Hey, I'm new at the forum-- I'm getting into the TSX market now and am going to get a new ride really soon from the VA/DC area.

Right now my options are to get a new 2007 TSX w/Navi for hopefully $27k flat.

However, there's a 2006 TSX w/Navi (21k miles on the car) selling for $24,987 and I could probably get it for $24k flat.

Is the 2007 worth the extra $3k especially with the 4-year guaranteed warranty that I wont be getting if I got the used 2006 ride?

I probably will finance at 5.8% if new or 6.5% for 60 months if used from my credit union versus the dealer's current 3.9% for 60 months, bc I hear dealerships screw you with financing. True?

Thanks for your time.

 

By the way, I'm getting carbon gray pearl on ebony.

The used 2006 TSX is in that exact same color as well...

 

The only difference between the two is the TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System). The 07 has it, the 06 does not. If you plan on doing any mods to your car then be aware that hondata already has a reflash for the 06 models but not yet (as far as I know) for the 07 models. The 07 probably has the latest, most up-to-date version of the Navi software. This may be a big deal to you if you live in an area where a lot of new communities are being built.

 

There is really no difference between a 06/07/08 TSX other than the following:

- TPMS, no tire pressure monitoring on 06. If you add aftermarket rims to the 07/08, your TPMS may not work or it might cost extra $$$ to get it to work properly on new rims.

- Updated Navi disk on 07/08, this is a big maybe because updates are only available once a year in the fall and the 06 owner could of updated the disk already for $185. Personally, I would only update the Navi disk every other year or third year.

- Price: the 06 would be a huge savings, could use the savings for future mods.

- Mods: I haven’t heard if Hondata will have a reflash available for the 07/08 TSX. The 07/08 TSX could be a no-go for reflash like the 05 TSX. You can get the reflash with the 06 TSX.

- Warranty issues, with proper/scheduled maintenance, the TSX will give you 100,000-130,000 miles of trouble free driving. Your 4/50,000 warranty will be long gone when you have a significant problem with the TSX.

Other than that, the two cars will be 99% identical except for mileage. You have to decide if it is worth paying $3,000-$3,500 for 20,000 less miles.

I love my 06 Carbon Gray Pearl with quartz.

 

FWIW, we have an 05 Odyssey Touring that has active TPMS and I love it. I really miss it in our 06 TSX.

Does anybody know if the TPMS in the TSX is active or passive?

 

I never had problems with dealerships screwing with the financing. Those rates are from acura corporate. I would go for the lowest interest rate. I think it is now 4.9% for 60 months according to the acura website. the 3.9% is either for 36 or 48 months

 

I'm not sure what the difference is between an active system and a passive system for TPMS. I'm assuming the passive system doesn't alert you at all about tire pressure until it is a problem. If that's the correct definition, I think the TSX has an active TPMS system. You are able to check the air pressure of each individual tire by cycling through the MID(multi-information display? not 100% sure what it stands for).

On a somewhat related note, how does TPMS actually work? Is it radio identification? I believe each sensor has a battery for power, and transmits info to the car's computer. Does the computer automatically know how to differentiate between sensors? How does it know that left front tire has 31psi and the right front tire has 32 psi? The reason I'm asking is, what happens when you rotate tires? Does the computer receive information about the sensors physical location? like RFID? If not, then each time tires are rotated, the sensors would need to be removed and replaced after the rotation.

For some reason that question didn't sound as confusing in my head...

 

The TPMS on the TSX is direct monitoring system. Each wheel has a sensor with a transponder and battery (lithium battery that is good for 6-10 years). Each sensor transmits on a different frequency to differentiate the different tires. The TPMS may use the valve stem as an antenna to transmit the tire pressure data to car (double-check with Acura before replacing tires).

If you do have to rotate the tires, there should be a reset procedure to follow for the system to relearn the tire positions. This reset could be a simple as pressing the reset button on the steering wheel OR it may require scan tool equipment to reprogram the new tire position(s).

Someone with a 07 manual has to us know the procedure for rotating/replacing tires on the TSX.

Glad I have a 06

 

I got a rate of 1.9% for 36 months when I bought the TSX a few weeks ago.

 

Honestly if you are getting it for $27K flat then you will more than likely get the response that I did because that is EXACTLY what I offered. They told me to go fly a kite...best of luck though maybe your dealership is more flexible. However, I actually walked out and they still didn't offer that price. Invoice on the car is $28,818 so even the deal I got on a brand new one which was $27,500 is about as low as they are going to go even with the rebate. I could be wrong...never hurts to ask.

 

Thanks for the info, mrgold35. I did a quick search and found some related info about the TPMS in the TLs and RLs. Apparently there is no need to reset the system when rotating tires, as there are proximity sensors of some sort that tell the system the physical location of the sensors. The reset may be required, however, when replacing an old sensor with a new one.

And I would definitely go with dealer financing if you qualify for Honda's super preferred credit tier, or whatever they call it. No outside bank will be able to match 1.9% or a money factor of .001 or so on a Honda/Acura. If you don't qualify for the best rates, individual dealerships often have relationships with nearby banks, and in those instances, you could probably find a better rate on your own rather than going with the banks the dealership recommends. But definitely do your homework and get pre-approved with a good rate before you walk into the dealership.

Now if you want those 0% offers, you'll have to start looking at a different make/model.

 

You are right-went back to the acura website- 1.9% for 24-36 months and 3.9% for 48-60 months.

 

I couldn't agree more.

If you take a scan through the problem and fixes forum, you'll see that that the amount of people with major problems are far and few. The trend seems to be that the majority of major problems are after their warranties are up.

 

Thanks for all the information esp to mrgold35 for a nice analysis between 06/07/08 models.

I decided that I'm gonna pop my own car's cherry instead of buying seconds- so I will get a new car. I spoke with an Acura mechanic recently and he recommended to hold out for a couple months or so once they start rolling out the 2008 models (November) and the dealership will need to make room, so they'll discount the 2007 models-- so maybe it'll be easier to get $27k flat or even less around that time.

Your thoughts? Otherwise, I'll start grilling for a good deal sooner than later.

 

since the 08 tsx prices are on the acura website-they might be in the dealerships before November. the longer you wait the less choices you will have on colors.

 

I agree. If you're not picky about the color/combo you can wait it out, but if you want something specific, you may want to act soon.

 

Active TPMS is as mrgold describes. The pressure of each tire is individually monitored and each value is displayed on the MID as an overhead graphic of the car. The resolution is 1 psi, and when comparing to my AccuGage, is dead nuts accurate. For someone as anal about tire pressures as me, this is great - especially with everchanging weather. I always know the pressure in my Odyssey's tires, and adjust them immediately as needed. In comparison, I can go for weeks or months without checking the tires in the TSX - not that I'm intentionally neglecting it, but I just don't have the time or opportunities to be that vigilent.

With passive systems, the only thing the system looks for is if a tire on one side of an axle is spinning much slower than the other one - a significantly underinflated tire has to spin faster to cover the same ground as the tire on the other side of the axle, so that acts as the alert. Limitations are that you have no idea what your actual pressures are. It only sees if there's a big pressure difference. In fact, you could potentially have two (or four) completely flat tires and get no alert, if the left/right sides are equally underinflated. You also have the problem of needing to reprogram after tire rotation with passive systems.

On our Odyssey, with the active TPMS, the sensors know which tire is on which hub automatically, no programming or any other finagling needed. In fact, I always catch my dealership on not checking my tire pressures after rotating the tires, because the MID which used to show 33/33 in the front and 35/35 in the rear before I went in would show 35/35 front and 33/33 rear after.

 

Speaking of which...I negotiated about $28.5k before TTL.

 

We bought our "leftover" red 06 TSX non-Navi for $25k brand new in December 06. We were looking at used but found the used prices so close to new that we went for the new. Bargain harder!

 

I just negotiated $27k flat for a 2007 Acura TSX w/Navi but gotta pay the $695 destination fee and $299 "processing fee" on top of the usual tags, license and sales taxes.

That a pretty good deal? Or do you think prices will drop even more around the 3rd week of July when the 2008 TSX models are supposed to hit the lot?