My friend is trying to decide...
 

between buying a 04 Maxima SE and a 05 Accord Coupe. Both vehicles have the same price point, within $500 of each other. The Maxima that he was looking at had no leather, 4,000 more miles on it, yet the previous owner left a custom system in it.

The 05 accord coupe came with leather, yet he said the pickup didnt seem the same.

Which is a better deal for the money?

When I first looked at cars back in 04, I looked at the Max v. the Accord coupe, both in 6 speed form. They are really different cars. If you need room, take the max. If you dont, get the Accord. I needed the room, so I took the Max.

having an 04 and absolutely no problems, im going to say 04. Its definately a nice car and if he needs a back seat/bigger car then thats the one.
However if he needs no back or wants less weight which equals more mpg then its the coupe.

btw leather isnt all its made out to be. i have it and it gets hot as balls in summer and then freezing in winter. But i still love my car. and nothing is better than a free sound system. ;)

My suggestion
 

Would be to not play an active role in your friend's decision. It will be HIS car, and it is therefore his responsibility to weigh the alternatives and make a choice. If he hasn't already driven both cars for several hours each, he should arrange to do so, because the "feel" of a vehicle should play a major role in the decision-making process. Moreover, he should talk with at least a couple of owners of each car and get their input before deciding. You do not want to be in the position of having him feel, "I wish I hadn't taken his advice." My $.02.

honestly you will get a very maxima biased opinion here. But i would say tell your buddy to get a max. That will be the majority answer here on the org besides you gotta look at more than the millage and the system when buying a used car. Like carfax and the vehicles history. IMO but good luck to your buddy!!!

good points...

like Mark said, if you need all the space get the max, if not, Accord is not that bad of a car.

Just like Kof said, I'm biased also, I love the max, love the look, the power, etc...only thing that sucks is how much gas it takes

He wound up going for the accord coupe

If its a 4 cyl accord then I would go with that for the gas mileage, if its a V6 model I would be very careful as they have issues with their transmissions. Personally i think the accords body looks very dated and not nearly as nice as the Max. A lot of it goes to personal preferences and needs.

i had a accord coupe w/ 6spd and it was fun but not nearly as fun as the maxima

maximaFTW!!

i drive my max in the city about 95% of time and i keep the revs under 3k-2.5k and i average 19.7 mpg on the highway doing 70 i get 29mpg

You really can't go wrong with either car, both are very nice. But as its been said before, the Max will offer the most space and fun!!

yeah I just picked up my max yesterday, wish he had joined the club..oh well