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When I purchased my Camry LE in 03 it made sense you get a V-6 and better looking wheels. The XLE didn't make sense then or now because they are trying to made a sporty family sedan into a sports car which it will never be. The Camry has always had enough power V-6 but the seats are not designed for cornering even with the XLe.
Maybe I'm missing something but the difference looks like $2620 for the Camry. Didn't look at the Accord. That's more than 10% of the $3000 figure.
At $2620, the XLE (apparently) gets dual zone climate control, 17" wheels, moonroof ($1355 ala carte on other packages), power driver's seat, heated mirrors, and fog lights. I might be missing something small.
The moonroof/power driver's seat combination accounts for half the package, so the remainder of the package is pretty much the dual zone climate, mirrors, wheels, and fog lights. It's not an awful price, but I'd rather have heated seats than fog lights. To get heated seats you have to order the leather package ($2870 or $3370).
Even without leather it's almost a $26k car with a 4 cylinder engine and front wheel drive. The Subaru Legacy with all wheel drive and heated seats for $1000 less, foregoing the climate control in favor of the all wheel drive and available heated seats, is a better value. The remainder of the equipment is pretty similar. The Legacy gets a little less mileage, but $1000 makes up for a 3mpg difference for a long time. Plus it's better to drive, IMO.
But I guess the question was if the option package was worth the cost. I guess it's not awful if you want larger wheels and the little odds and ends that come with it.
While the XLE has a lot of nice goodies not available on the LE, such as the rear HVAC vents (which are nice to have for your rear seat passengers on a hot day), it conspicuously doesn't have something that the LE has, which is the split folding rear seats (instead, it has the reclining rear seat, and a pass through armrest). The fold-down rear seats are really handy if you need to carry outsized cargo once in awhile. Not having it is usually a game-breaker for me (this is true for the Camry's bigger brother, the Avalon). Come to think of it, I don't think the SE has a split folding rear seat either (the reason is that they've kept that for additional body stiffness for handling).
The Accords' rear seats (of any trim level) do fold, but it is a fixed, one-piece backrest, which is less flexible than the split-style.
When I purchased my Camry LE in 03 it made sense you get a V-6 and better looking wheels. The XLE didn't make sense then or now because they are trying to made a sporty family sedan into a sports car which it will never be. The Camry has always had enough power V-6 but the seats are not designed for cornering even with the XLe.
Actually, the XLE is equipped to be luxury, rather than sport. The SE is the one with sporty pretentions(given its larger tires and stiffer suspension) though it's by no means a sports car.
Accords tend to be tuned for more livelier handling than Camrys, whose forte is a softer and quieter ride.
Wow. That would be a deal breaker for me too. I couldn't stand not having a fold down rear seat in my Avalon although the pass through sufficed a few times. It's not like I needed it often, but when I did, it was a real pain to not have it.
$30k? For an Accord or Camry? For the Accord, maybe, if the new design tickles your fancy that much. The Camry? No way. Despite a 2012 redesign, it's more outdated than a 2008-2012 Accord.
$30k? For an Accord or Camry? For the Accord, maybe, if the new design tickles your fancy that much. The Camry? No way. Despite a 2012 redesign, it's more outdated than a 2008-2012 Accord.
You can't deny that the Camry has a very smooth ride, can you?
You might look at Accord LE-premium which has alot of the options many want while not so many others.My sister bought one because she didn't want moon roof and some of the other frills while wanting larger alloy wheels;Securitysystem with remote,electric driver seat and a few others.The no moon roof alone saves alot if you like mnay who rarely use it or don't want it.
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want fold-down rear seats? Get a LE
