Camry/Accord/Impala

[Neanderthal]

I recently rented a 2005 Camry Le 4 cylinder. I will compare it to the 2003 Accord LX 4 and the 2004 Impala 3.4 that I owned/own.
Camry has good torque, decent instruments, good a/c and radio. One item that to me is a deal breaker is the headrests force your head forward. I don't know why they're designed this way, I've seen others like this and to me it is just dumb.
It has decent roll control and the brakes, unchallenged in this rental, seem fine. Rear drums, like the Accord and unlike the rear-disc Impala.
The seats are OK, I'd give them a B to the Accord's A and the Impala's C-/D+.
The motor makes good torque, lots more than the Mazda6/4 I recently rented, but not nearly as much as the Impala. The 4-speed auto is OK, a little slushy on several upshifts, I'd say C+/B- to the Accord's 5-speed auto (B overall) which is excellent on upshifts but has the cursed "intelligent" feature which downshifts for you which I do not appreciate. The Impala has a clearly superior tranny, give it an A-, it's the smoothest and snaps shifts like the Honda does, only more consistently. And it doesn't try to be "intelligent." It just freewheels when you get off the throttle.
Accord is the clear winner on stowage space, it has big bins in the doors that will take a drink each plus four more cupholders inside. Impala and Camry have just average stowage.
The Camry got 27 mpg for my 365 miles of state highway driving, probably about what the Honda and Impala would get on these roads.
The Honda has the tightest suspension, it needs more tire though. The Impala gets a D/D- for shock control, I already had to get KYBs and it has just 15,000 miles. Pitiful, not everyone wants a bouncy old-coot ride, thanks.
Impala has the best engine/trans combo for me, I use far less WFO throttle than I did with the Honda, which puts out OK torque for a 2.4 four but nothing like an ohv V6. The Honda is far superior to the previous generation four or six, torque-wise and tranny-wise. Even with the 200 hp V6, the last-gen Accord had no torque and really needed a 5-speed auto. I got so sick of it kicking down to 2nd to get any grunt at 30-40 mph.
I like the Camry 18.5 gallon fuel tank. Why can't I get a 20-gallon fuel tank, that would give me 600+ miles range in my Impala. Oh, the Altima has a 20-gal? Oh well. If GM had made the 2006 Impala a few inches longer they could perhaps have gotten a bit more rear leg room and expanded the fuel capacity from industry standard 17 to 20. Besides, it's easier to divide numbers into 20 than 17.
Accord: strong handling, good brakes (except the rear drums needed to get fixed three times), great bucket seats and stowage. Needs more tire. The trick instrument lighting doesn't do a lot for me, I'd prefer the money was spent on dual zone HVAC, a temp/compass, or something else more useful to me. Funny looking cut-off-ass look; it could be a foot longer, it would be better looking and it would actually have some luggage space too.
Camry: strong average car, nothing outstanding but easy to see how it sells well. It works well and other than the stupid headrest is reasonably comfortable. Good trunk. Good torque, an easy driver. Good undercover cop car, since it looks like everything and nothing in particular.
Impala: strong torque, most space, column shift, dual zone HVAC, key goes where you can see it. Needs Konis as standard equipment, and Accord seats. Then it would be very very good. Most distinctive looking and it has family identity. Or it did until the 2006 model, which looks like a Cmary to me.
Controls and HVAC addendum: The Honda has that funny, nonintuitive button in the middle of the hvac controls that is for radio volume. Don't know why they needed to get funny here, their previous model was excellent in its clarity and simplicity. I also prefer the Honda dash angle, it is angled up more toward where your eyeballs actually are. Honda also had excellent ac, I would give the Accord an A, the Camry an A-, and the Impala a B in both the coldness of its a/c and the hotness of its heat. I drove both the Accord and the Impala in 90s heat and 0s cold.
Controls: Impala A-, Camry B, Accord C. The dual zone is a great feature that GM should make standard across the board (along with a self-setting atomic clock, which are what five bucks when bought in the hundreds of thousands?--these to me are both obvious items that should be standard), and with that and the front-and-center key you don't have to fumble with, it wins the controls contest.
The Impala is the only one with a column shifter, I greatly prefer a column shift and to me a floor shifter w/automatic is a huge waste of space for what--so you can pretend you have a stick??

[griswold44]

Pretty fair review.

[RocketImpala]

OK, pretty good.

But, I never want to see a Camry cop car. Police department buy from the Big3...not from Japan.

[Neanderthal]

Originally Posted by RocketImpala

OK, pretty good.

But, I never want to see a Camry cop car. Police department buy from the Big3...not from Japan.

Thank you. I doubt there will be a Camry copper car in the forseeable future.
Especially now that Chevy makes an Impala that is even more anonymous than and indistinguishable from a Camry...plus IT'S GOT A V-8!

[IAMCANADIAN]

the Camry and Impala are both good cars, always have and hopefully always will. The 2006 Models are both pleasing to the eye, but very conservative. The 05 Impala, while needed a better interior, was very nice looking on the outside. It had attitude and classic american style, especially with those taillamps. But it seems that we've had to trade exterior styling for a better car overall and a nicer interior

[WannabeRich]

Originally Posted by RocketImpala

OK, pretty good.

But, I never want to see a Camry cop car. Police department buy from the Big3...not from Japan.

This might not be as absurd as you think. I remember 4 or 5 years ago, the CHP (California Highway Patrol) was testing Camrys to supplement their fleet.

[RocketImpala]

Remember what hapened after the US purchased some Toyota SUV's to use in the middle east because they wouldn't be as big of a terrorist target? There was a LOT of outcry and the US promised to never buy a foriegn car/truck again. Same would have for a police department.

[CRBoyd91]

Does the Impala really have that bad rear legroom? Judging by its size, that's hard to believe!

[SSrevolution]

Too bad the Impala itself will never outsell the compeditors. Even if it is better. Honda and Toyota doesn't have sister cars cannibalizing their sales. Like the Monte Carlo and Grandprix.