Anyone in the market for a midsize car? I was.

[RollingsFarms]

I bought my mother a 2008 Chevrolet Malibu when the new re-design came out in '08. It's been a nice car overall, pretty reliable, but has started doing stupid little things that have made me question the build quality of it. Things like some gas tank sensor went out in the 3rd year, radio went out recently in year 5 (and she doesn't use the radio that much so this was really disappointing), interior started to show premature wear in certain areas (car was always garaged and only had 49,000 miles on it). Just little things that shouldn't be happening on a car driven by a 67 year old lady with only 49,000 miles on it. I decide to get online and start reading some reviews and pick out some cars to go look at and here's what made my list (in no particular order).

Honda Accord-Liked the new re-design for 2013. Pretty impressed with the build quality and driveability of this car and all reviews I'd read were very positive. Only reason I didn't buy this car is because we have one local dealer and they are pretty snobby. They are a take it or leave it type when it comes to price, financing, trade-in, etc. I also noticed that I rarely see much foot traffic at this dealership and their attitude could be why. Next closest Honda dealership is too far away and I know my mother wouldn't want to drive 40 mins to have her car serviced or take it in for warranty repairs. Really stinks because I liked the car...alot but I'm NOT paying MSRP for any vehicle. If you have a good Honda dealership nearby and are looking for a midsize car I strongly urge you to go drive an Accord!


Chevrolet Malibu- The re-design for this year was kind of "meh" to me. It has alot of the Camaro styling in the rear but it doesn't look right on this car to me. I also wasn't a fan of the interior. It was nice but as always GM seems to try too hard to impress you with gadgets when they should spend that money on building the car of more quality. I don't want blue light accenting in the car at night, I want the interior to hold together for more then 5 years and 49,000 miles! I don't want fake wood all over the place, I want functionality. I want one color leather seats, not black with brown, it looks ghetto. The pricing was out of this world too. Never thought I'd see the day when a Malibu was priced HIGHER then a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord. I'm talking by $2,000 higher. Car rode nice though, just wasn't a fan of anything else. I'd buy a Hyundai before I bought this car. Seriously.

Toyota Camry- This is the car I ended up buying. Got a sweet deal (under invoice, even checked with truecar.com to confirm it), 0% for 60 financing, the car isn't over the top fancy, but has everything I want on it and nothing I don't. I think the Accord beats it overall, but the Camry is a CLOSE second and everyone else is a little behind these two other then the new Passat, which I didn't even look at. Ford's Fusion is getting great reviews, but our Ford dealers suck so I didn't waste my time. 25/35 mpg is also one of the best in the midsize category and all Camry's come with an auto 6 speed. The 2.5 4cyl has very good power believe it or not. I was impressed! I really can't think of anything I don't like about the car to be honest. Oh, did I mention the Toyota dealership offered me $1,000 more for my GM Malibu then Chevrolet did? Makes you wonder doesn't it? The local Toyota dealer is being VERY aggressive with pricing, financing, service before and after the sale, they are just mopping the floor with all the other dealers around here. My salesman was actually selling 2 cars at once and had to run around back and forth while apologizing each time. He sold 12 cars in two weeks if that tells you anything. That's just him alone, not counting other salesman.

I just wanted to give this little review incase anyone was in the market for a new midsize car. This is one of the most competitive markets in vehicles and there really isn't a bad car to pick from out there. I wished I had more time and more dealers of other makes closeby to check all of them out!

 

[powerpace]

Did you look at a Prius? I'm on my second one. 200,000 miles in four years on the first. Son and his family have it now and still getting 46 to 48 mpg.
I quit buying American made cars fifteen years ago. I could never get over 80 to 100 thousand miles before major issues began.

 

[RollingsFarms]

Did you look at a Prius? I'm on my second one. 200,000 miles in four years on the first. Son and his family have it now and still getting 46 to 48 mpg.
I quit buying American made cars fifteen years ago. I could never get over 80 to 100 thousand miles before major issues began.

Matter of fact, I looked at several different models of them while I was at the dealership. I just know my mother wouldn't be happy with that small of a car. She drove Ford Crown Victoria's for the longest time before I finally convinced her to get the Malibu in 2008. She doesn't like cars like the Corolla and small cars like that, so that's why I went with mid-size level. I will say that this dealership had a ton of Camry's and Prius' to pick from so they must sell a ton of them. I think I'm done with American cars for awhile myself. I came across an article that showed the Toyota Camry as having the most American made parts on it of ANY vehicle sold in the US. Something like 85% American made parts make-up the Camry.

 

[mjncad]

I had a 1995 Accord that I consider the best car I ever bought. I sold it to some friends after my Mom died, and now I tool around in her 2001 Accord. I would like Mom's car more if it were a 2-door, a different color, and had a manual transmission. That's not the car's fault; but my personal preferences.

Every year a friend of mine and I go to the Denver auto show to kick the tires, and each year we are very impressed with the Hyundai Azera. A lot of bang for the buck. I just wish they offered a 2-door version.

After my experience with my 1983 Chevy S-10, I will never buy a GM product again.

 

[RollingsFarms]

I had a 1995 Accord that I consider the best car I ever bought. I sold it to some friends after my Mom died, and now I tool around in her 2001 Accord. I would like Mom's car more if it were a 2-door, a different color, and had a manual transmission. That's not the car's fault; but my personal preferences.

Every year a friend of mine and I go to the Denver auto show to kick the tires, and each year we are very impressed with the Hyundai Azera. A lot of bang for the buck. I just wish they offered a 2-door version.

After my experience with my 1983 Chevy S-10, I will never buy a GM product again.

Yeah, the older Accords and Camry's were/are legendary. Today's Accord's and Camry's are still good but not in the same league as the older one's....at least not yet, too early to tell. I just was amazed at how far the gap between the domestic cars and foreign cars still is, especially in the most competitive class out there...the mid-size class. Even the Korean cars have made HUGE strides in this category and are either nipping on the heels of the domestics, or have surpassed them and chasing down the Japs and Germans! Ford's Fusion is doing ok against them but even they are well, well behind Honda and Toyota. Chrysler didn't even have a car to be reviewed in 90% of the one's I saw and when the Malibu took on the Accord, Camry, Passat, Fusion, Hyundai, it got beaten.....badly. To look at the re-design of the Malibu, you'd think "yeah, GM has come a long way, maybe this car will do something" and then all the reviews you read they're making fun of it calling it a future rental car and things like that and pointing out why. It's even more baffling to see it with your own eyes in person just how bad it is. Ford even went so far as to bring the styling of one of their European cars over here and give most of its characteristics to the Fusion to even be competitive and they're still behind...but they aren't getting embarrassed like the Malibu was. People aren't even getting excited about the all-new Impala. I had no idea that cars were this competitive! It might be more competitive then the full-size truck market.

 

[Diamondpilot]

In 2008 we traded our airport truck in, a rusting out, gas guzzling (13 mpg), tranny replacing (1 @ 105,000 miles, gutless red Dodge Dakota. It was a 2000 or 2001 on a 2009 green Camery. It now has 39,000 miles on it. Not a single issue.

My boss just got a 2012 blue Camery about 6 months ago when his 2010 Buick Enclave with under 30,000 miles on it started to fall apart.

Tough to beat Toyota quality and built here in Indiana makes them a very popular choice in this area.

Chris

 

[brain55]

Yep, Camry's are pretty tough to beat. My wife has a 2009 Hybrid Camry with over 90k miles the only problem was that we had a water pump replaced under warranty at 30k miles. She averages 36-38 mpg on her 40 mile each way commute.

Brian

 

[troutsqueezer]

On the inside, the Prius (standard model) has almost identical space as compared to the Camry. That is why it is considered a mid-size. Perhaps your Mom likes those cars with larger exteriors? My dad liked the 98 Oldsmobile's, the bigger the better for him. He used to haul a 24 ft. camping trailer around with his.

My wife has a Prius, I have a new Corolla and a Tacoma Pre-Runner. The Corolla does not strike me as being a small car but I suppose it is compared to a lot of them.

 

[Peacock]

I'm not too impressed with any Camry in the last 10 years or so. They just got kinda cheap in the details. The '13 Accord is an incredible car!

We owned an '09 Malibu that had a couple of issues. Aside from that the car is just too cramped for a family.

My own personal '95 Accord has 301k on it with all original struts, ball joints, tie rods and even clutch.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I'm not too impressed with any Camry in the last 10 years or so. They just got kinda cheap in the details. The '13 Accord is an incredible car!

We owned an '09 Malibu that had a couple of issues. Aside from that the car is just too cramped for a family.

My own personal '95 Accord has 301k on it with all original struts, ball joints, tie rods and even clutch.

Wow, 300K and the original clutch.

I thought I was doing good back in the day when my 86 Toyota 4x4 22R engine truck had 168K. Traded it at the Honda dealer in Richmond on a 96 Civic.

That truck pulled a 3500# boat every weekend and a few times a year to Lake Cumberland, pulled stumps, drug logs and boulders, and worked construction sites in my college years. It was tough but rust was starting to get it after 10 years.

Chris