Need information about Honda to win an argument.
 

A colleague of mine swears that Honda still uses other manufacturer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Passport

It was a partnership Izusu and Honda had in the past. Companies team up all the time to rebadge each other's vehicles. It's a very common practice, and I have no doubt your friend's car's manufacturer has been involved in a similar business venture.

The current passport is passed on the Accord chassis. The CR-V is loosely based on the Civic. The Element is based on the CR-V. A few of the cars share engines. After reading the wikipedia pages of all the current Honda line-up, I can only assume that the other vehicles were designed from scratch (i.e. S2000).

The Isuzu Rodeo was rebadged as a Passport and the Trooper was rebadged as the Acura SLX. Neither vehicle looked or felt like a Honda, even though Honda redesigned the interior on the Rodeo before they would sell it as a Honda.

The Honda rebadges were not good deals, especially when you consider that the Isuzu versions came with a 10 year/100k mile powertrain warranty.

IIRC the whole deal was ordered by the Japanese Ministry of Trade to help Isuzu out. Isuzu got some of the first gen Odysseys to sell as part of that deal, too.

I can't think of any others. I always thought it was weird that GM was using Honda engines in VUEs. The rumor was that Honda would receive V8s from GM in return but obviously that never happened.

Sounds like somebody's a flake. I'm not gonna tell you who, but I think you know who I'm talking about~ ;)

Ya the Passport and SLX were the only cars Honda ever borrowed from anyone else. The Odyssey I always thought was made by Isuzu, but I guess it makes sense that Honda designed it, considering that Isuzu has always been a truck company with only 2 real attempts at cars (Impulse, I-Mark/Stylus).

God that SLX was the worst decision the brand ever made.

Easy answer:

All Honda engines now have VTEC. Only Honda manufactures VTEC.

[QUOTE=Lice Locket,Jul 9 2007, 10:43 PM] Easy answer:

Anyone remember the Sterling which was a rebadged Legend back in the late 80's ?

The Odyssey was a JDM Honda wagon that American Honda tried to pass off as a minivan. I think it was a pretty good product but it did not really appeal to US customers.

Isuzu is a really well respected manufacturer of passenger cars in other parts of the world. And they did most of the development of GM's Duramax engines. Their cars have always been a little quirky for this market to find much success.

The GEO Storm was a rebadged Isuzu that was sold here as an Impulse for a while. The turbo versions weren't too bad but the quality was never up to Honda or Toyota levels.

Forgot about the Sterling 825/827. Those cars were more attractive than a Legend, from a styling standpoint, and you could even get a 5 door hatch.

The Legend was always respected for its value and quality and dependability, not necessarily because it was a better driver than a BMW or Mercedes. The Sterling was cursed with crappy British electricals and assembly quality.

So what you got was a car with a ho-hum, uninspiring drivetrain and poor assembly quality and electrical nightmares. There's a winning combination. :D