I've owned a 1995 Camry and now a 2003 Accord. The Camry was by far
the best car I've ever owned in nearly every respect. My daughter now
has it. Now eight years old with 130K it drives pretty much like it
did the day I bought it. I've had almost no problems other than the
usual brakes, tires, etc. Stainless steel exhaust is still perfect (I
did have to replace the flexible connector in the front at about 7
years). Comfortable, quiet, good mileage, reasonable pickukp, cruises
all day at 80+ getting 30+ miles per gallon. What's not to like.

I would have quickly purchased a new Camry, but I don't happen to like
the body style or interior. Just my taste. Nothing wrong with it. My
wife liked it, but it was to be my car. So I bought the Honda which I
also like. I'm assuming it too will hold up.

Here's what I sense is different so far ...

Camry is quieter and rides more smoothly / softly; Honda is stiffer
and noisier, but handles a bit better -- or at least feels more sure.
You can't even hear the engine running on the Camry.

To me the Honda looks and feels more sporty than the newer Camry.

I love ABS. Honda comes standard. Sounds like the Camry you're
considering has it as well.

Amenities you have to decide for yourself.

FYI, I purchased my Camry from Hertz. It had 22K and was 6 months old
at the time. I saved about $4K off the same year new. Since at the
time I drove relatively low miles, it was a good deal for me. I
reviewed the maintenance records and the car has obviously been very
reliable. A 2002 Camry with about 25K miles was ~$15K last spring, but
it is now a two year old model. I would think from a private party you
should be able to get it for less than that. But many factors have to
be considered.

I would have any used car thoroughly inspected by a reputable dealer
or service center.

Good luck.


On 13 Jan 2004 07:55:11 -0800, bcnewsgroups@yahoo.com (Bryan Canter)
wrote:

>Not to start a religious war but just wanted some feedback from people
>more experienced than me. I own a 2000 Accord that has no ABS. I
>bought it in FL and didn't feel the need for one. Needless to say,
>now that I am in MA, I regret that decision. A lot.
>
>Recently I came across this ad for a used Toyota Camry 2002 LE with
>ABS selling for about 13k (private party). Now, granted the history
>of that car maybe suspect and my car's is known to me, but barring
>that aspect, is there anything else that I should keep in mind?
>
>I can see all the goodies, like it has a premium JBL 8 speakers (as
>mentioned in the ad) sound, CD *and* cassette, 2002 vs 2000 model, and
>of course, ABS. But what about power and handling and stuff like
>that? How do people here compare a Camry LE to an Accord LX? (I
>always thought the Hondas had a little more snob value. So both me
>and my wife don't like the idea of downgrading our ride in that
>sense.) :-)
>
>Also, if the car was bought from the dealer with 5000 miles on it (it
>was a "loaner" at the dealership) is that necessarily a very bad
>thing? Or should it just discount the book value by a grand or so?
>
>TIA.