87gatech

First, I'm not trying to start an argument or endless debate. My question is genuine.

I'm looking at purchasing a 2008 Acura RDX w/tech package. I really like the car. It is in excellent condition and the owner has kept up with the maintenance and has receipts to back it up. However, I asked if they had always ran premium fuel and they replied they always used mid grade and it runs well with that.

Is this a show stopper?? I really hope not because I've been looking at cars for 2 months now and finally found one I really like. I think the owners manual specifies 91 octane, though.

thanks in advance.

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

Nah. I highly doubt there's been any long term damage from using mid-grade. I personally wouldn't let it deter me from purchasing the car. It's debatable if using regular in a vehicle that call for premium would cause any real damage over the long term since the ECU will pull timing at the slightest sign of knock anyways. It's certainly not good practice but not a deal killer in my book.

Give it a test drive and push it hard. Look for any misfiring/backfiring/hesitation. That would likely rule out any valve damage. Piston ring damage would be harder to identify since the symptoms there would largely be oil consumption. Look at the exhaust tips and oil level. If the tips are covered in a thick-ish soot it might be a bad sign. It's normal to have a little but not excessive. And if the oil level is low that could also be a red flag. Both of those are just generally good inspection items to make sure the engine isn't wearing out prematurely anyways, but could also help rule out piston ring damage from knock caused by lower fuel octane.

wspy

I can only get 90 octane here and had no probs with it in over 10yrs :wink:

87gatech

Thank you for the replies. I went back and looked at the owners manual and it says "recommends" 91 octane with a footnote that reduced horsepower may occur. The seller had all the receipts for maintenance. Most was done at the local Honda or Acura dealer. They did use Mobil1 5w30.

I bought the car. I've only driven it a few miles, but first thoughts are that I like the responsiveness and it is quite peppy for a 4 cylinder. I purchased it for my 16 yo son, but I'm having seconds thoughts now. I'll post a longer write-up once I have a few more miles with it.

schen72

If all scheduled maintenance was done and there is proof from service records, you're probably pretty safe.

russianDude

mrgold35

Are you planning to keep using mid-grade or switch to premium? I usually get my gas at Costco or Sam's and they don't carry mid-grade in my area (southwest). The cost of 91 octane at Sams/Costco is around the same as regular or mid-grade at the corner gas stations anyways.

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

RDX for your son? My oldest son is 14 but when I get a car for him it's going to be an old beater Corolla or something with <130 hp.

87gatech

@mrgold35 - Yes. I plan to switch to premium. In fact, I filled up at Food City (grocery store) with premium. I think the price was 2.89.

@losiglow - I started out with a certain amount I was willing to spend, but had difficulty finding a car I was willing to purchase. Slowly, my price point moved up until this Acura was within reach. I looked at Honda CR-Vs and Rav4 Toyotas. It's amazing how well they hold their values. At my original price, most vehicles had in excess of 200,000 miles. I agree an old beater would have been better, but I already have enough of those (2004 Ford Freestar, >174k miles; 1999 Ford Expedition, >254k miles). This is my fifth car (I have 2 other kids and a wife who drive) and I didn't want another vehicle that I had to spend alot of time on to keep running. By the time I drove the Acura and realized how peppy it was, I don't think I could have talked myself out of buying the car. However, for the time being, my wife is driving the Acura and my son is stuck with the 2004 Freestar minivan (he's not happy)

mrgold35

I handed down my 06 TSX with A-spec kit to my son on his 16th birthday back in 2014. It was a month later when he rear ended a car at a stop light because he was messing with his phone and didn't realize the car in front slowed down in-front of him in the middle of the intersection after the light turned green (deployed the airbag). I made him pay for the deductible with chores to repair the TSX and he has been very responsible and really takes care of the TSX to this day (Jr. in college). The 2004 Freestar minivan is a good way to get improve his driving skills, get all the overconfident teenage boy behavior out the way, make him humble, you can make getting the RDX conditional with his grades, and he will really appreciate the RDX after driving the Freestar for a while.