Sub $8k daily driver thread (Acura TSX?)

[Eunos_Cosmo]

My gf is looking for a good car for about $8k.

-Ideally this car should be fairly practical (no Miatas, except she really wants a Z4....)
-Ideally this car should be pretty economical (no trucks/suvs, except she really wants a C6 Z06 and/or Hummer)
-Speed is not a priority but I will be driving this car quite a bit, so ideally it would be decent to drive
-Automatic is a requirement (I've tried, believe me)
-Lower mileage is definitely preferred

Off the top of my head, I'd really like to find a CL-7 chassis Acura TSX (first gen) but its quite difficult to find one with low miles in this price range. The CL-7 has double-wishbones in classic Honda fashion, a decent autobox, and the venerable K24 vtec engine. It's also good looking, has a nice interior, is comfortable, cheap to fix (hopefully), and should last a very long time. I wouldn't expect miracles from the fuel mileage, but it shouldn't be too bad. Anyone have any experience with them? Outside of that I was thinking an 8th gen Civic, but it's not anything like as good of a package as the TSX.

Any other suggestions?

 

[CyborgGT]

This subject came up on the Accord forum I'm on recently, a guy looking for a good daily, and one of the members has a high-mileage TSX:

I can provide some insight on owning a high-mileage CL9 TSX. Mine is a 2005 6-speed with 205,000 miles. The maintenance schedule is more relaxed compared to the [90-93 Accord the forum caters to], but some things should be noted. The single major expense I went through was the A/C compressor ******** itself (and taking all the other A/C lines along with it). That was $800 in parts.

The next major problem area that TSXs are known for are the axles. They WILL start going bad around 170,000 miles, and apparently ALL aftermarket replacements are junk. OEM remanufactured axles from Honda will cost $540 for the pair. I have crappy aftermarket units at the moment, and I'm saving up to purchase the proper OEM remans parts to stop the minor clicking.

Besides that, however, the car has been very rock solid despite all my attempts to drive it to the ground. Only after 200,000 miles have certain things started failing. I recently replaced the alternator, power steering pump, and serpetine belt when the former two items started failing. Parts are cheap because the OEM Accord/Element/CR-V parts fit perfectly.

Did I mention I'm still on the original clutch?

Right now, these cars are very cheap on the used car market. Finding one for $5000 is possible.

 

[Joey D]

Mazda 3 hatch, a quick look on AutoTrader suggests she could pick one up with less than 70k miles on it for under 8k. They are really good cars to drive, pretty reliable, and have decent practicality.

 

[mustafur]

Mazda 3 or 6 would be my pick, I know the high end models of the Face lifted 1st gen Mazda 3 have paddle shifters for the automatic(which I guess makes having Auto less lame) and given the price range should be comfortably reasonable to find one.

Maybe a Lexus IS250 would be in the price range as well, I doubt it but you never know, from what I have heard they are bulletproof and RWD is a plus.

 

[Beeblebrox237]

Well, I did a search on Autotrader with a radius of 500 miles from San Francisco, with a budget of 8k and mileage limited to 75k, and came up with a few interesting cars.
Subaru SVX
Mazda2
1981 Celica (35k miles!)
Beetle GLS
Mini Cooper S
Infiniti G35

Dunno if any of those interest you, but it's an interesting assortment.

 

[Murcie_LP640]

The old man has a CU2 TSX (2008 Honda Accord Euro Luxury). The only things that I'd speak ill of are that the fuel economy really isn't all that great and neither is the auto.

That also being said though (I don't know the market all that great so bear with me), if you can get a Lexus IS250 for that sort of money I would absolutely pick that over the Accord.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Anyone have experiences with VW CCs?

I found low mileage 2.0T/DCT examples within our budget. Are they reliable? Love the interior...

 

[Joey D]

Anyone have experiences with VW CCs?

I found low mileage 2.0T/DCT examples within our budget. Are they reliable? Love the interior...

Everything I've ever heard about them says they are unreliable and costly to fix, this just comes from people talking about them on the internet though.

 

[05XR8]

I'd suggest TSX(a work partner had one. She raved about it), My '01 Accord, '04 Si & '05 Odyssey had 0 problems during all years of ownership. The TSX has to be good. The TL is good as well. One of my nephews
owned one.

Mazda6(good car when I worked for a Mazda dealer. Nothing wrong with GG or GH(though, in Australia, an MPS can run $8kAUD for turbo replacement),

First-gen IS300(I don't know maintenance costs for the inline-6, but it's a good car. This via workmates, back when I lived in the states).

My cousin's Infiniti he's selling while stationed in Abu Dhabi(He has an E34 as well). Just told me no problems with either.

That said, if she really wants a Z4 or smaller car, why not a Z or G35/G37? Those would have to be in that price range by now.

 

[Danoff]

My gf is looking for a good car for about $8k.

-Ideally this car should be fairly practical (no Miatas, except she really wants a Z4....)
-Ideally this car should be pretty economical (no trucks/suvs, except she really wants a C6 Z06 and/or Hummer)
-Speed is not a priority but I will be driving this car quite a bit, so ideally it would be decent to drive
-Automatic is a requirement (I've tried, believe me)
-Lower mileage is definitely preferred

Off the top of my head, I'd really like to find a CL-7 chassis Acura TSX (first gen) but its quite difficult to find one with low miles in this price range. The CL-7 has double-wishbones in classic Honda fashion, a decent autobox, and the venerable K24 vtec engine. It's also good looking, has a nice interior, is comfortable, cheap to fix (hopefully), and should last a very long time. I wouldn't expect miracles from the fuel mileage, but it shouldn't be too bad. Anyone have any experience with them? Outside of that I was thinking an 8th gen Civic, but it's not anything like as good of a package as the TSX.

Any other suggestions?

You can get a loaded 2002 Honda Accord sedan for around $6k with less than 70k mi. Extreme reliability, fun to drive, economical, slow, automatic.

I think that the E46 330i sedan is dipping down to about $8k. Less reliability, way more fun to drive, economical (on gas, you'll need to do some maintenance), faster, automatic. Look from '03-'05, the earlier models had some issues with the automatic transmission.

I like the TSX and the G35 as well.

 

[Murcie_LP640]

Anyone have experiences with VW CCs?

I found low mileage 2.0T/DCT examples within our budget. Are they reliable? Love the interior...

Passat CCs if I remember correctly have the wet-clutch 6-speed DSGs which are much less problematic than the early 7-speed dry-clutches. As with many German cars though unforeseen electrical gremlins would be the most annoying part of ownership as you never really know what you're going to get.

Again, I'd stick with Lexus as while the earlier IS' are generally perceived as being quite dull, there is actually a fair bit of fun to be had with them and you have a much higher chance of finding one that's in good nick, and will keep on going for many years. The Not-A-Skyline 350GTs are also a safe bet but fuel economy isn't fantastic on those.

 

[MedigoFlame]

The problem with IS250's is carbon build up on all years. Had a friend who was looking at them but found out that carbon build up was a considerable issue on just about any IS250. I'm sure the prices are around the $8k range in California, since you guys probably get the RWD models. Most IS250's in the Northeast are at least $10k, but have AWD.

What about a 2006-2011 Lexus GS350/GS300? Though the mileage may be high for your price range. You could get a clean lower mileage 2001-2005 IS300 or 1998-2005 GS300. Though, I'm not sure if age is a factor for you and your girlfriend.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

I've tried to sell her on the IS300 but she really does not like how it looks.

She seems to be most keen on the TSX but also seemed to like the VW CC.

I'm gonna take a look at the IS250. Always liked how those looked.