There are probably countless threads on this, but I have other questions as well that do not pertain to the cars in particular.
I am in the market for a new car to replace the 2012 Civic that I "won" and sold last year.
I have narrowed it down to the 2015 Accord LX or 2015 Sonata SE. The 2015 Camry LE was on my list as well, but I cannot get past that horrid and huge grill.
I have driven both the Accord and Sonata and like them both equally well. It may sound crazy, but I love satellite radio and in order to get it on the Accord, you have to go with the much more expensive EX-L trim, but that also adds features like lane departure, forward collision, lane watch, sunroof, leather seats, pushbutton start, etc. The Sonata has it standard (satellite radio) on even the base Sonata. The Accord LX does have Pandora compatible radio, but not sure how it works or how much it is like XM radio. Another dislike I have with the Accord is that they have the fuel door opener on the driver side floor panel. Me having OCD am not a fan of having to touch that because that is an area where road grime falls... picture this... your feet are wet and dripping water and maybe some snot that someone has blew out of their nose (yes I do still see some old men do this, lol) that drips on that handle, or someone vomited on the road - the road/parking lot is a very nasty thing.
. I think that is a terrible design that many automakers are starting to get away from. My Civic had the release there and I hated it. The Sonata has the fuel door opener on the dash panel using a button and nothing on the floor you have to touch at every refuel.
Now warranty. The Hyundai has the best factory warranty and has the best bumper to bumper warranty, but out local Honda dealers are offering the life-time powertrain warranty. I am not sure if this is a regional or national thing that has caught on, but most all of our Honda and Toyota dealers now have it and some of our local Ford and Nissan dealers have it. None of our GM dealers or Chrysler-Dodge dealers have it. I know that you have to get the car serviced on time and go by the book, but it sounds like it is something to heavily consider if you plan on keeping the car for more than 5 years, which I plan on doing... maybe not more than 10 though as I may turn it over to my parents, so that 10 year / 100k on the Hyundai may be very sufficient for me.
Now price. I was quoted a price of $20,400 (sticker was $24,900) for a new 2015 Honda Accord LX at a local Honda dealer. They quoted me an EX-L for $24,400 (sticker was $29,900). I could also consider the EX with cloth, which still don't have satellite radio, but has push button start and lane watch. They tell me though I have to use their financing. I can get 1.9% from my credit union, so not sure they can beat that. Now the Hyundai has a big sale going on as well. I was quoted $18,996 for a base Sonata SE. For $1000 more, I can get the popular equipment option which adds the back-up camera and Hyundai Blue Link, which seems like a neat feature. I was quoted $23,900 for an "ECO" model with optional navigation package and though it may be mispriced, $26,995 for a Sonata Limited with both the tech and ultimate package (I think that is what it is called). I really want to stay around $20k or less though, but for a car I plan on keeping for years, I would like to go with one with all of the fancy bells and whistles and safety features, but just don't want to swing that much, plus, how long until these things tear up (forward collision alert, lane departure warning, etc?). They have not been in cars long and how durable are these systems going to be say in 10+ years?
Fuel economy. I will be doing a lot of freeway driving. The Accord is rated 36 mpg highway and the Sonata is 37 mpg highway (ECO is rated 38 highway). The Accord does a little better in the city however at 27 mpg and the Sonata is rated 25 mpg city.
Safety - both are highly rated, top safety picks from IIHS and 5-star NHTSA ratings. Also, the Sonata has the Blue Link, which alerts if you have a crash - the Honda does not have this.
Down payment. I have as much as $16,000 to pay down on a new car, but I do not want to exhaust my savings account, so I want to pay about $6,000-7,000 down and finance the rest.
I had also considered a used 2006-08 Buick Lucerne or a 2005-08 Toyota Avalon, but the Avalons are not easy to find around here and the Lucernes seem to be overpriced.
I know it may come down to which car I like the best and no one can really tell me which one to get and it should be my decision. It has been nerve wrecking to say the least, so a little advice is appreciated anyway. lol.
Thanks!
(*I had also considered Ford Fusion (I can get an additional discount on Ford since our company uses them as company cars) and Chrysler 200, but worry about the reliability of those, plus no life-time warranty offered on them. The '15 Toyota Corolla was also on my list, but small overlap IIHS score keeps it off of the top safety pick rating).
Pics of the cars I am mostly considering...
Two of the Accords I took pics of yesterday on one of our local Honda dealer lots... ironically the LX and EX-L were side-by side...
The LX
Side by side of the LX / EX-L
The EX-L
and a couple of the Sonatas that I snapped pics of a couple of weekends ago...
Sonata Limited for $26,995 with all options...
Sure is a nice one here, but I worry about reliability... also no life-time warranty on this one. I took this pic a couple of weeks ago on one of our local Chrysler dealer lots...
$5000 off. This was a Limited with both the convenience and comfort group options as well as the larger wheels. I love these with the linen color interior.
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