cruiserchuck

We are planning to replace my wife's 98 Accord with either a TSX or Accord EX-L. The price difference is about $3,000. There does not appear to be much extra on the TSX to justify the extra cost. As far as I can tell, the only extra features are the memory driver’s seat (which I would like to have) and the HID lights (which I could do without.)

Are there any other features that that TSX has that the Accord does not? I have driven both, and did not notice much difference, except that the Accord was nosier.

MMsTSX

yeah, the TSX has more features. like their MID unit in the display.
also the TSX is far more of a driver's car. with sportier suspension,
better driving dynamics and certain things like perforated leather.
there is a lot that is similar between the two, and both are great cars.
HIDs are something you can only live without if you've never driven
a car that came with them standard. I'm sure there's many other things the
TSX has, little things, just don't know off of the top of my head.

but I would say yes, it is worth it. not worth much more than $3k extra, but worth that
amount for sure.

darmok

Here are a few other things the TSX has:

• Bluetooth
• USB port for MP3 players
• Fog lights
• Trip computer
• Paddle shifters (for 5AT)
• Or, extra cog (5MT versus 6MT)
• Power passenger seat
• Perforated leather seats
• Longer warranty

On the other hand, the base TSX doesn't have a CD changer anymore.

It's not just about feature comparisons though. The TSX is smaller than the Accord sedan and (IMHO) a lot better looking. The TSX's interior is a lot more stylish and some of the materials are better. If you sit in the car and start going over it in detail you'll definitely see where the dollars were spent.

You might also find that you like the Acura dealer better than your Honda dealer (or the other way around). The dealer I bought my car from is very pleasant to work with, and they offer service loaners too. My local Honda dealer is a PITA straight out of the old school "yell at the customer until they buy something" model.

The question of whether it's worth the extra $3k is up to you. Nobody else can answer that but you. If you're happy with the Accord and the extra space is worthwhile, then go for that. If the styling (inside and out) of the TSX appeals to you more and the extra features are useful to you, then get the TSX if you can afford it. Either choice is a good one!

The most important thing is to make sure you're happy with the car. Make sure you're happy with how it drives. Get in the seating position you'd drive it in and make sure you're comfortable. Have someone walk around the car while you're in the driver's seat to check the visibility. Pick out your preferred color combination and make sure you're happy with it. After all, you or your wife will be using this car for years (hopefully) so it's important to choose something you'll be happy with.

Good luck!

Summer

I'm currently deciding between the two (and a couple of other choices, but these are my top two) as well. At least in manual transmission, the TSX is a verrrrry different drive from the Accord. Definitely make sure that both of you test drive both.

Also, the TSX takes premium fuel. I believe with the V4 Accord it's fine on regular.

iTimmy

There certainly is no wrong choice between the two. My father has a 08 Accord and loves it, I've driven it a few times and it feels big and bloaty, but gets great fuel economy and is comfortable. Like others have said, the TSX is more of an entry level sport/luxury sedan as where the Accord is more of a family sedan. Then you get into the subtle details, which others have mentioned, warranty, HID's, premium sound system, seats and the residual value is higher. If you plan on keeping the car for 5 years you will have made up the difference in price plus about $1k just based on the residual value difference.

nj2pa2nc

My mom owns a 08 accord v-6. She also previously owned a 98 accord v-6. it had 72,000 miles on it when she gave it to my daughter. If you get the 4 cyl accord you will not have a power passenger seat along with the other goodies the tsx has. I prefer the tsx personally-no into automatic or 2-doors.
Test drive both and then let your wife decide. She will be the one driving it.

myaccord

I am currently at a stage in my life where I don't want a family sedan. My youngest is about to enter high school. I have an accord it is a great car, but I want something a little different. The tsx may cost more and be smaller but I like the design better than the new accord. I too am sold on the longer warranty and the other perks. I thought about the accord and even the v6 accord but in my town they are so common. I think I will opt for the tsx even if I don't wait for the v6 tsx. I guess it's just a personal choice. I have driven the new accord 3 times and I never could get sold on it. I still need to drive the tsx though. I am hoping that I will be as pleased with the drive as I am with the looks.

ESHBG

X2.

SSFTSX

TSX also have Pearl Paint that is $500 to $700 expensive.

Mokos23

let's see, TSX has better warranty than the US Accord, looks better than US Accord, has xenon headlights, TSX's aren't as common on the road, you get loaner cars when you service your TSX unlike the US Accord, you get paddle shifters on the TSX, not on the US Accord, you get roadside assistance on the TSX, not on the US Accord, and depending where the US Accord is made, all of the TSX's are Made in Japan, better build quality than a Ohio made Accord. There are still some US Accords made in Japan too, but it's rare. I think all of these reasons are enough.

bukxanger

If you want M/T go with Accord.. A/T go with TSX... if you're talking about the 8th gen accords

nj2pa2nc

I personally think the other way around.

wackura

That's pretty bad advice. The TSX has a decidedly more sporty character than the US Accord.

katmai

I have always said you should test drive any cars you think you might be interested in. I just test drove 2 today for the heck of it. There were two cars I ended up taking off my list back when I bought my car, and after today's drive it just reinforced my decision.

Sit in the car for a while, play with the buttons, look at the details which are important to you. Open the hood, trunk, gas cap...don't leave anything to chance. Cars are big investments and you should be happy with your purchase for years to come.

Like others have mentioned, I like the TSX over the Accord because of the details. I was looking at a loaded Accord EX-L v6 w/nav...nice car but you could see where the money was spent in the TSX. They're both the same price but this time around the little details were what I was looking for. I'm still very happy with my purchase. Would it be worth an extra $3000? Well, if I was just going settle, maybe. But $3000 on a $30,000 car...no I'll spend the extra and get what I want. Now if it were a $17,000 car, that would be another story.

5thTo2nd

hahaha $3000 difference is nothing. Up here in Canada I just passed on a brand new V6 Accord that they were trying to clear for $27500. That works out to about $6000 difference between the V6 Accord and a base TSX and here in Canada the base TSX doesn't even come with leather.

As mentioned already, the Accord is a much bigger car and my wife and I like the drive of the smaller TSX. We keep our cars forever so we just pick based on what we'll enjoy driving 6-7 years down the road.

Good luck with your decision. I'm sure other people will have the same problem deciding between the new TL and the V6 TSX when it comes out.

ctwickman

I was looking at the same thing. The TSX made a lot more sense for several reasons. Heck I paid an extra $2000 just for a CPO warranty on my last car, the TSX does that and a lot more.

1. MUCH better stereo. MUCH better.
2. Much quieter on the highway, feels more stable, feels like a more expensive car. It's not just $3000 more for features, it also feels more expensive.
3. Sportier suspension.
4. Mid-LCD display with information
5. Higher quality leather, and perforated
6. Higher quality feeling interior, not by a ton, but noticeable enough
7. Xenons. Once you go xenons you NEVER go back. I will never buy a car without xenons ever again. It's like air conditioning as far as I'm concerned.
8. More customizeable. I can configure how long the lights stay on after lock, if I want the keys linked to memory seat positions or not, if I want the key to unlock one door or just two, the list goes on and on. The TSX has a computer where you can set all of these things up and personalize them or just turn them off completely.
9. Better engine. The engine shares 95% of the same parts but the TSX engine is tweaked for higher performance and it is noticeable. Despite this, the gas mileage is identical.
10. MUCH better warranty and service. TSX has a longer warranty than the Accord on everything. This alone is worth it IMO.
11. Higher quality service. What I mean by this is if I drop off my TSX and it is needed for longer than one hour by the service, Acura will give me a brand new Acura loaner car. You can't get that with Honda. You have to sit there at the station or have someone pick you up.
12. Higher quality paint. Acura paint is better.
13. There are MUCH less of them on the road. The TSX feels a lot more exclusive. You see an Accord every two minutes. You rarely see a TSX.
14. Bluetooth support not only for your phone but music too. Hands free headset is absolutely required by law here in Chicago.
15. USB port for MP3 players. HUGE for me. Complete IPOD integration.
16. Fog lights
17. Paddle shifters
18. Power seating for your passenger
19. Much higher cache. Even though it's no high end Lexus, people that get in my car always comment how nice it is and think it is a $40,000 car. I doubt I'd get that response with a bread and butter Accord.
20. 24-hr Roadside Assistance. If you get stuck or blow a tire Acura will send someone out to tow/fix your car. Honda won't.
21. 100% Made and Assembled in Japan.... versus Ohio. I'm sure reliability is comparable but I'll take the Acura assembled in Japan over the Honda assembled in Ohio any day.

AznX TL

are you talking about ex-l v6 compared to the tsx i4?
if so, then ex-l is definitely the better buy....

nj2pa2nc

That is your opinion- Test drive both and then decide.

ttk5

ummm are you serious?? the tsx has the smoothest manual tranny ive ever experienced. ive never driven the accord in standard but i dont see how it can be better than the tsx's

09TSXMN

I agree with all but 21. I have been in both plants, Honda has high standards, and the people are equally qualified. Don't short change something that is built in America. The other element is the leather seats/door panel in the Accord has pleats, which looks like it was designed by the guy who did the 98 Buick LaSabre!

Also, I find the 4 door Accord kind of "frumpy". If it was down to only automatics, and you have the Accord, the taffy pulled Camry, Fusion, Malibu, and Mazda6, I would go the Malibu, especially with the discounts you can get.

wackura

I don't know if it was my imagination but when I had a 3G TL loaner I felt like I was driving an American car. It had a looseness about it. Where the TSX feels like a glove the TL felt like a big box. Maybe it was the build quality or the aesthetic or maybe just the fact that it drives like a heavy ass car with a V6.

myaccord

I read that someone in this post indicated that the acura paint job was better. Doesn't honda and acura use the same paint on all their vehicles? I know the polished metal metallic is also used on the accord.

katmai

There is a world of difference in Honda quality between here and Japan. And its not just Honda. Mazda and Toyota (and I'm sure others) have similar model cars built both here and in Japan. Japan is almost always better. Most of the time the typical buyer won't know the difference, but if you're into detail, you'll notice. It has nothing to do with the plant or its QC...its just the culture. Not to say that America can't do just as well, but I'll buy whoever builds the better car...and right now thats not usually in this country.

I'm not loyal to anyone. America needs to get their act together!

wackura

One time I had to drive my friend's Toyota Avalon and I thought almost immediately "oh shit this car had to be made in the US" because it was every bit as bland and clutsy as s Ford Taurus and sure enough I found it was not only built in the US but designed here also.

09TSXMN

The Avalon is the Japanese Buick, and it was built to that target market, it is clumsy on purpose - to give a quite, smooth ride on pillows. Ever drive a Lexus ES? Built in Japan and is clumsy as well. For whatever reason, US mainstream cars fall short to the enthusiest - I think it comes down to price competitiveness. VW will be building a new sedan in Tennessee in 18 months, lets see how that fairs out.

The Camry is built in both Japan and US, I would be willing to bet you could not tell the difference.

Tigmd99

I like the Avalon for it's quiet smooth comfy ride. The interior is really well-done. The JBL stereo is pretty damn good too...in fact, i found that the stereo is significantly BETTER than the ELS in the Acura when playing CDs. (BTW, i think that Acura advertising DVD-Audio is a joke...it is like selling 8-track player in a car! Totally useless and outdated with the market!)

wackura

OT, so I'll be brief, it was a '97 Avalon (the newer ones might be better), and the car looked and felt worse than my old '87 Camry in every possible way I can think.

DVD audio goes to show how out of touch some executives clearly are at this very moment. Nobody in their right mind puts DVD audio in a car aimed at a 25-35 demo, and the only reason you'd sell it to older folks is because it's like bling for boomers. Music on a read only medium? Get out! Doesn't the demo disk have old crap like Steely Dan on it?

JD23

Maybe you had a lemon, because my experiences indicate that the 3G TL a well built, solid-feeling vehicle. Also, the 3G TL is only 150 lbs. heavier than the 2G TSX, which is pretty negligible considering both cars are near 3500 lbs. For those extra 150 lbs., however, one receives gobs of additional power.

katmai

Haha DVD audio is a bit archaic come to think of it. I'm not quite sure if theres anyone out there that has a large collection of DVD-A discs. If they do then its prolly in response to something they bought...not something they had beforehand.

Accord is a bigger car if you need that.

I test drove a camry. The one I drove was made in the US and it showed. I can also tell how the quality of the other American made Acrura products suffers as well. Its not so much the design as it is the assembly. Panels don't line up or overlaps are different on each side, gaps have larger tolerances, glass is wavy, and in the end things creak more over their life. Now that's not to say America isn't capable, but you've got a better chance of getting a much more secure, tightly made car from Japan than you do from America. I've own 3 cars built in Tennessee, 2 cars from Hiroshima and this car from Saitama. My friend who works for a Honda supplier took me to a Honda dealer and pointed out flaws in almost every car/truck we came across after looking at the them for at MOST, maybe 10 seconds. He couldn't do that with the Japanese made ones. All of the problems he pointed out were fit and finish. That alone convinced me I'm not buying a Honda product made in America. If I do like one I'm taking him with me. Interesting to note I also have a 07 Altima built in TN and he can't find any similar flaws in it. Just so you know I live around a lot of Honda suppliers and know a lot of their people...I hear the stories (if you're picky, don't buy the new TL right now). I'm not trying to turn this thread anti-American, but I'm going to buy the better made car regardless of where its from, and unfortunately its not always from the US. Hence why I bought the TSX!

I guess I should note that most of the problems aren't noticeable by the majority of people. I'm just very picky about details. Honda DOES make good cars, just don't assume every car that comes of the line are good...or that there's consistency among model lines. Personally I'd rather buy a Japanese built car regardless of what brand makes it over American or European built ones, but I've bought those too.

TSX TSX TSX TSX!

JD23

It's a shame that DVD-A never caught on, because comparing the quality of DVD-A to that of MP3 is like comparing Kobe beef to a three day old hot dog. Blu-ray is facing the same problem competing with standard DVD and crappy HD on demand from cable companies; many consumers are incapable of seeing the difference or really don't care for higher quality sound and picture.

iTimmy

My experiences mimic Wackura's, I've driven roughly 10-12 3G TL's and they just felt more "american" then TSX, I owned a TSX for about 3 years and am very familiar with how they feel. It wasn't weight or drive, it was the little things, the interior seemed looser, even though the materials are arguably higher quality. The layout seems less intuitive and over all the fit seems to be set to a slightly lower standard.

I've said this before even if the 3G TL and 1G TSX were the same price I would still probably pick the TSX due to these little things. That's not to say I am "right" but for my needs/wants I preferred the TSX's overall package.

wackura

The TSX's electronic steering mitigates its weight, and again, the TSX fits like clothing, the 2G even more so than the 1G. The TL is more like here's a box, here's a chair. It didn't make me feel secure in my seat.

I test drove a TL-S and went with the TSX largely due to that car-fitting-around-you feeling and the light tossable feeling afforded by the electronic steering.

wackura

Oh wow, I just found out my Odyssey was made in the US also. It has a lot of build quality issues also. The passenger and driver door have a lot of vertical slack so typical highway driving causes them to jiggle constantly, without pause. The horn-air bag cover panel has a much greater gap to one side versus the other. If you have to fuck up a panel pleas don't make it the one I have to look at the most often. The carpet cover sizings are all off by noticable margins, making installing and removing them a pain whenever we want to clean them. I cut it some slack because I bought it used but I don't imagine the previous owner went out of his or her was to shift the panels with a screw driver, nor did they likely hang on the doors.

Unlike the TL and the Toyota Avalon though I don't get the impressiong that the Odyssey was designed in the US. It has almost none of the design idiosyncracies I associate with Ford or GM. It looks like a Honda, it just doesn't feel like one.

09TSXMN

Perception of quality. . . I agree, the American cars of the 90's and even early 2000 had fit/finish issues, most recent releases do not. I really enjoy my TSX, but it is the first car that had the rear parcel shelf crackle (and by the replies, I am not alone). This is a major failure in my book for structural regidity. In addition, my glove box is shifted to the left, my trunk hinge squeeks, my front passenger seat back has a rattle (thorax air bag) when no one is sitting in it. Saying you buy a car based of point of origin is getting to be more of an outdated statement. Check the JD Power results.

JD23

From what I've read, one of the main complaints with the 2G TSX is the electronic steering, which I've seen described as numb and "video game like."

JD23

I had the opposite experience with the 3G TL and 2G TSX. The TSX may have good fit and finish, but the interior materials feel cheaper to me. The things that especially bugged me were the painted plastic around the center console and the door handles. I especially don't like the silver painted plastic because my current car has the same thing covering the console.

wackura

I won't deny that the faux carbon fiber in the 1G TSX and 3G TL gave a greater impression of pizzazz and effort on Honda's part, but for what it's worth I didn't like it or the faux aluminum or the other reflective surfaces because they made dust and other and minor messes such as tiny drops of diet coke really stand out. It lent to the feeling that the car was constantly dirty.

The 2G TSX's plastics don't try to emulate anything, but they have a very nice feel and they seem to eat the dust. The interior looks more consistantly clean.

I prefer the silver paint to the faux carbon fiber and faux aluminum because this isn't a Ferari, the idea that carbon fiber should be anywhere on the car is rediculous. The silver trim is less pretentious. Where as the 1G TSX pretends to be fast, I don't feel that I have to apologize for the 2G. It looks what it is.

wackura

That's not at all untrue, but the idea that those are negatives is subjective.

If I have to choose between steering like the TL-S that inconsistantly ranges from very heavy to very light in order to get road feedback, or steering that's consistantly light at a cost of road feedback I'll take the consistantly tossable car. Honestly I don't care about feeling the road's imperfections via the steering wheel. I realize the true sports cars enthusiasts are all about that but I've never been able to care no matter how much I try.

It's this simple, the enthusiasts say the 1G TSX had better feel, yet I enjoy driving the 2G more. Maybe it apeals to my lazy side.

I think that as electronic steering becomes more common there might be a shift in the popular perception of what are and are not desirable steering charactersitics.

Mwing

i have been liking electric power steering since my ep3 coz im lazy too

Tigmd99

Faux carbon fiber...that is upper class??!! Yeah, i hate imitation crap. Fake wood is about as far as i can tolerate in most vehicles.