I like forums - a wealth of unbiased (mostly) information from real-life people that have hands-on experience with products I'm interested in.

I have a chance to purchase a 2004 Acura TSX from a friend. I was told, and I believe, that the car has been well maintained. I understand that certain parts on cars/trucks are subject to normal wear/tear as the vehicle is driven and ages. The car has 142,000 miles.

If you were in my shoes, would there be any reason why you would avoid purchasing this car, based solely on the mileage or year of the car? I know that some year models are prone to certain repetitive problems, so this is the type of thing I'm trying to avoid.

The current owner is asking $5,000 for the car.

Thank you in advance for your time & advice!

 

Well I did some research of my own. Is it always this quiet in this forum?

 

I'm afraid it has become so. A few years ago, this was a very busy forum and a lot of fun. It seems that most of us have moved on, or became disillusioned with the caliber of the new arrivals (no reflection on anyone in particular, but you know who you are). Some have moved to the 2nd generation forum, some just left. Remember that it's been almost 7 years since the last new 1st generation cars were sold. I personally would shy away from an 04. Many had some real growing pains, and suffered a lot of what I will consider to be quality control problems with suppliers. But . . . 9 years and 142K miles later, whatever might have been wrong with the car you're interested in has I'm sure been corrected. By itself, the mileage is not an issue as long as the car has been properly maintained (I sold my 05 with 178K miles on it and it still looked and ran like new, and my wife still has her 07 with over 220K miles on it). $5000 is full price for the car, and it is of course your decision whether you buy the car.

 

Well, my 04 has just over 149k and has been very reliable. As long as this car doesn't have any A/C issues, then it would be a good buy. The only major thing I've had go out was the starter a few weeks ago.

 

my 04 with navi is about to hit 200k miles and the engine and electrical has not had any issues at all. The only semi-major that I've recently had to replace at 190k miles was the alternator and accessory belt, but that was just due to high usage. I'm so impressed with the qualify of my car I don't doubt I can push another 100k out of this car.