Accord, Camry or Mazda6, which one actually suits you

The midsize sedan is a shrinking category, which is exactly why it is worth looking at. Fewer buyers want them, so they represent decent value against an equivalent SUV, and the three that still matter here are the Honda Accord, the Toyota Camry and the Mazda6.

They are close on size, close on price, and they are not close on anything else.

For this comparison the variants are the Accord 1.5 VTEC Turbo, the Camry 2.5 Hybrid and the Mazda6 2.0 Skyactiv-G, because those are what actually turns up on the used market here. That is not a like-for-like engine comparison, and it is not meant to be. It is the choice you will actually face.

All three sit in Category B. The Accord catches people out on this: at 1,498cc you would expect Category A, but its 143kW output clears the 97kW ceiling and puts it in B regardless. So there is no COE advantage anywhere in this group.

The cheapest to run depends on your mileage

This is the part that surprises people, so take it slowly.

The Camry hybrid uses far less fuel, roughly 20 km/L against the Accord's 14. Everyone knows this and it is why people buy it.

What nobody mentions is the road tax. The Camry's 2,487cc engine costs $1,783 a year. The Accord's 1,498cc turbo costs $683. That $1,100 gap arrives whether you drive or not, and it cancels most of what the hybrid saves at the pump.

At 15,000 km a year the Accord is actually the cheaper car to run, by about $217. The hybrid only pulls ahead once you drive far enough for the fuel saving to outgrow the tax gap.

The crossover is about 18,700 km a year. Below it, the Accord. Above it, the Camry. That is roughly 360 km a week, or a daily commute of around 36 km each way.

The Mazda6 never wins on cost. It carries both a higher road tax than the Accord and worse fuel consumption, so it sits above both at every mileage. If running cost is your priority, it is out.

Fuel is worked at $2.75 a litre against real-world consumption rather than brochure figures. Scale it to your own mileage and your own fuel grade before relying on it, and note that none of this includes insurance, servicing or depreciation, all of which will move the total by more than the numbers above.

How they actually drive

The Mazda6 is the best of the three, and it is not close. Better steering, better body control, and an interior that feels a class above what you paid. Reviewers have said this consistently for two generations. If you notice and care about how a car drives, this is the one.

The Camry is the most comfortable and the quietest. It absorbs bad surfaces better than either of the others, and the hybrid drivetrain is smooth in exactly the traffic you spend your life in. It asks nothing of you and gives nothing back, which for most buyers is the correct trade.

The Accord sits between them and has the most usable space, particularly in the rear. Its 1.5 turbo is working harder than the badge suggests in a car this size, and you hear it under load, but in ordinary driving it is perfectly judged.

What you are risking

The Mazda6 is out of production. Mazda announced the global discontinuation in March 2025, and Japanese production ended in December 2024. You are buying an orphan model.

That matters in two ways. Parts and specialist support thin out over time, though a Mazda6 is mechanically conventional and nothing about it is exotic. More immediately, the used market prices in the discontinuation, so resale is the weakest of the three and will stay that way.

The Accord's 1.5 turbo is a small direct-injection engine doing a big car's work. Ask about the service history in detail and about carbon buildup specifically, which is the standing question on any direct-injection engine rather than a fault unique to this one.

The Camry hybrid is the most proven of the three drivetrains, with a system Toyota has been refining for over twenty years. The high voltage battery is the wear item, and on a used example it is the thing to have assessed before you commit rather than after. Get it in writing.

Resale

The Camry holds value best, by a clear margin. The Accord is solid. The Mazda6 is the weakest and the gap will widen as the discontinuation ages.

Whether this matters depends entirely on your exit. If you run the car to COE expiry and deregister, resale is irrelevant and you should ignore this section. If you expect to sell in three or four years, it is worth real money and belongs in the decision.

So which one

Take the Camry 2.5 Hybrid if you drive more than about 18,700 km a year, or you want the most comfortable and lowest-risk car here, or you expect to sell rather than deregister. It is the safe answer and it is safe for good reasons.

Take the Accord 1.5 Turbo if you drive less than that, want the most rear space, and want the lowest fixed cost. Its road tax advantage is permanent and arrives every year regardless of how much you use the car.

Take the Mazda6 2.0 if you actually care about driving and you intend to run it to COE expiry. The discontinuation is the reason it is cheap to buy, and it only costs you money if you plan to sell. If you are deregistering anyway, you are being paid to take the thing reviewers liked best.

That last one is the case most people talk themselves out of for the wrong reason. Worrying about resale on a car you are not going to sell is worrying about someone else's problem.

Before you commit to any of them

1. Work out your actual annual mileage from the last two years, not your estimate of it. The whole cost comparison turns on this one number.
2. Ask for the full service history and check the wear against the odometer reading.
3. On the Camry, ask whether the hybrid battery has been assessed and get the answer in writing.
4. Drive whichever two you are torn between on the same day. The Mazda6 and the Camry are at opposite ends of what a sedan can feel like, and no spec sheet conveys that.

For the wider question of whether a sedan is the right shape at all, see Hatchback, sedan, SUV or MPV, which one actually fits your life. For how depreciation should be compared across cars at different prices, see The cheapest monthly is rarely the cheapest car.