Originally posted by VenomousDrift
Camry is a fat, slow pig of a car that EVERYONE I know beleives is more mundane and boring than a Malibu, the ultimate generic, "I didn't even know it existed till someone pointed it out to me" family sedan.
I agree that the Camry is similarly mundane to a Malibu (not more - the Malibu's just too boring), but check the price lists a second - a Camry LE with a 157-horsepower 2.4L 4-cylinder starts at $19045; the Chevrolet Malibu starts at $18075 with just 13 extra horses. Sadly for Chevrolet, price and engine size are the only categories the Malibu wins.
Camry starts with antilock brakes, air-conditioning, cruise control, a power driver's seat, power windows, mirrors, and locks, keyless entry, a CD player, and a remote trunk release.
Malibu's antilock brakes are $400 extra and cruise control is $240 extra. Power windows, mirrors, and keyless entry is a $995 package. Power locks and a CD player are standard; neither a remote trunk release function nor a power driver's seat is offered. So for the same spec minus a few things, you're now spending $19675. Camry also has options the basic Malibu doesn't offer.
Accord has left there styling clue back a generation and have gone to the new UGLY design, though nicely equipped with a 240hp Vtec V6, it's not very quick with the ATX from my exsperiance(drag strip and street). MTX Coupes are nice though, although the styling leaves something to be desired, like non-Mercedes-exacting-clone tail lights.
The new Accord is somewhat ugly, however its engine and overall package make it probably one of the best contenders, especially in V6 and high-level 4-cylinder trims. Honda's loaded it with spec and anything not standard is an option. It's a wonderful car; up there with the Passat, Altima and Mazda 6 for my heart in the family sedan game.
Maxima...fast enough, true, but shoddy interior and build quality is only countered by excellent reliability from what the owners have told me. Plus, again, bland as all hell, with teh exception of the new Maxima, which is simply UGLY.
Ugly, maybe. Your opinion. I've seen quite a few and frankly, it's just as anonymous as ever, despite Nissan's best efforts. The problem is that for the first time we've got an American sedan absolutely handing a Japanese's ass to it - in any comparison between the Pontiac Grand Prix GTP (260bhp V6s; $25860) and the Nissan Maxima SE (265hp V6; $26950), it would be crazy not to call the Pontiac the flat-out winner. The Pontiac is
very kickass.
Intrepid's, well, 2G's are cool looking, offer a potent top of the line 3.5L, and decent luxury, the trannies are apparently worse than any Ford FF ATX, and they are pigs, lending to less than wonderful go, turn, and stop.
Way too big. Its only competitors are American except for the Toyota Avalon, which still comes up more than a foot short of the Intrepid in overall length.
Taurus is not a stand out in any one category, but has good luxury, ride, build quality, and styling that Toyota tried to clone with the much worse looking Camry. It offers a Torqy V6 base motor in place of the week 4 bangers in other makes, and offers a nice DOHC 200hp(used in the beautiful Mazda 6, Jaguar X and S types, Ford Escapes and Mazda Tributes, etc.)
Taurus is a pathetic excuse for 'the car that re-invented Ford.' In '86, it kicked ass. Now, it sucks. Sorry - no other word to describe it. Since you're talking about its luxury and 200hp motor, I'll compare top-spec Camry to top-spec Taurus.
For $25405, one can have the Toyota Camry V6 XLE. Standard is a 192-horsepower V6, antilock brakes, air-conditioning, cruise control, power front seats , heated power mirrors, windows, and locks, keyless entry, a JBL 6-CD player with a cassette player, a remote trunk release, and an alarm. $500 more gets you side curtain and front-side airbags; $315 on top of that buys heated front seats, and $900 buys a power sunroof. The total there is $27605.
For $23950, I can have a Ford Taurus SEL Premium. Standard is a 200-horsepower V6, antilock brakes, air-conditioning, cruise control, a power driver's seat (a power passenger seat is $350), power mirrors (make that heated for $185), windows, and locks, keyless entry, and a 6-CD player with a cassette player. Neither an alarm nor a remote trunk release is offered. Front-side airbags are standard, but side curtain airbags are not offered. Heated seats are not offered, and $895 buys a power sunroof. The total is $26040 - that's $1565 less, and the car does not come with heated seats, an alarm, a remote trunk release, or side curtain airbags.
By the way - top-end Camrys are a joke. I hate them. If it were me, I wouldn't have compared the Camry to the Taurus, but you suggested it.
Simply put, no family sedan on the market today, with the exception of the Mazda 6, stands out with motor, interior, suspension, styling, build quality, and reliability all in one package. The 6 comes the closest. Buit, saying America can't build a decent family sedan, then calling the projenator of the genre crap, simply makes you look foolish.
It goes like this:
1. 2003 Mazda 6s
2. 2003 Nissan Altima 3.5SE
3. 2003 Volkswagen Passat GLS V6
4. 2003 Honda Accord EX-L
Camry doesn't make my list - Camry sucks. Option prices are a joke, and standard equipment as well as engine power trails well behind competitors. Compare any of those four to any Taurus and the winner will be much more clear-cut.
Trust me - I don't think the original Taurus is crap. They were, with the exception of the 1979 Chrysler minivan, the best American car ever produced. I think the
current Ford Taurus is crap.
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" and sped up a little. Next thing you know there is a cup of coffee flying buy our window 
