Looking at a 4-Door Sedan: Mazda 6 or Honda Accord?

Marek

I've been shopping for a new car. My current vehicle is a '96 Chevy Tahoe 2-door. It was a hand me down from way back. While I don't have a car payment for it, repairs are starting to stack up and cost. I'm in the market for a 4-door Sedan with good gas mileage (Which the Tahoe certainly is NOT). One that will last a very long time. I used to have a very short commute, but now it is about 30 minutes. I'm looking at the 6 and Accord more than the smaller Sedans as I'm over 6'2". I don't really live in an area where a hybrid would be very well supported with chargers, either.

I'm just looking for direction and/or suggestions for something similar, or something to push the above 50/50 decision a certain way. I've looked at more crossover SUVs like C-RVs and Forresters, but they typically don't have the same good gas mileage and the price is a bit higher.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Phoenix-D

Try sitting in the hybrids first if gas mileage is a concern. The Prius did just fine for me at 6 foot and doesn't need a plug.

Klein

Phoenix-D wrote: »

Try sitting in the hybrids first if gas mileage is a concern. The Prius did just fine for me at 6 foot and doesn't need a plug.

I can vouch for this, I made a thread about two months back and I bought a Prius and I enjoy it. It's fairly roomy for the driver and passenger and I have been averaging 40-50 mph depending on the temperature outside. Toyota generally has great reliability and the Prius is one of their most reliable cars. Toyota costs a bit more than American brands, but it's worth it in reliability.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

Marek

The commute itself is a flat out 60mph ride for 30 minutes, twice a day, five days a week. I might hit one light every now and then. I'm in town and country areas for most of my driving. I've tested driven a Mazda. I am not a big fan of Toyota. Just haven't test driven a Honda yet.

Cormac

Both the Mazda and Honda are going to be the most engaging drives in their class. Most reviews tend to prefer the Honda primarily because, at least in the 2.0T spec, noticeably faster than the Mazda while offering as good if not better handling. I believe both now come with Android Auto and Carplay if that's important to you. The Mazda may need an update from the dealership which I don't think is free, but if you're buying new it should come with it.

The best thing you can do is go test drive both cars or anything else that interests you. There's also a lot of used cars in the price range of new cars. You could easily find an off lease low mileage Lexus ES, GS, or IS in the mid-20's. The mileage won't be as good but they'll be much nicer places to spend your time. Don't overlook the Mazda 3, Honda Civic, or anything from Hyundai/Kia that fall into your price range either.

Smurph

I think Mazda and Honda both have pretty good reputations and are making good cars right now. So the good news is you can worry-free buy whichever one you like better, or whichever one gives you the better deal. Honda might have better resale value, but if you're planning on driving this for 8-10+ years (which is reasonable when buying a car new) the resale value won't really matter.

I've had a Mazda CX-5 for 4 years and I love it, have had zero problems other than the kinda shitty OEM tires not lasting super long. My wife has a Civic that has also been very good aside from her sunroof coming off the track within the first week of ownership (fixed by dealership) and again, shitty OEM tires.

One nice thing I like about the Mazda over the Honda is that it has a knob to control the touchscreen functions, so you never have to touch the screen. I think BMW and Lexus have the same thing. It just feels a lot better and safer than reaching up to touch the screen, especially while driving. Honda is touchscreen controls only.

zepherin

Mazda 6 and Honda Accord are both pretty good cars. I find getting. I find Mazda’s a bit harder to get into than Accords. And Mazda parts are generally more expensive.

defreak

I have a 2017 Honda Accord, the wife has a 2009 Mazda 3. The 3 is a lot more inconvenient to repair, multiple occasions we had to wait for the shop to order parts because they didn't carry them, or they had to do some research before making repair recommendations. Their stuff isn't as common or something like that. If you live near a Mazda dealership, then maybe you'll have a better experience. Other than that, we both like the 3 a lot, drives well, good mileage, good price. We both like the Accord a little better though.

Before I bought the Accord, I also test drove a Camry and a 6. I ultimately went with the Accord, the CVT provided a really smooth drive. I liked the 6 too, but not as much as the Accord, also didn't want to deal with the inconvenience with repairs. The Camry was the worse, did not like the drive at all, felt heavy, handling felt slow.

Donovan Puppyfucker

Honestly, they're both great cars. Just take them both for good long test drives and see which one you prefer on that basis. If you're gonna be sticking with the car long-term then outside of length of warranty and running costs, the most important factor will be "do I enjoy owning and driving this car?"

If the Accord is the V6, that motor is definitely a little MORE than the 4 cylinder in the Mazda 6, but from memory the V6 model Accord is bigger, heavier, and softer. That's if they still make the separate "Accord Euro" model with the 4 cylinder motor...

mts

The other thing is availability of parts/cost to repair
Hondas are everywhere. Not sure if Mazda and Ford used to be the same for a lot of cars

Unknown

This content has been removed.

BlindZenDriver

mts wrote: »

The other thing is availability of parts/cost to repair
Hondas are everywhere. Not sure if Mazda and Ford used to be the same for a lot of cars

Mazda and Ford split some years ago, so not much, if any, Ford in Mazda's lately (Ford owned a chunk of Mazda). Mazda and Toyota are building a car factory together in the US and I expect they will be sharing some tech, but that is in the future so not something relevant for right now.

Cirira

Marek wrote: »

The commute itself is a flat out 60mph ride for 30 minutes, twice a day, five days a week. I might hit one light every now and then. I'm in town and country areas for most of my driving. I've tested driven a Mazda. I am not a big fan of Toyota. Just haven't test driven a Honda yet.

My wife does something very similar to this. She drives mostly country roads and highways as she goes to her clinics throughout the state. She has an Accord and when it got damaged from a hailstorm she traded her old Accord in for a new Accord. She drives it a lot and loves it. It's roomy enough for when she has to take the kid places with his car seat as well. I myself have a CR-V I love so we're an all Honda family and might be slightly biased.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

zepherin

Cirira wrote: »

Marek wrote: »

The commute itself is a flat out 60mph ride for 30 minutes, twice a day, five days a week. I might hit one light every now and then. I'm in town and country areas for most of my driving. I've tested driven a Mazda. I am not a big fan of Toyota. Just haven't test driven a Honda yet.

My wife does something very similar to this. She drives mostly country roads and highways as she goes to her clinics throughout the state. She has an Accord and when it got damaged from a hailstorm she traded her old Accord in for a new Accord. She drives it a lot and loves it. It's roomy enough for when she has to take the kid places with his car seat as well. I myself have a CR-V I love so we're an all Honda family and might be slightly biased.

My wife and I also have an accord and CRV. That’s kind of a great mix of car and suv.

JohnnyCache

If you have headroom problems consider a Subaru legacy. I'm 6'4" and about tree fiddy and I fit in one with adjustment to spare

Red Raevyn

I recently learned the local library has a consumer reports subscription, as well as back issues. So if you wanna research that way, you could check out yours.