ride higher, like an SUV, to give a commanding view of the road. Obviously, the rear hatch will offer more utility than a sedan trunk; Honda calls it a “unique” cargo area, but doesn’t offer any specific details about it.
If you want to follow the Crosstour on Facebook, maybe you’ll learn more along the way. Check out the new page here. For the rear — and much better-looking — angle of the Crosstour, click below.
Honda is expanding a recall from 2008 to include an additional 440,000 vehicles. The recall is for defective airbag inflation systems that could deploy with too much pressure, causing injury or even fatalities. According to Bloomberg News, the default has led to one death in the U.S.
Included in the recall are model year 2001-02 Honda Accords, 2001 Honda Civics and 2002-03 Acura TLs.
Honda will send out recall notices in the next few months, but concerned owners can visit their recall website at www.owners.honda.com/recalls or www.owners.acura.com/recalls for Acura owners.
Honda has done it again. The company doesn’t like to draw out its new-model announcements with a concept car years before the real thing hits. Nope, it develops the car, maybe shows a prototype at a car show, and months later the real thing is on lots across the country.
That’s what we’re being given with the 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour, a new body style of the popular sedan and coupe (shown here). No official images have been released, but expect what is essentially a hatchback version of the current Accord.
We’ll have more information on the Crosstour as it becomes available. The model will go on sale this fall.
Cars.com’s Kelsey Mays got his hands on the 2009 Honda Accord for a video review, but that title doesn’t really do justice to how much you’re going to know about the Accord by the time you finish watching it. Mays exercises his near-encyclopedic knowledge of everything from grille angles to interior surface quality to give viewers an in-depth experience with the Accord. In all likelihood, you’ll feel like you got in the car yourself when it’s over.
The midsize family sedan segment has plenty of heavy hitters, and if you’re in the market for one, there’s an overwhelming amount to consider. Cars.com can give you an assist, though, by directly comparing three of the heaviest of heavies: the Mazda6, the Honda Accord, and the sales behemoth Toyota Camry. Three of our experts face the three vehicles off against each other, feature-by-feature, to determine which one will give you the most bang for your buck and which is the best overall. Check out the full comparison and feel free to let us know your thoughts on one of the most popular segments in the U.S.
Cars.comparison: Family Sedans (Cars.com)
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