By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
To make a very long story short, after about 1 month of ownership with the Lexus (a Toyota product) I began having a variety of problems w/ it related to the transmission and the front suspension. The first 4 months of ownership, the car was in the shop over 3 weeks, with major repairs, including a transmission replacement, left front hub assembly, and I could go on. With less than 8,000 miles on it, the car more than qualified as a new car lemon, according to my state's lemon laws and the info. the Lexus dealership provides on what constitutes a new car lemon.
In short, the Lexus dealership refused to work with me at all regarding a replacement vehicle or a buy-back and forced me into arbitration with Toyota corporation. My experience with this arbitration was a nightmare. What I learned very quickly was that Toyota communicated with me just as if I were a legal party and refused to back up their product at all. They simply said I must take this to arbitration. Keep in mind this was almost a $40,000 UDS car. Toyota refused to acknowledge anything. This lead me to do some research, wherein I discovered that Toyota corp. has a long history of not standing behind their products and forcing their consumers into endless arbitration. Only years of class-action law suits have sometimes won out over Toyota.
I could go on and on regarding the details of my treatment by Lexus and Toyota corp., but I won't torture anyone with that.
Hence, my purchase of a Honda Accord. As a side note, in the past 7 years I've owned a BMW 325i, an Infiniti G35 coupe, and Lexus ES330, and now the Honda. My experience - perhaps the only two cars worth buying for under 40,000 is the Honda and the BMW.
So, if you're thinking about buying a Toyota product I suggest a few things:
1. Research Toyota's history regarding dealing with serious manufacturing defects with their consumers. In fact, at one point the Camry (I think it was 1999 or 2000?)had an oil sludge build up that destroyed engines and Toyota didn't care that its new car consumers had new cars with blown engines.
2. If you decide to buy a Camry, keep all repair orders and NEVER accept a repair order unless ALL work done on the vehicle is properly and thoroughly documented. This is good practice no matter what, but especially if it is a Toyota product.
Their contract read that for payment of automobile, they in turn would deliver a safe and reliable vehicle.
Ford did not even want to go to court and we settled out of court. I gave the dealer the keys and the car back and I recieved my entire down payment back, the monthly note payments back and they released the title to me to forward to Ford.
I went and bought a 95 Eclipse, put 120,000 miles on it in 2 1/2 years with no problems!
Hope this helps you.
Interesting update: I got a call from a jr. exec. at Toyota yesterday in response to a letter I sent the company regarding this entire fiasco and he wanted to know what he could do to resolve this???!!!!!!!! I asked him if he had noticed in my letter that I mentioned that I sold the car? What a corp. suckhole. He told me I was entitled to a refund for my extended warranty purchase. Guess What? I contacted the dealership, who is giving me a hard time about this! Does it ever end? I called this Toyota rep. back and said I wanted to accept his offer to do me a favor by handling this issue with the dealership and his response was, "I can't promise anything since the dealership controls that paperwork." My response was not something I can type here, but in the end, he said he'd handle this and get back to me. Yeah, right. We'll see about that.
If anyone reads this and still buys a Toyota product, then you must be 100% confident that your vehicle will not have significant manufacturing defects. If not, you will undoubtedly have the same experience I had.
Any other suggestions on buying an Accord LX 06 would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
When I got home I started to look for a new car. I just bought an Accord EX V6 Cpe the other week. Both cars road about the same( Sporty feel). I preferred the exterior of the Accord.
In the end I could not justify paying nearly 3K more for the 07 Camry and that "bulky" looking body. For the money the Accord was the easy choice.
However, after driving a Honda Accord 06 and a 07 Toyota Camry, I decided to buy the Camry for two reasons.
1) I was looking for a Cadillac type ride (smooth and refined). Toyota Camry's ride has that feel. When I drove the Accord, I felt that I was driving a compact. The suspension on the Camry is a lot more complex and sophisticated.
2) Room! There is no question that the Camry feels a lot roomier and has a higher driving position then the Accord. The Camry felt really cramp and unrefined.
3) I wanted to get the new body style rather then get the Honda Accord and have Honda change the body style for 2008.
Note: As far as quality though, the Honda Accord feels lower in quality. This is deceiving though and in my opinion, the quality is better in the long haul for the Honda Accord. I think that the next Honda Accord is going to be a real winner. Especially, since Toyota is getting ignorant and naive. I just could not wait for another year or two.
The Accord does ride on the firm side of the scale, while the Camry has been known for awhile as a much softer/quieter ride. For those looking for fun, the SE Camry is available, but I think I'd still take my Accord at the end of the day. It's a gem (a gem that in its current model year, costs a lot less in the real world than a 07 Camry!)
At 6'4", I found the Accord to be plenty roomy; although the Camry did feel more "airy," it wasn't enough to make me regret deciding on my Honda (I got my 06 Accord before the 07 Camry was released, so I didn't compare before purchasing).
People can say the SE camry and LX SE don't compare, but the SE without moonroof and upgraded sound and bluetooth, are similar both in base price and size.
Just my opinion from a relatively just out of college guy.
I did some research on the 2007 Accord SE and the 2007 Camry LE.
Accord SE $23,945 with Traction Control(standard)
Camry LE $23,920 w/o Traction Control - Option for Trac Ctrl is $650 total: $24,570
Traction Control helps your car/tires not to slip when you suddenly stop on wet road.
Which should I get? Accord or Camry?
I believe you're mixing ABS (Anti-Lock Brakes) with Traction Control.
Traction control prevents slip when the throttle is applied.
ABS helps when you apply the brakes, and your wheels start to lock.
Electronic Stability Control: to put it simply, helps you when you're entering corners and your rear end starts to slip. - This system has got a lot of praise from IIHS.
Which should I get? Accord or Camry?
I would rather go with the Honda. I prefer its interior design. I like how this car is so balanced. It can combine good handling, and comfort. I find the Camry still a little isolating. I own a Honda Accord EX V6. So far the car has been great! Although, judging by the prices you have (it seems to be in V6 territory) the Camry's V6 is amazing. It does have more power than the Accord. In my case, I really don't need that much power. The Accord's V6 is already powerful enough. You should note that the Accord's are being discounted now. I've heard some Honda owners getting EX V6's for the price of around 24,000. The Accord may be one of the oldest designs (it's getting redesigned in 2008), but it can still be compared to the new models that are coming out... and can even beat them in some areas. Remember this is only my opinion. You may prefer a more isolating and relaxing environment. Which is what the Camry does best.
*But I think you should open your choices to other cars. Have you considered the Hyundai Sonata? It seems safety is important to you. The Sonata has all the safety features standard. It comes with ABS, Electronic Stability Control, Traction Control, 6 Airbags (on even the i4 models). If you want to learn more about other sedans, come visit the Midsize Sedans Comparison Thread. It's always good to open up to other choices. The Accord or Camry may be the best car for you. But you can only know that by testing out other midsize sedans.
You must be joking, an Accord hitting 60 in 5.9 seconds? Where did you see this article? Either it had some modifications or more likely it is a fib. 5.9 seconds is Infiniti G35 territory.
FYI the previous generation Civic was slow as heck. Corollas had no trouble passing those things on the road. Especially since the only model to have VTECH was the EX. I've driven the new ones, they are better, but not much faster unless your talking about the Si. The new ones are slow off the line and doesn't come alive until you pass 4000 rpm.
I think it's an insult that a near Lexus-like Camry can compete with cheap Accords or Hyundai's
Here's a link to the story from C & D Feb 2006:
Accord V6 5.9 sec 0-60
Toyota doesn't offer a 6-speed Manual Camry, Honda does. Honda wins that battle.
Toyota outaccelerates Honda V6 Auto by about 1/2 second to 60 MPH (Car & Driver and Motor Trend both tested Accord Autos at 6.6 sec to 60). Toyota wins that battle.
Toyota shouldn't be called cheap... they are high-quality vehicles like Accords are, and Toyota sets a high standard (I think that's what you meant by "stander") for refinement, like Honda.
Toyota is faster in automatic version, where Honda gets bonus points for having a 6MT option, that does under 6 sec to 60 MPH (see Feb 2006 Car and Driver).
By the way, it's VTEC, there is no "H" on Vtec except for the electronics company that makes cordless phones among other things.
Camry does have more fleet sales than Accord, but without the fleets, the Camry would still hold a lead in sales, although a MUCH smaller one (something I read on the midsize sedan forum said something like 14% of Camrys in 2005-2006 era were sold to fleets).
FYI The Camry and Lexus ES350 is the same car as the Honda Pilot and Acura MDX so according to you Honda can't really come up with their own original designs either?
FYI looks to me that Honda is does not want to compete with Toyota on all fronts. New CR-V is a joke. No third row and no V6.
Despite the 9 lb-ft advantage, it didn't seem to help the Camry in the last comparo, in which the outgoing Camry came in last (in both the test, and in acceleration, which was a second behind the Accord to 60 MPH).
Back to the CURRENT cars, shall we? And maybe we can avoid baseless comments like the "cheap" Accord? Or is that asking too much?
The Camry came in 3rd overall and was .01 second slower than the Accord and faster than the 2nd place Mazda6.
This is old news though, and we should be paying attention to the new Camry, in which the V6 is a rocket (the 4-cyl Camry leaves something to be desired compared to the Accord however, based on many reports on this site).
The Camry that I drove has the following options & prices
Base MSRP - 21,940 Invoice - 19,525
Package EJ - 1,000 750
Package SR - 940 752
Package CF - 199 126
Package RF - 200 160
Destination - 620 620
----------------------------------------------------
Total MSRP - 24,899 Invoice - 21,933
California Emissions[16] (CA)
- Color-Keyed Rear Lip Spoiler (RF)
- JBL® AM/FM 6-Disc In-Dash CD Changer w/8 Speakers in 6 Locations, Satellite Radio Capability[7], MP3/WMA Playback Capability, Aux. Audio Jack, and Bluetooth®[8] Wireless Technology. (EJ)
- Moonroof Package includes: Power Tilt/Slide Moonroof w/Sliding Sunshade, Dual Illuminated Visor Vanity Mirrors w/Dimmer Control & Rear Personal Reading Lights (SR)
I am getting it for $21,800 + taxes etc for $23,970 on road in SFO Bay area.
I also test drove the 2007 Accord SE whose drive I liked more than the Camry (less noisy & quiet) but I like the looks and features in the Camry. The price on the Accord is
19,988 + tax.
Since I have to decide on which to buy I need some expert opinions on the cars above. I will really appreciate it.
Thanks
Jay
Which car was less noisy & quiet - the Camry or Accord. IMO the Accord is considerably noisier on the highway - especially concrete roads.
The 4cyl Accord is a great car & very reliable - since it is in its last year of the revision cycle most of the bugs should be worked out.
I wouldn't buy the Camry because of the hesitation problem. You can read about it in the Camry Problems & Solutions forums. There is a Service Bulletin out right now that was supposed to fix the glitch but many are still reporting problems. Trust me - a co-worker drove one for a day as a loaner car & they can be dangerous when you need to accelerate.
Also, the Camry is a first year re-design & will inherently have bugs that will need to be worked out. Even a first year Lexus has issues.
IMO the Accord is probably the best deal if you can deal with the choppy ride & road noise. It will give you great gas mileage & years of trouble free operation.
I drove the Camry on the same freeway (on different exits as the dealerships were about 12 miles apart) and I could feel the engine noise.
I wouldn't buy the Camry because of the hesitation problem
Can you please elaborate? Is this problem with the SE only or all versions of 2007 Camry
Many are not still reporting hesitation problems.
Sicom007, here is a link regarding the hesitation issue.
link title
Read post #2323. Decide for yourself. If the issue is resolved then good work on Toyota's behalf.