Compare the2024 Honda AccordVS 2023 Nissan Maxima

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Honda Accord have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Nissan Maxima doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

Both the Accord and the Maxima have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors, available blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors and rear cross-path warning.

The Honda Accord has achieved the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) highest rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for the 2024 model year. This distinction is based on its exceptional performance in IIHS’ rigorous battery of safety tests. Specifically, it earned a “Good” rating in the latest, more stringent moderate overlap front crash test, a “Good” result in the updated side impact test, and an “Acceptable” score in the revised pedestrian crash prevention test. The Maxima has not yet been fully evaluated by the IIHS for 2024.

Honda pays for scheduled maintenance on the Accord for 2 years and 24,000 miles. Honda will pay for oil changes, tire rotations, air filter replacements, cabin filter replacement, brake fluid replacement, inspections, and any other required maintenance. Nissan doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Maxima.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Honda vehicles are more reliable than Nissan vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Honda 12 places higher in reliability than Nissan.

On the EPA test cycle the Accord gets better mileage than the Maxima:

Regenerative brakes improve the Accord Hybrid’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Maxima doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Accord’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip (1.5T only). The Maxima doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Honda Accord uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Maxima requires premium, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

The Accord has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Maxima doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Honda Accord higher (7 out of 10) than the Nissan Maxima (3). This means the Accord produces up to 24.5 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Maxima every 15,000 miles.

The Accord stops shorter than the Maxima:

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Accord’s wheelbase is 2.1 inches longer than on the Maxima (111.4 inches vs. 109.3 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Accord is .4 inches wider in the front and 1.3 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Maxima.

The Accord Touring Hybrid handles at .87 G’s, while the Maxima Platinum pulls only .81 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Honda Accord may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 200 to 350 pounds less than the Nissan Maxima.

The front grille of the Accord uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Maxima doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

Because it has more passenger and cargo room, the EPA rates the Accord a Large car, while the Maxima is rated a Mid-size.

The Accord has 7.2 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Maxima (105.7 vs. 98.5).

The Accord has .1 inches more front headroom, 1.2 inches more front hip room, 1.2 inches more front shoulder room, .6 inches more rear headroom, 6.6 inches more rear legroom, 1.9 inches more rear hip room and .8 inches more rear shoulder room than the Maxima.

The Accord has a much larger trunk than the Maxima (16.7 vs. 14.3 cubic feet).

A low lift-over trunk design makes loading and unloading the Accord easier. The Accord’s trunk lift-over height is 27 inches, while the Maxima’s liftover is 28.8 inches.

The Accord Touring has a standard heads-up display that projects speed, navigation instruction and driver assistance information readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Maxima doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Accord’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Maxima’s parking brake has to be released manually.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Accord’s headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Maxima’s headlights are rated “Acceptable.”

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Honda Accord Touring has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the front center console. The Maxima doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Honda Accord and the Nissan Maxima, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Accord was chosen as a Car and Driver’s “Top Ten” for 2024 and 25 more times in the last 26 years. The Maxima has never been chosen by Car and Driver in their “10Best” issue.

The Honda Accord outsold the Nissan Maxima by almost 21 to one during 2023.