Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
One of the first respondents had it right. Toyota and Honda in that order. Whether you like their staid looks and demeanors doesn't much matter as they are both basic cars, slightly up. If you buy either and find you don't like it, you CAN get rid of it....try doing THAT to a Mazda or Nissan....better yet, check out Edmunds USED car appraisal and you, tell me?
Nissan's ARE typically bought.....once.....just pop the hood and if you know the most basic engineering concepts you will see that everything in there was designed as an after thought to another problem...wax pellets in the induction??? Really?????? Who the f came up with that?
They are too....fine tuned...too many TPS issues and other niggling things to consider...then there's Mazda....while they are actually fairly good autos, their value goes down faster than a $5 hooker in Bangkok...skip the exercise....if you buy one, you BETTER like it because you are going to have it....forever...
What do YOU think sells first, a used Toyota or a used Mazda? Nissan? Assuming all are in equal shape and price range....nuff' said.
Buy the Toyota....I'm driving a 15 year old Camry now that I have had since day one....214,000 miles...and counting....had a 92 before that.....but hey, what do I know?
Although I'm sure Toyota's marketing department is frothing at the mouth after reading this, the biggest problem with this statement is that it hasn't been applicable for years. The competition is generally better and Toyota has been suffering from a brand identify crisis for several years now (the awful styling is just a symptom). Between Toyota/Honda, choosing the Accord isn't a hard choice. Choosing between the Mazda 6, Hyundai Sonata or Honda Accord is a far more difficult task as they are the best cars in the segment.
Although I'm sure Toyota's marketing department is frothing at the mouth after reading this, the biggest problem with this statement is that it hasn't been applicable for years. The competition is generally better and Toyota has been suffering from a brand identify crisis for several years now.
Yeah....they are finally catching up....in other words, the gap is closing which is to say, they are still excellent and frankly, superior in every way.
1) Resale - Real, or imagined. Put a Camry on Craigslist and get ready to answer your phone....put a Mazda on Craigslist and plan to spend a few weeks with tire kickers.....
2) Best Hybrid made. So good, others are licensing the synergy drive...why? Because THEIRS doesn't come close Toyota's and they are putting up the white flag in hopes of gaining ANY hybrid marketshare
3) Cost....Toyota was selling the L hybrids for 21,750 a few months back as year end close outs...while not the greatest mpg (43 city/Camry) the 5-8K savings over Honda made it a no-brainer
4) Honda STILL has Transmission Problems
5) Nissan STILL has Transmission Problems
6) Mazda STILL has poorer resale
7) Mazda's 6 Komodo Dragon Eye look while appealing tends to fade, like their paint, in 6 years....just watch
8) Best AC, HANDS F'IN DOWN...since 83, this has been one of their BIGGEST STRENGTHS....their AC ROCKS...Honda? Not so much and never has....Nissan? Better but, that climate control is iffy....
9) Superior finish....
10) R E L I A B L E.....nuff' said.
Downside: Toyota's, thanks to that assembled in America crap, has had more troubles than ever before. Regardless, the OTHER GUYS have exponentially more trouble. Period. Recall records prove it. Acceleration? A thick carpet, NOT the engine/throttle body....Honda's CVT? THAT's a mfg problem
They have, however, seem to have developed nit-picky issues which I am quick to point out...cupholders that break, a loose shift knob....quality related in my mind but, the engines??? that 4 cylinder has been developed since 1992...if you opened the hood of 1992 and compared it to a 2011 you would instantly see the similarities....why? BECAUSE THEY WORK BEAUTIFULLY....the power has been tweaked but, it still has quite a few of the same design elements.
Other mfgs? Not-so-much......My biggest fear are the new CVT's. They aren't perfected....yet.....but, I am willing to bet Toyota will perfect theirs way ahead of Honda and Nissan.....I wish they would simply go to the 6 speed or 8 speed models.....they do it for mpg more than anything and on paper, it's the right way to go. However, in real life, ask anyone that has had to fix, perish the thought, replace one. Nissan led this charge and then promptly boned their customers when they failed a few years ago....the Altima was one of the first....and from what I heard back then, it was 7K to replace.....7K???? Can you say, more money for an extended warranty???
Me? Skip the 1mpg difference and let me have reliability. I am on the original transmission and thanks to 4 flushes over 214,000 miles, it STILL shifts like it was new. I have to believe it will die at some point. They all do but, if you were to climb in and drive it, you wouldn't believe it. But, then again, mine was built in Japan. Really. Not assembled here either...that stopped after 2001.....shame.....they were near perfect.
Honda is a beautiful car (Accord AND Civic). They have way more sex appeal than a Camry or Corolla could ever hope or dream for. No matter, mechanically it's not close. Honda simply has too many transmission problems. I can live with a bad cupholder. A bad transmission??? No. Not acceptable. But hey, they look nice....sigh.....
Reading those driving "inspired" car editorials is similar to watching runway models. Take a good look because you will never, ever, ever see a woman that looks, dresses or walks that way outside of that review hall. What ever happens to those outfits because I have yet to see one outside of the news clip on TV. Must be the circles I and 300 million Americans travel in I suppose.....bet you won't see one either. Same goes for cars.
So, the next time one wants to peruse the magazine Driver or Car and Track or whatever. Keep in mind those are built and owe their very lives to ad revenues. Something that is less sexy and even more boring than the Camry. If that were possible. And despite what they write, few if any experience the excitement of the quad-Quattro butimen splayed double-wishbone paddywhack give a dog a bone latest Porsche for a mere 120K (like everyone has that laying around), the other 99.999999999% of the driving public wants a reliable car with a nice interior, reasonable gas mileage, great AC, and smooooth engine and transmission. And one that doesn't break down with little notice and sometimes, entirely without. Do they?
And THAT my friend, is where Toyota reigns supreme. After all, ALL cars look, smell, and act alike in bumper to bumper traffic. I don't see ANY Porsche, Mercedes, Tesla, or car de jour "carving" up the twisties when traffic is crawling....do you?
If I need a car that looks like a Komodo Dragon (Mazda 6) that is supposed to impart a revolutionary engineering feat, or, if I need to get a car to show that good looking woman I'll never hook up with that her life will be instantly transported to another galaxy and all her money problems will go away (for that evening anyway) 'll go lease a car I should never own.
Short of that, I'll stick with the Camry. THE gold plated standard in value sedans. I'll happily stay in my boooooring cabin of a Camry in cool, clean comfort as I idle past the litany of OTHER broken down cars on the side of the road.....If this car had DD cups, I'd marry it.
Yeah....they are finally catching up....in other words, the gap is closing which is to say, they are still excellent and frankly, superior in every way.
1) Resale - Real, or imagined. Put a Camry on Craigslist and get ready to answer your phone....put a Mazda on Craigslist and plan to spend a few weeks with tire kickers.....
2) Best Hybrid made. So good, others are licensing the synergy drive...why? Because THEIRS doesn't come close Toyota's and they are putting up the white flag in hopes of gaining ANY hybrid marketshare
3) Cost....Toyota was selling the L hybrids for 21,750 a few months back as year end close outs...while not the greatest mpg (43 city/Camry) the 5-8K savings over Honda made it a no-brainer
4) Honda STILL has Transmission Problems
5) Nissan STILL has Transmission Problems
6) Mazda STILL has poorer resale
7) Mazda's 6 Komodo Dragon Eye look while appealing tends to fade, like their paint, in 6 years....just watch
8) Best AC, HANDS F'IN DOWN...since 83, this has been one of their BIGGEST STRENGTHS....their AC ROCKS...Honda? Not so much and never has....Nissan? Better but, that climate control is iffy....
9) Superior finish....
10) R E L I A B L E.....nuff' said.
Downside: Toyota's, thanks to that assembled in America crap, has had more troubles than ever before. Regardless, the OTHER GUYS have exponentially more trouble. Period. Recall records prove it. Acceleration? A thick carpet, NOT the engine/throttle body....Honda's CVT? THAT's a mfg problem
They have, however, seem to have developed nit-picky issues which I am quick to point out...cupholders that break, a loose shift knob....quality related in my mind but, the engines??? that 4 cylinder has been developed since 1992...if you opened the hood of 1992 and compared it to a 2011 you would instantly see the similarities....why? BECAUSE THEY WORK BEAUTIFULLY....the power has been tweaked but, it still has quite a few of the same design elements.
Other mfgs? Not-so-much......My biggest fear are the new CVT's. They aren't perfected....yet.....but, I am willing to bet Toyota will perfect theirs way ahead of Honda and Nissan.....I wish they would simply go to the 6 speed or 8 speed models.....they do it for mpg more than anything and on paper, it's the right way to go. However, in real life, ask anyone that has had to fix, perish the thought, replace one. Nissan led this charge and then promptly boned their customers when they failed a few years ago....the Altima was one of the first....and from what I heard back then, it was 7K to replace.....7K???? Can you say, more money for an extended warranty???
Me? Skip the 1mpg difference and let me have reliability. I am on the original transmission and thanks to 4 flushes over 214,000 miles, it STILL shifts like it was new. I have to believe it will die at some point. They all do but, if you were to climb in and drive it, you wouldn't believe it. But, then again, mine was built in Japan. Really. Not assembled here either...that stopped after 2001.....shame.....they were near perfect.
Honda is a beautiful car (Accord AND Civic). They have way more sex appeal than a Camry or Corolla could ever hope or dream for. No matter, mechanically it's not close. Honda simply has too many transmission problems. I can live with a bad cupholder. A bad transmission??? No. Not acceptable. But hey, they look nice....sigh.....
Reading those driving "inspired" car editorials is similar to watching runway models. Take a good look because you will never, ever, ever see a woman that looks, dresses or walks that way outside of that review hall. What ever happens to those outfits because I have yet to see one outside of the news clip on TV. Must be the circles I and 300 million Americans travel in I suppose.....bet you won't see one either. Same goes for cars.
So, the next time one wants to peruse the magazine Driver or Car and Track or whatever. Keep in mind those are built and owe their very lives to ad revenues. Something that is less sexy and even more boring than the Camry. If that were possible. And despite what they write, few if any experience the excitement of the quad-Quattro butimen splayed double-wishbone paddywhack give a dog a bone latest Porsche for a mere 120K (like everyone has that laying around), the other 99.999999999% of the driving public wants a reliable car with a nice interior, reasonable gas mileage, great AC, and smooooth engine and transmission. And one that doesn't break down with little notice and sometimes, entirely without. Do they?
And THAT my friend, is where Toyota reigns supreme. After all, ALL cars look, smell, and act alike in bumper to bumper traffic. I don't see ANY Porsche, Mercedes, Tesla, or car de jour "carving" up the twisties when traffic is crawling....do you?
If I need a car that looks like a Komodo Dragon (Mazda 6) that is supposed to impart a revolutionary engineering feat, or, if I need to get a car to show that good looking woman I'll never hook up with that her life will be instantly transported to another galaxy and all her money problems will go away (for that evening anyway) 'll go lease a car I should never own.
Short of that, I'll stick with the Camry. THE gold plated standard in value sedans. I'll happily stay in my boooooring cabin of a Camry in cool, clean comfort as I idle past the litany of OTHER broken down cars on the side of the road.....If this car had DD cups, I'd marry it.
Put down the cool aid. It expired long ago. It's not a question of catching up as Toyota fell behind years ago with ancient drive trains and platforms. They don't want to invest in actually improving the car so they resort to childish styling and tack on elements that are better left in a dark corner at pep boys.
I shudder at the idea of owning a VW. I like a few of their cars like the GTI but between the VW's my friends and family have owned (along with platform sibling Audi's) I know that they are horribly unreliable.
Mexican made VW Jetta/Golf is the one to blame for this false perception... It is true that Mexican made VW have had some pretty bad reliability models, but the ones made in Germany (Passat, Audi) have been pretty reliable and extremely fun to drive.
My large family and many friends who have owned VW/Audi for many, many years are almost exclusively purchasing VW, especially with TDI.
The Passat I recommended is American made and so far it has been a very reliable vehicle and best looking sedan in its class IMO.
Generally speaking, people who make the decision to buy a Nissan do it but once and then realize their huge mistake. At least that's been my observation over the course of my driving history.
Do yourself a huge favor; buy a Camry or an Accord. And, don't similarly be swayed by the Mazda 6 hype. You'll thank yourself later ... believe me as someone who knows. Hope this helps.
PS: I realize this post is now old, but others may be thinking of making the same mistake, now that the new models are out.
Yeah, buy a Camry like my co-worker did in 2011 and had an oil pump failure on the highway that destroyed the engine.
OR
By an Accord like my sister in law did in 2012 and was told just this morning that she needs a new transmission.
Lucky for both the cars were still under warranty.
Generally speaking, people who make the decision to buy a Nissan do it but once and then realize their huge mistake. At least that's been my observation over the course of my driving history.
Do yourself a huge favor; buy a Camry or an Accord. And, don't similarly be swayed by the Mazda 6 hype. You'll thank yourself later ... believe me as someone who knows. Hope this helps.
PS: I realize this post is now old, but others may be thinking of making the same mistake, now that the new models are out.
That makes sense, is that why the Nissan Altima is the 2nd best selling sedan in the US? And all their other models that are highly rated and huge sales?
No reason to spew biased opinions in a thread where the OP is asking for honest ones.
The one thing that I don't like about my 04 Camry is the transmission jerks/lunges once in awhile. It has been a issue since I owned it. They did one TSB ECU flash upgrade.
Among the cars I have been looking at, I like the Accord Sport, but 25k? it looks no more sporty than a Camry. I don't have kids and will be single so I want to like the Accord Sport more, but Kia Koup Turbo looks like more value, but I digress.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
