Thinking of joining the ranks of boring daily driver - Accord or Camry?

Blaze

Blaze

The Jeeper Reaper
Joined
Aug 9, 2005
Location
Wake Forest, NC
Yeah, can you believe it? So my trans is acting up in my G8. I was going to pull it out and have it rebuild and do all that crap to it, but I'm thinking now I am going to sell it and just get a good boring daily driver that gets good gas mileage and whatever. I have other fast cars here and I need to spend my time and money down in the shop building racecars rather than my daily driver. So I'm going to sell the G8 GT and buy something practical and boring.

I have it narrowed down to a Camry or Accord. 2008 or newer, no more than $6k and 150k miles.

What would you all recommend? I kind of am leaning towards Camry because of some friends who have had them, but also have family who had Accords and loved them too.
 
Stay away from the accord with a 3.5 engine that has the automatic knock out to kill 2 cylinders for gas mileage. Massive amounts of problems with the earlier ones that don't have the switch to turn that off. Any 4 cylinder accord will last you 300000 miles or more same with the Camry. But neither car is really set up for the transmission to take the power of the V6. You may get lucky and get 200000 out of a transmission behind a V6, but that's kind of rare. But the 4 cylinder version of either will run virtually forever.

I had a 2004 Camry 4 cylinder that I got 387000 miles out of before we gave it to one of our engineers for his daughter. And now I'm driving a 2 door accord V6 that just rolled 200000 miles. It will need a transmission rebuild before long
 
Gotcha. I was really looking for the 4cyl anyway. I'm really just going for gas mileage now. I know it won't be as fast as my Trans Am or Chieftain gasser I'm building, so might as well just get something that gets me where I'm going.
 
The 08+ accord 4cyl have a lot of oil consumtion issues as well as timing chain, cam actuator problems. If I was looking for an accord, it would be 06-07 v6 6-speed. The clutch is pricey and requires a special tool but they are super easy to work on.
 
My father had an 04 v6 accord. He loved that car. I have heard they have transmission issues with the v6 but I don’t think the 4banger has issues. It had great brakes but warped rotors constantly. Acura TL or TSX should be on your list too. Essentially a Honda underneath and you get all the bells and whistles.
 
Buddy_Holly said:
My father had an 04 v6 accord. He loved that car. I have heard they have transmission issues with the v6 but I don’t think the 4banger has issues. It had great brakes but warped rotors constantly. Acura TL or TSX should be on your list too. Essentially a Honda underneath and you get all the bells and whistles.
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I've heard the same thing about the V6 and transmissions. One of the reasons I want to stay 4cyl. Accords are cheaper than the TLs, although I do like the TLs. I'd rather get something cheap, more monies for racecars.
 
I know you said '08+ but we have an '07 Accord 4-banger and it's been a damn good car. Wife bought it when she was at UNCG about 8-ish years ago and we haven't done much other than change the oil, brakes, tires, starter (actually kind of a PITA to get to but not hard). The 4cyl has a timing chain that doesn't need servicing so that'd be my pick over the V6 with a belt. We got her a newer SUV a few months back and contemplated selling this thing but it has ended up turning into my DD. It's got ~160k+ miles on it now and gets 30+ mpg...paid for so I doubt it is going anywhere any time soon. We're considering moving back towards the High Point / Wallburg area to be closer to family and I work in CLT so this thing will likely be racking up the mileage a lot more going forward. Planning to drive it until the wheels fall off.
 
I'm gonna be 'that guy' and suggest something you've shown no interest in. I had the same dilemma after a 30mph over ticket in a 2011 Mustang I bought new in 11. I switched to the Lincoln MKZ as my 'boring car'. I've been rocking an 08-12 MKZ since 2011. Quick CarMax search says an 08-10 Camry or Accord will run you $10-12k for 100k miles or more. MKZ 08-10 is the same price range but can get them with 60-75k on the odo. I went MKZ because I felt fit and finish was nicer, more luxurious, still had some giddyup...and got 30mpg on the hwy. And most the time the the MKZ's are owned by elderly folks instead of 20-somethings and all that entails.
 
We have a 2013 Camry SE, 4 cylinder. Nice car. Love it 99% of the time. Sometimes on long trips where the family wants to take everything we own, the trunk isn’t big enough for that. But that is our fault.
 
4 cylinder Camry , Altima or Accord... hard to go wrong. For the most part, change fluids and filters for maintainance ….. and they should all last a long time. If you don't mind a compact, the Corolla or Civic too.
 
I feel weird saying this but I have two friends that both have Hyundai Sonatas as DDs and swear by them. Can’t kill ‘em
 
rbo1577186 said:
4 cylinder Camry , Altima or Accord... hard to go wrong. For the most part, change fluids and filters for maintainance ….. and they should all last a long time. If you don't mind a compact, the Corolla or Civic too.
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A current Civic or Corolla is roughly the size that Accords and Camrys used to be....

Based on past experience driving most all generations of both cars, I'd almost always go for the Accord. I've never owned either model, because I don't know why I would do that. To add to that driving tally, my parents had a couple of Camrys, and my wife's mom has had a few Accords. I worked on a few of both, and mostly prefer the Honda stuff.

Although both models are rather detached from any kind of dynamic feedback, the Camry seems much worse than the Accord for the past few generations. If you drive a logical speed, and the car turns when you steer the wheel, and stops when you press the brake pedal, even though you can't feel what's happening that's good enough for most people. I'm not the target demographic. You just need whatever car to perform basic car functions, so either car will satisfy those basic car requirements.

Random anecdote:
We had a Camry rental car at the Outer Banks a few years ago, and the ride frequency was so low that the bridge expansion joints were exciting the rear suspension at the joint spacing. I thought the rear tires were going to leave the ground on every joint, and it was wandering all over the road because of it. I'm talking well over a foot of rear bumper vertical movement. Spooky as shit when you have zero steering feedback and far too much power steering assistance. I've never been so scared going 45MPH on a dry road in a straight line.

Honestly though, they're both acceptable commuting appliances. Just not for me.
 
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AdamH said:
I feel weird saying this but I have two friends that both have Hyundai Sonatas as DDs and swear by them. Can’t kill ‘em
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2 different but equally close buds. Both own different small mechanic shops in different towns. Both say the same thing: never buy Korean car (and one of them is Korean :eek:)

Apparently Hyundai/Kia are ok UNTIL that 100k mark, then their shit starts falling apart

No idea personally, never known anyone with either, but those guys both say that they work on more Korean and VW junk than anything. And apparently if you don't follow their service requirements to the T they deny any warranty on the drivetrain.
 
You Can't go wrong with a 4cyl Camry as a DD.

A coworker of mine has one with over 300,000 miles with the original engine and transmission. Good mpg, and cheap parts when you need them.
 
CasterTroy said:
2 different but equally close buds. Both own different small mechanic shops in different towns. Both say the same thing: never buy Korean car (and one of them is Korean :eek:)

Apparently Hyundai/Kia are ok UNTIL that 100k mark, then their shit starts falling apart

No idea personally, never known anyone with either, but those guys both say that they work on more Korean and VW junk than anything. And apparently if you don't follow their service requirements to the T they deny any warranty on the drivetrain.
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The only experience I have with Hyundai was my wife's old car. It was a Santa Fe. We traded it in with about 160,000 miles. It never had any mechanical trouble, but the sunroof or door seal began leaking which resulted in constantly wet carpet.
 
The Kia/Hyundai stuff has improved at a pretty astounding rate with time. Stuff from today and stuff from 10 years ago aren't even on the same planet. That said, if you buy a value-priced car, that may come back to haunt you later. The Genesis stuff is pretty nice, but they aren't value-priced cars in that segment (at over $40k for the G80 and almost $70k for the G90).
 
Well, I've talked to a lot of friends who have had boring cars and I am definitely doing a Camry or Accord. I think I am leaning towards an 03-07 4cyl Accord. It seems like they are both similar quality, but the cheaper Accords still look decent where the cheaper Camrys look like something my grandmother would drive.
 
Blaze said:
Well, I've talked to a lot of friends who have had boring cars and I am definitely doing a Camry or Accord. I think I am leaning towards an 03-07 4cyl Accord. It seems like they are both similar quality, but the cheaper Accords still look decent where the cheaper Camrys look like something my grandmother would drive.
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Should be happy with that. The 03-07 accords are way nicer than the 08-12 body style. Other than a/c compressor/condenser and door lock motors and window regulators, I really dont do any major work to them.
 
RHSCTJ said:
Should be happy with that. The 03-07 accords are way nicer than the 08-12 body style. Other than a/c compressor/condenser and door lock motors and window regulators, I really dont do any major work to them.
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i can agree with this. Dickless knows his fvcking hondas and my wife has an 07 V6 with 243k and knock on wood all i have done to it is maintenance. Hate to make her buy a Toyota or Ford now.
 
I vote for a four cylinder Camry. My wife has one for a DD from Burlington to Durham every day. It just hit 298,000 and still running strong.
 
How many of you guys with a Camry DON'T have the Camry dent in the rear bumper? :D

@Blaze before you commit to a car, I'd definitely check the insurance rates on it. Sometimes the Honda coupes get classified as a sports car or they're statistically more likely to be involved in a wreck and the rates are outrageous on your otherwise cheap DD.

Believe it or not, one of the most mundane cars that is expensive as shit to insure is a Nissan Altima. That's entiry because of the demographic usually seen driving them added to their statistical history of being involved in wrecks....
 
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