Camry vs Accord ?

On Saturday my wife and I both drove the 4 cylinder automatics and really like both the Honda and Toyota. I couldn't find any significant difference but my wife liked the looks of one better than the other and she can't recall which one because we also drove the Mitsubishi Galant, Hyundai Sonota, Toyota Matrix, and a PT Cruiser. The PT & Matrix is off our list and it's between Honda and Toyota because the other 2 Asian cars depreciate faster. Apart from emotions with prices, performace and features essentially the same what are factual reasons for selecting one over the other. tnx Hank

Unless you plan on trading every couple of years, depreciation isn't an issue. Do yourself a favor and try the '06 Sonata before you buy.

Hyundai's reputation and quality has been improving greatly recently, so I suspect their resale value will also. And of course if the initial cost is less than for an equivalent Japanese car, that offsets the depreciation.

Merritt

Do you mean the Sonata that loses 75% of it value in three years? It pains me to hear that name on a Honda site. I dont like left over Mitsubishi junk.

No, that's not what he meant. Try to keep up.

They are both excellent cars. I haven't driven the Honda for a while; I lean more towards sportiness and the Camry doesn't fill that bill. How does the Honda drive?

BTW, why did you rule out the Matrix? I drove one for the first time the other day and it is just what I like about Toyotas!

Even if it IS made in Canada...

Honda handles a little better, and Camry is a little quieter. You can't go wrong with either car if you maintain the car properly. Mobil 1 is highly recommended after about 5-10K miles. If you can't afford full synthetic, consider a synthetic blend.

What does synthetic oil have to do with anything? Plenty of toyotas have accumulated 100's of thousands of km using standard oil...and since he is concerned about resale, it doesn't sound like he is necessarily keeping it for the long haul. As you mentioned, just performing the maintenance when required and using a quality filter is key. I prefer OEM filters because their anti-drainback valve is of much better quality. I have used Fram filters on my 97 Camry and you could hear more clatter from the valves at start up than you do with a Toyota filter.

One thing I've always admired about Toyota over Honda is the engine design ... now I can't speak for either of the current models but Toyota's are typically non-interference designed engines, and if not they use a timing chain. With non-interference, if you do happen to blow a timing belt it is not going to add $1000 to the repair...I've heard of too many Honda's that this has happened to.

P.S. My 97 currently has over 300000 km and is still going strong!!

That was my impression as well. The Matrix looks 'kewl', but there's hardly any storage space behind the rear seats.

I think you can't go wrong with either car. When I was looking at Corolla vs. Civic, my impression was that the Corolla was a bit stiffer and better handling, and the Civic was marginally softer and quieter.

I went with the 48 mpg Echo, s> The Matrix is too small.

They are both highly rated. I have driven both the new Camry and the Accord. They are both very good. There is one area that consumers frequently overlook, i.e., how does the company react to warranty claims and lemon law claims. Do they allow you to use the BBB arbitration system or will they only participate in lemon law arbitration with their own chosen arbitrators. Are they very accomodating on warranty claims or do they sometimes play hardball. I've had an experience when Honda, IMHO, played hardball on something they should have honored on the warranty. That's why we have chosen Toyota for our latest new car. The warranty is one of the most important things you get with a new car. Don't take it for granted that they all honor their warranties in the same friendly manner. Some do and some don't. Al Al

Toyota refers customers to their chosen arbitrator, which, IIRC, is BBB. The arbitration is binding on Toyota but not on the customer, who can still pursue lemon laws or whatever if they so choose.

The only problem I personally found with the 4 cylinder honda's were they had large amount of road noise at highway speeds as compared to the Camry, the 6 cylinder's honda's, for some reason, are very quiet.