stevepake

Just wanted to say hi to everybody,

I got a 2K1 Accord EX V6 Sedan a few months ago and love it - but I've always loved the Maxima too. I probably would have bought a Maxima if it wasn't for the fact that you guys are getting the 3.5 with a lot more power for 2002.

But unfortunately I couldn't wait on buying a car and I needed one this year. I was leaning towards an automatic transmission anyways (too much traffic in the D.C. area, and plus I'm lazy ), the performance between the 2K1 Max Auto and 2K1 Accord V6 (auto only) was about the same, and I felt the Accord EX V6 was a better value (more standard features, cheaper, etc..) than the Maxima in either SE or GLE form. So I went with an Accord and I don't regret the decision at all.

If a stick shift was really important to me and if you guys weren't getting the 3.5 in 2k2 I'd probably be in a Max right now, but oh well. It didn't quite work out that way and I love my Accord V6.

But anyways, I love your cars too. I think they look great, and like many I hated the tail to begin with too but it's really grown on me since then and I like it a lot more now than I did before.

I'll be "lurking" around, but just wanted to say hi to y'all.

Cheers.

Creature

Howdy.

littledog

Welcome~

But..why does the 2k2 getting a 3.5L engine affect your decision?

stevepake

1) Don't like being obsoleted so soon.
I know it's unavoidable, just like buying a computer, and that it happens eventually, but I wouldn't like the feeling of dropping $25k+ on a car only to have it partially obsoleted so soon by a much more powerful one. That 3.5L is supposed to have 260HP in the Max (275+ in the I35) from what I've read, which is a pretty big boost from 222HP. if it was just getting tweaked up to 230HP or so then it wouldn't have been a big deal to me, but close to 40HP is a big deal. At least in the Accord V6 we've got another full model year to go before the next generation comes out, with no major tweaks planned for the 2002 model. But that 2k2 3.5L engine in the Max is a huge mid-life upgrade

2) Resale Value
If you've got the first half of the 5th Gen Max's with 222HP and the second half of them with 260HP stock, then which model years of the 5th Gen Max's do you think are going to hold their value the best down the road?? The answer is the 260HP version. Generally, people that buy used cars like the higher end models. A big reason people buy used is because they might not necessarily be able to afford a brand new top-end model but still want one. But they can afford a top-end model that's a couple of years old. So 5 or so years from now when people are looking for used 5th Gen Max's which ones do you think they're going to be paying the most for? The answer again, IMO, is the 260 horse versions, and I feel that the resale value of the 222 horse Max's might be lower than normal because of that.

The current-gen Accord's have stayed relatively the same with minor improvements throughout the year including a minor face/tail lift for the 2K1's so everybody's resale should be pretty good. But I'm not so optimistic about the 2K/2K1 Max's and that major powertrain upgrade mid-cycle. That would make me nervous.

Y2KevSE

iTrader: (13)

Hi there!

LoveSick

ummm, Steve, the Accord is having a change next year. 2001 is the forth year of your Accord. The new one will have a 240hp Vtec DOHC engine. Which is a 40hp gain from what you have.....

So why are you buying an Accord if next year there will be a 40hp gain?

littledog

That's what I thought when I was reading his reasons. But I think he's correct is the resale value of the 222 5th Gen is less than the 260hp one. As for the accord, they are going to do a major change so it will be another generation.

stevepake

I assume you're referring to that autonews.com article - it was in error when it implied that the next-gen Accord was coming out this fall as a 2002 model with 240HP, and this can be seen on www.vtec.net/news if you want to check it out. The Accord is now running on a 5-year redesign cycle (as opposed to the 4-year cycle it was before) so there's one more year left in the current generation (2002) before the next-generation Accord is out in the fall of 2002 as a 2003 model. If the next-gen Accord was coming out this fall then we'd already be seeing pics of it from car shows but this isn't so, and autonews has already apologized for the error.

Since the Altima is moving up in size/power (big time power!) to compete with the Accord, hopefully we'll get some more oomph under our hoods too but only time will tell. All the Accord folks at superhonda.org are trying to figure out how Honda is going to do this since they won't want to cannibalize Acura TL/CL sales - but we'll see soon enough

Even if the next-gen Accord is coming out this fall, nobody would have known about that anywhere and I would have been screwed either way then, but it looks like I'm in the clear for now

mingo

iTrader: (4)

hi, your point is very valid. for a while i felt real bad knowing my new car would no longer be "new" after 2 years. but all good i still love it. i also think the accord is an excelent car for it's price.

stevepake

Well, in another 1-1/2 years I'll be obsolete too when the new Accord comes out (2003 model year), but sometimes there just isn't much you can do about it.

I just graduated from college and ye olde faithful 1990 Toyota Camry with 206,000 miles (which is still running great, BTW) simply couldn't be reasonably trusted to handle my 2400 mile/mo. "mileage burn rate" between driving daily to/from work, and weekend trips to see my gf/soon-to-be-fiance so I really needed to buy this year.

I would have **loved** to wait until the 2002 models started rolling out. The Camry, Passat, and Audi A4 are all being redesigned for 2002 (the Passat has been released early already as a 2001.5 I think), and even the Maxima is receiving it's big boost up to 260HP - so I would have loved to wait.

Of all the cars I was looking at, it just so happened that the one I liked the best (the Accord) was staying the same for 2002 so it looks like it's going to work out rather nicely for me. And it's got enough extra goodies and minor upgrades from the previous 6th-Gen Accords (98-00) to keep me happy, but not enough (like major powertrain upgrades, or a manual tranny on the V6 (!!)) to screw over the 98-00 Accord owners on resale.

So I'm pretty happy, but we all get obsoleted sooner or later. I'd just prefer to *not* have it happen in the first year!! (unless I'm getting huge discounts on the car )

CoolMax

iTrader: (7)

Welcome to the club!

UMD_MaxSE

iTrader: (1)

welcome steve .....I am a former V6 Accord driver.....

GXEme

After checking it over I have to agree the Accord is a great value. However, I also think that a GXE with some options is of very similar value and you have a much flashier car. I know that Honda has a great rep for resale but in my case this wasn't a consideration since I plan to have around 150,000 miles on my GXE within 3 years. No matter how you look at it, this type of mileage is going to kill resale on any car.

Green_2

Just kidding!

As a matter of fact, I was looking at the Accord too when I was deciding to buy a car. if the V6 hand a manual, I think I might have ended up in the superhonda forums...

But I'm happy where I am!

Green

rsbaker

My $0.02:

While clearly resale value is a factor, it's hard to beat an Maxima for the value.

They're advertising 2K1 SE's locally for under 20K, and base models (GXE?) for under 18K. Hard to beat that for the money. I paid over 19K for my soon to be dumped 2000 Jetta GLS 2.0. Boy do I feel foolish (although insurance reasons were a big factor)

stevepake

I was on www.carsdirect.com a week or so ago and there was some sort of factory special on the 2K1 SE for a couple thousand dollars off! When I saw it I was surprised because even with all the goodies it was coming out about the same as my Accord EX V6 whereas it was a couple grand more before - which is a big reason why I got the Accord.

So maybe those prices you saw were for that special that was apparently going on? When I was getting ready to buy Max prices were still much higher than my Accord but a special like that might just have been enough to sway me. Ah well. Such is life

radpp16

thanks for stopping by.

MichaelAE

iTrader: (1)

I own an Emerald Green, '98 EX/V-6 Coupe. I ordered it almost immediately after reading the C&D issue on the 6th generation debut. My car rolled off the truck and was delivered to me with 6 miles on it. Overall, I still love that car. My disappointments are based on lack of power, the performance of the auto tranny and the "big-buttoned" dashboard which looks a bit like the "Fisher-Price" version of the CL/TL dash, however it is a great car. I do love my Maxima more though!

Stay on board and keep reading our posts and, one day, you too will be converted!

Mugen13

this is mugen13 from SHO!!

annimax

Hiya Hiya!

Good post and reply!

Maximam

Hey Mugen13!!! I am SHOSPEED1990 and SHOSPEED at two different SHO forums. I had to get rid of my 1990 SHO and pick up a 2k1 Maxima. The Max does'nt quite have the high speed power my SHO had but I love it. My old SHO would walk my Max 60mph and up badly.

Mark

stevepake

Umm...Mugen was talking about SHO as in SuperHonda Online, and not the Taurus SHO forums that you're probably referring too

stevepake

LOL...no need to "convert" me. I've always loved the Maxima, and in fact that Maxima is the car that really made me an auto enthusiast to begin with. I remember waaaay back to when Nissan had 3rd Gen Maxima "4DSC" commercials on TV with a working guy taking some clients to lunch or something, and then he was daydreaming that he was racing over cobblestone streets in Europe and carving tight roads and then suddenly the view shifted back to reality and the people in his car got out and he was like, "whoa!" "Nissan, the 4 Door Sports Car!" Anyways, that, and the fact that the Maxima was the fastest sedan in the world is what made me an auto enthusiast.

But alas, reality set in when it was time to buy a car.

For one I wasn't after all-out performance. If I was I would have bought a Max 5-spd no questions asked. I wanted something that would get out of its own way and then some, and the Accord V6 can certainly do that - and stay even with the Max Auto's (but still get dusted by the sticks) but that was good enough for me. Yeah, it could use a little more low-end but that's alright - performance wasn't my first consideration. A consideration, yes, but not the first

Another thing that led me towards the Accord was lower operating costs. I'm going to be putting about 30,000 miles on my car per year (at least for the next 1-2 yrs minimum). The Max doesn't quite get as good highway mileage as the Accord V6 (19/26 for Max Auto vs. 20/28 for Accord V6). Also, the Max VQ requires premium fuel while our J30A1 SOHC VTEC lets us make 200HP on regular 87 octane fuel. If you calculate that out (based on $0.30 difference between regular and premium fuel) it comes out to around a $500 savings per year just in operating costs alone, and that's a good chunk of change right there.

And then when you throw on top of that the fact that (at the time) I could get my Accord EX V6 for $3k less (or more) than a 2k1 Max SE similarly equipped (changer, moonroof, leather, etc..), that pretty much sold me on the Accord.

But hey, I'm **not** busting on the Maxima at all. It's got better styling than the Accord, handles better stock, bigger wheels stock, performs better - but that's all performance and not necessarily what I was looking for. I still love the Max and think it's a great car, but for me, and my specific needs and what was important to me the Accord worked out just a little bit better for me. But on the otherhand if I could have waited another year I don't think I would have been able to resist 260HP + 5-spd + 4 doors - operating costs and higher payments be damned!

So no convincing needed. You guys drive a fine car, and maybe the next time around I'll officially join your ranks. But I'll have to see what's coming out of Honda then too

Cumalot

iTrader: (8)

Welcome. The Accord V6 is a really nice car. Both my brother('99) and sister('00) have an Accord sedan V6. I'm the only one that have a Maxima. Kind of an odd ball really. And my god-brother also have a Honda, an Odessy. So, I'm surrounded to say the least.

mregenst

May 2000 bought my wife an Accord Special Edition(4 cyl).
The V6 is a great car, but I wouldn't trade my Max for an Accord, no way...

Maximam

OOPPSS!!

SteVTEC

It looks like that "next time around" came much sooner than expected and that I really did end up getting a Maxima

I think it was my destiny

Virus

iTrader: (1)

I love the Accord coupe, but didn't like the 4 door. Fortunately, I have a family and need the extra doors so the Maxima was the best choice in the market place for a sport/family mobile within a reasonable price range. The Maxima back end grew on me as well after a few times seeing them on the road. Liked it so much afterwards I just had to have one.

mregenst

Good choice- the Accord V6 lacks the Maxima "punch"......


mregenst
2K GLE loaded
Sterling Mist

Ghost face Max

Hello

Ludacris

iTrader: (11)

8702

an V6 Coupe tried to mess with me in my 2k2 auto... long story short, it got eaten not once, not twice, but three times! This guy had some ugly chrome muffler tips for his dual exhaust, practically the same width as stock, and stuck out a good 5-6 inches.

mingo

iTrader: (4)

well we all know u made the best decision.

F23A4

This thread's a blast from the past!! This was back when me and Steve were heavily into our Accords (albeit mine was/is an even slower 4 cylinder Accord.)

That V6 Coupe has NO business trying to mess with any 2K2 Maxima. They can barely beat the base 2.5 Altima.

PrinzII

iTrader: (2)

I remember test driving an Accord V6 and was disappointed in the lack of punch. The same day, I also test drove a Camry and found the same issue. Don't get me wrong, the Accord and Camry are both nice for whatthey are but for me, performance and interior room are huge considerations. That's why I am a Maxima owner for the 2nd time.

maximadriven

Im having a hard time understanding why this post even exists but we can post about the I35 and the Z..

nc00max

If you weren't a newbie, you would understand.

F23A4

MichaelAE

iTrader: (1)

When I saw the email notification on this thread, I thought there was some sort of error. I subscribed to it in May of 2001.

Of course, you realize you probably just started a big debate about the Accord vs. Maxima all over again.

mregenst

Really there is no debate-Max beats Accord hands down on "fun to drive" factor....




2K GLE stock-loaded
Sterling Mist