08 Acura TSX

I've owned multiple cars with leather seats, including a now 1.5 year old TSX. Clean and treat them one per year with the Lexol Cleaner then Lexol Conditioner or an equivalent set of products and you can expect good long life from them.

BTW, there are few differences between the '07 and '08 TSX, so if there are good discounts on leftovers it is worth considering. Also, size wise it is close to a Civic. I sometimes wonder if I wouldn't have been smarter to get a fully equipped Civic instead of the TSX.

Thanks for the advice...I too was looking at the Civic, but after I got into the car and saw the double dash, there was no way that I could get adjusted to the difference...It just felt like something was wrong with the setup...not to mention how long the dash is. My current car is a 95 Integra LS so size is probably going to be close to the same which I want. The new Accord is too big for me.

Nick

Ditto on the Lexol treatment. It's really great stuff. My 2000 TL with 43k miles has no cracks.

I think the '08 TSX has heated seats. If so, the cold is no problem.

DC

From the rear, the TSX is close to looking like the older Civic. Given the price of the TSX around here -- about 30k, the Civic SI offers more for the money.

>

Nick,

I've got an '06 TSX and the leather still looks fine. There are some people here who say that you shouldn't do anything to the leather. My thoughts are that the Acura dealer sells leather cleaner, so if you use the proper product, it sure can't hurt it.

As far as cold is concerned, all TSXes have heated front seats. In the winter, when the car is in the garage overnight, the seats aren't cold. After sitting out in the cold for 9 hours at work, the heated seats are a blessing.

Comparing a TSX to a Civic, the Civic is a great car, but the Civic and TSX are aimed at different markets. The TSX has many more standard features that aren't even available on the Civic and unless you get the Civic Si, the TSX really out performs the Civic.

The Civic is a people mover while the TSX is more entry-level luxury. Remember, outside of North America, the TSX is sold as an Accord. I'd love to see the V6 from the U.S. Accord available in the TSX, but then it might get too close to the TL in performance, so that's not likely to happen.

I also agree with the poster who said to get a left-over '07 TSX since there are no differences between it and an '08.

Purchased four new cars with leather: Acura, Honda, Toyota and Volvo. I don't anything to it, just keep it clean and keep it parked in the garage away from extreme heat and cold. Toyota, 7 years and still looks good. Acura, had it for four years until it got stolen but up to that point the leather looked new. Honda, had it for 1 year and of course looks new. The leather on the Volvo being the oldest - got dry in time and start to show age in about 15 years but no cracks and still usable after 20 years, than I gave that sucker away. Good quality leather will last a long time and well worth the additional cost, imho. Get heated seat if you worry about leather getting cold. I'm in the Bay Area so cold seat wouldn't be much of a problem. Volvo had heated seats but the heating circuit went bad after 10 years.

For 2008 Civic is available in EX-L trim with or without Navigation, which in practice puts the equipment level very close to a TSX.

The real bargain right now would be any leftover 2007 EX-L Accords.

Part of the price difference between Hondas and Acuras is snob appeal which means higher profits for Honda on the Acura sales. The actual differences are pretty minimal, especially considering that elsewhere in the world an Acura TSX is just a well equipped Accord.

Years ago, the sign of having "arrived" was the purchase of a Caddy or a Lincoln Continental. I guess buying an Acura is the Honda owners statement of today -- at least for those who need to make the statement. I always liked the RSX S, which now has been replaced by the Civic SI. It would have been preferable, in my opinion, if the European Honda had been transplanted (less the snob appeal) as an Accord R replacement for the Prelude -- which I dearly loved, but my wife hated. Of course, the new Accord EX 5 spd with

190 hp comes close, but is bigger. But then, at age 66 I don't care if I have "arrived" any longer.

One of my interests is various kinds of old cars. When you look at them now the differences between a late 1940s Plymouth, then a bargain brand, and it's contemporary Chrysler, the luxury brand, there are really very few differences. Some trim nuances, perhaps a bigger engine, maybe a few more options, but not really all that different once you take them apart for a restoration.

The same is true if you compare a fully optioned 1972 Chevrolet Caprice and compare it to a Sedan deVille which was 50% higher priced. In reality they are more similar than different. An even closer match is a well equipped Chevy compared to the supposedly much more upmarket Buick of it's day.

John

Wish I still had a couple of the cars I owned in the 60s -- a 64 XKE roadster -- a 65 Sunbeam Tiger and the lost opportunity to buy a very nice

54 XK 120 roadster for $800.00 that only needed a new interior. Then there was the 56 Chevy convertible -- 265 V8 with powerpak and powerglide and had right out high school in 1959.

Pick up a copy of January '08(!) _Hemmings Classic Car_ magazine for a collection of 70's full size "cusp classics." To qualify for their list, a car has to cost less than a dollar a pound. Some interesting choices...

Longer warranty, and working with the Acura service department rather than the Honda department will keep me going with Acuras over Hondas for the foreseeable future. Maybe it's just my local Honda dealer, but they just don't have the level of service that my local Acura dealership has.

I concur. You should go with the dealer who gives you the level of service you want. In my experience, my local Honda dealer, who is also close to where I live, is superior to the Acura dealer an hour's drive away. In fact, having owned an Lexus before, I had superior service from the Lexus people vs Acura, also an hour away, although you pay for it.

In Australia it's all one, just Honda, no Acura, seems to work here. The Accord Euro model equals a TSX, nice car.

Yep...I wish I could get the TSX without leather seats but I have no choice in the matter.

What I'm concerned about in particular is something like this will occur...

This is a picture from a TL but you can see that the matte finish has turned into a gloss finish on the edge of the seat. Is this from the person not conditioning the car or will this occur even with a cleaner/conditioner?