Motor Trend's 12-13 Midsize Comparo

[Zembonez]

We drove the newest Altima, Camry, and Passat recently in our hunt for the next car. Altima is much quieter than the old one, but it's ugly. It drives well. Camry is just too vanilla in all respects (especially handling). Passat was pretty nice but the slowest by far. Not a lot of comfort in it either... Euro hardassed seating a plenty.

It would take a large sum of money for me to shop at a Ford or Chevy lot. Crappy resale of their rental fleet sedans is a deal killer... and the surprised guppy front end styling of the Malibu just doesn't hack it. The new Fusion is attractive... but it's a Ford.

We'll be driving the new Accord soon. I really like the redesign and its features. May just be another Accord in the driveway before long. We've had the current Accord almost three years and the only thing ever done to it was a few oil changes. Hard to beat that kind of record.

 

[Darth Bama]

If we were in the market for a new car it would either be the new Altima or the Passat. The Passat has always been one of my favorites, but I'm overly pleased with our 2009 Altima. The only thing that would keep me from a new Accord would be my experience with our 2007 Accord. It was a great car, loaded V6 EX-L, but the handling was sloppy compared to the Altima that replaced it, and I NEVER liked the interior, I just lived with it for 2 years. We also were having something the dealer couldn't figure out, going on with the transmission. We normally keep cars for 6-9 years, but I unloaded the Accord before having to repair a car we weren't truly in love with. I know my mechanical woes with our Accord were rare considering most people have zero problems with their Hondas, but if there's bad luck to be had, I'll be the one to get it. And for the record, my wife drives her cars like an old woman, and baby's every car she's ever owned. So it wasn't anything she had done to the car, just one of those freak deals. I personally like the new Altima, not ugly at all, but that's my opinion. To each their own I suppose.

On a side note, I LOVE the new Fusion, but I'm not sure I'd purchase a brand new one. I haven't actually seen one in person. They may look like total ass in person




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[Zembonez]

The Passat might be a good car. I just wish VW would have named it something besides what sounds like an accident that might require a change of underwear. WTF is a passat?

About half of the VW owners I know think their car is awesome. The other half can't wait to be rid of theirs... The jury is out on them for several reasons (to me). Resale is sketchy. Dealership coverage is sparse here. Reliability is average and the 2.5 just doesn't make any power... car mags may spout them as great (it's euro and all) but sales figures are way down the list.

The new Altima is just poorly styled. The shape is awkward and clumsy. I love Nissan vehicles as a whole... We've owned a number of them and they were quite well screwed together.

Nothing has come close to being as reliable as our three Hondas.

 

[daddy]

The Passat might be a good car. I just wish VW would have named it something besides what sounds like an accident that might require a change of underwear. WTF is a passat?

About half of the VW owners I know think their car is awesome. The other half can't wait to be rid of theirs... The jury is out on them for several reasons (to me). Resale is sketchy. Dealership coverage is sparse here. Reliability is average and the 2.5 just doesn't make any power... car mags may spout them as great (it's euro and all) but sales figures are way down the list.

The new Altima is just poorly styled. The shape is awkward and clumsy. I love Nissan vehicles as a whole... We've owned a number of them and they were quite well screwed together.

Nothing has come close to being as reliable as our three Hondas.

The name "Passat" means trade wind in German.

We own a 2005.5 2.5 Jetta and it's far from a performer but it's been reliable for 65K miles now and it gets 30+ MPG Hwy, 24-ish MPG City so I really can't complain. The interior quality far exceeded anything else in it's price range when we bought it.

 

[Zembonez]

The name "Passat" means trade wind in German.

Yeah. It just doesn't sound like a desirable car name in English. Crazy as it sounds, a "nicer" name would probably result in a sales boost here. I don't hate on VW. They have built some really cool stuff over the years. I like your Jetta far better than the new one.

 

[daddy]

The name "Passat" means trade wind in German.

Yeah. It just doesn't sound like a desirable car name in English. Crazy as it sounds, a "nicer" name would probably result in a sales boost here. I don't hate on VW. They have built some really cool stuff over the years. I like your Jetta far better than the new one.

I was curious what it meant as well so I looked it up. Even the definition leaves a lot to be desired as far as its use as the name of a car. Passat. All I can think of is someone from Boston getting drunk enough to Passat at da bah.

Ours is okay. As I said, it's been reliable and the interior is nicer than most cars in its class but it is far from exciting. I never desire to drive it.

I didn't think you were hating on them, just adding my half-way opinion of ours to back up your half-and-half comment.

 

[Zembonez]

In days gone by we had 2 GTI VWs... They were a hell of a lot of fun. VW sure knew how to get the most excitement possible out of a four banger back then! I hate to see them going all mainstream on their new designs... but they are one of the most successful brands on the planet. Their sales are right up there with GM, Ford, and Toyota. They sold something like 6 million cars in 2010.

They must be doing something right.

 

[Black02Silverado]

I like the looks of the new VW. Now the new Malibu not so much, that front end just doesn't cut it.

 

[Darth Bama]

My MAIN problem with Volkswagen is the lack of dealerships around me. The closest one is 35 miles away. That's the reason we never replaced our last VW with another one. It was a pain in the ass to get service work done because you had to drive 70 miles round trip. I can say that if VW had a dealership within 15 miles or so of my area we'd most likely be driving a 2009 Passat right now rather then a Altima. When we replaced the last VW, we replace it with the 2007 Accord V6 EX-L. Not knocking Honda by any means, but the Accord felt like a step down compared to the VW we were coming from. I was hard pressed to convince my wife the Accord was the way to go. We were paying almost 30K for a loaded Accord that drove and felt like your typical 15K base model Japanese sedan. Other then the shit ton of power that V6 made then car drove like a bloated American sedan IMO. Coming from a VW that felt like it was glued to the road, it was a let down. I did however like the overall exterior styling of the Accord we had, and once again that V6 was a beast, but those two things alone simply couldn't make up for the interior and the ride. That's what shocked me when I drove the Altima. It actually had nimble handling and felt like a sporty car rather then a balloon in wheels. Still not a VW, but close in terms of handling. Plain and simple, NOTHING compares to a VW when it comes to the drive, and interior. They feel like pricey European sedans.

For the record, I'm not knocking Honda by any means. If I were actually in the market I'd HAVE to at least give the new Accord a look. You can't beat their track record. Not to mention, I'm really liking that new V6 Accord coupe. It's a super NICE looking car.

Volkswagen needs more dealerships, bottom line.

And to Jim, the Altima has always had an awkward styling IMO. Even the one I own is rather awkwardly styled

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[Zembonez]

No offense taken at all here. You have a right to your opinion!

I always liked the Altima. It's always been a sporty version of the midsize sedan. We had an Altima SE back in 2001 (the old old style) that we put about 60K on before trading. It was a great car. Our family has had a bunch of Nissans. It seems that Nissan went to the middle of the road blah styling in a move to sell larger numbers of them. Who knows. It might just work.

As far as Honda goes. The 2010 SE we have is a far better driver than the 2007 Accord we had. Both were very reliable but the 07 didn't quite have "it" in the driving dynamics department. The 2010 we have now is really nimble and handles beautifully.