Find Reviews by Make:
144 Comments on “Ask the Best and Brightest: 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour. Hot or Not?...”
Read all comments
Latest Car Reviews view all
Latest Product Reviews view all
Recent Comments
- Lou_BC: @Carlson Fan – My ’68 has 2.75:1 rear end. It buries the speedo needle. It came stock with the...
- theflyersfan: Inside the Chicago Loop and up Lakeshore Drive rivals any great city in the world. The beauty of the...
- A Scientist: When I was a teenager in the mid 90’s you could have one of these rolling s-boxes for a case of...
- Mike Beranek: You should expand your knowledge base, clearly it’s insufficient. The race isn’t in...
- Mike Beranek: ^^THIS^^ Chicago is FOX’s whipping boy because it makes Illinois a progressive bastion in the...
Car Reviews By Make view all
New Car Research
Who We Are
- Tim Healey
Managing Editor - Matt Posky
News and Social Media Contributor - Timothy Cain
Sales Analyst - Murilee Martin
Junkyard Finds Author - Matthew Guy
Contributor - Chris Tonn
Contributor
- Adam Tonge
- Bozi Tatarevic
- Corey Lewis
- Jo Borras
- Mark Baruth
- Ronnie Schreiber
Not
Hyundai equus rear fender meets X6 fastback and Tonka Truck schnoz. Ewwww. Combined with a Mercedesish front door crease.
What a mess.
I’m not too keen on the styling but I’m glad to see a return to hatchback sedans, even if they insist on calling them something different.
My eyes! My eyes!
Really.
Lower it a bit, give it a proper hatchback not the swoopy ‘coupe’ styled thing and call it the Honda Accord Wagon or Hatch or 5 door, and I’m sold. Call a spade a spade, this thing is a wagon not a ‘crosstour’.
First the regular Accord blatantly ripped-off the 5-series, and now this ugly thing rips-off the X6. Honda evidently is out of original ideas. And is this supposed to be a jacked-up psuedo-Outback sort of thing? Hard to tell from the picture. Ugly and pointless. Though I too am glad to see the hatch resurgence – I have no use at all for sedans.
Not! I like fastbacks in general, but the latest crop of crossovers with this feature just don’t do it for me. Oh, and when do the big grilles go away — just garish. They belong on semis only. I’d love a return to the grilleless look (’92-’96 Honda Civic for example).
Gross. Why?
I think we all know where this is going…
The shame is that when this flops they’ll blame the hatchback configuration and not the styling. So this does not bode well for more midsize hatches.
OMFG is that ugly.
Makes the Taurus X look good. And that ain’t easy.
Not. Fugly…
This pic explains it all
http://blog.internetnews.com/apatrizio/do-not-want-dog.jpg
Gah – that’s awful.
Let’s have a couple moments of reflection:
http://www.netcarshow.com/honda/1991-accord_wagon/
It’s understated: not trying to be a crossover SUV softroader aspirational sport lifestyle anything.
At least the Fit shows Honda still has the small car idea in focus. Not sure what was wrong with the Civic being a small car, but that’s another complaint.
this makes the Venza look hot!
Not particularly.
I find myself filled with questions.
Do these guys just throw crap at the wall and hope something sticks?
Did the designer have a recent head injury and lost the ability to recognize how horrible this is?
Is there a rule against deleting your CAD file and starting over, before it reaches public eye?
Is Honda conducting an experiment to see if decent design really has no bearing whatsoever on sales? (see: current Acura)
Ugly as sin. What’s the point of the sloping back? Probably less useful than the sedan.
The grill sucks and I hate that big gash in the side. That’s like people who spend $100 on jeans with holes in them.
They’ll still sell 150,000 of them. Yuck.
this makes the Venza look hot!
That’s what it reminds me of, only worse.
John
In theory I like the idea of fastback/hatchback sedans. But from a styling standpoint I wonder what on Earth was the rationale for going chunky on the front clip styling, attaching that to a standard looking sedan midsection, while finishing it off with a sleek fastback?
Taken as whole, it just looks wrong.
All it needs is the Sebring’s ribs on the hood. That’ll be the final touch that it needs to really classy it up.
Subaru Outback raped by a Porsche Cayenne.
Now, contrary to a few other opinions, I really like the new look…it reminds me of the new Porche, which I also think is very cool.
Honda’s styling has sometimes been controversial, but they obviously believe this will sell.
So do I.
JR
What the heck is going on at Honda?! Yikes! Quick! Somebody TwitterKill this, asap!
this makes the Venza look hot!
The Venza, for all it’s faults, is not a bad looking car. This, well, umm…
It’s not really bad, per se. It’s problems stem from the same styling issues the Accord sedan has, so it’s not strictly it’s fault. In some ways, it actually fixes the sedan’s more egregious detailing problems. There’s no disguising the Ridgeline Nose that American Honda sees fit to slap on every car it sells.
It would be nice to see it dropped an inch or two in ride height. That would be a good start.
Wow, the Honda Aztek has arrived! It’s touching that Honda has decided to build this tribute to Pontiac in its final model year.
I can only hope that gray body cladding will be available as a dealer installed option. Just a fire chicken and a brush guard is all that’s missing for last bit of urban assult pizzazz!
Not.
For contrast, I present the Honda Accord Tourer:
http://www.honda.co.uk/cars/accordtourer/
Thanks, Honda. We didn’t want the good-looking one anyways.
Why does it seem like Honda is trying to copy Toyota in hopes of something good? Between this Venza wannabe and the “me too” styling of the Insight, Honda seems to think Toyota’s got it all right. This sucks.
It doesn’t have that truly ugly “crossover” styling. More generally, it is less ugly than a lot of cars out there. The things that are very ugly are common to so many other cars, the narrow, slanty eyes, and their being integrated stylistically with the grill as a single slash across the bow. Most cars do that.
The profile is decent, although that indentation in the gunwales is fussy and just shouldn’t be there. Shades of Pontiac.
Do they really call it the “Crosstour”? That is one sucky name.
It’s got that Ford Fusion thing going on in front, only worse, and the rest of it the designers phoned in. The line along the side makes it look like a bad photo-shop attempt to graft a Rover SD1 roofline to a Cadillac CTS. The name is a dopey attempt at making us think there is such a thing as a Grand Touring crossover –insert your double entendre here.
I think I prefer bland and nondescript to this vulgar appliance. But yeah, they’ll sell a 100 thousand of them.
No doubt this uggo-mobile will be slobbered and drooled over by every member of print media. As for me and my household, this horrid design seals the deal: our sixth Honda purchase is our last.
I wanted a return to wagons…but not like this…
what…the…hell? Is Honda serious with this abomination? This thing is ugly on so many different levels. Please…just make it go away.
Horrible.
After swallowing my vomit I clicked TTAC car reviews and selected “Hyundai”.
Yeeesh….talk about getting whacked by the ugly stick.
This makes the Acura TL look nice.
PeregrineFalcon: You’re just jealous that the Brits get a diesel manual wagon.
(I actually saw a diesel manual wagon in the wild a month or two back. Older Jetta. Were those available in the US or was that a gray-market import?)
Hard to get a sense of this thing’s aesthetic value without something to provide a size reference. If it were small enough, it might not be too bad. I know it’s big, though, so it’s probably not going to work all that well. But at least it’s distinctive.
nmcheese: I had a ’92 Accord Wagon. Understated, competent, basic. Loved it.
Don’t know who put the mescaline in the water at the design studio which resulted in this misbegotten atrocity, but whoever it was should be caned while being forced to watch a video-loop of Edsels, Aztecs, Vega’s and Pinto’s.
This might be on the very short list of cars I’d turn down if they offered it to me gratis. The fugliest thing ever to wear a Honda badge.
PeregrineFalcon:
But at least [she]’s distinctive.
That’s what we used to say in college after beer-goggles failed us the night before.
Not another tall – um – “thing”. Gak.
At least one redeeming thing; it doesn’t look like the box that the car was delivered in.
One other redeeming feature; it is not an Acura, with the “Karl Malden” face.
Like all other Hondas:
meh.
I don’t find it offensive. I’d drive one. Welcome back to the Accord Hatchback. Interesting they give it a new name and place it at the top of the line to dry to distance it from old hatchback stigmas.
David Holzman asked:
“Do they really call it the “Crosstour”? That is one sucky name.”
Howbout’s the Dissccord? The Crossccord?
I was considering one of these to replace the 2003 Accord sedan. If it looks like this, I’ll pass.
Y’know what it really needs? A thicker C-pillar and shorter, more gunslit-like windows. That would sure bring the design together. [/sarcasm]
I like Hondas, even…but this new “styling language” they’re using is retarded.
That is one unattractive car.
First the Fusion copied the 7th gen Accord profile and now the Honda is copying the previous gen Fusion grille. Unfortunately they managed to lose everything that was good about the clean lines of the 7th gen Accord in the process.
Honda should look to the Hyundai Genesis for inspiration on how to properly amalgamate copied styling elements into a cohesive whole.
Definitely Not. It’s a midsize SUV actually trying to look overweight. Has America really let itself go so completely that even our cars are wearing sweat pants?
this car is beyond offensive. pontiac aztek offensive.
Honda/Acura’s downward design spiral continues… its a real shame, as I once loved everything Honda produced.
GAG!
My god, what has happened to Honda? I loved Hondas once, but this is just too retarded. The Accord is an ugly barge and their SUVs are a joke. If this continues, it’s only a matter of time before Honda loyalists (and Toyota for that matter) realize that other domestic and import brands are better looking, better designed and are better built.
I certainly don’t think it’s hot. It’s awkward, ugly and when compared to the eurpoean Accord wagon, totally overdone. And, from what I’ve heard, they are positioning it above the Element and CR-V and below the Pilot, so you’ll have to pay a premium for this. As many of the awkward, ugly Accords I see driving around, the fact that this is also awkward and ugly won’t necessarily kill sales. But the limited practicality of the sloping hatch and the higher price just might. I guess we’ll see in 34 days if there are any redeeming qualities.
After viewing this picture, I feel like I have dumped acid in my eyes… that is at least as ugly as an Aztec.
Completely hideous. I’m conflicted, I hope this thing dies and is discontinued ASAP, but I also don’t want it to be trotted out as a reason that hatchbacks aren’t viable, as has been mentioned…
I own a Fit, and generally like Honda, but given their current trajectory, I can’t see myself buying another vehicle from them. Also frustrating that increasingly, the only real options for a true midsize wagon come from luxury brands that I neither want nor can afford.
Also, as attractive as the Euro Accord wagon is – and it is a very attractive car – what’s with the trend of destroying cargo space in order to create that fastback-style sloping rear? Seriously, the Tesla Model S looks like a more capable hauler than a lot of these new ‘wagons’.
Don’t even get me started on ‘wagons’ that don’t have flat-folding back seats…
Have they lost their minds. I prefer the boring Hondas from a few years ago.
I hate it.
Why do these types of cars designed for the US market need to mask station wagons so much that they end up looking like ugly trucks from the front and at the same time rake the back so much that the benefit of a wagon is severely reduced?
Am I getting old and cranky in my mid 30’s?
Complete the fugliness by adding the TL grill to it and it will be the recipient of violent hate crimes.
Another example of why I keep driving my 10 year old Accord with ZERO plans on ever replacing it with another Honda of current generation.
How can a company take beautiful vehicle styling that once was the Accord and prev-gen TL and turn them so bad so fast???
Horrifying
What is it with all the ugly front ends on so many vehicles today? Acuras and Audis are particularly hideous these days, and this Accord Crossdresser isn’t much better.
Theodore: Last Thursday at a Nyack, NY Volkswagen dealership there was a new 2009 Jetta SportWagen TDI with the 6-speed manual on the lot. They do exist!
It’s just everyday ugly. The 2010 Acura ZDX, however, truly rivals the Aztek. At this point, you have to wonder how long Acura will survive.
It’s a Honda. It’s a “wagon”. And unfortunately for our automotive landscape, if they build it, it will sell.
Not agreeing with all the hate on this thread…not one of Honda’s best efforts, to be sure, but compared to the amazingly God-awful Acura ZDX (which will also likely cost more, as an added insult) this thing is not that bad…
Agreed that a simpler, more honest wagon would have been a better solution.
I bet the a55-end looks ok, but the front reminds me of the now defunct Dodge Magnum where it gets bigger for some reason in the front. It probably looks ok in black. At night. When it’s raining.
First I hated it, now I like it. Being distinctive enough can be better than being goodlooking. Bland is not the be all and end all of successful car design. I say, give it some time to sink in. It actually isn’t Aztek ugly, and not even being in the same ballpark as Ssangyong Rodious ugly. It’s disitinctive, and it will be noticed. For better and for worse…
Gads, that thing is Helen Thomas ugly.
Someone find Bangle – he must be hiding in the Honda design studios. Lock him up on the moon, please.
Look how long it’s taking BMW to design cars that don’t make you hurl after the Banglization…..
carguy622 :
September 1st, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Theodore: Last Thursday at a Nyack, NY Volkswagen dealership there was a new 2009 Jetta SportWagen TDI with the 6-speed manual on the lot. They do exist!
The Grail!
Base on the 60+ comments above, I can officially concluded that this car will be a success and Honda will have no problem of selling more than 100k units in the US per year.
B-b-but it’s a Honda! That thing is awful! I stopped by my local Acura store this past weekend to see if they had any ’10 MDXs yet. I couldn’t tell a TL from a TSX from an RL.
It kind of makes the new Acura grilles look nice, doesn’t it.
If the final rendition winds up looking like the above image, we’ll being hearing the word, “distinctive”, when referring to the front grille.
The Sebring has been toppled from it’s perch as the homeliest current production car.
At the risk of offending Satch Carlsson and the rest of the Saab-o-philic among the B&B…fwd cars are mediocre at sport-utility-ing: bad (worse) handling with a loaded cargo area due to untoward weight distribution.
not
I don’t recall the X6 selling in any notable quantities, so I wonder why would Honda believes their version of it would move.
Auto makers need to learn that just because the Roundel does something, doesn’t make it right/smart/financially prudent/etc.
What a disappointment! I’m with PeregrineFalcon above, the Accord tourer looks so much better.
http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=22018&stc=1&d=1244370456
The height of the backend combined with the low center of gravity makes it look almost ready to pounce. This thing just looks like it’s going through a trendy identity crisis. Pure style or substance, if you can call it that. Maybe the look will grow on me, but I’m doubtful.
What is it with all the ugly front ends on so many vehicles today?
They’re distinctive. No one wants to make a bland car and brand-management has reached masturbatory levels in most marketing departments, so they come up with a distinctive look and work it. For some brands, this results in some cars looking like caricatures of themselves.
Sometimes this isn’t a bad thing (Audi comes to mind). Sometimes it’s just kind of odd (the Toyota “bump” or Chevy bisected grille). Other times it’s full-bore bizzare (Mazda’s Furai-derived smiley face, Honda slapping Ridgeline grilles on everything, BMW’s eye-popping 1-Series.
This isn’t the first time this happened, either. Think about the egregious grilles and fins of yore. The only reason we notice it now is we’re coming out of a long period of very reserved, very utilitarian looks and designers are once again torturing the sheetmetal.
Holy… a manatee!
Oh man, this Beluga almost makes my 08 Accord look attractive. I can only hope that it looks better in person. It couldn’t look any worse in the pic. The horror of that monstrous snout will not leave my vision soon enough.
Dear oh dear – I’ve always considered Honda to be one of the few sane carmakers left, but this…? I really do hope it looks (a lot) better in real life!
It looks like the someone took the bastard child of a Crossfire and a Camry, and pumped it full of human growth hormone.
Not. Absolutely Not.
Why couldn’t it have been a true wagon that could also actually be a useful vehicle instead of this queer styling “excercise” that will have limited cargo room.
Yuck. Yuck. Yuck.
Between Honda badly slipping in quality, dealer service and product styling, they are losing me from being a customer and an influencer to steer friends to buy from them….
not;
is this real or a joke?
that’s a seriously ugly car.
Please just give the option of a regular accord wagon.
just like the sedan; charge and extra 900 USD and call it a day.
I am still speechless from how Acura went from one of the best proportioned and attractive cars on the road – the previous TL – to the current horror which looks like it was designed to a military spec.
As for this monster, I want to meet the person at Honda who sat at the meeting and said, “This is perfect … They will love it”. Someone should set his desk on fire.
I guess it is going to be a long time before we see a good looking Acura/Honda. Sad.
Not. Why can’t they just go vertical on the rear end and offer a real wagon?
If this (and similar alternatives) is the price we pay to back away from bloated light trucks and SUVs, so be it.
Won’t catch me driving it, though
My wife has been very happy with her 2001 Civic. I had high hopes for the Accord wagon, but when kid #2 comes along I don’t think I’ll be replacing the Civic with THAT. As so many others have said, make it a REAL wagon.
This makes the Acura TL look nice.
To me it looks like a TL minus the beak. Oh wait, sorry, looks like the ZDX minus the beak. Okay who stole whose car? Acura or Honda? Then again, I’m liking the ZDX so, this doesn’t bother me.
I vote Hot.
What has Honda done to their cars? I used to love Honda. In fact, I had two of them, a 1991 Accord and a 97 Accord. The Accord is awful looking now…big bloated thing. And the Civic…well…drove a 2007 EX-L Coupe a little while ago. The A-Pillar scared the bejesus our of me, engine felt rough, and I’ve since learned something went horribly wrong in the steering and needed a healthy chunk of warranty work.
God…I hope I can keep buying BMWs…because I wouldn’t be caught dead in one of these new Hondas.
Vomituous
Once seen, it can’t be unseen…
Then again, this can’t be the final production look, right? It’s only a rendering, not a photograph, please?
This thing makes the GMC Terrain look handsome.
Epic Fail.
Fugly.
Honda is losing their brand plot, chasing questionable trends.
Go back, check out the original Accord wagons, and tell me how this X6/Venza wannabe is somehow better.
Blech.
The more I see it, the more I like it. Like a cross between a toad and a Porsche Panamera. This design grows on you, I kid you not. But perhaps it’s an acquired taste?
Am I to understand that Honda is now going to make the fastback Caliber?
Is that the Jimmy Durante Edition? A little rhinoplasty may be in order.
Meet the Honda Grosstour. – Looks like someone welded an oversized Accord front to the back of a Hyundai Elantra. The horror. The horror.
(When did Honda/Acura so seriously lose the plot? The Euro-Accord/TSX was an absolute gem, and it physically hurts my eyes to see them building such fugly monstrosities now.)
Well, if it isn’t a wagon without a wagon’s utility. Just what I was looking for…
EPIC FAIL
Like the entertainment industry and music industry, car styling is truly dead!
As for this monster, I want to meet the person at Honda who sat at the meeting and said, “This is perfect … They will love it”. Someone should set his desk on fire.
Two points:
* Hondas have never been uniformly attractive, and on many a memorable occasion have been outright bizzare. Remember the last Prelude? The flip-light Accord? The Civic WagoVan? This isn’t too off-base.
* It’s actually more attractive than the sedan, save for the ride height. Granted that’s not saying much.
Are Honda and Toyota competing for who can make the biggest, ugliest grille? Seriously, they’re making me like the Mazda 3’s toothless smile. As for the Crosstour’s styling… it reminds me of a modern day version of this:
http://www.carlustblog.com/images/2008/10/06/oldsmobile_cutlass_salon_front_2.jpg
Not.
Here’s to hoping my Malibu Maxx actually survives until a serious, mainstream mid-size wagon arrives on our shores.
I’m not holding my breath, though. Maybe I should just buy another couple of Maxxes (they can be had for a song) and put them up on blocks. Topping my current short list for an eventual replacement are the Elantra Touring (more cramped, less powerful), or a Jetta or Passat “Wagen” (higher expected repair costs).
Current Malibu, or Altima, or Fusion would make wagons of such epicness, it gets me fuming to think how much I’m being punished for Americans’ irrational need to ride 15 feet above the road.
It looks like smelly ass. What else ya got?
That Chrysler Sebring is starting to look pretty good.
No fair. You guys beat me to all the really good insults. It looks like an inflated ’02 Elantra GT.
Really, what many of us want is a (dare I say it?)nice looking, evenly proportioned station wagon. I need comfortable seating for six or seven with room for a little bit of luggage. I drive a Caravan because it suits my needs but it sure doesn’t excite me. The older Accord wagon was nice, although it really only seated four. I kind of like the Venza, but this looks like a Ridgeline (already ugly enough) hauling a Crossfire in the bed.
I’ll reserve judgement until I see it in person, as it shares the same “silly” fastback hatch of my (dearly departed) 4th gen Camaro.
I wonder if they’ll spring for a 2-door version?
Nah.
Definitely NOT. Serious identity crisis happening there.
Roof line and side profile looks just fine but oh that front end. It is way out of proportion with the sleek roof. Much to heavy for the rest of the car.
I suppose it has more rearview mirror presence than a Venza.
What’s next – a cowcatcher hood?
” it’s only a matter of time before Honda loyalists (and Toyota for that matter) realize that other domestic and import brands are better looking, better designed and are better built.”
Excellent point. If we really get the next generation of european designed vehicles from GM and Ford (and they are well built) we could see a dramatic market shift driven by superior styling alone.
Wouldn’t that be a nice change….
Looks like the bastard child of a Chevy Citation and a Hyundai Veracruz. Keep abortion safe and legal!
This thing should never make it to the dealer lot.
Does anyone know if these crossover-sedan-coupe things actually sell?
The Venza’s better looking.
It will look better in person. I hope. Still won’t buy one.
Psar: what exactly was so wrong with the last-gen Prelude? I really dug that car, and I still see a lot around (Vancouver). Furthermore, they almost all look like they just rolled of the dealer lot. Nothing falling off, good paint, lights in working order.
To the rest of us: keep dreaming about mid-size wagons. Not gonna happen as long as there is a CAFE system to be gamed.
In the past 15 years I’ve bought or leased six Hondas, but I’d be ashamed to park this in front of my house.
Perhaps someone from Acura styling snuck in and fucked things up just for fun.
Reminds me of a 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlas Salon or a Chevy Citation. Wasn’t hot then, definitely not hot now.
I would love to set up some sort of “Wagonmaster” deal with old Accord and Camry wagon/hatch models. It would be a fun way me to get even poorer.
http://www.wagonmaster.com/
Yikes!
I do hope they keep it away from small children.
Seriously, where’s the real Crosstour? This bastard child of an Aztek/X6/Sebring abomination cant be a real Honda.
Can it?
Of all the things I’ve seen lambasted in a “What’s Wrong with this Picture” post, this isn’t one of them? Really?
I would think this is the perfect subject.
This car, along with other latest Hondas/Acuras make me appreciate our ’91 Accord more. I know it’s dated, but at least we have refuge from ridiculous [and bulbous] exterior… like this one. And I love the way Honda designed the dashboard in the ’90s. Never gonna come back, again. I know the new Accord’s dash is still conservative looking.. but others are just polarizing. (i.e. Civic and Odyssey)
Unless if Crosstour’s powertrain becomes a redeeming factor, I will go ahead and say that Honda has officially lost it.
This thing just ain’t right. I liked Honda better when they made their cars bland.
Hideous. In profile it looks like they were aiming for an Audi A5 Sportback look, but boy, did they hit wide of the mark. And what’s with the “son of Ridgeline” grill?
Honda/Acura is at the top of my list of car companies I used to immensely respect, but wouldn’t consider on a bet these days.
you’ll probably think i’m typing out of the loony bin but i’d rather buy this than the sedan.
Honda has completely lost the plot…
Argh, these goggles, they do nothing!!!
Seriously ugly though I suspect that pic is probably the least flattering angle. Agree the Hona Euro-wagon is way nice (check out the interior too: http://www.honda.co.uk/cars/accordtourer/_assets/images/galleries/large/07_interior.jpg)
I actually think the Panamera looks pretty good… so take my opinion with salt, but YUCK, that looks lard-tastic.
The Caliber looks better than this.
Wow, it would have been better looking if they had left camouflage wrapping on!
Yikes! Honda has come up with some controversial vehicles in the past, like the Element and the Fit,
but this thing is ugly…I can only guess that the designers at Honda got hold of some of the same stuff that the Pontiac people were smoking when they came up with the Aztek. I really think the Honda Accord Tourer is a much nicer looking vehicle.
Not as bad as all that, really. Sheesh, take a deep breath, people. I’d like to see it in person.
Honda is missing the boat. By building a boat. After 2 Accords (and 5 in my family) my 2009 will likely be my last unless they get back on track. Too big, driver seat uncomfortable, sightlines and size combine to make bumper scrapes almost inevitable. (The styling did grow on me – there are some angles, especially up close, where I like it a lot. And I can think of many ambitious designs that I initially thought jarring but then grew to like. Yet the crosstour does seem unbalanced and out of proportion. Like Barbara Streisand’s nose on a gerbil.) BTW, neighbors have commented positively on the look of my ’09 Accord. Oddly, color seems to make a big dif – mine is the gray “polished metal metallic”
damn and i thought the 5-Series GT was going to be the ugliest car released this year. this is EASILY the most hideous car i have seen in a long time, possibly ever
The 2007 was the last nearly excellent Accord (Some options were not offered until 2008.).
2008, 2009, and now 2010 nothing to pay MSRP for, let alone the $2,500 additional dealer sticker.
Bwah-ha-ha-ha! Somebody on acid Photoshopped this…right? Oh, in that case, thanks for making me look at something this hideous before I go to bed.
Here comes Freddy Krueger and The CrossButt to give me nightmares! Thanks Honda!
Of course, there’s always the Panamera…
Meh. I won’t be buying one anyways (or any other Honda for that matter) so I couldn’t care less. I’m not sure this thing is even necessary with the CR-V and the Pilot already in the lineup.
Reminds me of that totally hot girl…great body, nice tan, blode hair…then she turns around and has a giant snoz. You know what I’m talking about – like Sarah Jessica Parker!
It’s the Sarah Jessica Parker of automobiles!
The only reason we notice it now is we’re coming out of a long period of very reserved, very utilitarian looks and designers are once again torturing the sheetmetal.
Well said. I’m no fan of this design–it looks like a guppy with an eating disorder–but it’s certainly not the ugliest thing out there. It’s not even the ugliest thing in the Honda stable (I mean…Ridgeline, Element, new ZDX…). Above all, I’m glad that we’re entering a period of styling experimentation, even if it means a few misfires like this. Still beats that period in the 1980s when basically every mainstream car was drawn with a T square and a bare minimum of imagination.
I don’t really like the proportions of it at all, but, you know, horses for courses and all that. Ugly is subjective.
What I don’t get is where the demand for this segment comes from – if you want an estate (station wagon) the Accord Tourer is a fine car (and looks even better in its latest incarnation)… if you want the off-road/raised ride height thing, get a CR-V instead.
Who’s buying these XC70s, Audi A6 Allroads etc etc?
Uh-oh. I just saw the back end on another blog and it’s actually worse than the front. It makes the butt of the X6 look svelte!
Not
@Pat Holliday :
if you want an estate (station wagon) the Accord Tourer is a fine car
…yes, but the current Accord Tourer doesn’t have a flat cargo floor with the rear seats folded – which the last generation had. The last generation also had nearly one third more cargo space than the current one – 1650L with the seats down, as opposed to 1252 for the new model. It’s even worse with the seats up – the old Accord Tourer could swallow 576L, while the new model is out of ideas after 423L. For comparison, a Civic hatchback hauls more, 456L with the seats up.
It may be a fine car, but it’s a crappy wagon, especially after the nearly perfect last generation.
I suspect some Honda designer will fall on his sword some time soon. what they hell were they thinking when they commissioned this? it looks like, well even TTAC wont publish what i think it looks like…..
Psar: what exactly was so wrong with the last-gen Prelude?
You have to put in perspective. Today it wouldn’t look so odd, but at the time it looked like a first-gen Merc SLK drawn in SuperDeformed style.
I like weird cars—I lust for the Suzuki X-90—and I liked the last Prelude, but it was a demented-looking vehicle.
…yes, but the current Accord Tourer doesn’t have a flat cargo floor with the rear seats folded – which the last generation had.
The flat rear floor is an oversold feature. Most cars acheive it by raising the trunk floor to meet the edge of the seats, which actually makes seat-up space worse.
Take the Nissan Versa for example: to make a flat rear floor, they’d either have to lower the rear edge of the seats (and murder thigh support) or raise the trunk floor (and kill trunk space). Or you could do what Honda did with the Fit—relocate the fuel tank—and kill cruising range. Or you can use a compact suspension (like a simple twist-beam) and sacrifice ride quality.
The last generation also had nearly one third more cargo space than the current one – 1650L with the seats down, as opposed to 1252 for the new model.
To be fair, a lot of that is because this is a hatchback and not a wagon.
I suspect Honda wanted to do something different; something that didn’t make their offering look like a Me-Too of the Murano (like the Edge and Venza are). As such, this isn’t too bad, and it actually redeems the sins of the sedan. You lose a bit of space, but this design does afford you a huge cargo opening. I carried some very oddly-shaped parcels in my Saab’s trunk.
@psarhjinian :
To be fair, a lot of that is because this is a hatchback and not a wagon.
I was comparing the current Euro Accord wagon to the one before that.
Having seen the rear of the Crosstour, I was thinking that TTAC found the one (relatively) attractive viewing angle of this vehicle for the picture above.
I just don’t understand what happened to Honda. They grew and prospered by adhering to a relatively unchanging and focused vision, and you could see this vision at work from the early 1980s through the late 1990s. I bought a bunch of them, and on my recommendation so did my family and friends. It would be difficult to improve on their circa-1998 lineup, which I suppose is the point. The best new Honda, I think, is a Ford Fusion.
Oh, dear.
Not as hideous as the Acura ZDX, but certainly not attractive, and certainly not anything I would like to see wearing a Honda badge.
Why, oh why does anything with a hatch have to get inflated to absurd proportions? (Et tu, xB?) And what’s with the extreme rear slope that’s spreading like ebola (X6 seems to be patient zero)?
Give me the Accord Tourer (TSX wagon) from the UK referenced above.
Just looked closer. What’s up with that pseudo-cladding stuff at the bottom of the doors? Why are we butching-up Accords?