[HELP] College Student on the hunt for a car
12-03-14, 09:26 PM
#16
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I had a 2005 TSX 6-spd before my IS350. Here's a couple of thoughts...
1.) Auburn, huh... nobody's perfect. Go Dawgs!
Felt better saying that a week ago than after saturday. Good showing against Bama.
2.) I never got anywhere near 30 mpg from my TSX. I averaged just shy of 27. However, you pretty much have to drive the crap out of that K24 4 to have any fun. It's absolutely anemic at low revs with the torque of a civic. It drove me nuts how gutless it was. However, it rev'd smoothly and had nice induction noise for a 4 cylinder. Granted, I have an IS350 which is a tire smoking rocket by comparison.
3.) My TSX burned oil like Soviet Tank starting after 40K miles. I only kept it to 90K and it was burning almost a quart every 1500 miles. It was 100% dealer maintained but I changed the oil more frequently because I would end up adding almost a whole block full in before the service minder called for a change. The dealer swore that was "within normal range". Just keep it topped off and you should be fine. It's just part of owning the car.
4.) Like my IS, I never had one problem with it except for a leaking steering rack that cost me about $1200 and a noisy throw out bearing (aka clutch release bearing) that they replaced under warranty. I have no doubt that the car is still running strong wherever it is. I liked that fact that all 1st gen TSXs were built in Japan as apposed to almost everything else Honda makes being assembled here. Tight as a drum, no squeaks or rattles even at 90K... more than I can say for my IS.
5.) The most annoying thing about that car (other than the total absence or torque) was the seat design. I don't know how broad shouldered you are (I'm 6' 180lbs - not huge), but the upper bolstering on the seat at shoulder level pushed my shoulders forward toward the steering wheel. This made long trips terribly uncomfortable. That's ultimately why I ended up selling the car. I would be sure you pay attention to that before you buy one.
Hope that helps!
Good luck. Buy what you want and can afford... I wouldn't pay any attention to what anyone says about you having a "luxury brand". It's not like you are buying a 7 series.
1.) Auburn, huh... nobody's perfect. Go Dawgs!
Felt better saying that a week ago than after saturday. Good showing against Bama. 2.) I never got anywhere near 30 mpg from my TSX. I averaged just shy of 27. However, you pretty much have to drive the crap out of that K24 4 to have any fun. It's absolutely anemic at low revs with the torque of a civic. It drove me nuts how gutless it was. However, it rev'd smoothly and had nice induction noise for a 4 cylinder. Granted, I have an IS350 which is a tire smoking rocket by comparison.
3.) My TSX burned oil like Soviet Tank starting after 40K miles. I only kept it to 90K and it was burning almost a quart every 1500 miles. It was 100% dealer maintained but I changed the oil more frequently because I would end up adding almost a whole block full in before the service minder called for a change. The dealer swore that was "within normal range". Just keep it topped off and you should be fine. It's just part of owning the car.
4.) Like my IS, I never had one problem with it except for a leaking steering rack that cost me about $1200 and a noisy throw out bearing (aka clutch release bearing) that they replaced under warranty. I have no doubt that the car is still running strong wherever it is. I liked that fact that all 1st gen TSXs were built in Japan as apposed to almost everything else Honda makes being assembled here. Tight as a drum, no squeaks or rattles even at 90K... more than I can say for my IS.
5.) The most annoying thing about that car (other than the total absence or torque) was the seat design. I don't know how broad shouldered you are (I'm 6' 180lbs - not huge), but the upper bolstering on the seat at shoulder level pushed my shoulders forward toward the steering wheel. This made long trips terribly uncomfortable. That's ultimately why I ended up selling the car. I would be sure you pay attention to that before you buy one.
Hope that helps!
Good luck. Buy what you want and can afford... I wouldn't pay any attention to what anyone says about you having a "luxury brand". It's not like you are buying a 7 series.
12-04-14, 12:40 PM
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I had a 2005 TSX 6-spd before my IS350. Here's a couple of thoughts...
1.) Auburn, huh... nobody's perfect. Go Dawgs! Felt better saying that a week ago than after saturday. Good showing against Bama.
2.) I never got anywhere near 30 mpg from my TSX. I averaged just shy of 27. However, you pretty much have to drive the crap out of that K24 4 to have any fun. It's absolutely anemic at low revs with the torque of a civic. It drove me nuts how gutless it was. However, it rev'd smoothly and had nice induction noise for a 4 cylinder. Granted, I have an IS350 which is a tire smoking rocket by comparison.
3.) My TSX burned oil like Soviet Tank starting after 40K miles. I only kept it to 90K and it was burning almost a quart every 1500 miles. It was 100% dealer maintained but I changed the oil more frequently because I would end up adding almost a whole block full in before the service minder called for a change. The dealer swore that was "within normal range". Just keep it topped off and you should be fine. It's just part of owning the car.
4.) Like my IS, I never had one problem with it except for a leaking steering rack that cost me about $1200 and a noisy throw out bearing (aka clutch release bearing) that they replaced under warranty. I have no doubt that the car is still running strong wherever it is. I liked that fact that all 1st gen TSXs were built in Japan as apposed to almost everything else Honda makes being assembled here. Tight as a drum, no squeaks or rattles even at 90K... more than I can say for my IS.
5.) The most annoying thing about that car (other than the total absence or torque) was the seat design. I don't know how broad shouldered you are (I'm 6' 180lbs - not huge), but the upper bolstering on the seat at shoulder level pushed my shoulders forward toward the steering wheel. This made long trips terribly uncomfortable. That's ultimately why I ended up selling the car. I would be sure you pay attention to that before you buy one.
Hope that helps!
Good luck. Buy what you want and can afford... I wouldn't pay any attention to what anyone says about you having a "luxury brand". It's not like you are buying a 7 series.
1.) Auburn, huh... nobody's perfect. Go Dawgs!
Felt better saying that a week ago than after saturday. Good showing against Bama. 2.) I never got anywhere near 30 mpg from my TSX. I averaged just shy of 27. However, you pretty much have to drive the crap out of that K24 4 to have any fun. It's absolutely anemic at low revs with the torque of a civic. It drove me nuts how gutless it was. However, it rev'd smoothly and had nice induction noise for a 4 cylinder. Granted, I have an IS350 which is a tire smoking rocket by comparison.
3.) My TSX burned oil like Soviet Tank starting after 40K miles. I only kept it to 90K and it was burning almost a quart every 1500 miles. It was 100% dealer maintained but I changed the oil more frequently because I would end up adding almost a whole block full in before the service minder called for a change. The dealer swore that was "within normal range". Just keep it topped off and you should be fine. It's just part of owning the car.
4.) Like my IS, I never had one problem with it except for a leaking steering rack that cost me about $1200 and a noisy throw out bearing (aka clutch release bearing) that they replaced under warranty. I have no doubt that the car is still running strong wherever it is. I liked that fact that all 1st gen TSXs were built in Japan as apposed to almost everything else Honda makes being assembled here. Tight as a drum, no squeaks or rattles even at 90K... more than I can say for my IS.
5.) The most annoying thing about that car (other than the total absence or torque) was the seat design. I don't know how broad shouldered you are (I'm 6' 180lbs - not huge), but the upper bolstering on the seat at shoulder level pushed my shoulders forward toward the steering wheel. This made long trips terribly uncomfortable. That's ultimately why I ended up selling the car. I would be sure you pay attention to that before you buy one.
Hope that helps!
Good luck. Buy what you want and can afford... I wouldn't pay any attention to what anyone says about you having a "luxury brand". It's not like you are buying a 7 series.
My roommate is one of the kicker's on the team so he keeps me up to speed on things going on behind the scenes.
2) I've been reading numbers from people that are getting upwards of 35 when driving it lightly. When they were heavy on it they were getting right around 30 so your numbers are probably right. I'm just trying to find something that will get me up to 35 when I hypermile it.
3) '04-'05 were know for burning oil so I knew that already, hence why I'm primarily looking at '06-'08 model years.
4) Yeah, they're known for holding up which was my main reasoning behind wanting to get one due to their track record.
5) I'm 6' 3" and 216 pounds. I'm a big guy so I'm not sure if that'll be a problem or not with the seats. I have racing suspension seats in my Jeep now so I'm used to a tight fit (which is what I like on the trails) when it comes to seats.
I'll more than likely end up footing the bill for gas home on winter break since I'm too busy with finals to look at a car right now. Then hopefully I'll find a buyer for the Jeep over break and pick up a TSX. Might have to go a distance to find one but hopefully I'll find one.
With all of this said, are there any other cars I should look at that have a nice "luxury" interior, stick shift, good gas mileage, fairly cheap to fix/reliable and under that 9K price range that I have? I'm still open to other options, it's just that I was referred to the TSX which is why I've researched it so heavily. If I could find something RWD as well, that would be great but it wouldn't break me if it wasn't.
Last edited by KILRIK; 12-04-14 at 12:44 PM.
12-04-14, 01:03 PM
#18
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Or if you can work on cars: nissan sx240(use the left over money a rocketbunny), mazda rx-7
(rotary, maintenance?)
12-04-14, 04:37 PM
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Off the top of my head: Infiniti G(high mileage), Nissan 350z(high mileage), Acura RSX-Type s(awesome car), Honda civic Si, VW golf GTI, Lexus is300, and 1998-2002 Lexus GS300/400
Or if you can work on cars: nissan sx240(use the left over money a rocketbunny), mazda rx-7(rotary, maintenance?)
Or if you can work on cars: nissan sx240(use the left over money a rocketbunny), mazda rx-7
(rotary, maintenance?)Trust me, I've looked at all of those before and already know what modifications I would do to each car performance wise if I were to get them. Only reason I've looked past them is the gas mileage.
I'm really considering an RSX if I could actually find one that doesn't have such incredible mileage on it. I really like them but at the same time, I kinda want to be able to have friend's pile in the back and go on trips with me (hence wanting a sporty sedan).
12-05-14, 07:19 AM
#20
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IMHO THIS is the best advice to be had on the topic.
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FaFaFooey
IS - 2nd Gen (2006-2013)
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03-30-11 02:55 AM
