After many years and 225 kmi, my 2005 Acura TL 6 speed manual is finally getting to the point of retirement.

This is where you all come in. I need a different vehicle in the next 1 -2 years and I need your help to decide which direction I go.

The criteria (I am flexible-these are guidelines) : Mid size sedan, manual transmission, ironclad engine / transmission, cheap repair. I essentially want a newer vehicle that emulates all that the 3G gave me. A good little bit of power, luxury, reliability, and fun.

I have been mainly looking at the 2014 & 2015 Acura ILX - 2.4L - 6 speed manuals, the 9th GEN Hondas - 3.5L - 6 speed manuals, and the 10th GEN Honda Accord 2.0T - 6 speed manuals.

I have briefly looked into some VWs, Lexus, and am going to take a look at what Toyota has to offer (I am considering an automatic, albeit slightly).

Any advice you could give would be plenty helpful, thanks.

 

Stinger GT

 

Golf GTI

 

Hyundai Veloster N

 

Lexus GS350 F sport is the closet you gonna get in term of driving fun, power and maintain wise, it got updated Techs and luxurious interior as well. I do not see a lot of recall or problem with those, if you gonna pick one up I highly against the 2013 model.

 

If/when the times comes for me to retire my 3G TL 6MT, it is an odds on bet I'll either buy a 2018 340i 6MT or a VW GTI (or maybe a Golf-R).

 

G70, g80

 

Cts-v
ct5-v

 

Ats-v

 

I love the Golf R but would recommend against it if you want the manual. VW had the bright idea of putting a weak clutch in it. It seems to barely able to handle stock power.

 

No that smart behalf of VW, because the clutch probably listed as "wear and tear" item which can't be cover under warranty

 

Thank you for the replies, I appreciate the leads you all have given me.

After reviewing your suggestions, some long phone calls with some car buddies and some hefty internet dives, I am leaning toward those 10th GEN Honda Accord 2.0T 6 speed manuals.

I like the mixture of power/luxury/comfort ... can any of you shed some light on these 10th GEN Honda Accord Sport manuals?

Thanks.

 

That and the Golf-R warranty is a fraction of the time and miles compared to the GTI.

 

I have been wondering if Honda finally came around in the Sport and let you option it up enough? I haven't looked closely in the past year, but I know when I looked in the past, you couldn't get memory seats and a few other options with the MT. If they have fixed those short comings, that would for sure help point me in that direction.

 

What I am trying to think why Honda offer the car like that? I mean so MT driver doesn't care for all other options? or Honda didn't think they will make money on the MT car?

 

I've noticed quite of few makes and models skimp on the options/amenities for the manual transmissions = /. They are usually quite bare bones.

It's not too much trouble for me however ... lots of that cool new tech is made to break and costs a fortune to repair.

I do want leather seats though. I like the ones in the Accord Touring but alas, the Sport gets "Leatherette". I can find cheap enough replacements though.

My main concerns are the reliability and fervor of the engine, transmission, clutch, suspension, etc.

These have the K20s, right? They seem to have a good reputation. Is there anything wrong or weird with the transmission? Something perhaps like our 3G TL's 3rd gear synchro issues? Or the 2014/15 ILX first gear grind?

If anyone has the pros and cons of the 10th GEN Accord Sport 6 speed manual, Id love a break down or any info / opinions at all.

 

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the 10G Accord 2.0T Sport 6MT does in fact have a leather interior. Yes, no?

Edit: No, I see I'm wrong; I could have sworn the 2019 Sport 6MT got leather.

 

Wait...what....they removed leather? Grrrrr.....driving me nuts with this. I didn't think I cared about memory seats since no car of mine had them before....but now that we have gotten used to having them, my wife and I really have learned to appreciate them. On our cars that have an AT, our preferred seat position was close enough between the two of us that we didn't have to make adjustments. However in a MT, that becomes more of an issue when driving in traffic. My past MT cars, she didn't drive that often so we made do. Just something we really like and hopefully do not have to do without. Even if I go to an AT vehicle, I will absolutely require memory seats.

 

Forget the ILX which is really nothing more than a glorified Civic with an engine tuned to run on Premium. It has very dismal owner satisfaction ratings in Consumer Reports. The Accord is a good choice, but for my money, the only Accord would be the Touring model since it has the heads up display and turn signal mirrors (something ALL 3G TL's should have had) which I can't believe the Sport model doesn't have, another cheap cost-saving ploy by Honda Motor Company.

I'd like another stick shift too, but automatic transmission technology has advanced dramatically in recent years making stick shifts almost a thing of the past now that you can use paddle shifters.

My 2¢
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Paddle shifters..., meh, more video game than driving.

 

QFT.

In the Smoking Tire vid where Matt Farah runs Oscar's KBP through some curvy roads, he tries the paddles and says, "Whoa - delay of game!"
That's now my theme for the paddles. I use them only for 5-4 downshift a planned full second before accelerating for a pass on the highway.

That said, I intentionally bought a slushbox Type S because I live in a giant traffic jam called DFW, and my last car's sweet-ass 6mt wasn't enjoyable for daily grinding.