should I purchase a new camry or have I moved on to Germany?

[StrykeBack]

So I used to frequent this form for years modding my 2000 camry le. Until last october while traveling down the orange county freeway in free flowing traffic a ford f150 infront of me wipped out of the way to reveal a parked ford mustang in the middle of the freeway...camry was done even before a truck seconds later smashed us from behind but I was able to drive it off the freeway after highway patrol shutdown the freeway and we walked away from it just with aches the next day.
Anyways after a search for a used camry,solara or even accord with the insurence money I got a turbo charged jetta and love the way it drives but maintenance is horrible.
I guess my question is how well does the SE v6 version of the camry really clamp down on the floaty soft cushiony bloatedness of the camry ride? And has anyone tried the accord option as a little more of a "german" feel?

Actually sat in them cause I took my parents car shopping to replace their minivan. And they are stil undecided between the accord and camry. Though I cheated by having my dad test drive a v6 se camry after getting out of a 4 cylinder accord test drive. I didn't go along for either drive. Just looking at my options for this coming year...

Thanks guys.

[islandboy57]

Damn. Sorry to hear about the early demise of your Camry! I AM glad to hear that you guys walked away from the accident though. Funny you mention owning a Jetta. My neighbors had the last gen Jetta (looked to be about an '03) and I guess they repelaced it with a used Fit. My guess is after the years piled on as did the miles, it became too expensive to keep up.

I test drove the Camry SE (both I4 and V6) and it didn't seem noticeably sportier; it just LOOKED more sporty. I think you'll have to mod it a little to tighten the suspension and get stickier tires. In the end though, it will never drive like a German sports car, but it also will not cost you an arm and a leg to maintain. Life is about trade offs I guess.. Personally, I would go with the Camry and do simple mods to tighten the handling.

As far as the Accord, I can only compare my Camry to my aunt's Accord of the same generation. I most definitely prefer the steering calibration of her Accord but the ride is ROUGH and road noise is higher. I manage to drive just fine in my Camry in all its stock LE glory

[StrykeBack]

Thanks man. Yeah the Camry holds up well. Right now I'm gonna get my parents into an accord or camry in the next week or so so hopefully I'll get some test drive time in both. And see where my next purchase will be within the year. But the German cars are definitely fun to drive but not so fun to maintain....just struts and gsr system around 120k on the old camry were its only repairs.

[AlmightyCamry777]

I'll never own another german car even if i hit the lotto. I have heard stories, knew others that did and owned a Volkswaggen Rabbit once. Absolutely horrible. Bad electrical problems, starting problems (the starter was located under the exhaust manifold on the auto trans model, so it would not start when hot.) More relays then a WW2 bomber and they were always going bad. The worst piece of sh$t i ever owned, never again!

[kirochan]

I will go against all others and say stay with the Dub. I picked up an MKII Jetta before and feel in love with it. So much that I restored it. I did have another MKII Jetta here in Oki along with my Camry but I sold it so I could get a van (Toyota Noah) for the wife. I can see the difference between the two brands. Especially speeking of longetivity. My first Jetta had 204,000 MILES on the odometer and was still running strong. The only engine work done was regular maintenance and me rebuilding the head around 190,000 MILES.

What year Jetta do you have? I can help you out with some websites to you to help you out with DIY and parts. Hope I did not offend any die hard Toyota fans, but this is my opinion, KEEP THE DUB.