Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46
This car eat headlight bulbs at an insane rate. So far, I have had a headlight bulb blow every month and a half. The replacement bulbs are expensive, they are hard to replace, and the headlight performance is mediocre to boot.
The only other thing is the plastic flap that covers the mirror on my sun visor broke.
Gets very good mileage for a sporty car - I average 28 MPG, and I live in Los Angeles. On the freeway, I get about 31.5 MPG.
Engine is very smooth, loves to rev, and burns almost no oil. Not much torque, especially at lower rpms, though.
Turning radius sucks for a small car. It is no better than my huge '72 Ford Torino - I'm not kidding!
Ride is rough on anything, but perfectly smooth roads. But, body doesn't roll at all during hard cornering, either.
Rear seats are best left for small children. Even short people practically touch the hatchback glass with their heads.
Interior is nice - fit and finish and materials get high marks.
Leather wrapped steering wheel feels great.
Excellent short throw 5 speed manual transmission.
Instrumentation very logically layed out and has a nice appearance, especially at night with its "night vision red" glow.
Everything works on this car as it should - window defrosters are excellent, climate control excellent, cruise control, interval wipers, etc.
With rear seats folded down the car is a pretty decent cargo hauler.
Some minor, but annoying gripes:
Whenever you recline one of the front seats forward to gain access to the rear seats, you have to readjust the front seats to their former position. Annoying as hell.
Front seats are OK, but could be better - I find my head being jackhammered against the headrest during bumpy roads.
No granny bars to assist people to enter the car.
Drivers side seat missing foot switch for rear passenger to use to move seat forward and out of the way.
No place to put your gas cap while you are refilling. My sisters old 1990 Integra lets you place the gas cap on the refueling door so you don't drip gas all over your car.
Engine compartment is insanely tight.
No optional limited slip differential, which the car could definitely use.
No option for electronic stability control.
Most of the speedometer range is a waste - how often are you really going to be going 140 mph? It's hard to tell if you are going 60 or 70 mph because the 0-85 mph part of the instrument panel takes up so little real estate.
I forgot one thing - another minor gripe. The rear seats have this odd plastic piece separating the two seats. It's hard, and doesn't serve any function I can think of. It would have made much more sense to delete the hard plastic piece with padded leather so you could squeeze 3 kids or small adults in the back if you had to. The way it is, anyone trying to squeeze into the middle is going to have to sit on a hard piece of plastic.
Another small, but potentially important design feature I forgot to mention is total lack of protection for the lower part of the radiator. The RSX sits quite low to the ground, and right near the bottom of the RSX is the front air dam. The bottom of the dam has a large slot shaped opening for air to pass thru to the radiator. This opening has no grille or any kind of protection at all, yet it sits at the very front of the car inches off the ground. A rock or other road debris kicked up from a car in from of you could easily smash into your radiator at highway velocity, putting your RSX out of action and resulting in a costly repair that could easily have been avoided. Why Acura choose not to have a grille for the RSX there is beyond me - maybe they just want to sell us $500 replacement radiators.
I own a 2002 RSX-S.
Eating headlight bulbs is a weird random occurance for your car. The dealer should check this out for you - you may be sending too high of a voltage to the headlights. I have never heard this complaint and I regularly browse forums dedicated to the RSX.
Engine is VERY smooth, gearbox is very smooth for a car in this class.
The turning radius is not impressive for a small car, but it definitely doesn't suck. It is average, and is plentiful when used properly.
You call the ride "rough," but I call it "firm" and "grounded." Most people prefer this kind of feel in a sporty car. I have been in cars with much harsher suspension, and I have been in cars where it feels like you're floating, and I love the feel of the RSX.
It can be annoying to readjust the driver's seat when you move it forward to get to the back seat. But you learn to use the passenger's side, which is the side the car was designed to use. On the passenger's side you need only adjust the recline of the seat. You get used to it.
My head has never been "jackhammered" againt the headrest. Interesting term though.
Put your gas cap on the ground. Or on top of the gas machine thing. That wasn't so hard, was it?
Yes it would be nice if LSD was an option, and maybe it will be soon. When your 2002 came out, I don't think there were any cars in it's class with LSD. Limited Slip is still trickling down from luxury cars.
Electronic Stability Control? On a $20k car? Ridiculous.
I have never had trouble telling the difference between 60 and 70mph, and my speedometer even goes to 160. I have never even had trouble telling the difference between 60 and 61.
About the plastic thing in the back seat: I don't know if it has a use, either. But it does help point out that the RSX is a 4-seater. I would never even try to fit 3 kids in the back (especially with only two seatbelts!), let alone 3 small adults. I don't let anybody that I like ride in the back seat.
Lack of protection of lower part of radiator?? That's quite a large "what-if?" Never heard anyone complain about that either. If you're concerned about it, you might consider blocking the radiator with an intercooler, like I did.
Here are some valid complaints for everyone: The doors ding easily, the paint on the hood chips easily if you regularly commute to work on the highway, there's been some kind of a service recall that fixes a problem where the second gear sometimes grinds a little bit when you shift into it, but it's up to dealer discretion so you probably have to live with it. On some cars it's very noticeable, other cars are fine.
The brakes are nice and firm, and instant.
Headlights light up the road very well.
Beautiful car. Great price.
I think the previous person had some valid comments, but I'd like to respond to a few of them.
I think anyone who owns or is thinking about owning an RSX should check out sites like clubrsx.com, vtec.net, and rsxzone. com before they make a purchase.
If you go to clubrsx. com and do a search for Sylvania Silverstars, you will see that a lot of people are experiencing extremely short bulb life in their RSX's. Other people have used these bulbs in vehicles other than the RSX with no problems. I should add these aren't the only bulbs that people have written blow out quickly in the RSX. I know my first headlight blew about 6 weeks after I bought my RSX, and I drive two different cars. I'm glad to hear someone hasn't had any headlight problems.
My point about the gas cap is with my sister's 16 year old Acura Integra is you can dock the cap to the inside of the gas cap lid - don't you think that's more elegant than putting your gas cap on the ground? Do you really want dirt getting on your gas cap so when you replace it it can work itself into your gas tank and into your engine?
You can get the new Honda Civic SI with a limited slip differential, but still not the RSX in '06.
I know I'm not the only one concerned about the lack of radiator protection due to the complete absence of a lower grille. Again, if you go to clubrsx. com and do a search, you will see more than one person has posted step-by-step photos and pictures of them fabricating a lower grille out of metal mesh or plastic gutter guard.
The writer is correct when he states Acura has issued a service bulletin about transmission gear grind and popout. However, this only applies to the 6-speed manual in the Type S. If you have a 5 speed manual or automatic, you are fine.
I've driven lots of cars, and yes the suspension is "firm" and "sporty." I've driven a 2005 BMW 3 series, an 2005 RX-7, a 2005 Scion Tc, and a Sentra SER, and in my opinion these had a significantly more comfortable ride than the RSX. Though, I don't think the Scion Tc can match the RSX's handling.
I don't want to trash the RSX. It's a good car, and I'm happy with my choice - if I had to, I'd buy it again. But, like anything mechanical, it has compromises - it's not perfect.
Opps, that should read 2005 Mazda RX-8, not RX-7.
I have an 05 RSX. and besides the nice look of the car I am disappointed with the performance. I came from driving a Z twin turbo, so I was not expecting the same performance, however, it feels so sluggish to me and when I take off (if I can) it jerks to the side a little. Its so bad, I am considering getting a new car. Maybe I should have gotten a type S, but I wanted auto for LA traffic. But I have to use the sequential shift so much to get ANY performance, I might as well have gotten it.
The Type-S is a must if you want performance. If you went from a twin turbo to the Base model RSX it makes the contrast even bigger. I have an 03 Type-S and I love it! It is a big difference from the base model, but still needs high revs for power. My one gripe about it is that I get the check engine light on a lot because of the gas cap. It's like I never get that thing on tight enough!
I also have problems with the headlights. I have had 2 (low beams) go out within a month of each other, both on the driver's side. I can't see how this is normal. While the replacement bulbs are less than $10, it is a major pain to change them with the setup of this car.
I own a 2004 RSX and have the same headlight problem (low beams blow out about every 30-40 days. It is not a weird random occurence, but definitely seems to be a somewhat common problem with our vehicles. : (
Do not use Sylvania Silverstars or any other type of HID looking bulb in this car. I can guarantee they won't last. I use only OEM halogen bulbs.I've heard from some guys that PIAA bulbs work well, too.
I just passed 70,000 miles on my RSX and it's been very reliable so far. It amazes me how little oil this car burns. I basically never have to add oil, I just change it about every 6 months.
Gang - how do you go about replacing this bulb? I started thinking that I had to pull out the entire headlight module.
I'm guessing now that you remove the bulb from module from within the engine compartment.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Yes, changing the low beam bulb on the driver's side is a complete pain. Do you have to take out the battery and reservour neck to get to the bulb?
Guys, ever read your owners manual? Instructions with diagrams on how to change the headlight bulbs are right there. It is a pain in the #@s, though.
Whoever said electronic stability control is too much to ask for in a vehicle like the RSX is way off base. The box on wheels mini-minivan Scion Xb has ESC, and it costs thousands less than an RSX. And the 2006 Honda Civic Si has a limited slip differential. So, saying that it is too much to expect that on an RSX is ridiculous.
Yes, anytime I read some manufacturer can't include such features "due to costs" I always think of Scion which offers lots of "expensive" features STANDARD for roughly $14,000, and Toyota makes a profit on each of them.
I recently (13 may) purchased a certified used 02 RSX-S. During the 150 pt. inspection they supposedly did a 4 wheel alignment and checked the battery. On my TEST DRIVE it was pulling to the right. I mentioned it and the dealer assured me that a 4-wheel alignment was performed.
I took it to a dealership closer to my house on 20 May who told me it needed an alignment and printed off a slip telling me that my battery only had half the power it was supposed to.
Now I'm trying to get my origional dealer to cover the alignment because I have the paperwork showing that it was out of alignment. I would also like for them to cover the battery, but I'm not sure if they will.
Moral of the story: The RSX-S is an awesome car (coming from a 2 time prelude owner) but be weary of the dealerships. I'm paying way too much per month to be having these problems already.