Bill G

Hey,

I drove an '06 Accord V6 Coupe today at a local dealer. I was very
impressed. Does anyone know if the Sedan has the same amount of front
legroom? The specs I've seen show the Coupe having 0.5 inches more legroom,
but 0.8 inches less headroom and shoulder room. One thing I've found is
that the numbers rarely give a true feel for how a car actually "fits" you.

I'm looking for what your impressions are of the 2 (if you've driven them).
I will be getting a moonroof in the car, so that may impact your
impressions. Subes are nice, but the Legacy is too tight with a moonroof,
so it's been eliminated as an option for me. I would definitely buy the
Sedan over the Coupe, and obviously will drive it before I buy it.

The salesman was kinda bugging me, and I'd already driven a few cars, so
didn't feel like staying long enough for him to find some keys to open up a
Sedan.

Cars I'm also considering:

Nissan Altima
Nissan Maxima
Toyota Camry
Subaru Forester XT

Thanks for your input.


Bill G
'91 Nissan Maxima SE
181,000 miles

Paul

Hi, Bill!

I'll be pleased to contribute impressions of my daily driver, a white
2004 Accord EX-L auto Sedan 4-cyl, now with 23K pampered miles.

I purchased this car because of its high reliability and resale value,
the amount of interior space (front and rear) and ergonomics [I am
5'4"], the comfortable seating position, a long list of standard
features (i.e., moonroof, heated seats, 6-CD in-dash stereo,
side-window and seat airbags), ease-of-use of the radio and climate
controls (and a handsome dashboard), and a remarkable efficiency and
power of this VTEC engine. Among the cars I test-driven before this
purchase 18 months ago included the VW Jetta, the Nissan Altima, the
Toyota Camry (twice), the Toyota Corolla, and the Honda Civic sedan
(twice). In particular, I felt that the dashboards of the Toyotas and
Nissan, and to some extent the Civic, were each designed to be operated
by a third-grader.

Over the past 18 months, my mileage with the Accord has varied between
26 city and 32 highway, which is excellent for this type of car. I
even managed 35.95 and 36.04 mpg, respectively, on two 200-mile highway
commutes without A/C and a steady 65mph on each trip. I have a PC
software program that keeps track of mileage and maintenance. I have
used only 87 octane gas from Exxon or BP/Amoco. I am constantly trying
to set a new mileage record between fillups, but 36.04 is my best
number (395 miles on 10.96 gallons, 4/8/2005 -- the car had 14,806
miles at the time).

My Honda dealership service department has been stellar and has treated
me especially well. Every holiday season, I order a few boxes of fresh
Florida citrus and ship the oranges and grapefruit to the dealership,
for everyone in the sales and service departments. I wish more
customers were like me, as the dealership treats me right. I could go
on about the various instances the dealership has been helpful to me
(free detailing of the entire car, etc.) but I'm getting off topic
here.

My car has been flawless mechanically, and I hope that you will also
become a fellow Honda owner. If you see me on the road, please give me
a thumbs-up on the Accord!

Paul

Dr Nick

I ordered a 2006 accord EX-L with Navi 4cyl in a 5 speed manual. (had to
order because NO ONE had a 5 speed 4cyl with a navi) I was comming from a
2001 maxima SE (also a stick) so I looked at a bunch of cars here are my
thoughts.

> Cars I'm also considering:
>
> Nissan Altima
looked at the altima in my search, tough to find as a stick but drove my
aunts 05 auto. it was ok, but I really think they priced themselves out of
this group. to get all the things I got in the honda it woudl of cost me
over 30,000. (to add navigation you have to add all these other packages,
might not be your case if your going without nav)
> Nissan Maxima
like I said I owned a 2001 Maxima SE. I LOVED that car. I got rid of it
because I could only get an average of 22-23 mpg out of it and it needed
premium (I knwo it doesn't NEED premium, but after using 1 tank of regular,
I'd never use anything else in it) I don't like the new ones (04-present)
after driving one I was disappointed what nissan did to this car after the
03 model year. I just think the altima (same size car, same engine) is a
better buy (but still too expensive vs the competition)
> Toyota Camry
I can probably sum this up in 1 word, boring. the car does what you need it
to do, good on gas, reliable, but it's just plain looking and not that fun
to drive.
> Subaru Forester XT
never drove one so I really can't comment.

I also drove a Jetta TDI and 2.5. VW did some wierd things, my brother
girlfriend got a 2005.5 (05 but newer body style) and it's nice, problem is
when looking for an 06 they took OUT a bunch fo things (no auto climate
control, no heated wiper nozzles and mirrors as well as the trip computer)
and it was mroe expensive than the 2005.5 counterpart. but now if you look
at VW's site, they DO come with automatic climate control doesn't make
sense. the TDI version I dorve I had a ball in, I spun tires
(unintentionally mind you) in both 1st and 2nd gear. that thing just took
off the line. then you look and the car says 100hp and you can't believe it
(yes 100 HP but a HELL of a lot of torque, low end torque) but with the gas
prices where they were, they were selling the TDI's for sticker, wern't
moving on them at all, so I decided to pass becuase I refuse to pay sticker
for a car.

Mazda 3
I drove both the base model and the S model. the base model was just that
basic. VERY stripped, had manual mirrors, windows and seats, I was shocked
when I got in it. but it is cheap and good on gas, and was pretty fun to
drive. when I stepped into the S model it was a world of difference. more
responsive engine (at some sacrafice of gas mileage) but power everything.
Cd changer, moonroof and sattelite radio.

after driving all these cars I decided to go with the honda because of gas
mileage, reliability, and overall value (fully loaded 4 cyl with a 5 speed
stick and navigation for 24,800) no one else can touch that. the ONLY
problem I have is that honda, who say "safety for everyone" apparently think
traction control is only for V6 powered cars. I dont' understand why it's
not even an option on 4 cyl models. sorry for the long post I hope any of
this helps, keep in mind this is just my opinion, best advice I can give is
Drive Drive Drive and research research research. good luck to ya!

-Nick
>

tomb

Dr Nick wrote:

[lots of interesting comments, thanks, snipped]

> after driving all these cars I decided to go with the honda because
> of gas mileage, reliability, and overall value (fully loaded 4 cyl
> with a 5 speed stick and navigation for 24,800) no one else can touch
> that. the ONLY problem I have is that honda, who say "safety for
> everyone" apparently think traction control is only for V6 powered
> cars. I dont' understand why it's not even an option on 4 cyl models.

Traction control on a 4-banger with front wheel drive? You must live in a
snowy climate, then... otherwise, if you spin the wheels just ease off a
little

Dr Nick

> Traction control on a 4-banger with front wheel drive? You must live in a
> snowy climate, then... otherwise, if you spin the wheels just ease off a
> little

haha yes I live in Rhode island we already got snow once this year (luckly I
was in florida at the time, hehe) that was one advantage I saw the jetta
having was that it comes standard with traction control. I just figure honda
could at LEAST make it an option.