sluday

I have been looking at lots of threads the last couple of weeks and it seems to me that the 04 TSX seems to have the most problems. Is this 04 a lemon year or is just that Acuras seem to fall apart after 3 or 4 years of ownership? Have the reliablity issues been fixed in the 07 and 08's models?

odessa

Mine had 80,000 miles on it with 0 problems.

drewba

I would imagine that it's a combination of a couple of factors:

1) They are the oldest which would give the most opportunity for problems to arise
2) It was the first model year which generally have more issues with all brands

poltergeist

My '04 is low mileage (about 20K), bought in December '03. No "issues" except for a few minor squeek/rattles.

...and it's pretty common for the first model year to have more problems than subsequent years.

sluday

Your right. The first model year of any car is usually problematic.

SoCaliTrojan

3) It's the first year the TSX was available to the US market. The euro-r accord in the rest of the world is different from the usdm accord. Even then, the TSX is based on the euro-r, not an exact twin of it. There's bound to be mistakes, such as wires routed a certain way having an unexpected result (such as insulation getting rubbed off)

curls

And I'd hardy go as far as calling teh '04's a lemon-year. The cars are still pretty bulletproof and the common issues are very minor. Try saying the same about 99.5% of the other 1st model year cars produced from other manufacturers.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

First year of the new model means the likelihood of problems is going to be a little bit higher than normal. Nothing unusual about that. It happens to all cars of all makes and all models. Just the nature of the business. The cars tend to get better as they gain more experience working out the little details.

TSXinTN

Another thing to keep in mind with 1st year models is that they lack options available in subsequent model years. For instance, the '05 has power passenger seat, heated mirrors and XM radio. These are all options the '04 does not have. I really wish I had waited for the '05.

curls

Canadian '04's have heated seats and mirrors.

Sclass88

I have nearly 50,000 miles on here and I've had one issue with my '04 which was the center console lights going out on me. It was fixed in a day. Other than that, the car has been bulletproof and I've certainly put it through the works...

Icculus

Naturally, the first model year of any car will always be the worst, being as though the cars are improved by some degree each subsequent year.

gavinn58

Wow, you're really fortunate as my dealer here doesn't stock the head units. I had to wait a week and a half for them to get it in.

Also, aside from the console lights and the TSBs, I've had no problems. Coming up on 47,000 miles.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

My '04 has 80,500 miles on it and the only problems I've had are:

1) The drivers heated seat switch light bulb burned out. Was fixed in a day.

2) My drivers door lock actuator went out. Was also fixed in the same day as the switch bulb. :-)

Otherwise...no problems!

GeorgeTSX

Yeah your talking about the first model year blues. I got one of the very early 04's in late April 2003.

I had to bring it in for the following issues...

Water getting inside driver side headlight assembly (twice).

center console backlighting went out.

Drivers side seat creeping forward

Trunk wiring recall.

Other than those issues the car has been running fine for the past 4 years (currently has around 55,000 miles).

Xenon481

I purchased my '04 TSX (Automatic with 56,000 miles) in August '03 and have taken it to the dealer for the following problems:

- Front driver-side Brake Rotor warped in under 10,000 miles.
- Center Console Backlight went out. (fixed same day)
- NAVI Touch Screen wouldn't accept touch input. (damaged by tech from center backlight issue)
- Driver-side Door Armrest rattling at highway speeds. (just tightened some screws)
- Trunk Wiring recall.

And now my AUX MP3 CD Player (Acura) won't power on as of about a month ago. Haven't taken it in for this yet, though.

Overall, I am highly pleased with the quality of the car, especially since it is an early first-year model.

Mokos23

47,000 miles 04 TSX w/navi bought in Dec 03

-cd bin door broke
-3 rattles
-cd changer defective
-driver seat railing defective
-taillight trunk harness recall
-condensation headlight recall
-pain in my right leg due to stupid seat
-warped rotors

yeah i'd say that it's mostly interior problems. i guess honda makes good engines.

but, this is probably my only acura.

G36

Not one problem here! So I seriously doubt the 04 is a lemon..

madmanmax3000

I thought I was the only one with such low mileage still! I have an '04 and I just hit the 20K mark this summer


Edit: I really don't want to jinx it but I have had no issues with my car that were a result of build quality although I have replaced many of the stock parts anyway.

Mokos23

you know i was just in nashville/brentwood area on monday, tuesday, and wednesday this week for training at the company i work for. i saw a few TSX's in the Brentwood area. where is the Acura dealer around there?

btw, i could feel the huge Nissan/Infiniti presence there a lot because when I was in Nashville airport they had various Altimas and G35's on display at the airport. I think this was the first place I saw where there were more Nissan/Infinitis than Honda/Acuras on the road. i was thinking of driving around to see the Nissan headquarters, but I had no more time.

Texas

Trust me, The above is not called falling apart. My 04 had a couple of the above minor issues but cost me nothing and I had a nice loaner with free coffee....and it has not left me by the side of the road....trust me your next car will have issues...the 04 TSX is not near lemon status....

And I agree with you, everytime you make a new car purchase you owe it to yourself to look around at all makes/models as I too will do...

daniel1113

I have you both beat... my '04 hit 18k miles today, and I have yet to have a single issue with it.

aaronng

What you guys call 04 but built/delivered in 03 are actually 03s. In Australia, there are differences between the 03 and 04, mostly minor stuff like chrome airvent adjusters instead of matte silver.

poltergeist

Well no.....in the US the TSX was introduced as an '04 model. It actually went on sale in mid '03 but all were sold as '04 model years. There were no design changes on the '04 model no matter whether sold in '03 or '04.

LeMasseHammer

My '04 6MT with 40,000 miles has been a gem, and actually improved with age in some respects.

My concern after 4+ years of driving the car is that it's so reliable and in such good shape, that I won't be able to justify replacing it for another 4 or 5 years. I'm scared that I'll fall in love with the '09 TSX when it debuts

Categorizing the '04 model year as a "lemon year" is exaggeration, even in the context of Acura's high reliability standards