2009 Honda Accord Lx Sedan 4-door 2.4l Low Miles on 2040-cars

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Honda HR-V could spawn Acura variant

We've been saying it for months now, but the compact CUV is the next big thing. Everyone, and we mean everyone, is at least considering getting in on the action, if they aren't already actively designing or selling, and that's true whether they're a premium or mainstream automaker. That, of course, includes Acura, whose parent company, Honda, has a compact CUV of its own coming to market very, very soon. With the arrival of the Fit-based HR-V, that begs the question of whether the near-premium marque will join this burgeoning segment. The idea of building a car below the company's entry level CUV, the RDX, is an appealing one to Honda Executive Vice President John Mendel, who called it "potentially the only place you could go," and would occupy the "white space" the company is looking to fill. While we might chuckle about the idea of a luxurious, Fit-based CUV, it's fair to say it could do well for Acura. It could certainly provide a foil to the very hot selling Buick Encore, and may even capture some sales from the luxuriously outfitted Jeep Renegade Limited/Fiat 500X Lounge. It remains to be seen, though, if Acura could build an HR-V capable of tangling with the new entries from Lexus, Audi and Mercedes-Benz.

Honda to field this awesome Civic Tourer wagon in BTCC next season

We all know that the letters BTCC stand for British Touring Car Championship. But one of those Cs might as well stand for Civic, so dominant has the Honda team been in one of the most competitive tin-top racing series in the world. Honda has taken the manufacturers' and teams' titles in the BTCC for the past four years running, and the championship-winning drivers for the past three years have claimed the prize behind the wheel of a Civic. While that might have proven enough for any other manufacturer, Honda is returning again next season to defend its dominant position, and has just revealed the new car with which it intends to do so.
Next year Honda will be back on the grid with another Civic, only this time it's based on the new Euro-spec Civic Tourer. That will make Honda the only team in the BTCC (and one of only a few worldwide) fielding a wagon-based racing car. In announcing the new BTCC-spec Civic Tourer, the Honda Yuasa Racing team only released this one photo and didn't reveal much in the way of details, but team manager Peter Crolla indicated that "the weight, wheelbase, layout and suspension remain the same" as the hatchback which it will replace, only with a longer roofline.
Testing of the new touring wagon will commence in January before returning champions Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal will pilot the new Civic Tourer in the season opener at Brands Hatch in the UK in late March. It remains to be seen what car Andrew Jordan (who took the title this year in another Civic with the Pirtek Racing team) will be driving next season, but in the meantime, you can check out the full press release below for more.

Honda settles class-action lawsuit over oil-burning V6s

Although we hadn't heard of this issue before, Automotive News reports that Honda has agreed to settle a massive class-action lawsuit brought against it for engine trouble potentially affecting nearly 1.6 million vehicles. The lawsuit includes Accord (2008-12), Odyssey (2008-13), Pilot (2009-13) and Crosstour (2010-13) models equipped with the 3.5-liter V6 with Variable Cylinder Management, which might experience engine misfire, excessive oil burning and premature spark plug fouling issues.
As part of the settlement, Honda will extend the powertrain warranty on these models for eight years (from time of purchase or lease) with no mileage limitation, and it will also reimburse customers who had to pay out-of-pocket expenses for related repairs such as spark plugs, pistons or, in some cases, apparently, an entirely new engine. (Of course, the repairs had to be related to certain trouble codes.) Lawyers will get no more than $800,000 from Honda and the guy who originally started the case, Vince Eagen, will get $1,000 for his "time and effort."
The final ruling on the matter will take place on March 21, 2014, and if you want to see if you're affected and what options you have in the settlement, check out this .pdf document with all the details.