03 Accord batches...

[b168ag]

Somebody mentioned that some batches of the earlier '03 Accords are made in Japan and the rest of them are made in Ohio. Is that true or just some BS?

If it is true, how can I find the info on the car? The label on the door frame only tells the month and the year of production. Will the VIN work?

Thanks in advance.

[BlackChrome]

VIN #...

If it starts with a "1", it's built in USA.
If it starts with a "J", it's built in Japan.

Only the 4-cylinder Sedans are built in both USA and Japan. All the Coupes and V6 models are built in USA.

[MrChad]

On the sixth Gen the Japan's vin start with "J"
Us Vins start with "1" (might hold true for 7th too.)

There is even a Mexican built vin, but I'm too lazy to look it up.
And the Mexican plant only kicks out like 30,000 units so it's rare to ever find one. They usually just supply extra needed engines.

If you have a v6--it's USDM.
If you have a 4 it could be either.

The door jam on one of the doors usually must state the mfg. place of origin, yet to see a car missing this.

[b168ag]

Thanks for the reply.

That makes sense that all coupes are made in USA since they don't release the coupe outside North American (yet?).

My '96 TL 2.5 has a label that states the month, year and place of production (it was Saitama, Japan).

My '03 Accord Coupe label doesn't say anything about the production location.

[LX4CYL]

I remember seeing Japan on the window stickers at the dealership when the 03s first came out. I think by now they're being made in Ohio.

[Sonny]

I have a 5th gen 4dr Sedan and the VIN starts with a "J", does that mean it was built in japan? If so, it would make sense since I've had no problems except for tranny change about 10k ago, its at aobut 145k now......

[BigB2k3]

mine says 25% ******, 75% USA, lol...

[uoiea]

Mine says 25% Japan, 65% US/Canada/ 10% Other(Mexico??)
Transmission: Japan

[MrChad]

I can only speak for 6th gens:
I have a 4cyl - 5speed.
All five speed trannies in 2000 came from Japan. Autos- could have come from their too.
So, even American built cars in the 4 cylinder were 25% Japan.
Notice too, those cars also use Denso parts under the hood as well, also built in Japan.

The V6 cars have nothing from Japan. Under hood parts are Delphi instead of Denso.

Being built in Japan doesn't make the car perfect. Take a run down on Lude stats sometime. All Ludes were built in Japan and percentage wide--the stats aren't perfect.

[creativepuzzle]

I got a 2003 LX 4 door 4 cylinder 5 speed manual and it is made in Japan. I believe quite a bit of 4 cylinder 5 speed manual are made in Japan. My Vin starts with a J.

[titaniumGSR]

hmmm.. i think all the 5 speeds are from japan.. so far from wut ive seen..

[MrChad]

Sorry, coupes aren't from Japan.
Look at VIN's on autotrader.
I had a friend looking at 5-speed manuals and many are from the US. The trannies are just from Japan.

[york2600]

The statement that all V6s are all US is wrong. The breakdown on my 7th Gen V6 put the body and tranny as US and the engine as JDM.

[LX4CYL]

again, I'm pretty sure the first batch of I4 7th gens (2003), where assembled in Japan. By now, they are probably being built in Marysville, Ohio, just like my 6th gen.

My 02 6th gen I4 is 80% American 20% Japanese. The alternator is made by Denso, the distributor is made by Hitachi, and the starter motor is made by Mitsuba. I'm pretty sure that the Auto tranny was first made in the US in 2001. I heard that somewhere, because there was a problem with one of the suppliers not using the right material for one of the components for the tranny, causing that big recall they had for the 01 I4 accords.

[SWOOSHER21]

yeah, they are being built in Marysville, Ohio. i have a bunch of friends that actually work in the plant.

[MrChad]

Originally posted by york2600
The statement that all V6s are all US is wrong. The breakdown on my 7th Gen V6 put the body and tranny as US and the engine as JDM.

As I said I was only speaking for 6th gen. As of 6th gen no V6 were assembled in Japan. Now that Japan is introducing the new Inspire( USDM 7th gen.) This likely will have changed.

[LX4CYL]

Originally posted by MrChad
As I said I was only speaking for 6th gen. As of 6th gen no V6 were assembled in Japan. Now that Japan is introducing the new Inspire( USDM 7th gen.) This likely will have changed.

yeah that's weird!

First, the Accord shared the same chassis+body as the Accords overseas (1st-5th gen).

Then, the Accord used a completely different chassis with all of the Accords overseas. (6th gen) It used a much larger Honda Inspire chassis, with a completely different body design.

The Acura TL (99-03), is pretty much a rebadged Honda Inspire.

Now the Accord IS the soon-to-be released Honda Inspire. The Accord Type-S that is sold overseas, is sold here as the Acura TSX, which has a completely different chassis than our 7th gen accord.

[MrChad]

the Inspire was actually a rebagded TL as all Inpire/Sabers originated in the US at first.

The Gen 6 is acutally the same all over the world in platform.
The basic floor pan and suspesion are the same. The dimensions were just en-larged for the US market first. The US is the world's largest auto consumer, as such it made sense to have a US specific larger chassis and V6 as that is what the NA masses wanted. In-turn, enthusiast now get the Euro/JDM Accord for sport as a side item in the TSX. With the Accord US and UK/JDM looking so different it makes sense for Honda to try and cash in selling both cars globally under new names per respective region.

[BlackChrome]

Originally posted by york2600
The statement that all V6s are all US is wrong. The breakdown on my 7th Gen V6 put the body and tranny as US and the engine as JDM.

You might want to read your window sticker again because all the V6 engines are built in Ohio and the trannies are from Japan.

And even if the engine was built in Japan, it's not JDM. It'd still be USDM!

[BlackChrome]

Originally posted by MrChad
the Inspire was actually a rebagded TL as all Inpire/Sabers originated in the US at first...

Anyone remember the Vigor? Before the current gen Inspire/TL, it was based on the Vigor. And before that, I believe it was based on the 4th gen Accord.

The Inspire used to be called Accord Inspire, so that tells us the roots were from the Accord.

I could be wrong but I am just telling what I can remember.

[MrChad]

The current inpire/TL (~2000-2003) are not based on the Vigor. They are based on the 5-link rear suspension 98+ Accord. The Vigor shared nearly nothing with any other car save maybe the same year Legend. It's front K-member even had to be lengthened hugely in order to hold the inline 5cylinder G-series engine. The inline 5 was even inclined like early inline six engines in order to preserve a low hoodline. At least the Vigor had a 5-speed option.

[jfiedler]

if you bought it here, it's USDM regardless of the production content or final assembly point.

final assembly point determines the first letter of the VIN.
1 = united states
2 = canada
3 = mexico
5 = uk
J = japan

import regulations require the manufacturer to disclose the approximate percentages of work done by location. if your drivetrain was built in japan, shipped over and dropped in while at the ohio plant, it's gonna have a VIN w/the number 1 at the beginning, and show a percentage source from japan as well as usa (and other areas possibly)

all different localities have letters...those are just the only ones you'll find on USDM hondas.

in case anyone is wondering...you'll find some of new CR-V's and civic si's coming from the UK w/a 5 leading the VIN.

[MrChad]

I don't think the term USDM exist truely, I was simply using it to state production area of origin.

You will find that there are both 100% Japanesse made and 100% American made Accord Products--and some down the middle. End of story.

Basically if you go to temple of vtec you can easily see the production numbers per month. It even brakes up imported and domestically sourced of the same model.

However, I am under the impression honda doesn't have to many plants outside the US producing the J-series engine. I currently think Ohio and Alabama are the two states producing this engine. Anyone a Honda plant junky to confirm?

[jfiedler]

usdm is just the term used to describe cars that are designed for sale in the us market - meeting federal safety and emissions laws, and appealing to the market at hand. jdm cars have to adhere to different emission rules, and have RHD instead of LHD. there are many domestic markets...look at the thailand 03 accord...it has power folding mirrors i suppose thats the TDM version?

USDM/JDM/EDM isn't really referring to point of manufacture, rather intended sale location.

[BlackChrome]

Originally posted by MrChad
The current inpire/TL (~2000-2003) are not based on the Vigor. They are based on the 5-link rear suspension 98+ Accord....

I said "before the current gen Inspire/TL"...

We all know that the first gen TL was based on the Vigor (2.5 I5 and 3.2 V6).

Originally posted by MrChad


However, I am under the impression honda doesn't have to many plants outside the US producing the J-series engine. I currently think Ohio and Alabama are the two states producing this engine. Anyone a Honda plant junky to confirm?

J-series engines? How about Ontario, Canada, where they build the MDX/Odyssey?

[BlackChrome]

Hey, look what I found!

http://www.honda.co.jp/pressroom/library/auto/INSPIRE/