Would you choose ‘07 Lexus ES or ‘07 Honda Accord for $6k

[descovy]

We have 2 promising options for a car for my 17 yr old. We live in Houston and are nervous of flood vehicles after Harvey, but our Prius was totaled. (Age 2008 with 190k miles)

Option 1 is from a friend she grew up with. So we know the family pretty well. 2007 Lexus ES with 150k miles. (Roughly the size of a Camry). Cost $6000

Pro: we know the family where it came from and it’s a good deal for this model car.

Con: High miles. Fuel efficiency isn’t that great 19city/25 hwy. 91 octane fuel recommended but not required. Feel like we are paying more for the Lexus name.


Option 2 is a 2007 Honda Accord EX with 105k miles. Cost $6200. I don’t know the owner personally but they live in our neighborhood and our neighborhood didn’t flood. They also kept meticulous service records on it.

Pro: I love Honda’s! Low mileage in comparison to the Lexus.

Con: I don’t know the owner. And again I’m nervous buying any used car but especially one after Harvey.


In either case, people say take it to a mechanic you trust. I have a mechanic I trust “enough”. But not that we have a close relationship. And for every little thing like an oil change I have to drop it off for an entire day (thankfully it’s walking distance to my house). Does a private seller put up with “let me borrow your car for the day?”

Which would you choose?

 

[Judique]

The Honda.

 

[melanielll]

Both seem to have more miles on them than I would want, but I would go with the Honda. Repairs are far less expensive on them than on anything in the Lexus family.

Funny, we are planning on selling my husband's Accord as soon as I pick what I want to replace my MDX. His is a 2006 with just under 50K miles. I am now thinking it is worth more than we thought it was. Perhaps I will get that technology package...

 

[descovy]

Both seem to have more miles on them than I would want, but I would go with the Honda. Repairs are far less expensive on them than on anything in the Lexus family.

Funny, we are planning on selling my husband's Accord as soon as I pick what I want to replace my MDX. His is a 2006 with just under 50K miles. I am now thinking it is worth more than we thought it was. Perhaps I will get that technology package...

Mind you this is private sale... not trade in value. That’s amazing you have a 12 year car with so low miles! That’s like 4000 a year when average is 12000/yr. You live within a days drive from Houston? Maybe I’ll buy from you!

It’s been hard finding something under $7k that isn’t junk or suspiciously turned into a dealership in September (after Harvey)

 

[tvguy]

I would run the VINs through the safety recall database NHTSA has. https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls?
I am about 99% certain that the Lexus AND the Honda are part of the Takata Airbag mess. They need the airbags replaced, and there are no replacements, at least yet. If ever.
My neighbor got caught in that with his 2008 ES. No dealer would even take it as a trade because of the recall.
I'd run the VINs, and if they are part of the airbag recall, I'd just walk away from both.

 

[pooh2001]

Honda - you can also have the car checked out by your local mechanic - do not take title immediately.
The owner of the Honda and you meet with your mechanic at a specified date and time.

Honda cars will be good past 250,000 miles.
Also the parts cost less than Lexus - just think of the oil changes and the oil filters, every 3000 miles.

 

[Albort]

Honda... like the previous poster said, the parts are a ton cheaper.

 

[MinnieForMe]

I've been researching used cars for my 16 year old. The Honda Accord is listed as one of the top 10 best used cars. I would definitely go with the Honda with that amount of miles for a teenager! Good luck!

 

[Hikergirl]

The Honda for sure

 

[kymom99]

My niece bought a used car and took it to a bob sumerel. They put it up on the rack and looked it over for free

 

[kymom99]

Also my friends son has a Lexus that fell under the airbag recall. They told him it would be 6 months to get the parts to fix it. He insisted on a loaner car and they gave him one. Let him keep it the whole time they waited for the parts since the car wasn't safe to drive. Ended up being even longer than the 6 months but they did finally get it fixed. He didn't even buy the car new.

 

[aliceindisneyland]

We have an 03 Lexus and it has had more stupid problems than any of the Toyotas I have had. Lexus is supposed to be a Toyota where it counts but it's like Lexus made things harder to fix just so they seem special! My husband insists on using premium gas in it, but I am sure your teen would be happy to get away with using regular if it works. I'd take any Toyota with 200k miles over a Lexus with half that. I'd choose the Honda with the service records. No matter how well you know the Lexus family, it will be awkward if anything goes wrong, and if they don't do preventive maintenance you could need big stuff done like timing belt and radiator.

 

[crazylady]

We have an 07 Accord (crv not Accord) effected by the airbag recall and had the airbag changed out last year so it's possible the airbag have already been replaced.

 

[Jimsig]

Remember when buying a Lexus you are paying for a glorified Toyota. The Lexus name plate was developed back in the late 80's because at that time they knew no one would pay 35k for a Toyota. The major Japanese manufacturers wanted to get into the "luxury" or higher end market autos and knew no one would pay big bucks for a Japanese name like Toyota, Nissan/Datsun, or a Honda. They knew they needed something different so they all came up with generic and/or American sounding names. Toyota came up with Lexus, Nissan with Infinity, and Honda to a lesser extent with Acura as they had a luxury model but also still had lower cost Acuras in more of a sporty high performance car at that time. My friend had an Acura Integra and when you opened the hood the engine was stamped HONDA on the valve cover.

As others have said ask about the airbags. My wife had a Honda and it needed the airbags replaced twice. The last time was just a few months before we traded it in. We knew we were trading it in to a dealer but didn't want them to low-ball her trade saying that it still needed an airbag, even though it would have been replaced for free. She would have loved the Honda CRV but we traded it in for a Toyota RAV4. The Rav4 offered more for the same price.

 

[2TxAgs]

Our driveway looks like a Honda dealership! We have 3 2006 Honda CRVs, which we specifically purchased with safety and long term durability in mind. The kids have driven them since HS, and now post college and will drive until they are no longer road worthy. Go with the Honda

 

[tvguy]

We have an 07 Accord (crv not Accord) effected by the airbag recall and had the airbag changed out last year so it's possible the airbag have already been replaced.

It is possible, and that website I posted would reflect that.

 

[AquamarineSteph]

I vote for the Honda.

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

I would go with the Honda as well! We absolutely love our 2010 civic. It's never given us problems and it's such a fantastic car. I'm definitely replacing my car with a Honda when it goes (hopefully quite a while from now- knock on wood!)

 

[DisneyMandC]

I'll be the oddball out here and say the Lexus. I had a Lexus RX300 as my first car and drove it for ten years until it hit 265,000 miles. It was still running when I sold it for $3500. I did have one major issue with the transmission going out around 110,000 miles. Other than that it was a pretty solid car. I never found work on it to be particularly more expensive, often because just about any part on it that I needed could be bought through Toyota. The only thing on it that was obnoxiously expensive were the headlights because they were an early type of halogen headlights. Other than that, I literally miss that car every day.

 

[supersnoop]

I vote for the Toyota. Seriously, the Lexus is going to use Toyota parts, and you seem to have been happy with your last Toyota. The Honda is likely due for an expensive timing belt replacement. The Lexus seems like a clear winner to me.