RSX owners need info, (decisions, decisions)

J

JaCkaL829

it was my first time...
Shopping for my car and finding out what I want is really getting to me. My best friend who landed an intership the next 7 months is also shopping a car. He was looking for something a little sporty and very reliable (he's commuting 100 miles a day). Anyway he found an ad in the paper for an 02 Acura RSX Type S w/ 49k miles for $14.9k. So since yesterday was beautiful out and I finished my finals we decided to give this guy a call up and check it out. My friend wanted to see the car and hopefully talk him down in price. Anyway we get to this town and it is NICE, it's like all mountains with gorgeous new houses everywhere. We find the guys house which is insanely nice and we're really impressed. Anyway the guy was really cool and the car was absolutely beautiful. It was the desert sand color, which is IMO the nicest color. It had some little chips here and there on the front bumper but not that big of deal and they blend with the color. He had one decent size dent on the hood from a wheel cover hitting him on the highway but thats it. The car was garage kept and pretty much in Autopian standards inside and out. The paint looked great with mininmal swirls and color seems pretty easy to mainain. He had new tires (Vredestein) put on and new brakes. So my friend and I take it for a test drive and are talking with the guy. I can tell the guy really takes care of his cars judging by all the info he knew about and by his garage, he was also a pretty big car fanatic and he must have though Acuras are good cars because he got his son an 03 Type S and his wife has an 98 Integra. The reason why he was selling this was was because his son and daughter are going to expensive colleges next year. Anyway my friend started talking prices and the guy said he's firm. He's like do the research and mine is the lowest priced one, which it was. KBB said the private party on the car is $15,8k. I know I originally had the Maxima in mind, but after seeing this car and test driving it later with my father, I think I kinda want to go for it. If I really don't like it for whatever reason I can always sell in a few years and not lose to much money on it. I keep weighting pros and cons of each car and still have a hard time deciding which one will best fit my needs. Any RSX owners have any major compliants with theirs? The guy kept emphasing how reliable Acura/Hondas are, which definately is a big perk for me.

Let me know what you think about it.
 
Glenn: When your entire savings account is on the line I guess one is inclinded to being indecisive :p

Anyway getting that Type S would really set me back finacially and i've been reading A LOT of compliments about the 6 speed transmission on clubrsx, so I think i'm going to make a somewhat of a compromise between the Type S and Maxima and now keep my eyes opened for a desert silver base RSX w/ 5 spd. Should be fun to drive with the manual, be great on gas and give me the Acura/Honda reliability.
 
John,



You are right to consider all possibilities in the search for your car! :up It is a big outlay of cash!



That said, I personally favour Honda/Acura for their reliability & fit & finish quality. :cool:



One more piece of advice, check into the insurance rates for the various cars you are considering. I know that they are really astronomical for young, single males on some of the "sportier" models. :eek:



Good luck, I'll be following your search with interest :)



Norah



PS - You might want to update your signature ;)
 
Norah, insurance would be another reason to stay away from the Type S, plus it requires premium gas and gets much worse mileage. Johnny, these cars keep their value like crazy (unless I'm just not used to Honda resale values).
 
I'll agree that insurance may be sort of high on the car, but those other points aren't too great.



Premium gas isn't that much more expensive to run every year then it is to run the lowest grade you can. I've done the math out before and it is really pretty minimal.



Worse milage? It is still just a 4 cylindar, I can't imagine the figures are anything less then 20/27, but probably closer to 22/29, and I have always found milage figures to be low compared to real world.
 
Hey, obviously you can buy a Type-S if the benefits to you outweigh the other factors, but I'm using facts--premium gas is more expensive than regular, and the EPA mileage rating for the Type-S is 4 mpg less (city). Whether that's important comes down to personal preference.
 
Johnny, both cars you are considering are good vehicles. It really does come down to the incidental costs such as insurance and what your needs/priorities are for this particular vehicle.



The RS-X is a very nice handling vehicle and quite peppy for a 4 cylinder. A33 Maximas (e.g. the one you were looking at and my '02) are quick vehicles that have a lot of interior room.



The Maxima you were looking at was a GLE which means that the ride quality leans more on the luxury side of the fence. In fact, the Infiniti I35 is technically a Maxima GLE. What that may mean to you is that the suspension is softer which will produce a tad more body roll than a SE. As I told you previously, the first thing you should invest in IMMEDIATELY if you get the Maxima is a clear bra because the paint on A32 and A33 Maximas is prone to chipping like crazy. However, the one thing the GLE has in its favor is that it does not require Premium. In my '02 SE, I had to use Premium for the 3.5L V6 if I wanted the best performance out of it.



Did you drive an SE to see the difference?
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Hey, obviously you can buy a Type-S if the benefits to you outweigh the other factors, but I'm using facts--premium gas is more expensive than regular, and the EPA mileage rating for the Type-S is 4 mpg less (city). Whether that's important comes down to personal preference.
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What are the actual numbers out of curiosity?
 
An RSX is a great car but a far cry from a Maxima. Have you looked at the TL's?



When you get a car like an RSX its really hard to leave it alone. You can mod pretty much every aspect of it. My next vehicle will be one with not many mods available simply because I need to spend money in other areas :).





It's up to you and what you want, but I'd probably go for an Anniversary Edition Maxima :).
 
Thanks for the feedback, guess I should have bumped the thread earlier :)

Anyway i've been taking into account gas mileage and insurance with all the cars. According to fueleconomy.gov a Acura RSX (base) gets 27/33 a Type S gets 24/31 and the Max gets 20/26. So I get the best mileage with the one car that doesn't require premium or mid-grade gas. Insurance would be a little higher with the Acura but everything is getting weighted out. What I save on insurance for the Max, will be spent on gas for it and vice versa for the RSX.

I was originally going with and searching for a Maxima because I figured it would have been a better car to grow into, but I don't think thats happening for a while. I'm not saying the RSX is a good car to grow into but I was pretty surprised by the back seat and even more with the trunk space. I think a smaller car would fit my needs better then a bigger sedan. Sure its nice to have the room but i'm really thinking how often it will be used? When I just got my license my parents bought me a 94 Jimmy. Out of the 3.5 years I had I can honestly say I never really utlilized the backseat or even the cargo space.

Sean: I looked at TL's but aren't to fond of all the tranny problems they have. It seems Honda/Acura gets everything, but transmissions down.
 
JohnnyDaJackal said:


Sean: I looked at TL's but aren't to fond of all the tranny problems they have. It seems Honda/Acura gets everything, but transmissions down.
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The TLs with the tranny problems are the second generation ones, I would stay far away from them. The first gens are pretty solid though, and the third (current) generation ones are probably out of your budget.



I've got a first gen that I love :)



20 MPG: $2.50/20mpg = $0.125 * 15,000 = $1875/year



24 MPG: $2.20/24 mpg = $0.092 * 15,000 = $1375/year



$500/year, depending on how much you drive. I'm sure you could get better milage out of it all though. For someone ready to put $15,000 into a car, $500/year doesn't seem like too much of a problem.
 
The 2nd generation TLs are the ones I was looking for.

I'm trying to spend the least amount of money here so i'm hoping to spend around $13.5-$14k max. Thats pretty much my entire savings account, so I really need to save my money and rebuild it. If I saved $500 a year i'd be pretty darn happy. Also seeing how gas prices continue to rise I want to squeeze every mile out of my dollar.
 
JohnnyDaJackal said:
The 2nd generation TLs are the ones I was looking for.

I'm trying to spend the least amount of money here so i'm hoping to spend around $13.5-$14k max. Thats pretty much my entire savings account, so I really need to save my money and rebuild it. If I saved $500 a year i'd be pretty darn happy. Also seeing how gas prices continue to rise I want to squeeze every mile out of my dollar.
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For that money you could buy a low mile SC300. 3.0 I-6 is good for gas, 220 HP, Toyota reliability, Lexus comfort.
 
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