5th & 6th Generation (2002-2006 & 2007-2011)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 2002-2006 & 2007-2011
Topics of discussion range from fuel economy, safety, modifications, performance all involving America's favorite family car, the Toyota Camry.
It's time to trade up my Scion xA for something bigger and I'm trying to decide between the '08 Accord V6, Altima 3.5SE, and the Camry SE V6, and to be honest, I have major concerns about all three. In a perfect world I would by a manual transmission but I have an old muscle injury in my left leg that prevents me from using a clutch for extended periods of time (part of the reason I'm ditching the Scion). Major downsides to the Honda are the styling, the fact that it's so big, and fact that the 5spd auto has no manual mode. I like the way the Altima handles but I have concerns about the longevity of the CVT, the poor quality paint job, and the long term reliability of Nissans in General. That leaves the Camry, which seems perfect except for the transmission problems I keep reading about. The consensus on this board seems to be that it is a Gen. 6 issue and that the problem can still occur on '08 and '09 models, and I worry that Toyota quality is starting to slip and that the new Camrys do not live up to the stellar reputation of previous generations. Normally I regard extended warranties as a scam that dealers use to jack up their profit margins, but I wonder if I should buy one for whatever car I get.
What are you impressions? I know it's too early to tell how reliable this car will be after 10 years/100k miles, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on the initial build quality, particularly in comparison to earlier model years. Thanks in advance.
I wasn't actually asking for complaints. I was asking for opinions. If that means I'll get nothing but complaints, I'll go with the Altima.
I have two friends who had a 2000 Maxima and a 2005 Altima, his Max has that special feature the auto shut off. We were driving on the highway and his Max automatically shut off and he had to jam the stick in neutral and restart it. His 2005 Altima the clutch already went bad, you press it down and it never returns.
I have a 98 Accord with a transmission that slips worse than a fat man on ice. My other friend has a 2000 Accord with 70k miles and just had this tranny swapped. I know the 03-05 Accords had similar issues.
There are alot of forums here about the bad tranny the Gen 6 has, but i have a 2007 Camry and no issues so far. Every company has its bad eggs, but I love my camry.
Just my two cents....
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Major downsides to the Honda are the styling, the fact that it's so big, and fact that the 5spd auto has no manual mode. I like the way the Altima handles but I have concerns about the longevity of the CVT, the poor quality paint job, and the long term reliability of Nissans in General. That leaves the Camry, which seems perfect except for the transmission problems I keep reading about. The consensus on this board seems to be that it is a Gen. 6 issue and that the problem can still occur on '08 and '09 models, and I worry that Toyota quality is starting to slip and that the new Camrys do not live up to the stellar reputation of previous generations. Normally I regard extended warranties as a scam that dealers use to jack up their profit margins, but I wonder if I should buy one for whatever car I get.
What are you impressions? I know it's too early to tell how reliable this car will be after 10 years/100k miles, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on the initial build quality, particularly in comparison to earlier model years. Thanks in advance.
1. Yes, Accord is the ugliest thing on the road now. You want build quality? Go to driveaccord.com and search for "rattles." You want more info on Honda build quality? Go to acurazine.com and find the TL "problems" forum. Honda build quality is ABYSMAL.
2. Altima? I absolutely share your concerns. CVT is allegedly "simpler," but there is some high-tech stuff holding a CVT together. Long-term Nissan reliabililty has been far below Toyota and Honda.
3. Camry? Yes, there has been this "shift flare" that some of us have encountered. But, even in this forum, only a small percentage of V6 owners have experienced it, and it appears that newer vehicles have been far less likely to exhibit it -- it's really quite rare. In the end, if your idea of "proper care of your vehicle when driving it" is something other than "flooring it and getting up to 50 MPH or better during the first minute on a dead-cold engine," you'll probably never, ever see a flare. Myself, I just "moved up" from an I4 XLE to a V6 SE, after nearly two years in here. It has been a flawless and immensely fine automobile. Build quality is MILES ahead of the rattletrap crap Honda is tossing together.
4. Extended warranty? If you're financing a vehicle for longer than its warranty, get one, and get nothing less than the Toyota Platinum plan. If you're not financing longer than the warranty, go look at the plan's terms, and buy one at the end of the period in which you can -- probably 3 years / 36,000 miles. That is, IF you want to go there. In the end, I still expect any Toyota -- yes, even the V6 Camry -- will be in far better shape after five or ten or fifteen years of service than virtually any other vehicle on the market today.
Its my first Camry - coming from brands like Audi, MB, Volvo, Honda, Mitsu and lately also some US brands (Ford, Chevy, Chrysler). So far , I am very satisfied with it and the V6 6-speed tranny did not cause any issue yet. Between the 3 choices you have, I would take the Camry. The Nissan will be replaced very soon with an entire new model (sporty but getting outdated), the Honda is really not a nice design (hello to the Sonata designers). All brands/cars have some issues, their will always be people complaining. The Camry is a very good value, V6 is fun to drive, easy to customize, and cheap to maintain. It's not a Lexus, MB, or similar either.
1. Is new Honda Accord ugly? It is all personal preferance. Hard to command. Does it have less problem than new Camry? Maybe not. Check out complaints on CarSpace.com for their VCM complaints on V6, and head light flackering when a/c is on for I4.
2. Nissan long term quality is not as good as Honda & Toyota. Beside, its resale value is the lowest among 3.
3. 08 Camry seem have less tranny complaints than 07s. Even some of them still have problems, but it is very small amount compare to # of Camry sold in total. Sometime you need luck even when buying a new car. My boss's new $60000+ MB S-class stoped at the middle of the road a week after because of fuel injection failure.
4. My 2 months old 08 Camry SE V6 is running perfectly now with 780 miles on the ODO and I have no regret for my choice. I will recommand V6 over the I4 if your budget is allowed.
Quality and perceived problems are discussed on every page of this forum. There are a few complainers everywhere.
Use your mouse/SEARCH button and READ...........
I believe that fonebone did do a search and read up on tranny issues since he's been able to come up with a consensus
Fonebone - don't mind njerald... he's in his own world... Yes there are a lot of threads about tranny issues and it is only because people sign up to complain about them and ask questions...
Plus each forum is biased... test drive all of them if you haven't and go with the camry
Many people said the 07, 08 & 09 Camry are identical. I would think that Toyota make fix to whatever list on the TSB. It make sense that they will fix the problem (assume that they found one) on the production line instead of recall them after. That is why there are less complaints about the tranny for the new 08 & 09 Camry.
I have a v6 that had the flare. They replaced the tranny last February but the flare returned (and no, my idea of normal operating conditions is not "flooring it" on a cold engine). The last time I went in for service I took in a couple of videos that I had made of it. The tech looked at it and applied another TSB, and so far *knock on wood* all seems to be just fine. I do have one of the early builds. I purchased mine in May of 2006. I haven't seen as many complaints with the 08s and 09s.
I had Hondas (Civic and Prelude) and they were good cars, never personally gave me any problems. That said, the new Accord is butt ugly but that's just a personal opinion.
I don't know a lot about Nissans but I'm not too keen on the look of the Altima either.
Have you considered other cars? like the subaru legacy and the mazda 6
I haven't test driven the Mazda 6 but I probably will. I could see going with the lower HP engine if all other factors weigh in its favor. Honestly, the size is more in line with what I'm looking for as well. It's so easy to find street parking with my xA... I haven't paid much attention to the Legacy because the V6 models are too expensive and I'm done with 4-bangers for now.
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