2002 Acura RSX Premium 2.0L from North America

Summary:

Great car for the price, looks better than the Toyota Celica and is a better bang for the buck

Faults:

I have had a few issues with my RSX. First, as I drove it out of the dealership on the purchase day I noticed a rotten egg smell. After a month I returned the car to the dealer to get this fixed. They took the car out and told me that they could not duplicate the smell. I had them change the catalytic converter, but that did not fix the problem. I did some research and found out that it is fuel additives that make this happen. Basically the engine does not burn off fuel additives during combustion; they enter the catalytic converter to be broken down into more environmentally friendly particles. This causes the smell. To fix the problem burn regular gas only. My car will only burn regular form one Gas Company and work properly, all the rest make it smell like rotten eggs. The dealership has not given me a reasonable explanation for this. I believe it is a design flaw with the new I-VETC engine. Other notables include the drives seat being word and the leather starting to crack. This is starting to happen on the passenger side as well. There are also a couple rattles in the dash as well, nothing major though.

General Comments:

This is a well made car and it gets lots of looks. I bought the Premium edition, all the looks of the Type-S without the high price tag. The five speed manual transmission has a great feel and there is plenty of power. The car is very comfortable on long rides and handles great on the highway as well as around town. The gas mileage is not as great as my old Civic, but few cars are. The RSX gets about 35mpg on the highway.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 4th June, 2004

30th Aug 2004, 13:30

When my BF bought his 2002 RSX he had the same problem with the smell, but the higher the KLM the less we noticed it... He always bought reg fuel, and it didn't change with company's. The car probably only has 23000 on it now and we haven't noticed the smell in a long time...

13th Sep 2004, 18:03

Has anyone noticed any problems with high oil consumption on rsx type s 2002 or other years? please advise big d.

1st Oct 2004, 08:29

Oil consumption is normal on the Type-s

I own a 2003 and before my first oil change I had noticed that the oil level had gone down.. The more you use the

IV tec the more oil will be consumed. However it should never go lower than the minimum mark. I noticed t a decrease in oil consumption as the car gets older though.

Bottom line, every new performance car will consume oil the question is how much. If it your level gets too low, I would take it to the dealer.

2002 Acura RSX Type S from North America

Summary:

Sharp & sporty coupe for the money!

Faults:

Nothing!

General Comments:

This car is super fun and very peppy as well as a gas sipper. A lot of fun for a 4 cylinder... handles very well. I drove it through a bad winter with no trouble. Handy hatchback for hauling large items. Nifty racing style seats and seems like a good deal for the money! I have had zero trouble with my car. I think it compares well to more expensive German sporty coupes if you are on a budget. I get compliments from a lot of people!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 28th May, 2004

2002 Acura RSX Type-S 2.0 from North America

Summary:

You won't be dissapointed

Faults:

Noisy fanbelt - Dealer replaced the belt at 60000km, warranty covered.

SRS warning light kept lighting up. Dealer reset the computer free of charge (3 times).

Check engine light comes on from time to time. Usually fueling the car up shuts it down. I figure it's the fuel door or stopper not properly being closed.

Doh-nut gasket on exhaust manifold leaked when I gunned it! No warranty. Gasket kit - around $60 cdn.

General Comments:

The car is great! Never fails, even in really cold weather, -30 or below..

Very quick and fun to drive!

Cheap on fuel (about 30% less than my 4cyl TJ).

Bose stereo doesn't have the quality sound I expected. No equalizer really sucks. The sub-woofer is effective, but could use improvements or upgrades..

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 23rd February, 2004

10th May 2004, 23:36

Noisy fan belt? The fan is a direct drive electric motor driven fan in front of the engine. If you meant serpentine belt, then that makes more sense. Calling the engine's belt (s) the "fan belt" went out of style a long with RWD in the 80s.