Kill me, I'm thinking of getting a 'family' sedan

SuperHero

SuperHero

500+ Posts
So I've decided that with a weekend toy car, I don't need a sports sedan, entry-luxury car or whatever fancy. Just something reliable, "grown up" (holy cow, turning 30 is ******* me up), that won't lose 90% of its value in 3 years, and comes in a stick. I'm looking for something in the low 20's and pretty much narrowed it down to a Honda Accord, Mazda6, and Toyota Camry. If you have any of the aforementioned vehicles, and wish to sing its praise or share horror stories, please do so.
 
Im considering the Accord or Maxima. My wife used to have a Camery that I simply hated. No real reason why.
 
Who is it for, you or the wife? Is it for schlepping around kids? How many?

All those sedans are perfectly fine, but they may not be what you need.
 
Camry=BORING

in addition I rear ended a guy because the ******* lousy ABS brakes on my rent car Camry POS (that was the only thing they had) DID NOT WORK.

I barely tapped a 67 chevy impala just hard enough to pop the airbags and the Camry folded up like a cheap suit. Didn't even dent the impala's bumper, no sheet metal damage on it at all and the Crapmry was ******* totaled.

Crapmrys suck ***.
 
I come from a family of nothing but Accord drivers. My dad used to sell them and swears by them. My 90 has 204000 miles and still going strong, my dad just sold his 91 for 2 grand and it had 235000 on it, and our mechanic's 91 has half a million miles on it. Go with the Accord. Great cars.
 
Chrysler 300C. Look like a pimp, drive a car that's rediculously fast, and have plenty of room for adults.

Do it.

Do it.

Do it.

Do it.
 
Why a stick? The fuel economy for all the cars mentioned is not significantly better in the standard tranny. If you're getting it because you still want to drive it like it's a sports sedan, you're going to put some serious wear and tear on it.
 
I owned an Accord - nice car. Couldn't kill it.

But, you will be one of 400,000 drivers of Accords out there. There is a bit of a lemming factor with it. It won't let you down, but won't lift you up either.

I second the big American car vote - Ford 500, Chrysler 300, Chevy (whatever) so you stand out a little bit as a retro American kind of guy.

Put an American flag sticker on the back and you will have an identity as something other than a lemming.
 
You mentioned not losing resale value, so you will go with the Honda Accord. Great cars, get the four cylinder, LX or EX. Standard transmissions are not that popular anymore, but I always get one. People would rather pay $2000 when the automatic trans goes out in a few years than $600 when the clutch wears out after 120, 000 miles. No, driving a standard does not put more stress on a car. You can drive hard either with a standard or an automatic.
If you use the trans to slow the car down by downshifting, you are using the engine to slow the car, but you won't wear out the Honda engine unless you are a real street racer, and even then the motors are surprisingly durable.
 
If you're concerned about resale value, don't go to any dealer than sells american cars -- american trucks, yes...american cars, no. If you want the best resale value, go to a Toyota dealership, then Honda, then Nissan / Mazda.
 
I'm pretty much nixing any German and American cars. German because the only thing in the price range is Volkswagen, and you can find out how I feel about them in my "Brands you will NEVER buy again" thread over at Cactus. To whoever said to get a 300M or equivalent to be the "retro American guy" --- BWAHAHAHA. If you ever met me, you'd understand. But I've never been a fan of big cars or trucks.

Reason why I'm only buying a stick is because, well, I'm not dead yet. A 4 year old could drive an automatic to the video store.
biggrin.gif
That, and the last time I drove my friend's auto, I nearly caused an accident because my left foot went for the clutch and stomped on the brakes instead.
 
Hell the best way not to eat depreciation is to buy used. Buiy a clean used car with 30,000 m iles on it and a 50,000 warranty. The dealership will fix any and everything they can find to bill it to the manufacturer.

I always thought the bang for the Buck on Mazda products was pertty good especially from a power/performance standpoint. Fit and finish isn't as good as Toyota, but sounds like you want a stick for performance.

Just wait until you have a family and start thinking about minivans....
 
I have owned 5 Honda's and you cannot beat the Accord. Go to Edmonds.com and find out the cost. Then go to a dealership on the last day of the month and pick out a car on their lot you want and offer $500 below cost.

Also, have a business card from another Honda dealership in hand and tell the sales guy they are "dicks" but their price was good and that you would rather buy from him.

Good luck
 
I bought a fully loaded Mazda6s 2003 demo last march with 5000 miles on it for 18000. I couldn't decide between a stick or automatic for traffic. They have that tiptronic thing in it so I got the auto. It is a real fun car to drive! Handling is great and has good pickup. The interior room isn't as big as others, but it does have a huge trunk. If I had 10,000 more I would get the Honda Accord hybrid or the Chrysler 300C, but at this price level I am more than happy.
 
Mazda does not make a good product and their company is not financially strong.

Honda is a great car and look at the hybrid.

I owned a Nizzan Maxima and IMO it has the best engine in class by a huge margin. It is silly fast and handles extremely well. I think Nissan probably is, on balance, the best importer right now.

Volvo is making an excellent product and I would look at the s60 with the bigger engine. Nice car.
 
It's Edmunds.com ...

I had a standard transmission Accord that I just sold when my wife and I inherited her grandmother's Lexus. I really liked the Accord and I've been driving standard transmission cars since my freshman year of college. However, you won't get as much on your re-sale if you buy a standard -- 'less you sell the car yourself through the classifieds and find somebody similar to yourself.

Nothing's worse that getting caught in a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam if you're driving a stick. The next stick I buy will be a sports car.
 
H4L,
After picking up the Miata used, I swore never to buy a brand new car. But have you tried looking for a manual Accord? It's like looking for virgins at LSU.
 
khorn,

are you high?

the BASE level TL STARTS at $32k!

I paid 29k with Navigation system when they first came out. You may be able to do better now.
 
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