Unlike the Ex, Trustworthy and Comfortable

2008 Acura MDX Sport

2008 Acura MDX Sport (Acura)

I've discovered why many women, especially single women with children, love Honda and Acura, the Japanese automobile manufacturer's luxury division.

It's the Vicky Factor, something I've uncovered in researching my book in progress, "Women, Cars and Divorce."

The Vicky Factor is this: The vehicle chosen by a woman who has had trouble with her man must give her what she most wanted, but never received, from the man who interrupted her life -- commitment, reliability, and agape (pronounced "agapay"), a spiritual love that enhances the physical by going beyond the physical.

To men, this might sound far-fetched. I've never interviewed a man who cried because his car or truck broke down. But I've interviewed many single mothers who have done just that.

Those women did not cry because they were weak. Weak people cannot single-handedly work and take care of children, a house and all of the related obligations. They cried because they bought something they needed, that they thought would be there for them, but that betrayed them as surely as the men who've exited their lives.

I've lost track of the number of women who told me: "I want a car that I can trust more than my ex."

I am convinced that is why so many of them buy Honda and Acura vehicles, the motorized versions of the ever faithful, dutiful boyfriend, husband, and lover. Consider this week's test model, the 2008 Acura MDX Sport crossover utility vehicle with entertainment package.

I've never been a great fan of the MDX, which was introduced in the United States in late 2000. To me, it was little more than a gussied-up station wagon masquerading as a sport-utility vehicle, nothing that any man who intended to drive off-road would ever take seriously.

But I was amazed by my many women friends who loved the thing, who praised its reliability and who liked the idea that it did all of the work of a minivan or station wagon without looking or feeling like one. And that work, they pointed out, was far more arduous than driving off road. Ferrying children to and from school and to various events, taking elderly relatives to and from medical appointments, and somehow doing it all while driving themselves to and from work to pay for food, clothing, housing, education and medical care, is not easy.

For that kind of work, those women said they wanted a vehicle that would always be there for them and their families, something that would never let them down. They wanted and they bought the MDX or its Honda equivalent, the Pilot.

But car companies remain male-dominated. As a result, we have the latest versions of the MDX with a big, ugly aluminum "V-shaped" grille that is supposed to convey aggressiveness. We also have a technology, SH-AWD (super handling-all-wheel drive), that is meant to turn what essentially is a luxury family hauler into a high-performance vehicle that presumably is more appealing to men.

The women are not fooled.