I'm a Honda driver, but my wife and family loves Toyotas so after I sold my Honda Civic HX I bought a Toyota Corolla while my sis got a Toyota Camry V6. Horrible. Many problems and the cost of fixing is ridiculous after warranty expired.
I convinced my wife our next car is gonna be Honda Civic EX (would of gone after Si but my wife can't drive stick, yuck.)
I sell Hyundai in the Sacramento, CA area. (An evil car salesperson lurks!) Honda is a fine car. So is Toyota. But before you make a final decision check out what Hyundai offers and compare it feature to feature, dollar to dollar to both. If you are convinced that Toyota is better for you than by all means buy one. Just check out ALL the competition... not must my line, but all the imports and some of the domestics as well.
AC (Contact me? Put underscores between the words in email address.)
I checked out Hyundai when I was looking. All I had to do was sit in an Elantra. I could get out of the dealership fast enough.
Steve
I own both Toyota and Honda cars. While I like the way Honda cars steer and handle I've had fewer repair bills from my Toyota cars. All the Toyotas I've ever owned or examined came with simply awful OEM tires. If you are still riding on OEM tires, replace them ASAP. I put a set of Pirellis onto our Corolla and that transformed the car. Cured so many ills it was hard to believe.
On the other hand, if I needed an economy car today, I'd buy a new Civic. Honda put a lot into the Civic's upgrade (to save it from oblivion) and it shows. [Still, would've been better if they had kept the double wishbone front suspension which allows a lower cowl and hood.]
Teach the wife to drive a stick. The Si is worth it.
My wife test drove a Civic, a Corolla, a Sentra and an Elantra. She bought the Elantra becasue of its lower price, decent equipment and soft suspension (as soft as the Corolla). However I prefer the Civic because it drives more like my Acura TL (which is rather expensive to fix, particularly if one has to replace transmissions once they no longer are on warranty). I also own a '97 Corolla DX 1.8 that has been excellent so far. While it is somewhat expensive to fix when it breaks, it has been extremely reliable.
"Steve Mackie" wrote in news: kWQjg.60336$JX1.2577@edtnps82...
I have to agree with your comment about Toyota's OEM tires. I drove a late model Corolla as a rental car for several weeks earlier in the year and the first thing I noticed was the noisy and squirrely ride. It felt like I had no stability in the rear. I knew the main culprit were the crappy OEM tires. I don't remember what they were but they looked cheap and handled like crap.
Sorry dude, like computers it's not just about "features", but "quality." What good is it if the features are better or cheaper but less reliable? I haven't been following Hyundai (after my awful experience with Hyundai Excel back in th late 80s), and I realize they offer an aggressive 10-year warranty, but still. I don't want to waste my time in the car shop even if it won't cost me a cent.
Plus, my personal bias is handling. I still think Honda is the best in this (my old 1994 Civic still handles better than my 2000 Maxima SE, ridiculous. I won't even compare it with my Toyotas) I want to drive a car that I can make it feel like it's part of me and goes wherever I wanted it to go in a heart-beat, not feel like I'm driving a dinosaur.
well I'd like to HOPE a 1994 civic handles better than a 2000 maxima SE (the maxima being a hell of a lot bigger and heavier than a small civic) I had a
2001 maxima SE and that handled very well for a car of it's size... but... like i siad, for a car of it's size, any civic or carolla or hell, even a hyndai accent would probably out handle it ;-) doesn't necessarly mean it's a better car.
Where did I say it's a better car? I merely said "handling." Of course I know Maxima SE is a better one, otherwise I wouldn't buy it and I would of gone after Accord V6. I'm just saying I'm disappointed that even the SE version of my 2000 Maxima can't out-handle a Civic.
I've driven Accord V6 too, and it's quivalent of Maxima and it handles way bette than it. Of course ultimately I've chosen Maxima for its power and style. Accord just looked too "old-ladyish" for me.
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