As I said in my introduction, I think I might want to get a first-generation (2004-2008) TSX. I want something a bit nicer than my current daily driver, a 2005 Honda Civic. (The other car on the shortlist is a 2006-2012 Ford Fusion, but I know this isn’t the forum for that!) I’m trying to cover a lot of ground here, and I know only a little about the TSX, so this may be a bit scattershot.

Obviously the TSX isn’t a Civic/Corolla/Sentra/Elantra-class car, but I’d like to be sure total cost of ownership isn’t too bad before taking the plunge. I have the cash lying around to buy one, but I’m thinking long-term. At my age this could conceivably be my last car. I have the 2008 and 2009 annual auto issues of Consumer Reports handy, and they give the TSX a “recommended” overall and good but not topnotch ratings for owner cost. I’ve been building a spreadsheet comparing parts prices for my current Civic, the TSX, and the Fusion, using price data from Rockauto.com. So far some TSX parts prices are a bit higher than Civic parts prices, but not outrageously so. Some TSX parts are actually cheaper than the same parts for the Fusion. Some specific concerns:

On my budget, I’d probably be getting a TSX with 150K or more miles on it, but I’d hope it would have a fair amount of life left in it. I had a 2003 Saturn L200 that had 180K on it when I got it. I was a bit nervous about the mileage, but a gearhead friend whose opinion I respect said it shouldn’t be a concern. I put ~30K on the car, until an incompetent tow truck driver destroyed it. It needed some work while I had it, but nothing outrageous for its age and mileage. I got a 1987 Audi 4000 quattro with 154K and sold it in 2015 when it had 263K or 273K, I forget which. I sold it not because it was becoming terribly unreliable, but because it was getting harder to get parts, and I need a reliable car for my commute. When they did a clutch job at 203K, I noticed on the invoice that they’d had to source a clutch release fork from a wrecking yard, and I took that as writing on the wall as to parts availability. It’s not enough that I be able to get a given part—when I need a part, I need it quickly. Which brings me to my next point:

Is Acura pretty good about making parts available for older cars for a long time?

Any service operations that are especially labor-intensive? I saw something online to the effect that on a TSX you need to remove the front bumper to change headlight bulbs. Is that true, and if so, how labor-intensive is it? I also saw something to the effect that if the car has HID headlamps, you should leave bulb changes to your mechanic unless you want to risk electrocuting yourself. Would you agree? I gather that it’s common on many modern cars for headlight bulb changes to be less than straightforward, but I don’t have to like it.

I know I shouldn’t generalize too much from one car, but several years ago a coworker had the automatic transmission overhauled on his Acura (I don’t remember the year or model), and it wasn’t cheap. I mentioned this to my mechanic at that time, and he said that when you overhaul an Acura transmission, you don’t want to break your concentration. Then again, I don’t imagine a transmission overhaul for any car is cheap.

Any particular weak spots?

Here’s a ’94 Legend LS Coupe that made it to 500K miles:

https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cars...million-miler/

Might I expect something like this, or is this guy’s car an outlier? Do they still make ’em like that?

Thank you.

 

The front bumper takes at most 30 minutes to take off if you're taking your sweet time and jacking up the car to put it on stands to get more working room.

The TSX is easy to work on since it's a inline 4. The only hard thing to do on this car is to change the front sway bar bushings and take out the transmission since it requires dropping the front subframe. There aren't many issues on this car that aren't just due to normal wear and tear.

 

Good to know.

I recently made up a flyer I'm leaving on the windshields of TSXs, asking more or less the questions I asked in my opening post--much more concisely! I'm not holding my breath that I'll get a terrific response rate, but so far I've gotten 1 response from 3 flyers. The owner got their 2007 TSX when it was a year old and has had good luck with it. They say the stereo is a bit behind the times (plays only CDs), but they're not about to trade the car just because of that! I'm sure that if it were my car, I'd make the same call.

 

- The starter on K20/K24 engines does fail more often than other Honda/Acura engine types (V6, S2000, etc). You do have to remove the intake plenum for access to replace (some mechanics are able to access starter from bottom of car).
- You DO NOT have to remove the bumper to replace the low or high beam headlight bulbs. You might have to remove the battery to access the driver side bulbs. As with most Honda/Acura vehicles, you do have to remove the bumper to replace the headlight plastic assemblies. When it's written (as in the service manual) "replace headlight" they are referencing the headlight assembly, not the bulb.

 

no question, the TSX is the better car than the Fusion...
no question, the TSX will be as reliable as your civic.

there's no question about it, go get you a well cared for TSX.

P.S. ALL cars are put together the same way....meaning the headlights bulbs are going to be a very tight squeeze..... including the fusion. so, dont be scared of something silly like dropping the front bumper to gain access to things.

and yes, you can get 1 million miles out of the TSX...it's exactly like your civic...Honda, Honda.

 

Thanks to all for their responses, even if I've been quiet lately. I'll be meeting with my financial advisor in the next few months, and I'll have a better idea how new a TSX I can afford.

I've seen a few TSX's with a rear spoiler. Is that part of a trim level or trim package, and if so, what else goes with?

Next question is for curiosity, not that it really matters: What's the exact suspension linkage, front and rear, on the TSX? I assume that it's either unequal-length A-arms or struts, and I can rule out solid axles, swing axles, semitrailing arms, sliding pillars, de Dion suspension.

 

The front suspension is double-wishbone with a coil on shock front setup. The rear suspension is multilink with 5 arms on each side with a coil on shock setup.
A spoiler or wing are factory options that you can pick. There are also aftermarket options you can install yourself.

 

So, if I'm looking over a used TSX, the presence of a spoiler doesn't say anything about what other goodies are on the car. Actually, I'd be interested in a spoiler because it would give me an idea of where the back end of the car was. But a backup camera, whether already on the car or added by me, would accomplish the same thing. Last car where I had a clear idea of where all 4 corners were was my '87 Audi 4000 quattro, which I sold 6 years ago. I miss that feature of the car!