Maybe quality too?

One could argue that if the Honda guys don't care as much, they would not even post to complian. But it's probably not the case. People are the same pretty much.

But then again, if I had an exotic, I would be much more inclined to complain than if I had a Hyundai. Again, I don't think the maxima/accord are that different though.

 

I'll have to disagree with you here :-)

And trust me, some of these Honduh guys will whine and complain about ANYTHING so i don't think that's the case either

When I visit the Accord and Maxima boards, I tend to see these poor guys here complaining about cheesy and annoying little quality issues and cost-cutting measures way more than on Accord boards.

1) Sub-standard paint that chips (www.nissanpaint.com)
2) Missing fuel-filler neck splash guard??
3) Huge turn radius (design problem, not quality related)
4) Tranny complaints auto: slips, solenoid, TSB's, etc...
5) Tranny complaints stick: fuel-cut, bucking, FINALLY being fixed...
6) Cheap windshield chips easily (heard this awhile back, not as common though)
7) Computer doesn't have reasonable accuracy (new on 2k2's)
8) Bose system on 2k2's adjusts volume in the wrong direction???
9) Warped Rotors!!!! (constant complaints...)
10) SERVICE SERVICE SERVICE !!!!!! :-(
11) Interior squeaks and rattles.

Most common complaints among Gen6 Accord V6 owners.

1) Car is too slow (biggest complaint by far ) Mid-15's with most bolt-on's and no N2O is pretty sorry considering the thousands of dollars spent when the Maxima auto can do this pretty much stock with powershifting at redline. The VQ30DE is on Ward's Best Engines list for a reason. Compared to the J30A1 in the Accord V6, the VQ power comes on much earlier, it stays on strong till redline whereas ours falls off, and it make more power all together in the first place. The VQ is built for performance. The J30A1 was built for economical but powerful cruising and not all-out performance. Most people don't realize that, though.

2) Interior squeaks and rattles.
3) Weak auto tranny (complaints have gone down a lot since the POLL)
4) Sunroof rattles (fixed by TSB a long time ago)

That's it. Seriously. And I'm being completely honest when I say that. And when there are problems, Honda owners are usually very well taken care of and you almost never hear of complaints about crappy dealer service, or being blown off, or other things of that nature like you would from Nissan service. Sad to say it, but it's true. Nissan service sucks. Honda service is, in general, much better.

So take that for what it's worth from a guy that is familiar with both sides and always tries to stay as objective and as level-headed as possible

 

BLAH, BLAH, BLAH STEV

Hehe. Yeah I know where you are coming from. But your absolutely wrecking my discussion w/ the other guy.

 

I agree that you guys also have high standards for quality, like Accord V6 owners. Otherwise nobody would be complaining about problems, short-comings, or obvious cost cutting measures.

But I think you guys get what you pay for. The VQ is marvelous, but maybe the rest of the car had to suffer to keep to price targets. In the Maxima you seem to pay for performance above all else. It takes a lot of money to develop kick@ss engines like the VQ. This would seem to be the general theme of Nissan - outstanding performance and styling, but maybe at the cost of quality in other areas, including service.

In the Accord the performance isn't as good, but the rest of the car as a whole does seem to be put together a little bit better, at least IMHO. This would seem to fit the general theme of Honda. Good quality in all area, well-balanced and well-rounded designs at good prices. The bad thing about this is that the cars really don't stand out in any single area, but what makes them great is that they tend to do "everything well". But at the cost of "excelling at nothing"

 

PM it?

 

Someone lock this thread. It is so stupid to argue that one car is better than the other one. A BMW may be a better car. You get what you need, depending on your budget and tastes. What we're doing here is going in circles talking about the tastes, but they will NEVER be the same! =Continuous Argument.

 

One car is not "better" than the other. They're just different, and have different traits that will make them more or less suited to different people. Both cars do well in some areas but then fall short in others. Overall though, both are excellent cars. At least in my view, I don't see this as an "Accord vs Maxima" war thread. That would be true of some of the old and dusty (and locked) "Acura Type-S vs. Maxima" threads though

 

Being both a Maxima and a Accord owner I would like to share my thoughts about this issue.

Since some of the things I will discuss may be too minor for some of you I would like to make it clear that I do not want and do not deserve any flaming. (PLEASE)

After driving the Maxima (My first Nissan ever)for the past 4-5 Months and my 99 accord LX (4cyl) ever since I bought it in 98 here are my observations.

In terms of front occupant room and comfort I like my accord, That was the only reason I chose it over a camry when I bought it, I have never felt cramped and my knees never hit the dashboard. Its very comfortable for the long roads. As far as the overall rear occupant room and comfort goes I think accord does ok but not as well as the maxima. I used to carpool and my colleagues loved the maxima's rear legroom but always *****ed about the hip room, in their opinion the accord had better hip room. I also feel that the maxima seats are not as comfortable as the accord seats (both front and rear) I drove my dads old RL (98) before he traded it in for this maxima and those seats were nice just like sitting on a couch at home.

My biggest complaint about the maxima (specially ones w/ sunroofs) was the headroom! In my accord, even with the seat height all the way up! I never run out of head room, but in the maxima I have to put the seat height all the way down and I am not that tall (6')

In terms of ergonomics, both cars are well done, there is only one thing that I hate about the maxima, its the poor position of the side rear view mirror adjuster switch! on my accord its just on the door where the power window buttons are so you get used to it without looking at it, but with the max its on the dashboard (under the instrumental cluster) so if I have to adjust them on the go I have to go out of the way to reach it. on the plus side the maxima gives me one touch up as well as down on the driver window where as the accord is only one touch down not up.

I like my maxima's bose sounds system but the sub woofer is of no use to me! it rattles too much so I have to turn it all the way down or at least to the mid level. I feel that just because of the woofer the bose system is a waste of money.

When it comes to interior noise level, the maxima is quieter than my accord overall but has a problem with the rear driver side door, its with all the maximas I drove. They all had had noise leak from that one door!! I don't know what the hell is up with that. Its not too bad but its still noticeable. The accord is fairly quiet overall.

My next gripe is with the transmission. I remember my 91 accord with its bumpy gear shifts, but with my new accord Honda finally fixed the problem. I consider my accord's transmission very smooth. The maxima on the other hand can be very very bumpy. I noticed that sometimes it shifts very smooth almost as smooth as my accord but most of the times its bumpy you can feel all the shift ups and downs.

Overall handling is great with the accord. Its very stable (NHTSA's Rollover ratings prove it) doesn't have the boat like feel that I sometimes get from the maxima.

Overall handling with the maxima is well, smooth. Its quieter inside, absorbs potholes better than my accord (I am comparing it with when it was stock)

When the 5th generation Maxima first came out, I thought it was the ugliest thing since the ford (circles and ovals) Taurus. But for some strange reason, it grew on me and I actually began to like the way it looks. I think part of the reason is that most of the cars in this class have started looking alike. the same old boring shapes. The accord the old altima the camry, too boring.

I like dashboard design of the Maxima, the accord is well, boring!

When I get in the maxima, it feels like a upscale car. Both the interior and exterior designs are far more exciting than the accord.

As far as the quality and reliability issue goes, I have only had the maxima for 4-5 months so cant tell, but with my previous experience with accords (85, 89, 91, 99 models) I have a feeling that my accord might last longer. As for the Resale value, nothing has held its value as my accords have. But I am not too familiar with Nissans.

Finally the thing that I like the most about my maxima and will most likely result in a purchase of another one, is the ENGINE!

Now I have driven a v6 accord and a camry but I have to say that the nissan VQ v6 is by far the best v6 engine I have driven. (Wards recognition of Vq30 as on of the top engines is a proof)


Now here is why I will "most likely" never by another accord again, POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE! my local honda dealer is a f*cking joke. They dont know how to treat their customers. I am so impressed with my local nissan dealership experience (purchase and service) that I think my next car will most likely be another nissan.

 

that's right! rid yourselves of your maximas and all buy CRXs!!



On the somewhat same note...

My boss had a 4dr 99 Accord. She just recently traded her accord in for a 2002 Altima 3.5SE, white with mudflaps and the whole-shibang. Automatic to boot.

She LOVES it. She says it's much more roomier than her accord, rides smoother, accelerates much better. Overall 15 times better than the Accord.

and the Altima is a worse build quality than the Maxima!

Imagine going from a Maxima to an Accord? The Maxima is built quite nicely and is pretty close to Lexus build quality and fit and finish. The Accord is still swimming in Honda quality. Reliable, yes... but excellent ride quality?

 

So, is your boss a babe, or what???


ADMAN

 

 

Different strokes for different folks...
Wuchyoo talkin' about, Willis?

It's kind of like girls. You know those girls that are cute, but not "supermodel" quality, nice, but not sexy, polite but not a blast at parties. You know what they are all about from the get-go. You can predict their every move, but nothing about them thrills you, turns you on, is something to fantasize about.

Depends on what gets you to sleep at night: comfort and dependability, or excitement and romance.

The Accord sits in the corner, holding your drink (disapprovingly) and will always be there for you. The 255 HP Maxima is up on the table, dancing, looking at you and licking her lips.

 

Nice analogy... You didn't mention any of the bad sides of the table top girls though

 

I love my Max....I just hit 50K miles on my 2K with no problems at all...

 

isn't your wife babe-enough? She likes racing!!

my boss is a tall (about as tall as you) blonde, and makes probably $60K/yr. I'm not fond of blondes, but, i guess she can be considered a babe...


oh, and I hate hondas, except for CRXs and Preludes.

 

My current Max is my 13th car (my 2nd and my family's 4th).
I've owned an Acura and my family have owned 2 Accords.

My two cents is that quality wise that I beleive both cars are Better than average for reliabilty, but I give the nod for the better of the 2 choices given to the Maxima. I and most people I have know have not had any major issues with the maxima; only the minor annoying things like the 5th gen's bad paint. The Honda/Acuras we have owned usually have less annoying issues but, when something goes wrong it goes really wrong. Timing belts breaking destroying the engine, couple of engine deaths and a bad transmission are few issues I can name. (Yes these vehicles were religiously maintained) I have actully found Nissan Service to be better than Hondas and even Acuras, Service though I beleive is Much more the Dealer than the Company.

Bottom line is choose your Poison.
I prefer annoying minor issues to an occasional very Major Issue,
My experience has shown me that I prefer Nissan's issues to Honda's.

My .02

 

Honda -Nissan which one is better? I guess it depends moslty on you personal experience.
I owned 2 accords and loved them. The first one was a 94 that I put 129K on. I loved it. So did the guy that stole it. I got another one but started fiending for a more powerful platform to build on. So my experience Hondas are great. So I considered an Acura CL. Yet I see countless stories of falied transmissions on their forum. That's a MAJOR problem.
My mom has 95 nissan 240sx and not a problem. Before that she had an 80 200sx. Once again no problems. Sounds like quality to me. But my experience with my Max has been a little disappointing. Nothing major like a failed transmission, but noisy engine mounts and the countless rattles just dont seem like things I should have to deal with in a car less than 2 yrs old. I still have faith in Nissans as good products but there's just something about the 5th gen Max.

 

I think Toyota has us both beat.

(p.s., sorry for the poor image quality - I had to crank up the JPG compression to maximum to get by the 30k file size limit. yeah yeah...attach feature. But the server always times out - this way it gets sucked off of webshots and not the .org)

 

Toyota is good, but they've got problems too. My mother-in-law's 96 Camry got a new engine a little over a year ago. I seriously doubt she ran it hard, which supports the idea that neither Honda, Nissan or Toyota are that much better than any other.

Did anyone mention that the 98+ Accords are built in the US, whereas the Maxima is still built in Japan? How hard is it for a dude that got fired from the Dodge factory to go over and start working on Accords?

More fuel for the fire...

Zam

 

haha. Yep, no auto manufacturer is immune from problems, and there will always be failures no matter how good a car or its manufacturer is.

As for US vs Japanese made, there have been many quality studies done that compared the quality and reliability of Japanese cars built in the US and of those actually built in Japan. One study was done on the 94-97 Accords which were built in parallel both in the US and Japan. The conclusion was that there was no difference in quality - less than a 1% difference. Whether a car is built in Japan or the US, the quality control standards remain that of the actual manufacturer and that determines the quality, and not really where they're built. At least with Japanese vehicles. The Japanese believe in very tight and strict quality control and would not build vehicles elsewhere unless they could ensure that quality standard. The same can not be said about other manufacturers (*cough*US*cough*)

As for Toyota, here's a shot of my old 90 Camry that was built in Kentucky going over 200k



We got it up to 207k and then sold it. Only major problems were a bad manual tranny synchro at 99k, and the alternator and primary ignition coil gave out at 202k. Other than that, just normal wear n' tear

 

I used to own a 99 Max SE 5 spd before, but due to many small problems and horrible customer service and dealerships in my area (Rochester, NY), I traded it in for a 2001 Prelude in October. The fit and finish of a Prelude is much better and seems overall a much more solid car. Dealers are more receptive too. However, if you do need a 4 door, I would suggest driving a 2K2 SE - 6spd. Just my $ .02, please no flames!!