Minor brake squeaking.
Although extremely reliable, responsive and well-built, there really is no difference between this vehicle and the Honda Civic EX (except, of course, the price). The Acura EL is almost entirely identical to the Honda Civic, except for the steering wheel and pseudo-wood furnishings. Both vehicles use the same mechanics.
That said, the car is still a VERY good car. It should appeal to those looking for an economy car with a luxury name and leather seats. To the rest of us, the car stands out for what it really is: a higher priced Honda Civic with the Acura label.
The Acura EL has the Honda Civic Si engine and not the engine of the EX. Concretely, 30% of the parts of an EL are different from those of the Honda Civic. These are the facts.
30% different parts may be a stretch, but what isn't a stretch is the difference between the cars. I drove both the high level Civic sedan and the Acura EL Premium and I went with the EL. Yes it does have Air with Auto climate control, Leather interior, keyless entry and alarm with no trunk keyhole (one less thing to rust). It feels more solid, more quiet... more car. $2,500 more is debatable, but it was enough of a difference for me. It might be an Acura wannabe, but hey it still is an Acura ehr Honda...whatever. I'm glad I chose the EL.
I currently own a 2002 EL PREMIUM and a 2004 CIVIC LX.
I am going to mention the major difference between these cars.
Cars both have the same VTEC 127 HP engine.
Their fuel economy is almost the same, but I found EL to be more efficent on highways.
EL is also more luxurious inside and comes with leather interior and wooden trim.
EL has a better sound system.
Civic's sound system is a little disappointing.
EL's exterior looks better, but close to civic.
EL does not have a trunk lock. you can oper the trunk from either inside or with remote. that's a good feature to prevent rust.
EL has more interior room. becuase of its noble design, it does not have a bump on the floor of its back seat. but civic got a bump. back seat is confortable for 2 adults perfectly.
EL has a better design driver seat. tall drivers find it very easy to fit in.
EL has less engine noise than civic and warms up faster.
The only problem that EL has is an annoying engine noise that appears when your RPM is at 4000. When I go with 150 Km/h, the noise somehow has a bad effect on handling, but it is funny that after you pass to 170 the noise will go away.
The highest speed that I reached with EL is 180Km/h. it appears to have a cut off system. but the car doesn't have the capacity to go more than that either.
EL doesn't have overdrive feature and I think it should.
180 km/h the RPM will go over 5000. I don't recommend going more than 150 km/h with it. it gets really out of control with handling.
But in overall it is a very good economical car that comes with luxury features. I should have bought two EL instead of that civic.
The Civic LX does not come with the 127-hp engine as you stated; only the Canadian Civic Si (4-door), and the US Civic EX (4 door) come with that engine. Lesser Civics in both countries come with the 115-hp 1.7 litre engine. Since I own a 2001 1.7EL (manual) and a 2004 Civic LX (sedan, manual), it's my opinion that both engines are lacking in the power department.
I was told that there are other differences between the Civic and the EL not mentioned above:
The EL buyer gets fog lights, simulated wood trim, side air bags, climate control, sunroof air deflector, the first two maintenance services free, a courtesy car free when the car is in for servicing as well as a hand wash, 4 years of excellent free roadside assistance, disc brakes on all FOUR wheels and, most importantly, 5 years of MAJOR components warranty.
Apparently none of this comes with a Civic. If this is all true I think the EL is well worth the extra money.
FYI, I thought you would be interested in reading this before you purchase this car!
Young Girl Gets Stranded in Acura.
Parents, pay special attention to this story; it could prevent a lot of danger occurring! In 2003, a young girl's parents decided to do something special for her birthday, and surprise her with a beautiful new car. They thought of different cars that would suit their young daughter's needs and came up with an Acura 1.7 EL; luxury mixed with comfort. "What a great choice," they thought. Little did they know the trouble it would bring!
A month after giving the gift to their daughter, they noticed that the gas gauge happened to be fluctuating quite unusually between Empty and Full, when it should have been reading a half tank. With time they noticed the problem was becoming worse! This was defeating the purpose for which they bought the car, which was Safety and Reliability, so they decided to take it to Acura and let them know of this problem! Acura found that a needle was missing in the gas gauge and that this was a manufacturing defect. The Bogas sighed with relief and were thankful that they had brought the car in so early in the process.
A few months later this problem began to reoccurr; when driving, the gas gauge would drop from above a half tank to Empty in the span of half a block. The Bogas became increasingly concerned regarding their daughter's safety in this vehicle, given that their daughter studied late at nights at SFU, and getting stranded there would cause a lot of problems as the parking lot is a considerable distance from the school, and there was no cell phone reception at SFU, either. As time went by, the problem progressively became worse. That is when the Bogas put their feet down and brought this problem to Acura's attention.
After two days of intensive testing, they (Acura Dealer) noticed there were problems with the cluster, and they ordered the part and replaced it (a two-day process), which was worth the safety! This meant that the gas gauge had to be reset from 33,000 km to 0, but the family were in agreement with that; anything for their daughter's safety! This was just the beginning of their problems. Despite having the cluster replaced, the gauge continued to read inaccurately. Within one year, the problem had become even worse than it was initially, dropping down to a half tank within seconds, and not leaving their daughter with much time to find a gas station. They brought the car to Acura again; Acura refused to look at it, and stated they had done everything within their power. This was not the satisfaction that had been promised to the family!
Their daughter kept track of the number of kilometers, and was told to ignore the (fuel) indicator when it came on because it was not reading accurately. Reluctantly accepting this advice, knowing the dangerous nature of it, she agreed to keep track. This went on for 2 years, when finally it all caught up to her and she got stranded. On a Friday night, all alone with no cell phone with her and only a quarter (25 cents) in pocket. She ran to a pay phone. She made a call to a local taxi company and asked them to pick her up. Half an hour went by and no one showed up. Knowing that her family were on vacation and that she had no money to make any more calls, she flagged down a car at random and asked to be taken to a gas station nearby. After getting the small red can and filling up the tank with $5 worth of gas, it (the Acura) restarted.
You can imagine the parents' fury upon hearing this! She proceeded to go straight to Acura and stated that tracking the kilometers was not a reliable method! They decided to use the same solution they had used before to resolve this problem, which was to replace the cluster. Without any authorization, they went ahead and did that. This car had lost whatever market value it had; no-one would purchase a 2003 Acura with less than 1000 km; it would just seem too suspicious.
After complaining to Acura for taking that action without their consent, they exclaimed, "The resale value! You can sell it without giving someone the background and get a lot more money for it!" Shocked at the illegal actions that Acura were suggesting, she hung up and decided to deal with this problem as she had done in the past.
Unfortunately, the problem with the gas gauge did not stop there. She reported the problem again to Acura within one month. They said, "There's nothing within our power that we can do." Finally, she took it to the Acura Head Office, where she thoroughly explained what had happened. They said that several tests needed to be perfumed which would be performed within one month, and a substitute car would be provided to her, and this had been negotiated with her local dealership. Upon arrival at the dealership, they told her that the problem would be identified within one week and that she would be provided with a car at the same level as hers in the meantime. (But I'm thinking that Hyundai Accent isn't quite up to par!) One month later, there were no messages or communication from Acura. When she followed up, they told her one week, 3 weeks later. They finally contacted her to let her know that there were no problems with the car.
Astonished, she still couldn't believe the words she had heard. Before proceeding, she confirmed that if the same problem reoccurred, she could bring it to Acura at any time and they would take a look at it. Less than ten days later, she had the same problem; the gas gauge suddenly dropped within one second from a half tank to Empty. Remembering the words that the Assistant Manager, from Acura had shared with her, she called them to let them know the problem had reoccurred. Despite what had been said to her, they did not seem to car about her safety, and suggested that she contact someone else about the problem, and they had done everything within their power to help.
Fed up, she contacted the Acura Head Office (where they did not seem to care), and transfered her call to the local dealership. She then proceeded to speak with the local Acura dealer who stated, "Too bad; we have washed our hands clean of this problem."
What a nightmare!
Hmmmm, seeming that this is basically a Honda Civic, and my Civic has 150,000 miles on nothing but oil changes, tune ups, and a timing belt, I have to say it is quite reliable. I also just came back from Manitoba and was surprised at how many Hondas I saw... many GM's too, but for a small company Honda was really getting it on.
I have an 2001 EL, and currently I'm having issues with the side airbag warning light. I was in an accident and an Acura dealership replaced the side airbag, but recently I have been having the side airbag light come on randomly without anything on the passenger seat. I'm wondering if anyone else has had this issue with the passenger side airbag warning light.
Also the top speed of an 2001 EL (Manual), is 208 km/h, which I was able to achieve in a controlled environment, with a stock engine.
Well we've had this Acura el '03 for about 1year.
It was a leaseback and according to the sales person and maintence records,the car was properly maintained by the lady who had previously owned it.
About 8-10 months in to driving this vehicle (basically it is my wife who drives this car) I happened to take ot for a spin and found that it seemed to have at about 2-3000 rpm a 'shift' in the transmission when it was asked to accelerate;frankly I thought this was just a typical feature of the transmission. Nevertherless I had the car brought over to the dealer and we were told that there seemed to be no transmission problems.
A couple of months later,just after the time of the warranty being over (the mileage was also just over 100 k) the transmison went down. The dealer said we needed a new transmission.
We called h. o Acura and got the 'over warranty' response when we inquired about this problem.I have been driving for well over 40 years-NO CAR TRANSMISSION HAS EVER FAILED!.
Moreover the Acura is supposed to be a 'quality' car and as such in my oppinion, certainly not a vheicle that would have it's trani die just after warranty.
It is my position that Acura as a car maker of integrity and as such,should be covering the expense of the changing of the transmission completly. Basically all that they were willing to do was cover the labor which is, a/the cheapest part of the job and b/from what I understand fro m my friends who deal in cars not the normal approach in that the car company usually should cover their parts as the maker of same.
Shortly after repairing the car, through friends of mine we ran in to 2 mechanics,both ex Acura people who both said that in '03/'04 the Acuras had trani problems. while I check on the recall sites,i did not find anything like this indicated.
Is there or was there a problem with the transmissions as per what these ex mechanics said?
Would like to hear back from anyone who had a similar problem as this is just too much-as far as I am concerned,if the car is properly taken care of and not abused no car's trani should go down and fail and most certainly not when the milleage is so reasonably low.
I've owned my 2003 Acura EL for about a year and a half now. I was a salesman at a local dealership and this car fit my budget and was extremely clean.
Had the transmission checked at 182,000km. I overheard them say (talking amongst themselves) they have never seen a cleaner tranny in a while.
Also I hear the EL's have a multi-link suspension (standard) over the civics. Civics are a more sporty feel while this is more luxury just like acura wanted.
Hi, I have a 2004 Honda Civic LX (Canadian) sedan & I was looking forward to swapping it for 2004 Acura EL 1.7 leather seats. Base on what people have said, it should fit but I would like to double check before I pay for it. Thanks.
I own a 2002 EL Premium.
I've had it for a year and a half... I'm reaching just under 290000 km... and she still drives perfect.. other than regular oil changes and tune ups I have had zero problems. I have drove her soft... and I've done some serious hard driving with her too, and she always manages to do exactly what I tell her too!
She accelerates smoothly.. and she can really hang a turn at high speeds when I use her E brake!
The only complaint I have is that like the other individual a few comments above said.. I have had my passenger airbag light come on randomly!
Other than that this has been the most reliable car I have ever driven.
Oh also by the way she was in a wreck before I bought her and she was repaired... so with all that in mind, for this car to run and perform so perfectly really speaks on Acura's quality!
As for the people above who had so many troubles.. I'm sorry you have had such a bad taste left in your mouths... but give Acura another chance! They're outstanding cars and very reliable... those of you who had so many trouble just happened to get the ones made by the part time drunks at the plant! =0)
Thanks!
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