Impala vs. Accord?

Not sure how much my opinion is worth, but I'd buy an Impala over an Accord any day, especially used. As long as you don't mind regular brake maintenance of course.

Steve

I was at a Honda dealer last Saturday. I was surprised at the asking prices for used Accords. I'd have to say they hold their re-sale value better than the Impala, but that may not matter. If the Impala is much cheaper, it may be the better buy. You should be able to drive another 50k with no serious problems. Some repair may be needed, but that is true of any car as the miles build up.

If you plan to drive the car for a year and sell it, you may get better resale on the Accord, but if you are going to keep it for longer, the added resale will diminish. After a number or years and miles, either one will still only fetch $35 at the junk yard. That would make the Impala a much better buy.

Have you priced a new Impala? With the current offerings you can get a long term, interest free loan. The monthly payment may be not any more than the cost of a high interest short term loan on a used car. You are correct, Toyotas and Hondas are way overpriced in todays market.

mike hunt

Some Accords have reoccurring brake problems as well.

mike hunt

Cops are running around in Impales with 200K on the clock ;)

mike hunt

If I were to buy an Impala w/60 degree engine, I would change the intake manifold gasket real soon, first week or two. It's real pain to change but worth it to keep the car past 60k miles.. If it is a 90 degee engine, I would repair the burned intake manifold right away, first week or three. I have been looking at Accords and know what you mean about prices. A 2005 Grand Am with half the miles goes for half the price. I may end up with another G/A yet.

In our weekly shopper paper that came today a dealer is advertising two used cars.

2003 Bonneville SE $11,950 (original sticker was probably $26k or more 2002 Honda Civic EX $12,999 (original sticker was probably

If I were you, I would take the Impala. I have several relatives who own them, and they all love them. If you can get the 3800 engine, that's even better. They are known for there gasket problems, but other then that they are damned good engines. Also, where I live (Ontario, Canada), the Police use Impala's, so they have to be good ;-) Oh, and they are sharp looking cars too.

Yes. IMO, Hondas are overpriced but I will test drive a used Accord 6 th= is month. Both the Bonny and the Accord will go the same 225k miles with about the = same amount of repairs. I need to find out what the low end torque on the Acc= ord is like. No smoking tires =3D no purchase.

New Accords are an excellent value, in part because they retain their value so well. New Impalas, on the other hand, are a poor value in part because of steep depreciation.

Recently off rental Impalas can be a good buy. A friend bought one from Hertz about a year ago and still loves it. So yes, if buying use you can get more car in the Impala. Just make sure to spend the extra bucks for an extended warranty to cover the intake manifold gasket and other high failure rate GM features as the car ages.

There are reasons why used Accords sell for so much more than similar miles/condition Impalas.

John

The Accord V-6 includes traction control as a standard feature, so you will never smoke the tires with it.

John

Funny how people say Honda's are over priced. If they were really over priced, they would never sell. People say any car over a given period of time will have the same amount of problems. Well, according to a Consumer Reports survey, 8 year old GMs had 140 problems per 100 vehicles, where as Honda had 70 problems per 100 vehicles. On a side note, stay away from used VWs.

Just because resale values are high, doesn't mean they are overpriced, it means that's what the public is willing to pay.

Steve

I considered the Impala as well. (Still havent bought a new car...decided to wait for a while.)

It looks pretty good, and is certainly cheaper on the used market. Not so cheap when purchased new.

Although I dont put a lot of credibility in anything CR puts out, I will have to dig out my automobile copy and see what they said.

I'd drive a couple cars before making a decision. I'm not real sold on the previous generation Impalas, I've head that the new ones are much better, but they only came out for the '05 model year. Based on driving an '04 as a company car for the last year, I'd probably go with the Accord.

nate

Higher leased Impalas mean many more off lease ones. Lots of used supply means lower prices. I rented a '05 Impala for two weeks and wasn't impressed with it's so so handling and old tech auto transmission.

Slightly smaller than the Impala, but similar in size to the Accord and a much more up to date design than the Impala is the Chrysler Sebring V6. Here there are quite a few '05 Sebrings now coming off lease with 10K to

20K miles, selling at about 60% of new list price.

Just curious - what was it about the Impala's "low tech auto transmission" that bothered your driving experience? Was there a real issue, or are you just underwhelmed by GM transmissions?

My copy of Consumer Reports is the 2005 issue where the Impala is given a preliminary evaluation.

Predicted reliability is somewhat better than average, but not 'Good'. Predicted depreciation is pretty bad.

Their comments: Ride is 'absorbent but unsettled and road noise is pronounced'. Seating is not one of this cars strong points according to CR. Interior fit and finish is claimed to be 'borderline offensive'.

They mention the 'coarse' 3800 engine as being powerful enough, but say nothing about the tranny.

They project prices in the range of $22,350-28, 555 (TFM, for this type of car, I think)

Do you know if Chrysler ever fixed the self destructing 2.7 V-6 engine? It would have taken a complete remake of the engine cast.

Even if the Honda has fewer problems, does it mean that, in the course of the next 10 years, the car will have cost its owner that much less in maintenance? What is the difference in the cost of parts? It would also be interesting to compare insurance premiums on the 2 cars.