Conundrum, you make a good point about whether the Accord really should be considered a competitor to the Maxima -- based on interior volume (which is, I believe, the metric with which the EPA makes the call on whether a car is full-size, compact, or whatever), the Max is bigger, and I believe it is classified by the feds as a 'full-size' car (indeed, I know a few places whence I've rented one before, and they classified it as either 'full-size' or 'luxury.' I really don't think the TL or RL should be considered as Honda's competitors to the Maxima, however. (And indeed, most of the automobile enthusiast mags have historically compared the Accord with the Altima, probably due to size/interior volume.)I was simply curious from the perspective that at least here in the midwest, most potential Accord buyers would -- I believe -- be more apt to consider the Max than the Altima when comparison shopping. My parents have a 2005 Maxima SE -- 5AT, cloth interior, no HIDs, pretty basic overall -- which I've driven quite often. Get out of that car and immediately switch to my '06 Accord V6 6MT, and the first things you'll notice are a) a vastly better interior, b) a quieter engine (the VQ, as tuned for the Max and even the Murano, has a moany quality to it at mid-range RPMs which I find rather annoying), c) a firmer ride, and d) a sense of wonder as to where all the low-end torque went (the VQ is superior to almost every other six-cylinder engine I've experienced when it comes to this). Interestingly, though, my parent's Max stickered for $27,700 -- almost the exactly same price as my car. That's really the big reason why I thought of this comparison thread in the first place; I think a lot of people look at sticker price before they take a good look at features/performance/quality/whatever.For equal money, I'd take the Accord (in V6 6MT form, of course ) over the Maxima...chiefly because the Honda possesses more refinement and better build quality.
