I can’t tell you this was the car I’ve spent my nights dreaming about. The choice to buy this car came about in May of this year when I switched jobs and had to give up my company car. The new job offered to pay per mile and included a monthly car allowance, which opened up numerous possibilities! Being a car enthusiast but at the same time pretty frugal with my money, I looked for a car which had the following to offer: fun to drive, good on gas, reliable, good-looking, has leather interior, decent cargo capacity (for work materials + outdoorsy stuff I like doing), the newer of course the better, has less than 35,000 miles and fits into my max budget of $25,000 OTD (out the door). I would like to add that I planned on buying this car privately instead from the dealer. So taxes were significantly smaller, therefore I could buy “more car” for my budgeted money. Anyways, on to the candidates.
Based on the aforementioned requirements, I came up with the following list of potential cars:
1. 2010 BMW 328xi Wagon – by far my favorite! I love beemers… I love the way they drive, there is always sufficient acceleration while the car is perfectly balanced and handles beautifully! The problem: reliability is questionable after the warranty period expires, repairs are very costly and with driving about 30,000 miles per year, unfortunately I had to give up the BMW idea. Boooo!
2. 2010 Audi A4 2.0T Avant – my second favorite ride on this list also happens to be German. I guess I have a thing for German cars but that’s because they’re so damn good! The Audi is slightly less “tossable” and balanced than the BMW but a great overall package nonetheless. A little less expensive, which is a plus but with problems similar to the 328xi namely – questionable reliability. Keeping my budget of $25k in mind, the Audi would have to already have around 45,000 miles on the clock which puts right at the edge of my risk tolerance. Again, had to pass on this wonderful piece of engineering until I can afford one newer. Boooo!
3. 2010 Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon – a truly potent machine! With 300 HP on tap, it would have been hell of a car to use as my utilitarian companion on those long trips. As beautiful as this car is, it has an awkward driving position (this might be a problem when driving as much as I do) and crappy visibility per Edmund.com’s observations, which I agree with. Secondly, it’s the gas mileage. While 300 HP sounds great, my mileage reimbursement would’ve barely covered gas and oil changes in such vehicle. Pockets not deep enough. Had to move on… Boooo!
4. 2011 or 2012 Acura TSX Sport Wagon – probably the weakest player here if looking at straight numbers. It’s not the biggest, it doesn’t carry the most cargo and it definitely isn’t the most powerful. So why did I choose this car? First off Acura’s are well-known for their reliability. As a nicely dressed Honda, it really does everything well. This particular car is being sold in Europe as Honda Accord. I know, strange but as a side note our U.S. spec Accord is actually exclusively made for our wonderful country. Nowhere else in the world Accords are this bulky and plush. To that, all I can say is a little phrase from “Team America” the movie… “America! F…k yeah!”
Going back to the TSX. The car offers actually quite a lot for the money. It has more cargo space than Honda CR-V while getting close to 30 MPG consistently! I was able to find one with very low mileage of 25,500 miles at the time, still under full manufacturer’s warranty and even additional warranty covering the car up to 100,000 miles for which previous owner paid dearly. Additionally the car offers a great looking leather interior, killer sound system (part of the Tech pkg) as well as nav system. It has an automatic climate control, power lift gate, sunroof and most importantly – it drives very well. The steering has a good feedback and weight to it, making this car precise and nimble. Seats are heavenly, which comes very handy on those 500 mile+ trips. More about that in later posts. Overall, I had the least expectations when it came to this car but I was pleasantly surprised when I drove one. It really combines a well-balanced package, while ensuring you’re not spending your every last dollar on keeping it on the road….
After four months of usage I have quite a bit to say about this car. I have many praises for it but quite a bit of complaints as well. Hopefully you’ll find this blog interesting, especially if you’re in the market for a used Acura TSX Wagon.
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