Help me decide on a car

I'm looking at a couple of cars, and I want some community opinions as to which you all you'd go for. There are currently two I've got my eye on, here are specs:

  • Honda accord 2005 coupe v6 ex-l with nav, 134k miles. It's in good condition, no accidents, but the leather is a bit worn (not a show stopper, not cracked but getting there) $5999
  • Nissan Altima Coupe 2008 3.5 SE Loaded with nav, backup camera, leather, power controls everywhere, bluetooth, leather. $5900. 84k miles

I'm going to see the Altima on Saturday and the I've seen the accord already. I'd like too keep it under $5500, but both can be talked down to closer to that mark so its not an issue. I like coupe's and sedans, but its not a coincidence that I've picked two coupes. I'd take a sedan happily, but if I can get a coupe I'll get one. Not into bigger cars really, and I prefer to have a v6 after having been driving around a criminally under-powered v4 car for a long while now.

What all else would you recommend? I want to know if anyone has ideas for different makes/models/year combinations that you think would be viable alternatives to the accord and altima.

  • accord
  • altima
  • other option (put below plz :3)

0voters

If anyone knows of anything that's on the market in the Indiana/Ohio/Kentucky/Michigan/Illinois, then feel free to include those too. I'm going to be driving 3hours both ways to see the altima (if by saturday I haven't found anything better), so I'm not against driving. Lol.

Thanks!

I used to be a nissan fanboi in the 80s and 90s, but they have gone to shit lately.

Honda used to have a reputation that was beyond reproach, but that has changed too.

Frankly, I'd recommend a Camry over either of those. Or even better, a used lexus from an old lady.

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I haven't looked at a lot of toyota's yet, I'll have another look around. Funny the note about a lexus from an old lady, my buddy who was in the same boat as me just got gifted an older lexus from his grandfather that stopped driving. 10+ year old car with like 50k miles on it, kept in a garage it's whole life, and maxed out options. Lucky ******

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Yeah there are tons of cheap Lexus out there. They own the old lady demographic, which is great because their life consists of grocery store runs, trips to the beauty salon, and maybe a round of golf. And the market is soft. They might be asking $9k for their gently used ES350, but you can haggle them down to $5ish without too much trouble.

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Honestly used Lexus's can be had often for less than Toyotas. Everyone with a Toyota thinks they have a fucking gold mine and want a shit ton for them. Way more than they are worth. Kinda funny that considering they are the same damn cars lol

Also this.

@TheCaveman

I'd go with the Honda between those two, tbh I'd try to talk her down. That' s a bit steep for the mileage .

KBB for that car in excellent condition is about $4K and good condition is around $3200

Also, I'm not sure about that year, if it has one, but stay away from any Nissan, or any car tbh, with a CVT.

EDIT: Just checked. It has a CVT. Run. Run. Run far away and don't look back lol

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Honda Civic

That's just retarded. Worse than Toyota owners who think they have a gold mine are Honda owners. Civic is overrated. Lexus is underrated. You can get a gently used ES350 for the price of a Civic with 200k miles on it.

CVT's are good until they get higher mileage, and this one is pretty low at 84k. The guy has babied it, its really not an issue for me.

Where I'm at, Accord's don't last a week on a lot, even at 6k for that car. TBH in this area, that car is UNDER priced. It's mental. It's the best deal I've found.

When talking cars, there is a simple formula I like to go by in regards to reliability: K.I.S.S.

Seriously, I'm generally not a fan of newer cars as manufactures have piled on more and more useless crap, and yes, I am even talking about safety features. Remember how everyone says Honda and Toyota are super reliable? This was a thing from back in the 80's and 90's when they built REALLY simple cars. Like power steering and AC were not available simple. When there is less on the car, there is less to go wrong.

Translate this to modern cars, and here is where you are at: CVT is shit. Autos are shit. All that extra climate controlled electronics are shit. Stupidly overly complicated entertainment /NAV system is shit. Airbags are shit. Traction control is shit. I'm saying all this because as far as the cars you have picked out, there is honestly not a damn difference between them. Go ahead and throw a Malibu and Camry in there as well, because it REALLY doesn't matter. Navigation systems in cars are stupidly outdated, slow, and just don't work well. Touchscreens DON'T belong in cars. Auto climate control systems tend to have some sort of failure after 10-15 years. Backup cameras are a poor excuse to prevent you from properly being aware of your surroundings. Bluetooth in cars (ESPECIALLY pre-2010 era) tend to royally suck, and not work properly with 99% of phones out there (remember, this was pre-smartphone era). Airbag systems have major recalls all the damn time (not just this most recent disaster), traction control provides a STUPID false sense of security for those who do not know how to properly handle their vehicle. Automatic transmissions seem to always fail on most vehicles after 200k miles, and CVT at half that.

With all that said, hold on for just a minute, and I'll try and guide you on where I'm going with this.
My point here is that usually when I see people asking what car to buy, they want someone to come forward and say 'Oh, car A has major xxx problems. Car B and C are super reliable' without citing a damn bit of evidence to back up their claim. It is literally based on maybe a few cars they personally owned, or hell, maybe even heard about someone owning. Simply put, its a recommendation based on nothing more than how they feel.

So HERE is what I recommend
Buy whatever the hell you want. Seriously, just find something you LOVE, that speaks to you. Beyond something like a 25 year old $2000 car you spend $3000 on maintenance on to be reliable, EVERYTHING else is fluff, so think about what fluff makes you happy! What crap makes you want to hop in the car at 10 at night to go for a drive to de-stress. What car out there are you OK with spending money on when something breaks because you love it so much, and that you WANT to hold onto for the next 20+ years, possible till the day you die.

If you can not fathom that kind of attachment to a car, then why the hell are you spending $6000 on pieces of shit like those. I get it, loving cars isn't for everyone, but for the love of God, don't waste your money on something you don't love that much and are likely to sell in the next 5 years. Go shopping and just search for the best damn deal on whatever piece of shit you find. No sense in asking the lords of the internet for their wise knowledge, because IT WONT HELP YOU. They can not see the condition of those cars. They can not tell you how well they were taken care of mechanically. The most reliable car brand/model can be a worse purchase than even Hyundai/Kia crap just due to how well it was cared for. So, just shop around, find some good deals on some stuff that looks decent to you, and above all.....

GET A PRE-PURCHASE INSPECTION DONE ON EACH ONE!

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Have you not looked into Ford? No I am not talking about a Crown Vic, but newer Ford products. They are safe and claim to save gas, such as the Fusion, Fiesta, and Focus.

I recommend Ford products after 2011. Get one certified pre owned, with less than 100k in miles.

You sir, get the award for most passionate forum post of the year.


There's been one or two that one looked at so far. I liked a focus 2012 and it was up for a good price, but it sold before I got it which sucked

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Have to say I agree with @WolfStrong buying a 10 year old car is always a lottery, regardless of brand. Even one that appears to have been gently looked after - sometimes you can be better with a car that's done 150,000 miles at steady pace on motorways than one that's the same age with 50k miles that only got used locally.

My car is a 14 year old Peugeot 407 1.6 HDI turbo diesel - the engine has a terrible reputation. My wife has a 10 year old Mazda 3 2.0 petrol - the engine has a good reputation.

I drive around 5k miles a year, mostly crusing at 60-70mph, my wife only does 5k per year on local roads. Every year I have to spend more maintaining her car, short rusn where the engine does not properly warm up are not good, engines need to used properly as they were designed to do.

Problem is on a 10+ year old car its hard to know its full history. Hence the need to get an inspection and carefully look through any logbooks or garage reciepts.

Good luck :slight_smile:

How about using a different set of words to say what you wanted to say. Also the Honda Civic is known as the affordable, reliable, non gas guzzling vehicle for ages now. I honestly don't know how you would not know this.

Altima´s seems to have rust issues.
So double check underneath the car, and wheelarches and such.

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Agreed borrowed a old Lexus sedan, feels very smooth. Owner drives it weekly on highway for hour commute, fuel consumption is very efficient and is better than newer cars.

Honestly he should rock the civic.. Its better and the Nissan sucks to be completely frank their transmission fall apart early on.. The engines typically have an issue with their lifters falling right through the sleeves if oil changes are not performed exactly when they are supposed to. They form lifter tap around 100k to 120k which is ridiculously early

Thanks for the tip, I'll check if and when I go see it.

Of the two options you gave I would chose the accord purely based on reliability. With reliability and longevity in mind the brands I would favor would be:
Honda
Subaru
Toyota
All of which are known to make cars that easily reach beyond the 200k mark without any major issues. I would also avoid anything that has too many fancy electronic gizmos in them, especially early 'smart' cars, it's just a pointless headache waiting to happen you don't need electronic dog monitoring and spaghetti cooking assist for your car, you need it to drive. The more basic the car the happier your life will be.

I'm guessing the 08 altima has a CVT? If so, stay away; early iterations are unreliable.
Also not a fan of the Camry's, but are pretty reliable vehicles. Totally muted driving experience, cant wait to get rid of mine (stuck with a 2016 SE for the next 6 months)

Ford Fiesta looks really good, plus the "FORD" name takes a few grand off the price.
One thing I like about the Nissan Versa, it is a "fleet" vehicle, there will always be a few in the junk yard.
Man trans will make it even more affordable, and untouchable to car thieves.