Toyota Camry 2002 LE, Honda Accord 2003 LX, or lease/buy new Camry or Accord?
Hi, I am looking to purchase a mid-sized car (an Accord or Camry). I want to get the best value for my money and am not sure if it’s better to purchase a new car or a used one? By looking locally, I have found two used cars that I may be interested in through dealers:
2003 Honda Accord LX with 73,358 miles and a Powertrain Warranty (not sure what that covers?) until 2010 or 100,000 miles (whichever comes first) LIST PRICE: ,995
2002 Toyota Camry LE with 69,000 miles (actually think it was a little more than 69k for miles) LIST PRICE: ,750. I’m not sure what the warranty is on this car. I noticed this car had some scratches on the passenger dash board, key area too, and some discoloration around the drivers side seat belt wall unit. The gas cover also seemed VERY hard to open I didn’t force it as I didn’t want to break it (I’m sure they could fix before I bought).
Which car is the better deal? Are these good deals or am I better of to try to lease/buy new? Thanks!
5 Responses
Kiffin
05 Feb 2010
Love Blinding
05 Feb 2010
Please no Honda’s
If you must, then go with the Toyota…
And lease it don’t buy it.
Joe
05 Feb 2010
The better deal is the one you can negotiate and get the best price on all japanes cars are awesome, i love Toyota. Go to http://www.adviceontime.com they have an excellent article on how to negotiate a new card deal, to where you can buy it at the dealers invoice price.
steplow33
05 Feb 2010
For me, both Honda Accord LX and Toyota Camry LE are good cars. It’s a matter of choice. I would prefer the Toyota
Camry LE as it’s the most reliable and the least of problems on the road.
I would prefer that you buy the Toyota Camry new instead of
lease as in the long run you save alot of money when you buy
it new. However, don’t buy the used cars as both have done very high mileage.
Woman from Calif
05 Feb 2010
I own my seventh Toyota, and I love their cars. They are totally reliable, comfortable, and run for years. Mine has 160,000 and runs nearly like a new car.
I maintain them religiously, however, with 3,000 mile oil changes, performing all maintenance, new timing belts at 90,000, etc.
My present car is a Camry LE. It’s the best car I’ve ever had.
I buy cars one year old, from dealerships, as they come with a huge warranty, about 15,000 miles on them, and I save huge amounts of money from a new car price.
All I’ve ever heard about leasing cars is very very negative. Please read up on consumer sites (such as clarkhoward.com) about leasing, scams, etc.
Good luck!
I wouldn’t touch the 2003 as it has too many miles (you’re actually only getting a 26,652 mile warranty, since it has nearly 74 thousand on it already.
Nor would I recommend the 2002 since the "cosmetic" blemishes may be hiding more serious shortcomings.
I would lease a new car, since that is cheaper and after the end of the lease, you can always return it and get another new car or, if you like it, you can buy it.
At least with a new car, you can rest assured there will be no costly surprises a few months from now…