Price
Winner: 2020 Toyota Camry
As usual, this is a close call. The Toyota Camry and Honda Accord both have well-deserved reputations for being the class leaders in terms of value. The Camry starts at $24,295 for the entry-level L trim and goes up to $31,040 for the TRD model, which is new for 2020. Four trim levels slot between. It’s easy to get a Camry with a lot more features for not much additional money, which is part of why it’s recently earned the title of our 2020 Best Midsize Car for the Money.
The Honda Accord is a finalist for the 2020 Best Midsize Car for the Money award. This sedan starts at $23,870 for the LX model, which is slightly less than the Camry. Four more trim levels up the ladder, the Accord range tops out with the loaded, and expensive, $36,000 Touring model. Even though the Toyota and Honda start out within a few hundred bucks of each other, which is not much at all in real-world car-buying terms, it costs a lot more to access all of the Accord’s available features.
Reliability
Winner: 2020 Toyota Camry
For our reliability score, we turn to J.D. Power’s predicted reliability ratings, which use a five-point scale. For 2020, the Camry earns four out of five, which is good, and the Accord earns three, which is average.
Both sedans feature a three-year/36,000-mile basic warranty and a five-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty.
Seat Comfort
Winner: 2020 Honda Accord
In base form, the Accord and Camry are comparable in terms of seat comfort. Both sedans comfortably seat five passengers across two rows, with enough room in the back for adults. Cloth upholstery comes standard in both models.
The Camry can be upgraded with synthetic leather or genuine leather upholstery, power-adjustable front seats, and heated front seats. The Accord skips the synthetic leather option, but offers real leather, power-adjustable front seats, and heated front seats, as well as ventilated front seats and heated rear seats. These extra comfort upgrades give the Accord a slight advantage in this area.
Cargo Space
Winner: 2020 Honda Accord
The Honda Accord provides 16.7 cubic feet of trunk space, which is above average for the class. The Toyota Camry’s trunk checks in at 14.1 cubic feet in the base model and 15.1 cubic feet in all other models, both of which are below average for the class.
Both sedans offer a split-folding rear seat, which improves flexibility by accommodating longer items.
Interior Quality
Winner: 2020 Honda Accord
The Toyota Camry and Honda Accord both offer up some of the most stylish and well-built cabins in the midsize sedan segment. That means it’s tough to determine which is better, but the Accord comes out ahead, just slightly.
While both cars earned strong reviews from professional automotive critics, some reviewers noted that the Camry’s cabin is sometimes on the noisy side. That’s enough to make the Accord feel more refined and upscale. It’s a subtle difference and a minor complaint, but enough to give Honda the win here.
Interior Features
Winner: 2020 Toyota Camry
Though both of these value-oriented midsize sedans are pretty well equipped, Toyota is more generous with its standard features in the base trim, and that’s why it takes the win here.
The Camry features an infotainment display with a 7-inch touch screen, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and Amazon Alexa. Toyota used to sacrifice points here for refusing to comply with consumer expectations of Android and Apple compatibility, but over the last two years, all is well in that area.
The Accord also features a 7-inch display and Bluetooth in the base model, but you’ll have to move up a trim level to get a touch interface, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto. If these features were standard in Honda’s base model, this would likely be a tie, but as of now, the point goes to Toyota.
Acceleration
Winner: 2020 Toyota Camry
The Toyota Camry provides better acceleration than the Honda Accord when comparing both cars’ base powertrains as well as their optional upgrades.
The Camry comes equipped with a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine rated for 203 horsepower. The Accord’s base engine, a turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder with 192 horsepower, falls a bit short both in specs and actual performance. The Camry is available with a 3.5-liter V6 engine good for 301 horsepower, which again overpowers the Accord’s offering, a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 252 horsepower.
Fuel Economy
Winner: 2020 Toyota Camry
Not only does the Camry provide better acceleration than the Accord, you’ll get more use out of your fuel, as well. The Camry’s base engine earns 29 mpg city, 41 mpg highway, and 34 mpg combined, which is great for a midsize car. The Accord’s fuel economy is good, too, but falls a bit short of the Camry in two of the three ratings, with EPA estimates of 30 mpg city, 38 mpg highway, and 33 mpg combined.
Though we rank hybrid models separately and their ratings don’t affect this head-to-head comparison, it’s worth mentioning that both of these sedans are offered in hybrid variants. Again, the Camry Hybrid outperforms the Accord Hybrid, with the Camry Hybrid earning 51 mpg city and 53 mpg highway, and the Accord Hybrid earning 48 mpg city and 47 mpg highway.
Ride and Handling
Winner: Tie
The Toyota Camry and Honda Accord both have nimble handling and a smooth ride, which make them more fun to drive than most of their competitors. Both cars feature front-wheel drive and available selectable driving modes.
Overall, the Camry and Accord are evenly matched in this area. If the Camry does have an advantage, it’s in the new-for-2020 top-tier TRD model, which features an exclusive sport suspension system. However, while this model might attract some customers to the Camry lineup, it’s not quite enough of a factor to throw this category to Toyota.
Safety
Winner: 2020 Toyota Camry
Though both of these midsize sedans are smart picks for safety-conscious consumers, the Camry again edges out the Accord.
The 2020 Camry earned a perfect five-star overall crash test rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) testing, the Camry earned the top score of Good in all six crash tests administered. The 2020 Camry also earned the institute’s top rating of Top Safety Pick+, which the IIHS displays alongside the 2020 Camry. This award applies only to Camry models equipped with specific headlights.
The 2020 Accord matches the Camry’s five-star overall rating from the NHTSA, as well as the six Good scores in IIHS crash tests. However, the 2020 Accord earned an IIHS Top Safety Pick rating, still very good but short of the Camry’s Top Safety Pick+ rating. Again, this award is displayed on the IIHS’ page for the 2020 model, and requires the vehicle to be equipped with specific headlights.
Both sedans feature a strong lineup of standard safety features, such as a rearview camera, adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, and lane keep assist. The Camry adds automatic high beams and pedestrian detection to this list. The Accord’s advantages here include driver drowsiness monitoring and traffic sign recognition systems. Plenty of safety options are available with both cars.
The Winner Is …
2020 Toyota Camry
The Honda Accord comes in just shy of the Toyota Camry in our midsize car rankings, as well as among the contenders for our 2020 Best Midsize Car for the Money award. With better interior quality and a larger trunk, the Accord even offers some slight advantages over the Camry.
Still, the Toyota Camry, as the winner of our 2020 Best Midsize Car for the Money award and the current class leader in our midsize car rankings, is simply the better choice for most buyers. The Camry edges out the Accord in most categories that are important to consumers who are actually shopping for a midsize sedan, so even though the scores are very close, the Camry is the clear winner.
More Shopping Tools From U.S. News & World Report
To learn more about the 2020 Toyota Camry and 2020 Honda Accord, check out their full reviews. You can learn more about the Camry and Accord’s competitors by perusing our midsize car rankings.
You can see if Toyota and Honda are offering deals on these two sedans by perusing our new car financing and new car lease deals pages.
When you’re ready for your new car, be sure to use our Best Price Program to get the best deal on your new vehicle. Shoppers who use the program save an average of more than $3,000 off their new car, truck, or SUV.
2020 Toyota Camry vs. 2020 Honda Accord: Head to Head
- Price: 2020 Toyota Camry
- Reliability: 2020 Toyota Camry
- Seat Comfort: 2020 Honda Accord
- Cargo Space: 2020 Honda Accord
- Interior Quality: 2020 Honda Accord
- Interior Features: 2020 Toyota Camry
- Acceleration: 2020 Toyota Camry
- Fuel Economy: 2020 Toyota Camry
- Ride and Handling: Tie
- Safety: 2020 Toyota Camry
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Camry vs. Accord: The Leading Midsize Sedans Battle it Out
It’s tough to be a sedan these days, with cute crossovers stealing most of the glory and showroom space. Automakers are increasingly abandoning their four-door car offerings from the small entry-level models to the executive-size showboats, favoring the trendy over the traditional.
However, Toyota and Honda staked out this space a long time ago and they show no signs of leaving. The Camry and Accord were both last fully redesigned in 2018 and have had just minor updates in the last couple of years, and though both traditionally land near the top of our rankings, their positions have shifted somewhat in response to various factors. Truth be told, you can’t really go wrong with either one of these midsize sedans, but that doesn’t mean they’re equally right for you or your household. Even if you’re among the scores of consumers who think of basic commuter transportation as “appliances,” it’s hard to maintain such a casual attitude when you’re signing the papers on a five-figure purpose. The following slides will help you determine if the Toyota Camry or Honda Accord is the better choice. We used U.S. News scoring data to determine which model is better in the categories that are most important to shoppers who are buying a midsize sedan.
(Keep in mind that U.S. News scores are updated constantly as new expert reviews and data become available. Therefore, the scores mentioned in this comparison may not match the scores in our new car reviews.)