I am interested to know how many of you have had at one time or right now one of the following vehicles: Nissan Maxima Honda Accord Toyota Camry I had a Camry ('94 LE V6) and I currently own a '97 Maxima SE. I have never had an Accord but I did have a '92 Prelude SI. You always hear of the rivalry between Toyota and Honda and specifically Camry and Accord. However, in the 3 months that I have had my Maxima, I think it is better than my Camry (I can't say about the Accord since I have never had one). It is sportier, handles a little better, and has more horsepower (about 6 to 10 more). Don't get me wrong--my Camry was a great car, but with 105,000 miles and 2 1/2 years of it, I felt it was time for a change. So what does everyone think? How would you rank these 3 perennial stalwart vehicles that have been so dependable and reliable through the years?
Woo hoo... age old debate. I owned an '88 Camry and switched to a '97 Maxima SE. Performance-wise the Maxima will stomp on a Camry (unless you get the TRD Camry Solara). I bought the Max because it is the best of all worlds... a good performance, 4-door sport sedan that is practical. As far as reliability, both of them were reliable. The Max's engine has almost always been ranked by Ward's automotive as one of the 10 best engines in the world. I've had my '97 Max since it was new. It has about 100k on it now and the only unscheduled repair it's needed so far is a speedometer that went out, but was covered by warranty. The Max also has one hell of an efficient engine. Your model gets a lot for that 190 hp. BTW, the next model year Maxima will be coming with a 260 hp engine in it. The totally re-designed Max, which should be coming next year I believe, will have the same engine but be a different car altogether. If you really want to compare cars now, it will be the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, and the Nissan Altima as the new Altima they just brought out has an optional 240 hp V6 engine. They're moving the Maxima up in the car wars... I LOVE MY MAX!
Maxima is far and away a better car than the two mentioned. You also should expect to pay more for it too. I would put it more in the class of the Avalon with Toyota. I don't see a comparable Honda.
Yes the ageless argument of crap cars. I honestly can't understand why people like cars like these. What is the appeal? I guess I would say Camry though because people steal em like crazy so I guess they would have to be good.
Behold the power of spelling! Sorry, I had to... BTW, people are attracted to these cars because they're reliable cars and family cars. Any suggestions for better cars?
DOD: Amen!! I really think that I'll probably never buy any other car other than a Camry, Maxima, or a Honda Accord (although I would have to get a V6). I may buy a Mazda like a Millenia but I can't see myself buying anything else right now except maybe for a SUV. People buy these cars just like you said because they are reliable and they get good gas mileage. My parents are on a Ford kick and my father always derides me for buying a foreign car. However, the Maxima (at one time, I don't know now) as well as the Camry are made in the US with the Camry in Georgetown, KY and the Maxima was or is still being built in Smyrna, TN which is 45 minutes from where I live. The 2 best things about my Maxima compared to my Camry: 1) The sound system. I have both a CD player and a tape player and it's a Bose system!! 2) The handling and power. The Maxima reminds me of a 300 pound plus lineman in football that can run a 40 in 4.8 or 4.9. It feels so heavy yet there is nothing that this car can't do. I had heard about the upgrade in hp for the Max, so it might be more accurate to compare the Max to the Avalon and maybe the Mazda Millenia.
I'm interested in this debate, because my next car will most likely be one of these three choices. Toyota Camry - A close friend of mine has had 3 or 4 of them, and it doesn't look like he'll ever switch. I've never owned one, but I do know the Corrolla's have poor handling, and I would expect similar handling in the Camry. A positive, my wife's Corrolla has only had ONE A/C coolant recharge since she's owned it, and it blows cold to this day. Honda Accord - These cars used to be at the top of the game, but have fallen of drastically within the past 5 years. I don't know why, either. I think all Hondas (I've owned a Civic Wagon and now a Prelude) have excellent handling. But, the Accord is probably the smaller of the three choices when it comes to interior room. One negative, I think Hondas have more problems with A/Cs than do Toyotas, not sure about Nissans. Both my Civic Wagon and Prelude had their A/C die on them. Nissan Maxima - My mother-in-law had one a few years ago, and once I drove it I fell in love with it. The handling was great and it had great pick-up. Like Manny Ramirez said, it felt solid but powerful. If anyone else has any other info on this car I am very interested in gathering it, pro or con.
Here're some Nissan enthusiast sites I frequent that you may be able to gain more info : http://www.maxima.org/ http://www.freshalloy.com/ There's also a Maxima mailing list I'm on that I can send you the link to subscribe to if you want. Like I said, I've bought a Nissan Maxima and love this car more than I loved my Camry simply because it's just as reliable and blows the doors off the Camry in terms of performance. It's also nice to be able to take people somewhere (4 doors) as opposed to cramming them into a backseat the size of a toilet. If you're buying new, get the new Altima... bang-for-the-buck I don't think it can be beat. I'm not much for its interior styling though... kinda freaky lookin'.
I love my Camry. My mom loves her Camry. We Camry folx. I saw the 1st couple of post to this thread and I was thinking are they comparing a 97 Maxima to a 88 Camry? [newer Maxima to an older Camry] because they talked about the old car then their new one. judging by the comments it does not seem one can go wrong with any of them. just for me 1. Camry 2. Maxima 3. Accord [have they truly fallen this much?] Rocket River
I don't know about those cars, but I really like the new Hyundais. They're cheap, excellent on gas and they actually look pretty good. Can't go wrong there.
That's my thoughts exactly. Don't get me wrong, I loved my '94 Camry, but the power of car fever can be too hard to overcome!! I think that the body style that my Camry was ('94) and the previous generation was the best body styles. I've never been enthusiastic about the current body style...too conservative and staid looking. Hopefully, Toyota will give Camry a makeover in terms of styling. The next generation should be coming out soon, at least it seems like it. Still, whether you like the styling or not, the Camry is a great car overall. My Maxima ('97) has been everything that I dreamed of. Great sound system, better power and handling, and good gas mileage. It really feels like and handles like a 4-door sports car. I like the body style of my Max as well as the previous generation. It took me a while on the 2000 Max, but it's okay--I would probably buy one if the opportunity came up (after all I can't turn down 222 hp). The picture of the new Altima looked cool to me and the new Max with a V8 and 260 hp shows that Nissan is taking steps in the right direction to try to compete with the big 2 of Honda and Toyota. As for the Accord, there are too many of them out there. Yes, there are plenty of Camrys and Maximas, but it seems like everybody has an Accord or did at one time. Also, the few times that I've dealt with Honda dealers, they were real arrogant and acted like pricks. A funny thing about the Accord: for several years, Honda did not have a V6 option for it. They finally got one around '94 or '95 and several magazines reported that the V6 actually caused the car to lag ! I'm sure Honda has probably fixed that by now, but that didn't look good for them, IMO. In conclusion, any time you have the opportunity to get a Camry or a Maxima, I would jump on it. If you want the Max, though, you'll probably have to pay more unless you're getting an older model.
i have a toyota corrola. never had a single problem. smaller and cheaper than the camry, slightly better gas mileage, but not much to look at. the best looking of the bunch i would say is the accord, especially black ones. the newer 2 door black accords look damn nice, in fact. my next car will be a little snootier, though. i feel i deserve an upgrade with my next car, since i chose a cheaper car this time to spend my money on more urgent things.
The only car I've ever had was a '91 Civic. I totalled it a couple years ago, but it ran great its entire life and never needed much work done on it. My mom has an '93 accord that's only been in the shop (for any reason at all) twice. My fiancee has a '94 accord that's never needed more than an oil changes and a new radio. I've got a lot of faith in Honda, although, if they've declined in the past 5 years, I wouldn't know .
I bought a 1995 Honda Accord EX Coupe for $9,000 last summer. It has all the bells and whistles that you would want in a car......sun roof, spoiler, etc. I bought the car with the knowledge that Accord's last forever and are extremely reliable and solid. The drive is wonderful, handling is superb........but: Here are the list of repairs and stuff since I bought it: 1. 8-28-00 Belts and hoses, timing belt, brakes, new front strut, etc. Total Cost: $1,000 2. 9-2-00 New brake master cylinder Total Cost: $475 3. 11-27-00 Power Window would not roll up Total Cost: $300 4. 1-9-01 ABS Light On (Accumulator was leaking) Total Cost: $475 5. 1-15-01 ABS Light STILL On Total Cost: $0 6. 2-21-01 ABS Light ON AGAIN Replace ABS Modulator (original problem not diagnosed) Total Cost (w/ discount): $767 7. 7-13-01 Car Wont Start...plus towing and diagnostic fee Replace Battery Total Cost: $210 GRAND TOTAL ON REPAIRS in 1 YEAR of driving my 1995 Accord: $3,227.00 !!!!!!!!!!! Next thing that goes wrong.....Im selling it and getting a Maxima
I know how you feel. When I had my '92 Prelude, I had so many things go wrong, it wasn't even funny. For starters, I had a flat tire and later wound up getting 4 new tires about a month of owning the car. Then I had problems with CV joints and I had to get an axle replaced. I went with a used and it still cost me 270 dollars. Then my timing belt had to be replaced. Then I had all kinds of problems with my power steering pump. I had to replace it and the one that the dealership gave me had a leak in it! Thus, they had to get me another one (free of charge, of course). But the worse was yet to come. Right around 100,000 miles, I noticed that the car would not shift into 4th gear although I could still shift into 5th gear. A master German mechanic looked at it and said that I had a synchronization problem and I only had 2 options: 1) Live with it 2) Get a new transmission It wasn't too long after this that my clutch went out! My father and me finally sat down and talked about what to do with this lemon. I went ahead and had the Honda dealership put in a new clutch, a used transmission, and do brake work. All in all, it cost about 2500 dollars! The car then drove good for 5,000 miles but continued to have minor things wrong with it. The last straw was when my passenger window would not roll back up and the dealership told me that I would have to get a new master switch which was 125 dollars. What sucked even more was the fact that I had taken out a loan on this car!! Fortunately, I had saved up enough money, made extra payments, and sold some comic books to get this lemon paid off. I then got my Camry and didn't have any problems except for a window regulator and that was minor. Hopefully, knock on wood, I'll never have any problems with my Maxima. The morale of my story is always have an independent mechanic check the car before you buy it or know the history of the car inside and out. Also, as I found out the hard way, just because you have a reliable model doesn't mean that you'll never have any problems, especially, if the previous owner drove the hell out of your car like the idiot who had my Prelude before me.
No. Same generation Camry. I just happened to own a '88 Camry and was stating it was a reliable car. In '97 when I was looking for a reliable, good performance, fairly-inexpensive 4 door sedan, nothing came close to the Max. The acceleration on the Camry couldn't compare and it was too "mom & pop" in terms of styling for my tastes.
