Recent mid-size sedan comparos

[Hokiefyd]

With nearly everybody having a new mid-size sedan out these days, we didn't have to wait long for *somebody* to throw them all on the same track and have at it. Here's MotorTrend's take on them:

MotorTrend's mid-size sedan comparison

The finishers, in order:

1) VW Passsat
2) Honda Accord
3) Ford Fusion
4) Nissan Altima
5) Toyota Camry
6) Chevy Malibu

And here's Car & Driver's opinion:

Car & Driver's comparison

The finishers:

1) VW Passat
2) Honda Accord
3) Kia Optima
4) Hyundai Sonata
5) Toyota Camry
6) Chevy Malibu

Both magazines apparently feel the same way about some of these cars.

Enjoy...

 

[chad8]

After that passat blows an injector pump and costs 2 grrr to get it back on the road, I'll take ANY other brand.

 

[VicVinegar]

Geeze being on this board is doing nothing for my VW-phobia. I keep trying to talk myself into buying a GTI, but then I see another post like that one.

I just got a new MT today, haven't looked yet. The C/D comparo is missing the Fusion, so I'd take it with a grain of salt. That Fusion should give the Accord and Passat a good run.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: VicVinegar
That Fusion should give the Accord and Passat a good run.


Well, they all did finish in the top-3 in MotorTrend's article; a good showing for all three.

 

[VicVinegar]

Originally Posted By: VicVinegar
Geeze being on this board is doing nothing for my VW-phobia. I keep trying to talk myself into buying a GTI, but then I see another post like that one.

I just got a new MT today, haven't looked yet. The C/D comparo is missing the Fusion, so I'd take it with a grain of salt. That Fusion should give the Accord and Passat a good run.


Correction, I got C/D today and it has a new mid-size comparison with the 2013 models.

1. Accord EX
2. Fusion SE
3. Altima SV
4. Passat SE.

 

[daves87rs]

The Mali is getting pounded...

 

[DuckRyder]

Interesting.

They panned the Toyota and Chevy pretty hard. Toyota will be happy to read "...confident this is the worst car I've driven in months" tied to the Camry.

Not at all surprised the Accord is highly rated, wonder if the Fusions placing would differ with a different powertrain.

 

[01rangerxl]

I agree with the Passat being #1. It's the only one with a completely normal interior. No crazy spaceship junk.

 

[NateDN10]

Probably telling that the Passat & Accord come in 1 & 2 in both, and Camry & Malibu 5 & 6.

Kind of a shame about the Malibu - the '08-'12 model was generally well received. I was surprised they made it shorter for '13... apparently it didn't work out for them.

This line about the Camry:
Quote:
I'm confident this is the worst car I've driven in months. The Malibu might come up shorter in some respects, but at least Chevy put forth an effort. The Camry is offensive partly because it's so far under Toyota's potential.
Wow.

 

[rszappa1]

Botom line is that Honda is near the top.... But that is old news as they always are....

 

[bourne]

You could give me a brand new Passat and I will sell it and buy myself a 6 speed 2013 Accord 4 banger. Hows that for Passat being #1. I wonder what VW had to do to get these accolades. Obviously reliability, cost of ownership, repair werent taken into consideration. Neither were technological advancements, since it still has the agricultural 5 cyl gas hog.
Which is funny because alot of mid size sedan segment buyers generally want lesser maintenance or lesser cost of ownership. Like mentioned by someone previously, VW are quite expensive to get work done on. For eg. one of our customers forgot her spline lug nut key ( looks like a torx bit almost ) on her 2k3 Bettle. VW doesnt make/stock/sell it anymore. She had to pay them Approx $80 to replace those 4 lug nut locks on her car with regular lugnuts !!!!!

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: VicVinegar
Geeze being on this board is doing nothing for my VW-phobia. I keep trying to talk myself into buying a GTI, but then I see another post like that one.


Don't get me wrong, I still love my VW. But it is more apt to need work before 150k than a Toyota. And possibly for stupid things. I think after that though things start to get more even. No struts are lifetime, for example--they will all get soft. It's just that the more firm ones wear out faster--and for some reason the VW OEM ones (at least for the MkIV chassis) were notorious for being done at 40kmiles (I still ran mine to 133k). Moving on, I think it might be easier to find a good VW indepandant mechanic (high demand you know); Toyota's can be serviced by anyone, but who is going to specialize in tough Toyota repairs? But a VW mechanic is more likely to have seen whatever arcane issue you might--and probably saw it ten times last week.

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted By: rszappa1
Botom line is that Honda is near the top.... But that is old news as they always are....


Which I never understood.

Both Consumers Reports and JD Powers rates Honda's quality as about average. The cars themselves are nothing special to drive. They may be a maintenance nightmare (transmission issues ring a bell).

Honda is riding on some old school "reputation" (which IMHO was vastly overrated) and they are just another average car.

 

[NateDN10]

Originally Posted By: itguy08
Originally Posted By: rszappa1
Botom line is that Honda is near the top.... But that is old news as they always are....


Which I never understood.

Both Consumers Reports and JD Powers rates Honda's quality as about average. The cars themselves are nothing special to drive. They may be a maintenance nightmare (transmission issues ring a bell).

Honda is riding on some old school "reputation" (which IMHO was vastly overrated) and they are just another average car.

Did you read the articles? They didn't just pull these ratings out of their collective rear ends. Whether or not you agree with their opinions, they do have solid reasons for their rating order.

 

[greenjp]

Originally Posted By: itguy08
Originally Posted By: rszappa1
Botom line is that Honda is near the top.... But that is old news as they always are....


...The cars themselves are nothing special to drive. ...Honda is riding on some old school "reputation" (which IMHO was vastly overrated) and they are just another average car.

In my experience this is not the case. We've owned a 2000 Civic EX coupe 5 speed and currently have a 2006 Accord EX w/leather and 5 speed. The Civic drove great and had superior interior quality. The domestic cars of it's era were an absolute joke in comparison. Sold it with 186k for $3,600.

The Accord is in another world compared to other midsize sedans of it's era. Honda is one of the few to offer a loaded model with the "economy" engine and stick shift. Other makes force you into either the econo-trim or a scarely available sporty trim with a big engine to get the stick. The interior quality blows every domestic and most imports of it's era away, and the combination of powertrain and chassis performance is unrivaled. Compare to the boring old Camry, good driving but [censored] interior Altima, mediocre Fusion & Malibu, downright awful Chrysler products, etc. I've driven a lot of cars over the years and always find it refreshing to get back into the Accord. In some ways it drives nicer than our Saab 9-5 Aero.

jeff

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: greenjp
Originally Posted By: itguy08
Originally Posted By: rszappa1
Botom line is that Honda is near the top.... But that is old news as they always are....


...The cars themselves are nothing special to drive. ...Honda is riding on some old school "reputation" (which IMHO was vastly overrated) and they are just another average car.

In my experience this is not the case. We've owned a 2000 Civic EX coupe 5 speed and currently have a 2006 Accord EX w/leather and 5 speed. The Civic drove great and had superior interior quality. The domestic cars of it's era were an absolute joke in comparison. Sold it with 186k for $3,600.

The Accord is in another world compared to other midsize sedans of it's era. Honda is one of the few to offer a loaded model with the "economy" engine and stick shift. Other makes force you into either the econo-trim or a scarely available sporty trim with a big engine to get the stick. The interior quality blows every domestic and most imports of it's era away, and the combination of powertrain and chassis performance is unrivaled. Compare to the boring old Camry, good driving but [censored] interior Altima, mediocre Fusion & Malibu, downright awful Chrysler products, etc. I've driven a lot of cars over the years and always find it refreshing to get back into the Accord. In some ways it drives nicer than our Saab 9-5 Aero.

jeff


Define "unrivaled".... Because without qualifying that statement you've just implied that the Accord bests the M3, and I assume that's not what you meant.

 

[greenjp]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Define "unrivaled".... Because without qualifying that statement you've just implied that the Accord bests the M3, and I assume that's not what you meant.

Huh. Thought the totality of my comments ("midsize sedans", scarcity of loaded models w/economy engines & sticks, comparisons to Camry, Altima, Malibu, et al) provided sufficient context to make it clear I'm talking about the non-luxury midsize family sedan segment. I'll be more specific next time

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: greenjp
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Define "unrivaled".... Because without qualifying that statement you've just implied that the Accord bests the M3, and I assume that's not what you meant.

Huh. Thought the totality of my comments ("midsize sedans", scarcity of loaded models w/economy engines & sticks, comparisons to Camry, Altima, Malibu, et al) provided sufficient context to make it clear I'm talking about the non-luxury midsize family sedan segment. I'll be more specific next time

Hehehe

I was thinking this remark:

Quote:
The interior quality blows every domestic and most imports of it's era away


meant you were comparing it to the Euro stuff too, which is why I asked. I know you mentioned a few cars, but noted no exception to cars that are available tarted-up to the nines like a Benz or Bimmer, so I figured I'd ask

As those cars are available with a small engine and stick as well, further confusing things

 

[greenjp]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
...I know you mentioned a few cars, but noted no exception to cars that are available tarted-up to the nines like a Benz or Bimmer, so I figured I'd ask

As those cars are available with a small engine and stick as well, further confusing things

Definitely restricting my comparison to the "family sedan" market. What you say here is why I like the Accord in particular so much. Short of an actual luxury car, it's hard to find a nicely equipped sedan with nice handling, a stick shift, and a "base" engine (base engine in a Honda vs BMW are different granted but the analogy works). Honda somewhat uniquely caters to weirdos like me, and many magazine staffers apparently.

jeff

 

[Hokiefyd]

I never thought I liked Hondas until I actually owned one. Our Acura MDX replaced a Chrysler Town & Country. What a difference there is in the driving experience. Both are top-heavy vehicles, and both are heavy vehicles in general, but the Acura handles with so much more vigor and poise than did the van. I like the Acura SUV so much, I wanted another Honda SUV, so we bought the CR-V to replace my Camry. There is obviously no comparison between the way a Camry and CR-V drive, but even in the CUV segment, the CR-V has long been noted to be one of the better-driving ones out there, delivering more smiles/mile than some other choices. There are certainly CUVs out there with a "duller" driving experience.

I agree that Honda is not quite as "sporty" as it once may have been, but they're still some of the best tuned chassis in their respective price and market segments.