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Car savvy? Debating between Nissan Altima and Honda Accord, any advice?

P

phatj

Golden Member
My budget is ~7500 total. My primary criteria is reliability. I need this car to last me 3 full years with minimum service required. I'm in med school and can barely afford this car let alone to pay for costly repairs.

Choices:

2005 Altima 117k miles $7500
2003 Accord 134k miles $7500

I also have the option to get

2006 Pontiac G6 86k miles $7500
But I figure most will give the advice to stay with a Japanese used car...
 
I've never personally driven the G6, but I've heard they are good cars. I'd personally pick the Altima over the Accord. Having driven both I think it's the better car.
 
I've had enough experience with the G5 and other recent GM vehicles to say you should avoid the G6. They just feel cheap and they tend to have problems with the steering rattling... among other things.

If you're looking for something to last, the Accord is a good bet.
 
bfdd said:
I've never personally driven the G6, but I've heard they are good cars. I'd personally pick the Altima over the Accord. Having driven both I think it's the better car.
Click to expand...

I agree, but considering the longevity of the Accord it's a tough decision.

IMO Nissan makes the best engines of any "normal" car manufacturer (not including brands like Ferrari and Lamborghini). Nissan's electrical systems have always been their weakness. Honda is a more balanced brand with great overall reliability, but IMO it's boring compared to the Altima in this case.

If I had the choice I would probably take the Altima. I've never liked the Accord; I don't see why people buy them instead of the Civic. Any gains in horsepower they have, they lose out because the Accord is heavier than the Civic (aside from the V6 Accord which is a bit of a beast).
 
All 3 choices seem to have higher-than-average mileage for their M.Y., especially the Altima. For that reason, I'd favor the Accord in the absence of other factors.

No G6 for me--The interior is horrible. How about the Mazda6 hatchback or wagon? The utility will be handy for someone at your stage of life.
 
Get a Fusion. Dirt cheap for what you get. $7500 should grab you an '06 (maybe '07) 4 cyl with far less miles than the Altima or Accord. The interior isn't quite as nice as either, but the drive train is pretty bullet proof and the car is overall durable and comfortable. Unlike a Focus, you can't really go wrong with the manual or auto, depending on your preference.

Another option, which I HIGHLY recommend (since you're short on cash) is a Ford Focus. Less roomy and less powerful than the Fusion, but a great car overall. Someone in another thread posted an '07 SEL (top of the line) with something like 50k miles for $5500. That's a lot of car for not a lot of cash. Stick with 2005 and newer for the Duratec engine, though.
 
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I think I'll actually go with a civic. After deep contemplation, I realized I just need something very basic to hold me over until a year or 2 into my residency. I found an 03 Civic with 127k miles for $6k out-the-door.

I live in NW Ohio... maybe car prices are inflated out here, but all of the prices listed in this thread (for the Accord, the Altima, and the G6... even the Civic) are rock-bottom lowest I could find and are well below the KBB value.

Thanks to everyone for your input! I'll be ridin' dirty in my Civic on Wednesday evening.
 
I found an 03 Civic with 127k miles for $6k out-the-door.
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HOLY FVCKING SH*T.

Are you joking? $6000 for a 7-8 year old econobox with a crapload of miles? PLEASE DON'T.

You must be only shopping cars at Stan's Car Scams down on Route 65 on the corner of You Just Got Ripped Off Dr, right?

There is a local dealer I am looking at now selling a 2007 Focus with 30,000 miles for $7,999. 33% more money and 1/4 the miles and half as old.

There is also on craplist locally a 04 civic with 65k miles for $6400.

There is also an 03 Civic SI with 127k for $5000 locally. So $1k less than your one, same miles/age, but it's an SI so worth a lot more.
 
No kidding! The prices on all these cars you are referring to is way high. Do some more homework, including picking up a copy of Consumers Reports reliability guide and compare the cars you find to their list. You may be able to find a less noteworthy brand car that is just as reliable if you do some research. 100k+ mile cars should be available for in the $5k range so keep looking if you have time.
 
SickBeast said:
I agree, but considering the longevity of the Accord it's a tough decision.

IMO Nissan makes the best engines of any "normal" car manufacturer (not including brands like Ferrari and Lamborghini). Nissan's electrical systems have always been their weakness. Honda is a more balanced brand with great overall reliability, but IMO it's boring compared to the Altima in this case.

If I had the choice I would probably take the Altima. I've never liked the Accord; I don't see why people buy them instead of the Civic. Any gains in horsepower they have, they lose out because the Accord is heavier than the Civic (aside from the V6 Accord which is a bit of a beast).
Click to expand...

Actually if you look up stats comparing Accord to Civic, Accord is still faster (i4) and does better on the skidpad and braking... was simple choice for me to get an Accord.

That Accord is very overpriced for the year, I'd get the Altima instead as a result... both will last long.
 
Man, a 2005 model with 117k miles? That seems kind of high to me. My 2003 Maxima only has 89,000 miles on it.

Does it have a full service history with it? The Altima is a good car, I've never really heard of any major problems with them.
 
phatj said:
Those prices are all under KBB for the vehicle though... now I'm second-guessing myself. Shoot!
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Just get a Ford Fusion:

1) Very Reliable...especially the 4 cylinder version
2) Cheap to fix/service...it's a Ford
3) you'll get a car with much less mileage on it
 
phatj said:
Those prices are all under KBB for the vehicle though... now I'm second-guessing myself. Shoot!
Click to expand...
I feel bad for you but since you're a med student I know you're capable of learning.

KBB is almost completely worthless. Many dealerships (most?) love to say they sell under KBB. How can they do that? If a car is selling under KBB how are they making money? It's because KBB is worthless. The value of a car is determined by the market at the time. KBB can swear until it's blue in the face that a 1996 civic with 200k miles is worth $5600 but if there are lots of them selling for $1500 that's what the cars are worth.

When I want to look at the value of a car I look up the car on craigslist, autotrader, local paper, etc. That is the only way to determine what the actual market value of a car is. When I look on those I find that $6k buys a lot more than an ancient civic with a lifetime of miles on it.

And the prices of the cars in your first post made me sad, too. I am not sure where you're shopping but it does not get the Skoorb seal of approval. A 2003 Accord with 134k miles for $7500 doesn't even warrant mocking. It's so far out of reality it's beyond that point.

If you are paying for this with cash and don't make a lot of long trips it could be worth your time buying something for $2k. It seems extremely unlikely to crank through $5500 in repairs in 2-3 years even on a cheap car like that. If you buy one of these cars and the transmission goes out next month can you pay $2000-2500 to repair it? That could happen on any used car. If you could not repair it I'd get something really cheap and bank the cash for repairs.

But back to being a med student I'm guessing people will extend enough credit to you to hang yourself with if you really need it 🙂
 
SickBeast said:
I agree, but considering the longevity of the Accord it's a tough decision.

IMO Nissan makes the best engines of any "normal" car manufacturer (not including brands like Ferrari and Lamborghini). Nissan's electrical systems have always been their weakness. Honda is a more balanced brand with great overall reliability, but IMO it's boring compared to the Altima in this case.

If I had the choice I would probably take the Altima. I've never liked the Accord; I don't see why people buy them instead of the Civic. Any gains in horsepower they have, they lose out because the Accord is heavier than the Civic (aside from the V6 Accord which is a bit of a beast).
Click to expand...


I disagree; Nissan has oil consumption issues across the board. The M45 forums couldn't find anyone with over 100k on a stock motor. Google G35 coupe OCI.. It's even a problem on the 1.8l sentra motors.
 
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