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Comments
Please explain your comment "What I am saying is that Honda and Toyota interiors appear to hold up better. This comes from seeing way more of these cars than the normal person."
My dad certainly had a lot more trouble with his Camry. I was the one who told him to get the Camry, I wish I'd known better! His Cressida before that had a terrible record, thankfully he's off the Toyota diet now. There's absolutely zero evidence that Hondas/Toyotas are any more durable than Nissans!
Accord pros: gets better mileage (28 mpg so far); runs on regular; has better crash-test scores; accelerates nicely; has decent fit and finish; handling is fine; body seems very stiff and solid; nav system works great; voice controls work OK once you know the syntax.
Accord cons: seat doesn't go back far enough; if you tilt up seat cushion, seat back tilts back with it; huge blind spot in right rear C pillar; stereo sound and radio reception are unimpressive compared to the Maxima's Bose; the mishmash of some climate-control functions, nav and stereo controls all on the same touch screen is a bit confusing, so it behooves you to master the voice-control commands, or you're gonna rear-end someone.
'99 Maxima pros: handling; acceleration, engine performance; great legroom and roominess; utter dependability. It never cost us a dime in repairs.
'99 Maxima cons: it was black, which was a drag; crash-test scores not as good as the Accord.
The driver's seat in the Accord has turned out to be a big problem for us -- and we're not even that tall. Both of us are 6', but my wife's legs are longer, and she cannot, cannot, cannot get the seat back far enough. If she tilts the seat cushion to try to throw a bend in her leg to compensate, the seat back tilts, so that won't do.
We didn't detect this problem during three test drives -- only after buying the car and spending time in it.
What the heck do truly tall people drive, I want to know? After some after-the-fact research on my part, it turns out that they drive Maximas.
Anyway, we HATE the seat situation. Everything else about the Accord is great. I am exploring the possibility of having an upholstery/top shop extend the seat track. They say they do this from time to time. Does anyone have experience with this kind of surgery?
My friend with the Accord has an unusually tall ex-wife (6'3" or so) who drives (you guessed it) a Maxima.
Basketball players often have their cars modified to accomodate their unusual height but this costs money and probably wouldn't do anything but hurt the resale value.
6'0" shouldn't be a problem though as this is pretty much in the middle to high end of the range of the average American.
As for you saying the 99 Maxima offered better acceleration and engine performance, I find that hard to believe unless the 99 SE was a stick.
Thanks for trying to make me feel better anyway.
The silver lining is I don't ever have to worry about sunroofs taking away headroom!
The Accord seemed a little more interesting, which is an odd thing to say about an Accord, I'll admit. We drove a low-end Accord that seemed more like a typical rental car. But the high-end EX with leather and nav system was a lot of bells and whistles for the money -- many more so than the Max. Plus the better gas mileage, plus the regular gas, plus the LEV rating, plus the better crash-test scores -- from an empirical point of view, it just seemed like a better value than the Maxima, even when the Maxima was being deeply discounted to make room for the '04s.
Now, back when we bought our '99 Maxima, I drove a '99 Accord, and the choice was a no-brainer. That Honda was nuthin' special. This time around, we were quite impressed with the new Accord.
I just wish it -- and most cars, really -- had more legroom. I was interested in a Prius or a Civic hybrid as a second car, but both were short in legroom, and I was jammed against the ceiling of the Civic. Same goes with the Corolla. Like a lot of people I know (who are taller than me), I'd sit in a car for two minutes and have to say, "Nope. Won't do." Never even got to a test drive. It was off my list.
I mean, why not design a driver's seat so that it adjusts all the way back to the back seat if that's what you want to do? As a carmaker, why would you not want to maximize the number of potential customers who fit into your product, rather than limit it? Seems like something a smart business would want to do.
I kind of wish I had the memory seats in my new Maxima but I didn't want it bad enough to pay the extra $2,200 for a GLE.
My other options are 2002- 626/galant at 10K or 2002 -taurus/malibu at 10.5K.
While, I realize that these cars are not really comparable and that the maxima has a much higher fun factor, which do you guys think is the better deal. Price is quite important to me, but i can spend more if I know it will work out better in the long run.
thanks!
I know it is out of topic but it is really nice to know this...hmmm.
I think they actually fight like cats and dogs.
He still supports Honda. I just have to hear every day how superior his GS and LS are. That's okay ... we both know the truth
One thing about Gee is he always backs up what he has to say. He isn't one for b.s. Must be the Marine in him.
I guess it's kind of ironic that he has an Infiniti screen name, is always in the Honda boards, and drives a Lexus. Only gee... you'd have to know him to understand.
If you had to recharge the A/C every spring, then you probably weren't using A/C at all in the winter or maintaining it when you should be; if you don't, Honda tells you that the seals will dry up and you'll have to recharge the A/C. The A/C didn't automatically come on with the defroster for some models (correct me if I'm wrong here)...I've never had to recharge the A/C on my Honda (owned a 96 one for 6 years before my 2003 this year)...only time was when some idiot hit me and all sorts of liquids came pouring out
As for the height issue mentioned before, I've never had this problem in an Accord? I have hte EX-L though, so I'm not sure if teh 8-way power adjustment is making a difference for me. I'm 6'0" and I fit well into that car; I'm not very thin either, and I find getting in and out to be fine.
I already checked with my local Honda dealer about servicing an Acura. They told me they can (and do) work on Acuras, but they are not allowed to do warranty work. How convenient is a new car with no dealer to do warranty work?
As for the TL nice execution with the interior but the exterior again I don't know. The TL is like the Accord: It doesn't look Japanese enough for me. The new TL should be cool to drive though.
I love the Maxima in Champagne Mist or White