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Nissan Maxima vs. Honda Accord
coolsnow23
Member Posts: 1
I am debating on buying the Nissan Maxima or the Honda Accord. Which car should I choose? Is the Nissan Maxima as reliable as the Accord? Is the Honda Bose really worth it or is the Accord 6 disk changer better? What is your opinion?
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Good Luck to you.
Reg
Thanks
I suggest test-driving both. I found the Accord had a suprisingly harsh ride considering its copious amounts of body roll and nose dive (the SE, with its 17" wheels, has a firm ride but at least it handles accordingly), and the steering is very slow and overboosted in comparison to the Maxima. The Max also has a much more substantial feel all around, at least to me.
I thought the Accord's engine was its only real saving grace; it had no sporting aspirations at all and was generally rather numb and uncommunicative to drive. To each his own I guess. I thought R&T summed it up nicely when they compared the Accord, Max, Camry, Grand Prix, and Taurus last May; they said the Maxima was "a shark among groupers," and ranked it #1.
A proud Honda owner,
Robert Rodriguez
I agree the Accord is the class leader on paper, as it offers a tremendous feature set for the money, and I rationalized mine for a long time on that basis - it seemed better-equipped and more powerful, and much cheaper to boot, than my Dad's Acura Legends, which were great cars in their day. But when it came to actually driving it, I was tremendously disappointed. I think in this class the Maxima is clearly the car to beat for folks who want a sporty car, and the Camry is probably the comfort and refinement leader. I found my Accord to combine the two qualities in a way that did not satisfy me at all - it seemed to combine excessive ride harshness with very slow, overboosted steering. To each his own I guess. In all fairness I really dislike automatic transmissions as well, which did not help the car in my eyes either.
Maxima:
I tried the SE. I couldn't feel much difference on the suspension system (comapred to my current Altima GXE's ??). The interior is much nicer. The car is more stable but I have to press the accelerator harder to make it go. May be I used to Nissan's accelerator and their accelerator pedals seem to be tighter.
Accord:
I tried LX-V6 instead of the EX-V6. The interior is cheaper (because it is a LX ?). Anyway, I looked at an EX interior and it is just a little bit better. The automatic climate control is too simple and like a toy. I felt the car move quicker. I pressed the accelerator slightly and the car moves. The car felt lighter too. I won't buy EX because leather seats without heated seats in winter (esp. in the Midwest region) is kind of stupid.
You can better paint, interest rate from Nissan, longer bumper-bumper & major components warranty from Nissan, and you can usually get a better deal too.
If I buy Nissan again, I may buy a 1-2 years old one because used Nissans are cheap.
SE if purchased would be equipped similar to GLE with leather,sunroof, etc, plus 17 inch tires.
Questions: Best dealer price so far on GLE with roof, microfilter,floormats is $25531. Have not prices a SE yet. Is this a reasonable price? Does the SE with 17 inch rubber have a noticeable harsher ride? Is premium fuel required?
Any and all input is appreciated> Thanks in advance.
As a long time & satisfied Accord driver it is a hard choice to shift horses. Honda's value, build quality, local service staff and resale value are not easily overcome by the opposition.
After lots of homework, I bought the Maxima GLE after a test ride experience revealed: 1)the Bose Sound System was second to none 2)the cabin is spacious, comfortable (without the too cushy feel of the CAMRY) & instrumentation is exceptional ...3)most important the 222 HP V6 has the pep and road grabbing feel of a sports car!
Still the $ gap between the Maxima and my second choice, the Accord, was making it hard. Along came the Presidents Day Sale... and an offer I couldn't refuse. Nissan was dealing...my Accord dealer wasn't interested...thus, the choice became easy--->MAXIMA. Morale of the story..If you can close the $ gap...I say JUST DO IT! If you can't close the $....Honda is not a shabby fall back.
I was in the market for something "new". What I found was a Chevy Impala LS. From someone who only buys import cars, I can give you testimonial that the Impala LS is an awesome vehicle!! I was shocked by the drive quality of the car and all the safety features you come to expect for a mid size car.
I highly recommend anyone who is looking for a fully loaded sedan to test drive a Chevy Impala LS. Dont' limit yourself with only import cars. The Impala LS made a big believer out of me!! Even my sister who owns Infiniti Q45 was amazed at the smoothness of the vehicle and the power pack 3.8 liter 200 hp engine. She also loves that fact that NSHTA ranked Impala 5 stars.
Thanks!
I recently purchased a 2001 SE for 23700(including comfort and convenience, microfilter, mats, wind deflector, and destination). A $500 factory to dealer was applied(don't know if this still in effect).
Good Luck!
Joe
Just got our new 2001 Maxima SE this weekend. Comfort & Convenience, Meridian Edition, Bose, Leather (Love those heated seats here in the Dakotas!) Microfilter...basically every option you can get except for the 6-disc changer.
What a beauty of a car. Sticker on ours was 30,060 and we paid 26,300. A few hundred under invoice.
To those looking for good deals...I have done a TON of research in the past months on the MAX, and it seems everyone is paying invoice +/- a few hundred dollars. Keep pressing till you get it. We had to walk out on the business manager once...but sure enough the next morning the phone was ringing with our price.
We drove Accord and Max and there just is no comparison. Even the fully loaded Honda is a far cry from the Max SE. The 17" tires are sooooo nice.
Now my other question. I just bought my 97 at the beginning of the year and a single disc CD player was on the features list. However, all the buttons are labelled with the changer controls as well. So I want to be sure that I don't have a changer that I don't know how to use, as the manual is totally useless in the section designated specifically for models equipped with CD changers. So, for those with changers in their previous generation Maximas (or the current generation if the changer is the same or quite similar), how do you load your CD's? In what order do you do what? So am I an idiot with a changer or am I doing everything right and I just don't have a changer?
While there are no specific reliability issues to worry about, any car can have a problem. The person buying this car at auction (with your authorization, I presume) sounds like the sole assessor of this vehicle, determining both condition and value. Should there be multiple bidders the value equation will take care of itself - bidding itself determines value.
But you didn't say what your relationship to the buyer (bidder) is. Is the auction private (dealer), or public? Is he telling you the car will be approx. $18.9k regardless of what he buys it for? These are important factors. The difference between 23k miles and 50k miles on a 98 car is huge. I surely wouldn't want to pay the same amount for cars with that variance in milage. As for the 5-speed, the resale isn't greater.
Buying cars at auction can be risky, since you don't have the opportunity to check the car thoroughly for mechanical defects, but by and large you can get good value for your selection. I would try to find a 98 with warranty left if possible - just in case there is a hidden problem..That means under 36k miles on the odometer and under three years from the service date (Nissan's warranty). If the warranty book is in the car it should note when the car was put in service.
But $18.9k for a 98 with 50k miles is high for an auction. Wholesale is well below that. Think of the milage this way. If the car had only 23k miles on it you would be able to drive it 27k more miles before it was an equivalent car to the one with 50k miles. That's two years driving to some people. If someone keeps their car for 300k miles then it doesn't mean so much, but the market says that the car with 23k miles is worth $1500-2000 more. Good luck.
Denny
If you're looking for a real driving machine, go with the Maxima.
Test drive both. If you don't realize a difference, then buy the Honda and get yourself checked out.I was set on buying a Honda until I test drove the Maxima. End of story.
Now my other question. I just bought my 97 at the beginning of the year and a single disc CD player was on the features list. However, all the buttons are labeled with the changer controls as well. So I want to be sure that I don't have a changer that I don't know how to use, as the manual is totally useless in the section designated specifically for models equipped with CD changers. So, for those with changers in their previous generation Maximas (or the current generation if the changer is the same or quite similar), how do you load your CD's? In what order do you do what? So am I an idiot with a changer or am I doing everything right and I just don't have a changer?
I imagine the reason the speedo reads 160 is just to make it look more impressive to the casual onlooker.
Mike from South Jersey
No, I did not purchase the 20th Anniversary MAx...but we looked at them heavily before getting the regular SE. We test drove one and ran some numbers with the business manager at a bigger dealer in the Twin Cities. He gave the impression that with the limited number of 20th Anniv. max's (12,500) produced, that real good deals would be harder to come by. However, he also said that anytime he could order one for his lot, he would...just so maybe he can build a nice supply of them (perhaps to give a deal or two). They come with a heftier price by a couple thousand over the regular SE...but you really don't get much more than badging and 5 extra horses. One of the Twin Cities dealers had the 20th Anniversary in Majestic Blue on the showroom floor and it was _gorgeous_. If I could have splurged, I would have just for that color. Very very nice. Wish Nissan would have made it available on all SE's. But I suppose that is their intention. Make a limited number of 20th's and give the buyer a leg up on the rest of the Max owners by offering a very nice color.
Here's the numbers I could find on the Accord and maxima (March 01 Motor Trend), I believe edmunds ran a comparison on the two in their family sedan showdown as well.
0-60 Honda: 8.1 Maxima GXE: 8.1
60-0 134 ft 131 ft
slalom 56.6 mph 58.6 mph
1/4 mi 16.2 (85.8) 16.2 (85.9)
-Not huge differences, with the slalom being perhaps the most notable with a variance of 2 mph. Unless, spending the money on the 5spd SE with the more capable wheels/tires, I don't think performance is an issue. If you like the way one looks or feels over the other, fine, but I don't think either car is going to be embarassing each other at stop lights or on-ramps (unless you roll down you window and tell me that you have twenty more hp).
-Getz
I'm not trying to knock the maxima as it is a fabulous car, but I think the sports car classification is a bit much considering the actual performance numbers. I find it amusing that anything perpetuated as a sports sedan would even find itself being compared to the accord, which is considered the kitchen appliance of the car world. I also haven't noticed any maxima vs. the BMW 330 or Audi A6 (although the price tag would make these equally laughable).
It will be interesting to see where nissan is taking itself; with the new Z and Q45's numbers we may see a resurgence of the attitude that inifiniti had when it first came out. Unfortunately they tried to ride the lexus cushy boat philosophy and strayed away from producing comfortable cars with great performance (the first Q45 had a much meaner V8 than the past few years have used), the new Q45 is amazing! My wife had a 99 G20 that was incredibly stable when pushed through corners, and if provided the proper engine it could have been a bmw beater. The XVL, proposed with rear wheel drive and 250+hp will be incredible if it handles as well as the G20 did. I am estatic that so many people love the maxima (as evidenced by the twenty other maxima vs. God knows what topics) as it will help nissan maintain its solidarity. Nissan has the know how to make a serious car (ever hear of the skyline?), it's just a matter of time till they are willing to produce a sedan that totally pleases in the performance category. And Boris, if you drive an automatic SE don't let reality hinder your notion of its performance, if you squint hard enough and perform a carotid massage during brisk accleration you will have the notion of traveling much faster than actually registered on the speedometer. There is actually a level of self awareness, as documented by Freud, jammed between the id, ego, and superego which actually governs men and their cars so I understand this need to feel faster and sportier then the next guy. Hey, if a woman can get breast implants to feel better about herself, you are certainly entitled to pick on cavaliers, malibus, intrepids, heck even accords at the stop light. Try cannibalism and dust a sentra se, or would that be fratricide? Enjoy your car!
-Getz
Take care, and try not to pick on the honda guys to much with that fancy drive train.
-Getz
I don't know about a 2001 Maxima, but I was in a 2000 maxima that hit 130mph. It wasn't going to go much higher than that. I'd say 135 max. The 160 is for show, unless you want to put a Stillen supercharger in it.