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

[RollingsFarms]

I like used low-mileage domestic cars, they depreciate like crazy the first few years and can be bought for a song. I got a 2006 Fusion in 2009 and it still rides like new,still original everything 'cept for the front brakes. I have it rust-proofed yearly and away we go lol

The main thing that concerns me about buying domestic used cars is they're notorious for being used as rental cars. It used to be a dead giveaway if you saw a domestic car that had the "base" package and was a year or two old with 20,000 +/- miles on it. That's usually when the rental companies sell them off. I can usually tell you what was used as a rental car just by the smell of the interior. Rental cars stink, and stink bad. Combination of body odor and cigarette smoke. Yuk! Dealers try their best to cover up the smell but the cleaning products combined with that stink just makes for a unique smell and you'll know what you got when you've looked at enough used cars. Vehicles with 20,000 miles shouldn't be smelling like ****. Just be careful buying those used domestics is all I'm saying!

 

[Alan L.]

My 2006 Accord has 220,000 mile so far. I have replaced both headlight bulbs twice. Front brake linings changed and rotors turned. Changed the oil every 5,000 miles or so, replaced the battery a couple of times, and tires. Still has a tight suspension and steering. Still doesn't use or leak any oil. It has the 4-cyl engine / auto trans and gets 30-32 mpg commuting mostly highway - about 115 miles a day. This is the value package (translation = cheap) and was only $17,500 brand new back in 2006.

 

[RollingsFarms]

I'm not impressed with my '07 Accord. It has just over 100,000 miles. I hear you on the "no soul" deal. I hate to take it on any long trips as the road noise and ride are terrible. My wife says it rides like "being on a roller skate". The inside shows quite a bit more wear than what I would like, even for a 100K mile car. It started to show age pretty early in it's life.

The thing eats tires, even after keeping up with the pressure and rotating frequently. I had an issue with the breaks before 30K miles and my dealer wanted me to pay to have them fixed until I threw a fit. Never had any major mechanical problems, but my wife was advised on getting the timing belt changed, by our dealer, at about 70K miles (she was in for a recall of some sort). Job was going to cost $1200. I said not until 100K, and then I checked an independent shop, only to be told that it has a timing CHAIN, not belt, and I was good to go. I will never do business with this dealer again BTW.

I have noticed from several other Accord owners that I am not the only one who says the road noise is terrible, and this goes across several generations of car. Next time I think I will look around, see what else is out there. The Hyundai is supposed to be getting very good and has better options for a cheaper price.

If you plan on looking at a Sonata I advise you to focus only on the 2.0 turbo engine. WAY more power then the hybrid or base engine and only averages 1 mpg less on the highway then the base engine that makes alot less hp. City mileage is the same for both engines. Hyundai has actually come a long way but aren't quite there yet. Road noise isn't on par with other cars and the steering still needs some work. Transmission seems to shift slow from the reviews I've read (I've read MANY). I think you'd be surprised with the 2013 Accord. Honda went back to the drawing board with this one and really stepped up their game because they had gotten a little slack lately. They did the same with the Civic. Both are back to "Honda standards" now it seems.

 

[3v0]

In terms of not getting a rental car of a delivery use carfax. It is not always 100% right but it is a good starting place.

I have always purchased low mileage older cars in good condition. When you factor in the cost of the car it makes up for the less then stellar MPG. You can also look at how well model is holding up.

 

[Turbys_1700]

In 2008 I paid 5K for my 01 Buick Lesabre...
It had 105K 1 owner miles according to the dealership...
Since then in 5 years I have paid out around 1K in repairs ranging from a couple of fuel injectors, a fuel tank sending unit, CV joint, ETC...
The motor does not use any oil and gets a solid 23 mpg driving back and forth to work and 30 on the highway...
It now has 178K miles and has been the best buy in a car I have ever had...
It may not be as reliable as a Toyota or Honda but parts are relatively inexpensive and I have a really good local mechanic that works very reasonably...

 

[milkman636]

Yesterday I drove a 2012 Fusion as a loaner from my Ford dealer while they serviced my F150. It was not an impressive vehicle: low head room, the steering wheel would not telescope back far enough to be comfortable, engine sounded like a sewing machine, noticeable torque steer driving in the city. Gas mileage on the info center indicated an average of 26.6 mpg over who knows how many miles. I am a repeat, satisfied Ford buyer and I would not want to own a Fusion. GM also scares me with frequent gasket and other nuisance issues that several of my coworkers have experienced with their late model GM sedans. I have the possibility of changing jobs in the near future and may be purchasing my first "foreign" car for commuting.

 

[RollingsFarms]

Yesterday I drove a 2012 Fusion as a loaner from my Ford dealer while they serviced my F150. It was not an impressive vehicle: low head room, the steering wheel would not telescope back far enough to be comfortable, engine sounded like a sewing machine, noticeable torque steer driving in the city. Gas mileage on the info center indicated an average of 26.6 mpg over who knows how many miles. I am a repeat, satisfied Ford buyer and I would not want to own a Fusion. GM also scares me with frequent gasket and other nuisance issues that several of my coworkers have experienced with their late model GM sedans. I have the possibility of changing jobs in the near future and may be purchasing my first "foreign" car for commuting.

In my opinion it goes like this. The Japs and Germans build the best cars and the Koreans are catching up and the USA still doesn't care because it shows in their designs and quality of them. The Japs build the best small/mid-size truck hands down. The US has it all over everyone in full size trucks and full size suv's. Also, anyone that says Cadillac is on par with BMW or Lexus is dreaming.

 

[TheGoose]

It had Michelin tires when new. They did not last past 20,xxx miles. Everybody I know who owns an Accord complains about the road noise, even people who I talked to at random in the dealership.

It's not a bad car, that's not what I'm saying. It does "drive" good in regards to the steering and power. It still feels like riding on a roller skate and I would rather take my gas hog truck on a long trip than the car just because of the ride. This may be a feature of all FWD mid-size cars.

This is not typical Accord reliability. Get a good alignment and good Michelin tires to kill the tire noise. They are far from soulless. They generally handle better and maneuver better than any other comparable car.

I can just about guarantee you that with good maintenance that it would outlast any other midsize on the market.

The 4 cyl engines are chain, 6 cyl are belt.

I see these things day in and day out with 200k plus and minimal mechanical problems.

 

[milkman636]

In my opinion it goes like this. The Japs and Germans build the best cars and the Koreans are catching up and the USA still doesn't care because it shows in their designs and quality of them. The Japs build the best small/mid-size truck hands down. The US has it all over everyone in full size trucks and full size suv's. Also, anyone that says Cadillac is on par with BMW or Lexus is dreaming.

Another coworker mine has a BMW with 200,000 on it. He has had to replace both the fuel pump and intake gasket recently. I was very impressed with the service access on that car. There is an access hatch under the back seat that allowed him to change the fuel pump without dropping the tank. The intake manifold also unbolted very easily without having to remove a ton of other stuff. Both jobs would be terribly more complicated on my two Fords.

 

[Peacock]

It had Michelin tires when new. They did not last past 20,xxx miles. Everybody I know who owns an Accord complains about the road noise, even people who I talked to at random in the dealership.

It's not a bad car, that's not what I'm saying. It does "drive" good in regards to the steering and power. It still feels like riding on a roller skate and I would rather take my gas hog truck on a long trip than the car just because of the ride. This may be a feature of all FWD mid-size cars.

I'd bet the alignment got knocked out early on then. They typically go 40k+ on the original Michelins.

They are going to be noisier than a GM or Ford. The nature of the beast. Less money spent on sound deadening and more on quality parts.

 

[CHDinCT]

My wife drives an '08 Accrod V6, which was my car until we traded in her Pilot on my '10 F-150. Car has about 50K on it now. I will agree with comments that it has a lot of road noise, especially compared to my F-150, but of course you're riding a lot closer to the road in any sedan vs pickup. I don't agree that it's boring to drive, especially with the V6, which is peppy when you step on it. I find it rather sporty to drive, and the original Michellins are holding up well. I will say that we could never get the Honda dealer to properly balance the tires but getting a road force balance at my Ford dealer fixed that and it's never driven as well as it does now. One minor issue is that the plastic seat base trim on the driver's side popped loose and would require a complete seat removal to put it back together, so I'm gonna try gluing it first, and if that doesn't work, maybe a trim head screw inconspicuously placed may be in order.

I think '08 was the first year Honda put variable cylinder mgt on the V6's, so it runs on either 3 or 4 cylinders when possible, which is usually highway driving. I have mixed opinions on it. I do like the added milage you get when highway cruising - did 30 mpg on a long trip back from NC. But, I find that without the cruise on, I have to concentrate on holding a steady speed, otherwise it tends to drop MPH if you're not constantly re-adjusting pedal position manually. This is more of an issue when driving hillier terrain and at speeds under about 65 mph. If you can run the car at 75 mph or higher, it holds speed much better with the VCM kicking in and out. Now, the real issues is that about 2 years ago when the car had around 30K on it, the check engine light came on when my wife was coming home from shopping. She said the car ran real rough and wouldn't make any power (but of course she drove it home anyway). Since it was under warranty, I had it flatbedded to the dealer. The diagnoses was fouled plugs on 2 of the cylinders and a needed computer update. After experiencing this issue, seems there are quite a few similar issues posted on line by other V6 owners.

To boot, the car has always used some oil between changes, which we do every 5k. It will use about 1-1.5 quarts between oil changes, which of course the dealer says is within spec. I am watching to see if it gets any worse. This is the first new car we've owned that uses oil. Have had 4-5 Toyotas, a Honda Pilot and several Subaru's that never used oil. My F-150 seems fine so far. I still like the car overall and if the oil consumption doesn't get any worse and we don't have any more fouled plug issues, I'd be keeping it for as long as possible, but we'll see.

 

[Diamondpilot]

The resson it uses oil is the stupid variable cylinder deal. GM battles this problem also. I fly a lead man from Ford all the time. I asked him a few years back why they did not do variable displacement? He said they did not want to touch it due to issues with the system, oil consumption being the main issue.

Chris

 

[Peacock]

The resson it uses oil is the stupid variable cylinder deal. GM battles this problem also. I fly a lead man from Ford all the time. I asked him a few years back why they did not do variable displacement? He said they did not want to touch it due to issues with the system, oil consumption being the main issue.

Chris

No.

Honda VCM engines don't use oil at any different of a rate than the non-VCM engines. It is likely due to a PCV valve sticking or it just doesn't like the brand of oil being used.

Honda VCM has been around since '05 and engine wise has been great. Little software bugs have caused things like the occasional fouled plug or some torque converter related vibrations. They tend to also be harder on engine mounts due to the nature of the system.

The engines are still bulletproof Honda.

 

[wsp617]

I'll chime in here. I was always a domestic vehicle person. Times have changed. I got sick of fixing vehicles that shouldn't need fixing. When my daughter needed a car for college we found a 2004 Pont Grand Am. It was salvage vehicle title but wasn't hurt bad (deer crash). The car was a pain in the *****. When my son started driving I found a 2000 Camry for my daughter. It had 200,000+ miles but it still looked good. The car has been basically problem free for 2 years. My son ended up totaling out the Grand AM and we bought a 1999 Camry with the insurance money. It's been problem free as well even though it's got 179,000 miles. Last year we had oil consumption problems with the wife's 2007 Impala (not high miles). We got rid of it and bought a Subaru Outback. The car has been great. It's AWD and gets 33 MPH on the highway. I used to be a "Buy American" kind of guy. The funny thing is the two Camrys and the Outback were made in the US and my Silverado was made in Canada.

 

[3930dave]

The resson it uses oil is the stupid variable cylinder deal. GM battles this problem also. I fly a lead man from Ford all the time. I asked him a few years back why they did not do variable displacement? He said they did not want to touch it due to issues with the system, oil consumption being the main issue.

Chris

But, it's better for the environment, Right ?

I was chatting with a life-long GM fan, at my buddy's commercial shop. Even he thought it was pretty funny when I said "I figure GM has launched 2 stroke truck motors, and just not announced it yet".

I don't hear about the same oil consumption issues on Dodge gas truck motors. I don't know if that is because their DOD system is that much better, or simply that I haven't talked with enough Dodge owners yet.

For the problem motors, the oil consumption is high enough that I seriously wonder how they pass Manufacturer Cert testing.

I suspect that much of the drive on recent S class motor oils to reduce zinc and phosphorus could be to accommodate all the extra oil that is going down the exhaust pipe on these "New and Improved" motors......

Progress ?

Rgds, D.

 

[LindenBruce]

My mom bought an OH8 Chevy Malibu used several years ago. The car has just shy of 79,000 right now, but has had issues a car this new shouldn't have had in my opinion. The fuel tank sending unit was replaced about a year ago. The engine, the larger v6, has a coolant crossover passage that was leaking at the cylinder head. The used car dealer did the repair under their warranty about 5 months ago. Then about three months ago the radiator started leaking. I got stuck doing that repair myself for her. Through all of this I discovered the car is actually an OH8 Malibu Classic, in short meaning left over OH7 production that was VINed as an OH8. It looks like an OH7, but is actually an OH8. I also discovered the car was first put into service in the middle of July 2007. So, I'm sure the actual production was some months earlier. The car rides and drives just fine. Just my input. B

 

[RollingsFarms]

The resson it uses oil is the stupid variable cylinder deal. GM battles this problem also. I fly a lead man from Ford all the time. I asked him a few years back why they did not do variable displacement? He said they did not want to touch it due to issues with the system, oil consumption being the main issue.

Chris

I'm not a fan of cylinder deactivation either.

 

[mikehaugen]

I remember years back (probably 2001-ish) A shop teacher telling us that the cadillac northstars have been using the cylinder deactivation since they came out- early 90's or late 80's. I am not sure if they have had the oil consumption issues?

 

[RollingsFarms]

I remember years back (probably 2001-ish) A shop teacher telling us that the cadillac northstars have been using the cylinder deactivation since they came out- early 90's or late 80's. I am not sure if they have had the oil consumption issues?

I know the Northstar engines used to have a good reputation back in the 80's & 90's. I'm not even sure what engines Cadillac uses in various models these days. Haven't thought much of Cadillac since they started doing that ghetto design on all their cars (the 2014 CTS looks nice though I have to admit). Base price for the '14 CTS is $45,000 and if I'm going to spend that kind of change, it ain't gonna be on a domestic car. I might as well just go look at a BMW 5 series or Mercedes E class. The Camarro and the 2014 Corvette are the two best looking cars GM has right now in my opinion.

 

[Peacock]

The Northstar engines didn't use cylinder deactivation.