Test Drove Accord and Camry Hybrids - Not Impressed

Title says it all. Test drove 2014 Hybrid Accord Touring and 2015 Hybrid Camry XLE recently. In respect to ride, handling and comfort, nothing has changed in 30 years. The Accord still has much better handling, at the cost of stiffer ride comfort, and the Camry still has sloppy steering, but more comfortable ride. Can we kplease find a halfway point? Maybe the Ford hits that, but I'll never know, since the wife is afraid her long dead father will haunt her from his chain smoking grave if she ever drives a Ford!

Seriously, as Consumer Reports and other reviewers have noted, the Accord hybrid has a real bumpety-bump ride for some reason; possibly even worse than the Prius. On relatively smooth city streets, we felt every imperfection in the road, slightly muted, but still fairly annoying. Everything else was fine. Nice interior finishes, OK but not great electronics and displays, plenty of acceleration, good steering feel, and the wife liked the exterior styling. Stereo was probably better than Camry.

Camry has made a really big deal about how they replaced all the sheet metal and are now bold, exciting and styling! SNORE, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..... I know I'm supposed to notice they put a few creases in the side panel, but seriously, I would have a hard time noticing the differences between my 2007 Camry and the 2015. It is marginally better than the 2014, which I really did not like for some reason. The interior finishes and electronics are definitely improved, though. It rode smoothly, and handling is better than the 2007, in that they seem to have gotten rid of the wallowing motion of the ocean feel. Couldn't believe how loose the steering ratio was. Not impressed by what was supposed to be high end stereo.

All in all, I'm having a hard time getting excited by either car, and am seriously considering a CRV instead. It's either that or hold my nose and lease for 3 years, by which time the low end Tesla should finally be here, along with a few other new plug-in or EV options (e.g. new models of Volt and Leaf, Mitshubishi SUV etc.). Was excited by the Lexus NX 300h, till I heard the MPG ratings and pricing....

 

Making the ride stiffer would not make me happier. Connection to the road and body lean were not issues, just the slop in the steering. If anything, a bit more ride cushion would be nice, so long as it doesn't make it wallow like the 2007 model. According to the reviews, the differences in handling between SE and XLE are marginal at best. You give up a few features with SE and also give up the option to get the PCS and dynamic radar cruise control (but good luck finding one with those installed). The regular camry now has an XSE version which theoretically is the best of both worlds, but they don't have that for the hybrid. The 2015 Hycams are still trickling in down here in Texas, so it took awhile to find one to drive.

FYI, the accelerator was very touchy until I put it in eco mode. I guess it must have been in sport mode before I did that. Couldn't find the visual cue on the dashboard to tell me what mode I was in.

Beyond driving issues, maybe it's just sedans in general I'm bored with? especially since the only mildly attractive difference between 2007 and 2015 is a slightly better tech package (e.g., bluetooth, etc.).

 

No, I don't have one foot in the grave like you guys, but I ain't t no spring chicken neither! I start gagging when the cost starts climbing past $35,000. I just checked, and list price for an Avalon Touring with dynamic cruise is $47,000+. I'm sure the ride is better, but not wild about the interior, and don't really want to spend that much. May as well spring for the Lexus NX at that price. Think Ill see if my wife wants to test the BMW i3 on a $369 lease...

 

OK, I did something wrong before, or got it confused with something else, or added in other options. Maybe I am old and befuddled after all! You can only get PCS with the "Limited" model. The base Limited MRSP is $41,650 in my zip code, and the "Technology Package" is $1,950 (includes the wireless phone charger), and the delivery is $890, for a grand total of $42,540. They have 0% for 60 months right now, or a $299 24 month lease with $2,500 down. US news seems to think I could expect to knock $5,200 off the price.

I'm still not excited by the Avalon looks or interior, but maybe I could learn to love it for 24 months. All this assumes I could find a model with the tech package, which often seems to be nearly impossible for Toyota and Lexas. The say the PCS is available, and then they never actually ship cars with it installed!

Another boring factor in all this is the color choices, which are really poor for the camry, and are only slightly better in the Avalon. How many shades of white, grey and black do they need? Even the Parisian Blue is almost black.