C&D Family Sedan Comparo

[VetteZ06]

As much as everybody hates the Camry... it's still America's bestselling sedan. Why?

It's pretty much the default family sedan. It has a good track record in terms of reliability, etc., so anybody who wants to make the "no-brainer" decision seems to go with a Camry. It requires no thought, and it's a safe bet.

[YO]

It's pretty much the default family sedan. It has a good track record in terms of reliability, etc., so anybody who wants to make the "no-brainer" decision seems to go with a Camry. It requires no thought, and it's a safe bet.

you take out fleet sales, retail wise it will be the Accord... although this year may be close...

[ciciusss]

It's pretty much the default family sedan. It has a good track record in terms of reliability, etc., so anybody who wants to make the "no-brainer" decision seems to go with a Camry. It requires no thought, and it's a safe bet.

VetteZ06,

You are correct that the Camry's record for reliability and quality serve it well. I'm sure there are people who want a new midsize car but, who do not want to go through the hassle of testing a variety of vehicles,  will just purchase a Camry because of it's reputation for reliability and quality. The Honda Accord probably benefits from that too. However, as IFCAR wrote above, the Camry does provide a quiet, comfortable ride with a reasonably roomy cabin and trunk. It has an outstanding powertrain with the 3.5 V6 and 6 speed automatic. It is definately quick.

However, it is not engaging to drive, even in the sportier SE trim. I drove one right after a 2006 Ford Fusion and I found the Fusion to be a better handling car with more communicative steering than the SE. It certainly was more fun (as far as a midsize FWD family sedan could be). The same could be said about the Aura (particularly in the XR trim). It is more engaging to drive than the Camry and has just as quiet a cabin too, usually a notable Camry strength. The powertrain in the XR is certainly very good.

The Aura is very competitive in it's class. The Aura just has few oversights that remind many of the old GM where cost cutting is evident or just does not make sense. These have already been mentioned before, such as, a fold down center console arm rest with cup holders in the rear seat, faux stitch trimming, which just looks cheap and 4 speed automatic in the XE model. These are certainly valid critcisims. I'm sure the 4 speed will disappear soon enough to be replaced with the 6 speed automatic, probably with this upcoming model year. It probably had much to do with the ramp up of the production of the 6 speed automatics. Since perception is everything, GM should have made this work.   

[GoCougs]

you take out fleet sales, retail wise it will be the Accord... although this year may be close...

Actually Carmy retail sales YTD thru November look to be ahead of the Accord by about 10%:

Camry total: 408,906 (included Solara)
Fleet: 13% (thru June)
Retail: 355,749

Accord total: 324,355
Fleet: 1.1%
Retail: 320,787

[VetteZ06]

VetteZ06,

You are correct that the Camry's record for reliability and quality serve it well. I'm sure there are people who want a new midsize car but, who do not want to go through the hassle of testing a variety of vehicles,? will just purchase a Camry because of it's reputation for reliability and quality. The Honda Accord probably benefits from that too. However, as IFCAR wrote above, the Camry does provide a quiet, comfortable ride with a reasonably roomy cabin and trunk. It has an outstanding powertrain with the 3.5 V6 and 6 speed automatic. It is definately quick.

However, it is not engaging to drive, even in the sportier SE trim. I drove one right after a 2006 Ford Fusion and I found the Fusion to be a better handling car with more communicative steering than the SE. It certainly was more fun (as far as a midsize FWD family sedan could be). The same could be said about the Aura (particularly in the XR trim). It is more engaging to drive than the Camry and has just as quiet a cabin too, usually a notable Camry strength. The powertrain in the XR is certainly very good.

The Aura is very competitive in it's class. The Aura just has few oversights that remind many of the old GM where cost cutting is evident or just does not make sense. These have already been mentioned before, such as, a fold down center console arm rest with cup holders in the rear seat, faux stitch trimming, which just looks cheap and 4 speed automatic in the XE model. These are certainly valid critcisims. I'm sure the 4 speed will disappear soon enough to be replaced with the 6 speed automatic, probably with this upcoming model year. It probably had much to do with the ramp up of the production of the 6 speed automatics. Since perception is everything, GM should have made this work.?

FWIW, I really don't like the Camry.

[rohan]

The current Camry has inconsistent quality in the sense that some cars are built well, and some (more base models than uplevel, I've noticed) suffer fron the sort of problems they describe, en masse. But all have too-hard plastics.

You guys do know that the feds made that soft dash material not ok to use- right?  They discovered its linked to causing cancer or something like that which is why all the new cars have hard dashes now.

[ifcar]

If that is the case, I assume that still only pertains to the cheapest soft-touch materials that had been used. There are still plenty of cars that do without rock-solid cruddy plastics today.

[Atomic]

they are all decent cars. it boils down to personal taste.