Buy/Drive/Burn: V6 Midsize Japanese Sedans of 1997
Last week we challenged you to pick a Buy from V6 versions of the 2007 Toyota Camry, Nissan Maxima, and Honda Accord. The overwhelming feeling in the comments was in favor of an Accord purchase (and I agree with you). Today though, we step back a decade to the 1997 model year.
Does the Accord still win your vote in the Nineties?
Honda Accord
In 1997 the fifth-generation Accord is in its last model year, finishing out its short run since 1994. Available with two doors as a coupe or four as sedan and wagon, the Accord uses various inline-four engines or a single V6 depending upon the market. Trims are many for the sedan and include Value Package, Special Edition, EX, DX, and LX. Top-spec is the EX with automatic and 2.7-liter V6, today’s choice. 170 horsepower travel through the four-speed automatic. With leather, the EX costs $22,650.
Nissan Maxima
The Maxima is midway through its fourth generation in 1997, a body style that continues through the model year 1999. Unlike the Accord, Maxima is available only as a four-door sedan. Trims are limited to SE, GXE, and GLE, with a five-speed manual transmission available at the lower two trim levels. All GLEs come equipped with a four-speed automatic, as we aren’t yet in CVT world. All examples are powered by the same 3.0-liter VQ30 V6, which means 190 smooth horses travel through the front wheels. A top trim GLE asks $26,899.
Toyota Camry
Camry is new for 1997, as Toyota introduces the XV20 follow-up to the landmark XV10 of 1992 to 1996. There’s no Camry wagon in the lineup, and the coupe becomes the separately labeled and styled Camry Solara which changes its customer base considerably. Camry sedan is available in CE, LE, and XLE trims, as SE fades away. A five-speed manual is available only in CE guise, with a 2.2-liter inline-four or the 3.0-liter V6. Said V6 creates 194 horsepower, routed through the four-speed auto in today’s pinnacle XLE V6. Yours for $24,088.
These three sedans have greater gaps in asking price in the Nineties than they do in the 2000s, but which one is worth your dollars?
[Images: Honda, Nissan, Toyota]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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There are really no losers here. I bought a 1996 Altima, but I was really tempted to add another year or so to the loan and buy a Maxima. (I paid under $16,000 new for my Altima, well below the base versions of the Accord or Camry.) I test-drove an SE-5-speed, and it was fun, a lot less boring than either the Accord or Camry. Since I have to pick one, I'd say buy the Honda. Drive the Nissan, burn the Toyota. Truthfully though, there wasn't a bad car in the batch.
Buy: Camry. You couldn't get a more reliable mid size sedan back in 97 (and I think that still stands today). Drive: Maxima. VQ30 is a great engine, it must be a fun ride. Burn: Accord. Those early Honda V6 were thirsty and not quicker than the 4 cyl Accords. It also looked old. Not a bad vehicle in any way but it was edged by the other two.