Honda Accord v Lexus IS

[Artsy]

Hi all,

Looking for some collective knowledge here.

I'm about to sell our BMW X3 35D and get something more budget friendly, normally aspirated and petrol auto. I won't go into too much detail other than that the BMW is worth more than I owe so I'm going to use the change to buy our next car.

I'm looking for something reliable, auto and have narrowed it down to the Accord and the Lexus. I would have gone smaller than these but want to maintain some NCAP rating so prefer a bigger car to something that is Yaris sized.

The drawback of the Lexus I can see is quite a small boot and less rear legroom.

Reliability wise I think the Lexus has a slight edge.

I'm looking to spend approx £5-£6.5k which should get me into cars of 2008-2009 or so.

Any strong opinions on the above?

For the Honda, I'm open to the 2.0 and the 2.4.

Thanks in advance.

[Artsy]

While I agree and I've had a Honda with the auto 5-speed before although it was a CRV 2.2 DIESEL, I'm in London so can't return to manual at this point...

[Artsy]

Coming from the 35d engine I'm fully committed to a lack of performance.

Just wanting to get something reliable to take the kids to school and occasionally go a little further but without dropping the safety to something like a Yaris.

[Artsy]

The Mazda has crossed my mind too if I'm honest.

Good shout-out on the Infiniti. I would, but I resent paying HMRC and Camden council a combined £1140 a year for the car to just exist if you see what I mean. I'd considered a Lexus GS300 but rejected for the same tax reason.

[Artsy]

Applying man maths to the above.

Should I just give up completely and get a Toyota hybrid? Most likely and Auris at around £9k.

Savings are £532 per year in tax and parking permit, plus any savings in petrol. Which I've calculated at around £500 annually.

Price wise probably need an additional 3k for the Toyota so in 3 years it will have paid for itself and I can get a dealer provided car that is roughly 4 years younger.

Hybrid system batteries warrantied for 15 years so would be safe on that I hope.

Edited by Artsy on Saturday 28th May 16:16

[Artsy]

Yeah I wanted the GS but I don't want the £1150 annually for VED and parking permit.

[Artsy]

Do you reckon the cat theft is still an ongoing thing?

Most articles on it are dated 2021.

Also, I wonder if cat theft is less likely in central London due to more cameras and people about.

[Artsy]

I remember reading that the cats in the RX are at the front of the car just after the manifold and in a way inside the engine bay and therefore not accessible in the way that a cat under the car is but I may be wrong.

[Artsy]

That's just terrible!