shawnlee250

Pro and con?

Im thinking getting an 04 6 speed. Never actually been in one nor drove a tsx. Is it a fun car like a Honda civic? Does the 6 speed have power or is it actually slow? My bro us to have an 03 cl-s 6 speed and said the car was fun in the highway.

How the maintance also?

My next car daily I'm consider a 04 tsx, 04,Wrx or 04 srt 4

slowturbocx

It is not impressive speed wise.
The stock suspension is too rough for a luxury car IMO.

P.S.
I had a '08 TL and it was hands down 10x the car the TSX was.

shawnlee250

thank for the response.

my sister had an 04 tl. it was nice to drive around but the interior felt cheap to me. thin floor mat. really thin "honda leather".

ill probably passed on the tsx then. thanks

StylezEJ7

I'm also in the marker for a tsx and would like to know the pros and cons about them if anyone would like to share! For example; Common problems that occur with these vehicles and things I should look out for. Also, are they expensive to maintain? Thanks in advance!

silver_gs-R

Sorry man, I'm gonna take a little bit of offence to that lol just because I drive a 2008 Acura TSX.. and I work for Acura.. in no way would I say the TL is in any way a better car then the TSX just like the TSX is in no way a better car then the TL lol. I think its all personal prefference. You also have to remember the TSX isnt a luxury vehicle like the TL... the TSX is by Acura standards considered a luxury sports sedan hence the sportier/stiffer suspension.

TL Pros:
-power
-roomy interior (i especially enjoy the lower seating position)
a bit more luxurious interior
-brembo brakes if you get the TL-S model
-styling to me still one of the most beautiful sedans i have ever seen (remember this is all personal prefference)

TL Cons:
-power is nice, but gas isnt soo nice on the wallett lol
-brembo brakes.... i work in the parts dept. at Acura, and my TL-S constumers abuse those brakes and then are surprised that every 50,000KM not MILES, KM they have to replace pads and rotors
-timing belt (i guess im a little bit spoiled with my timing chain and not having to worry about it for a long long time)
-and lastly tires, i mean that could just be my customers because they arent very good about their tire rotations but i sure do sell a lot of tires for TL's

TSX Pros:
-k-power lots of aftermarket options out there (especially with HONDATA coming out with K-PRO now I'm sure theres gonna be quite a few quick TSX's running around)
-Japaneese built... QUALITY..QUALITY..QUALITY. mine is an 08, it has a 140,000km on it, all I've done to it thus far is oil changes, air/pollen filter changes, and rear brake pads.
-sport tuned suspension (i was very impressed with how well it handles for a boat lol)
-styling interior and exterior wise (though I do preffer the TL interior hands down)
-awesome fuel economy if you stay out of vtec
-absolutely beautiful 6-speed transmission


TSX Cons:
-04 and 05 (K24A1) tend to burn oil
-go thru rear brake pads
-some may disagree with me here but I find the Japaneese built vehicles have a lot thiner layer of paint on them so rock chips do get quite annoying
-the automatics i have to be honest are gutless
-the brakes...well... I guess I wish the TSX came with the brembo's aswell haha

I mean it all comes down to personal prefference. Both are wonderful vehicles it just comes down to what that certain person is looking for in a car. If all youre looking for it power then go and get an SRT-4...but dont expect the quality or reliability youre gonna receive with the Honda product. If I can think of any other pro/cons for either party I will post again haha.

shawnlee250

Thanks silvergsr

Great pro and con between both cars

furious94ls

If you really want one, I'd pass on the 04. First year, and they have issues with the instrument cluster failing (expensive) and Hvac problems (also expensive)

My father has an 05 auto. Never failed. Only scheduled maintance. Battery changed, tires and brakes. He is at 105k now. They are very reliable cars. 06 had a nice face lift and I'd get that one.

My fathers 05 went through 1 quart in 4k miles. We usually change it now at 3500.

maxboost10

I own a 2004 and it has about 160k on it, i think. Def more than 150k. The car is great. The interior is all black and the seats are comfy. My DD is b18c JRSC hatch so the TSX is def a step up luxury wise when you drive it. Since i drive a pretty quick hatch how does the TSX compare. Well, the get up and go is pretty darn good. I use to have a 94 Accord ex so def much better pick up. The TSX has variable cam timing and you can def feel the midrange grunt of the 2.4 TSX. I love the midrange torque and mine is a auto. Plus i get like 25mpg or better, remember its a 4 cylinder so gas mileage is good for a big car like this.


I've had to replace the radio already at $350 for a reman off ebay.

i love honda products but over the years i have seen some cost cutting. Do i think of Honda any less, maybe a little. But i still like there products.
Case in point -
TSX - 72115-SDA-A01 door lock actuator. It's $20
Civic 95 - 72110-SR8-A01 door lock assy pwr $86

I've already had to replace the TSX actuator and the car is only a 2004 model. Now, on the civic the vehicle had a pwr window door lock conversion many yrs ago. The parts were used so they had plenty of use on them. On that assembly, never been replaced and my chassis currently shows 354k. So, yeah lots of usage over many years.
When you actually look at the parts you can see the the TSX one is actually a cheaper part aka lesser quality. You can see it in the part just hold it your hand. Hard to believe but you can see the difference.

So, why did Honda do this slight downgrade - just do the math $15 vs $86. There are many variables and different angles you can go at this. But i think the primary is - b/c it's not a critical part for the car to run. Honda, deemed it was ok to lower the quality / reliability of the part in return for a lower cost part. At $15 a pop you can replace the part multi times before equaling the cost of a civic one. But non-diy will pay a price over time in increased repairs.

TSX -
http://www.acurapartswarehouse.com/P...gPicture=False

Civic door lock -
http://www.hondapartsnow.com/Page_Pr...me=Door%20Lock

http://tsx.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=708722

The car is great but def has some downfalls but i still like the car overall as a secondary sedan. Plus it looks great.

JTrue5

If you are going to pull the trigger on the TSX, go 06-08 to avoid the potential to have the AC system failing. I purchased an 08 a few months ago coming out of my 2k GSR and I couldn't be happier.

-Gambit-

I have a 08 tsx. I love the car, I don't have a complaint. But the audio system did die but acura replaced everything at no charge.

jdmrida

im scared now i just got an 04 with 150km, still havent driven it much yet nothing appeared to be wrong yet.

nus_dogg

My bro has an 05 Black w/ Black Interior 6spd TSX. It is sick.

DIYKITS@BB4lude

iTrader: (1)

I had an 04 that I sold with 170,xxx + miles on it. No issues, what so ever. Just keep up with basic maintenance. I will say that the 04 model eats up brakes.

Mr. DB2

I too favor the TSX. With-in a 12month span I went from a 2004 6spd navi TSX blk/blk(had 66k miles when sold, needed out of payments),to a 2005 Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT Turbo 5pd manual PW/BLK(had 81k when I sold it,got good money for it),back to a 2004 6spd non-navi TSX blk/blk with 161k miles(bought and put some g's in the bank).I looked at alot of TL's,WRX's,newer spec B Legacy,Si sedan(eventhough I had one already)and a few 5 speed manual Lexus IS300's.I just think the TSX felt more me. The TSX is by no means a power house or even remotely fast. Just a fun sporty luxury car that gets decent gas mileage and has low maintaince cost.

jdmrida

to hear that you switched from all the those vehicles and get back to tsx motivates me, im deffintly holding on to mine for sometime its white w/ blk interior also 6spd nice little car i tell ya.

Fink29

I also have a 08 blk/blk 6spd TSX and I LOVE IT. Like mentioned above it comes down to personal preference. I have driven many TL and although they are nice cars I liked the Tsx better. The Tl was alittle beefy for me and I didnt really care for the look. Also what are you looking for in a car? The TSX is 10x better in terms of gas mileage ( well maybe not 10x lol)

etbjr182

great thread!

greenjdmciv

+2 been from tsx to 6spd tl and back to tsx...i miss the tl power but dont miss fillin that tank

desert-one

Late to the party.., but just bought an '11 TSX after much research and test driving many cars in similar levels. It was Acura's reputation that sealed the deal.

Sold my 3 Series after being sick & tired of dumping hundreds every other month on maintenance. You could call them repairs, but there was nothing wrong with this luxury inline 6 driving machine. Yet it got to be more of an expense than driving new.

With a simple goal of a small, 2 or 4 dr, decent mpg & reliability, I saw the competition as Altima (subpar interior), Accord Cpe (noise), Impreza (low mpg), CR-Z (two-seater), Camry (old man), Jetta/Golf (not great reliability), Elantra (unknown future). Then even went to the next step up considering A3 (too small for $), Prius C (go-kart), & CT200h ($$).
TSX had each of them beat, with a best-of interior, quiet ride, very good combined mpg, & best-of reliability. Maybe I was tired of dragging my ride into the shop. Now I never think of it. Reading Honda-tech helped.

Lambo123

Great post. If OP is looking to mod his tsx to go faster it's worth noting that the 06+ k24a2 is a superior motor to the 04-05 versions.

Oreoevo8

I love my 04 tsx!! I have 195k and it runs like a champ! I agree back brakes and door lock actuators... Overall can't beat it-looks good & gets around 30 mpg



I'd sell mine for 9500- slammed on cxracing coilovers, xxr 526

http://cleveland.craigslist.org/cto/3008522192.html

messeduprex

I bought mine 2 years ago for $13.9k with only 37k miles on it. And i must say i absolutly love this car. I have put 30k miles on it. And here are some pros and cons i have come up with
Pros:
- very comfortable ride
- just about as many aftermarket options as a civic
- looks good

Cons:
- parts cost (i never got floormats with mine and even online oem mats were $156)
- Brakes are weak and rotors warp easily (known problem)
- power door actuators go bad(not an expensive part just time consuming)
- requires premium

*as a note none of theses cons would keep me from buying another tsx, as i am currently searching for a second so my wife can have this one.

Trunka

Pros:
Car is very safe


Con:
Car is a bit heavy for racing on 1/4 mile

Trunka

car handling is very good also with stock suspension

boostISbest

i got my 04 6mt tsx 4.5 years ago w/100k on it. right now she has 198k i would say she burns about half a quart to a quart at the most every 5k miles. shes does get beat on here and there but i dont drive like an *** hat all the time. the only thing ive ever had to replace was the Ac comppressor. also i average 30 mpg city/hwy mix. and i havent had issues with wearing brakes or any of that.