-September 2024 Special Lease Deals-
2024 Chevy Blazer EV lease from Bayway Auto Group Click here
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee lease from Mark Dodge Click here
2025 Ram 1500 Factory Order Discounts from Mark Dodge Click here
2024 Chevy Blazer EV lease from Bayway Auto Group Click here
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee lease from Mark Dodge Click here
2025 Ram 1500 Factory Order Discounts from Mark Dodge Click here
Hyundai Azera vs Toyota Avalon vs Ford Taurus vs Chevrolet Impala
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
all the mileage , 138,000 and 87,000. But I would not buy any of the new models.
I've heard the average a person keeps their vehicle is around 7 years. A little higher for trucks and a little less for cars. But, I'm not 100% sure.
Using Edmunds for a 2006 Five Hundred AWD LTD with every option (including a rear seat DVD entertainment system and Navigation system), I find that the MSRP is $34,050 with an invoice of $31,064.
Add in the price for you warranty, and the invoice would be about $32,100
You should easily be able to get that for X-plan price (or less), which would be about $32,400 or so. If you like to haggle much at all, you could probably get it down to $32,000. And if you are REALLY good at haggling, and can get the dealer in a "moment of weakness", getting it down to $31,000 shouldn't be out of the range of possibility.
Those prices INCLUDE the extended warranty (at the price you quoted).
So, subtract another $1,000 from the prices I gave above.
At any rate, you should be able to get the vehicle at invoice, and the $1,000 rebate would pay for your extended warranty.
So, I'd say you could relatively easily get the vehicle without TOO much difficulty for $31,000. (after rebate and with extended warranty).
Personally, I'd throw out the rear-seat DVD system and save another grand, and get it for about $30,000.
Or you could opt for an Azera or Avalon, get a real engine, some reliability, and not have to have your car in the shop too often?
~alpha
I'm sure the issue is with Communist Reports. LOL
The AWD system is by Haldex, and is used in several Volvo vehicles. I wonder what CR has to say about THOSE?
no.
~alpha
Thanks
The floor is open for a day or so for opinions.
I'd be happy to see this forum include Avalon, Five Hundred/Montego, Charger/300, Impala, Lucerne, and Azera. Heck, we could even throw the Grand Marquis/Crown Vic in there.
Interesting fact- due to its taxi and police duty the Crown Vic sells 80% to fleets. I didnt realize it was greater than 3/4ths! Guess thats why there seem to be so many more old folks in Grand Marqs...
~alpha
Thats because only rear wheel drive cars offer the performance and handling that most police want in a pursuit vehicle. And the Crown vic is a decent price for the utility needed for a police car.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
~alpha
Given that I shopped the Freestyle vs. Dodge Magnum and the Five Hundred vs. the Chrysler 300, I'd say including the 300 would be quite reasonable.
Can't speak to the Lucerne . . is that even a car?
No doubt, the interior and trunk space of the 500 is impressive. My wife just ordered an 06 500 (company car) to replace her 03 Taurus (has been reliable, but completely outclassed by just about anything). Her options via the company fleet were the 06 Grand Prix, Impala, and 500.
The Grand Prix is a joke, as far as rear seat room and horrible interior quality, the new Impala looks to be a huge improvement over her previous 01 Impala company car, but it seems to me it lost some rear seat space.
The decision to go with the 500 was for 2 reasons. Interior space, and the 500 comes standard with ABS, and since only base packages are ordered for any model, she wouldn't have been able to get ABS, which she wanted.
As for power, the 3.0 Duratech is by far not the greatest engine ever made, but going from a Vulcan 3.0L in her Taurus to the Duratech with CVT in the 500 will be a huge improvement. As for the Impala, I'd expect performance to be similar even though the Chevy 3.5 has a bit more HP and torque. The CVT should help offset some of that advantage. Since she would not be able to get the 3.9 engine. The Chevy does get better mileage, but I don't like the tall gearing they use to get it, and we don't pay for the gas anyway.
(Actually, the 2006 Sonata beats the Camry as well, but the Camry is 5 years old. I expect the 2007 Camry to take it up a notch.)
But anyway, getting back to the Azera v. Avalon, the Azera has better throttle response, has less body roll, and better exterior styling. The interiors are about equal. The Avalon's main advantages are slightly better mpg and available options such as nav and hid.
Each of those criterion are HIGHLY subjective, unless you actually measured throttle response, angle of body roll, and interior panel gaps and distraction time (from road focus) while using controls. Indeed, the Avalon has not been dethroned as the benchmark just yet, having won comparison tests in the magazines where it has been tested. Car and Driver in particular, in contrast to your report, noted that the new Avalon (Touring) was fairly athletic, and their tested model was $32K.
What are the features that an Azera Limited plus Premium Pkg ($29,995) has that an Avalon Touring plus VSC, JBL, Moonroof ($32,295) lacks?
~alpha
Yeah, they are subjective, obviously.
"Car and Driver in particular, in contrast to your report, noted that the new Avalon (Touring) was fairly athletic, and their tested model was $32K."
In don't see how this is in contrast to my report. All I said was that the Azera exhibited less body roll.
"What are the features that an Azera Limited plus Premium Pkg ($29,995) has that an Avalon Touring plus VSC, JBL, Moonroof ($32,295) lacks?"
I don't know. Isn't the Avalon XLS a better comparison to the fully loaded Azera?
I'm not sure.
I actually own an '05 Touring and it is significantly tighter than the other Avalon trims - at the expense, of course, of some road noise and bumps getting thru. Keep in mind the Avalon (as well as its Lexus brothers) has a well deserved reputation for smooth and quiet - almost to the point of being total isolation chambers. The Touring not nearly so isolating, of course, and still well short of what a TL or a Maxima feels and sounds like. From your description it sounds like the Azera is somewhere in between.
The specs on the Azera look great - but, I wonder, if that $3-4g difference won't get eaten up in poor resale value relative to the Toyota. A unfortunate perception problem, perhaps, but something you have to look at if you are not prone to driving cars until the wheels fall off!
Test drove my neighbor's Azera and it is marvelously quiet, courtesy of the triple door seals, well designed mirrors, sound insulation, & thicker windows. My '05 Honda Accord at 70 MPH, roars in comparison.
Acid test: being able to make a cell call at 70 mph and not having folks on the other end know your in moving car....bring on the isolation chambers and the sensory deprivation. On an airliner, it is the noise and vibration that fatigues, to the same extent with a car on a long trip.
It is that recirculated, oxygen deprived airplane air that is the culprit.
And in the car, if you have more than one person, don't keep it on recirculate forever either.
A subjective scale of the cars , say 10 for vault like isolationism and 1 for BMW (or similar) sportiness would be great. thanks
I REALLY like the Azera and would LOVE to buy it . . . except all of these horror stories about resale/residual value worry me. I hope the Azera will retain value better, but based upon the previous model, the predictions are poor.
Not always. To some people resale value is a big thing, that being said I think the whole "poor resale" issue with Hyundai is a bit blown out of proportion. I have a 2000 Elantra and did some research on it and found that a 2000 Civic that had a similar MSRP when new currently has resale value of only about $200 more than the Elantra. Not a big issue as far as I am concerned.
Secondly many people drive cars for 150-200k or more miles so that pretty much eliminates any issue about differences in resale value.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Unfortunately, I'm not one of them. I drive about 30,000-60,000 miles (3-6 years of driving) before I either sell or trade in. Since I drive low miles and take care of vehicles, leasing makes sense UNLESS the car I want to lease has a low residual value. It appears that the Azera falls into that category. Most resale indexes list Hyundai as a 1 or 2 on a scale of 5 in resale value. If the vehicle depreciates a lot, I will be paying higher than average lease payments based upon the vehicles new value. In other words, I would get a LOT less car for the money leasing a car that doesn't hold its value.
If I buy the car instead of leasing it, value is also important if I resell the car in 5-6 years. So, I guess the only benefit buying an Azera is if you plan to drive it into the ground for ten years or so -- that way resale value is really not important. But, personally, I don't think very many people fall into that category.
If value is that important to you forget the difference in resale values, at this point in time we cannot say for sure what the Azera will do. But if you buy a fully loaded Azera over a fully loaded Avalon (less the Nav system and laser cruise) and put the nearly $90/month you save in car payments into a bank the $6,000-6,500 (depending how you invest it) you save over the Avalon should more than make up for any difference in resale value.
Yeah the Avalon will most likely have a higher resale value, but your going to pay for it up front.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I spent some time figuring and refiguring numbers regarding Hyundai Azera, Toyota Avalon, Acura TL and it came out to be a "wash." They are all about the same price. I also ran the numbers with my financial advisor and my CPA relative and they confirm.
TL and Avalon have higher prices but higher resale. Azera has a lower price and lower resale. In the end, they will all be about the same cost. Same with leasing.
For example, although the Acura TL costs about $4500 more than the Azera, the lease payments for 36 months at 12,000 miles per year are virtually identical. This is because the TL has a 54% residual value and the Azera has a 44% residual value.
As far as buying is concerned . . . The Azera is lower priced, but loses its value much more than either a TL or Avalon. Therefore, in the end, the actual amount of money used for the term of ownership is fairly close to the same.
Even financially close to the same, the Azera holds up well against those other two. However, when I hear the argument that Azera is BETTER because it's cheaper, I have found that NOT TRUE because the Azera will depreciate more and, therefore, lose the savings advantage.
If you look at the leasing residuals which are good estimates of a vehicle's potential future value, the 06 Avalon is expected to depreciate a lot more than many other cars in it's price range - more than even an Altima.
My point is, buy the car you like because a used car is pretty much worthless these days, irrespective of make. My personal opinion - the Azera will hold it's value if it has 4 years of reliable history, and won't be worth much less than an Avalon.
I ran the figures between the Azera and the Avalon and it is not a wash. Going by either KBB or NADA values for used Avalons I find that a 6 year old Avalon with 72K miles on it trades in for about 1/3rd of the original MSRP. Now if you buy the Azera and bank the difference in the payments (the avalon is like 4K more) you will most likely have more in the value of the Azera and that bank account then you would in just the Avalon alone. FWIW the Azera has to depreciated to less than 15% of its original cost for the Avalon to be the better deal. FWIW my 5 Year old Elantra with 130k miles on it hasn't depreciated that much per KBB or NADA.
I have found that NOT TRUE because the Azera will depreciate more and, therefore, lose the savings advantage.
And you base this on what? There is nothing to base this on since the Azera is a new model.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
~alpha
My Guess: 1st Passat
2nd Avalon
The Avalon (at 268 horses) and the Passat (at 280 horses) were both quite ahead of the Azera in acceleration (by greater than a half second to 60 for example), but the Azera stopped 5 to 6 feet shorter. They are all pretty darn fast, though, under 7 seconds to 60.
The tested Azera was $29,995, Avalon $32,074, and the Passat, I believe was north of $36K (the only MSRP I dont recall offhand).
I havent seen the Avalon lose a comparison test yet- unless there's been one that I've missed? Even in a recent Popular Science comparo, an Avalon XLS, I believe, prevailed.
~alpha
Click here
Click here
It's off topic so I won't comment on these articles.
In any case, the Lucerne V8 shows what GM is capable of... an excellent vehicle. That said, unless youve got at least 32-33K, youre saddled to an antique, coarsish pushrod V6 that wont keep up with the likes of the base Azera, Avalon, and even the 3LT, LTZ, etc.. trim lines of the Impala. (Yes, know the MSRP on the CXL V8 is 30K... but go to gmbuypower.com and see how many CXL V8s are option free).
The main issue I have with the Avalon is Toyotas employing the 5A- which is universally panned for its overall dumpiness. Indeed, the 6A in the new Camry, according to Toyota's own testing, has 50% quicker downshift response, and I've not seen any complaints in the prelim reviews.
I expect that for either the 2007 MY, or even as a mid model year change for 2006, Toyota will move the Avalon to the 6A, as both the Camry and Avalon are produced in Kentucky. We already know the RX330 will become the RX350 later this year, and move to the same powertrain as the upcoming ES350.....
Pat, can we make the Lucerne part of this forum, or no? I think it is def. a competitor to the currently named, and I dont think people will take offense to doing so...
~alpha
I think we should, it seems like a good sedan to compare.
I have no doubt that Toyota will move the 6A to the Avalon. They should, especially since the 07 Camry will have it.
Hyundai Azera vs. Volkswagen Passat vs. Buick LaCrosse
averigejoe, "Hyundai Azera vs. Volkswagen Passat vs. Buick LaCrosse" #, 19 Nov 2005 11:28 pm
It says LaCrosse, but there is also some good discussion on the Lucerne.