pby

I'm sure most of you have seen this, but Edmunds has quantified what is called the True Cost to Own a vehicle. Not suprisingly, the TSX has the lowest mean cost per mile and, I assume because of this, has been recognized with a TCO award.

Here is a comparison among several cars (Model name with price):

TSX ($30,178): $0.48/mi
A4 1.8T CVT ($31,596): $0.51/mi
C230 Kompressor 6MT ($34,536): $0.53/mi
9-3 Aero 6M ($38,177 ): $0.60/mi
325 5M ($36,993): $0.53/mi

It was rather odd that the Bimmer was also awarded this designation.

According to these numbers, if you purchase a TSX [instead of the 325] and drive it 50,000 miles in 5 years, you will have "not spent" $6815 + $2500 for the price and TCO, respectively. That's approximately 3 years worth of Roth IRA payments.

Do you think there is any validity to this line of reasoning and, if so, do you think this disparity would get larger or smaller beyond 100,000 miles?

98AccordEx

Not sure which TSX you specified 5A or 6M but I got a different TCO for my zip code. I think it's important to remember that I huge portion of the TCO depends on depreciation and with the TSX still being in its first year of production Edmunds is really taking an educated guess on what it will be worth in 5 years. With the BMW or with an Accord the depreciation is more certain as they have many consistant years of resale experience to use in determining future value. Granted at best this diminishes the certainty but the TSX is clearly the better value but by how much ????? you'll only know for sure in 5 years.

biker

The disparity against most cars would get even wider in later years as the maintenance will be largest factor and where most Honda products shine.

toddstuh

I wonder too why The Bimmer was awarded the honor as well but I presume it's because it currently has about the best reliability of German automobiles....Porsche isn't bad either according to JDPower and Consumer Reports. German cars in general really increase in maintenance costs as they age beyond 5 years, where they actually are equal to or even trail American cars for reliability. In contrast, that's where the Hondas and Toyotas excel.
When considering a new car I was considering another 3 series as well as the 230K Mercedes. I have driven quite a few German cars working with them and I was considering going BMW again. Fortunately I happened to have had a local Acura dealership and thought I should at least try the TSX since I've always respected Hondas. The rest is history but the True Cost to own did bear some significance in my final decision to go with the TSX.
I owned a BMW previously, my brother did as well and my dad had always driven Mercedes, We've all gone honda/lexus after having paid high ownership costs of the German cars.

bob shiftright

In buying a "new" car, one experiences absolutely the worst part of the depreciation curve. Moving to the '00 model year, and using the Edmunds model, I calculated a cost-per-mile of $0.72 for a Viper, $0.54 for a Boxster, $0.36 for a GSR 4-door and $0.28 for a Corolla LE.

Is a '00 Boxster $0.01/mile more fun to drive than a new 325i?