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2.) The shifter's locking mechanism won't let you go into "R" while the car is moving forward. However, the opposite is permissible (but not recommended), that is, going to 1st gear while moving backwards.
I've got about 40,000 miles on my 2002 RSX, which is about when someone else mentioned getting new tires for theirs.
Any specific recommendations for the RSX (I have the base model, if it matters?) I'm in Northern Virginia, so I'd certainly want something that *can* handle snow, but that wouldn't be the defining characteristic.
I'm kinda clueless when it comes to tires - what should I be looking for, in general? Are the "stock" tires Acuras come with good? Mediocre? As bad as the stock stereo?
The only other thing I can see that needs regular changing is the two air filters - cabin and engine - every 30K. Methinks I like! :-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Click on the link on the left for "Tire rack". PLug in year and make of your car and look at reviews for tires.
Find something that looks good and then try plugging THAT tire model into google or yahoo and add "reviews" onto the end of it.
This will give you second opinions for the Tire Rack recommendations.
Decide after doing some research.
30,000 for oil filter change? Who told you that?...the dealer when you said you wanted a low maintenance car?
It's more like "change it when the oil gets changed"
My motto is "the more often you change your oil, the better off you'll be". Of course, a reasonable person isn't going to change every week, but I certainly wouldn't wait 10,000 miles to change mine either.
Look at it this way. In a perfect machine, lubrication would be constantly fresh all of the time to keep out ANY impurites that may get on the moving parts.
Obviously, this doesn't make much sense for a car since you don't have that option.
However, the "break-in" portion of the manual has a specific statement that the first oil change should not occur before 10K.
BTW, I never told anyone I wanted a "low maintenance car". But this car has even less regular maintenance than the Matrix I had before, which I already considered to be pretty low maintenance.
Either way, I can already see that any necessary expense would be worth it for this car. I put about 100 miles on it last night after picking it up, and I have never been so thrilled with a new car as with this one.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Either way, I can already see that any necessary expense would be worth it for this car. I put about 100 miles on it last night after picking it up, and I have never been so thrilled with a new car as with this one.
I'm at 46,000 miles and am still receiving the thrills. Enjoy!
I had the "MIL" lamp turn on a couple weeks ago. I looked it up on the owner's manual (I think it's p. 276 or p. 267) and tried out their suggestions, such as removing the gas cap and rescrewing it. The light wouldn't go away. So I took it to my Acura dealer, they checked the code, and reset the light. All's well now.
I was told that the light sometimes goes off if air gets in the fuel tank, and sometimes it can only be reset by the dealer. That kind of sucks, b/c if my warranty was over, who knows how much it would've cost to have them reset the light. I'll have to make sure that the gas station attendant doesn't top off the fuel.
I read lots of sob stories about people who spent hundreds of dollars trying to get the light to turn off, but nothing would seem to work for them. There were some very frustrated people.
I talked to a good local mechanic I trust and also our Honda dealer. I got the same story - it most likely is related to the evap canister, which has no effect on the way the car runs.
The Honda has been running wonderfully. I just put a piece of black tape over the light so it would not irritate us.
I guess the light realized that we were not going to let it control our lives, so it turned off by itself. The gremlin that caused it must have gone to someone else, like you Beowolf.
BTW, I'm following the "severe driving" table just to be safe and not the "normal driving" table.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Been out driving my RSX base, made 22,000 miles in 10 months. Lately, something new popped up: on a rainy, or just wet, day, windshield wipers are heard on the car radio, loud and clear. Same with the sunroof. Anyone encounter it yet?
Thanks, vickat
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Not a single major problem.
Minor problems - so far I've had two burnt headlights (replaced under warranty), and a couple of small rattles or ticking noises that I isolated and fixed myself. Also, mine was one of the first RSXs so it had the subwoofer problem where two of the wires were installed incorrectly and had to be switched to make the stereo sound better.
As to service - I follow the normal schedule (except I change the oil every 5K miles, not 10K miles). I select the items that need action and ask the dealer to do just those. I skip the "inspection" items from the schedule. So far it's been a very positive, trouble-free and inexpensive experience owning this car.
I expect this schedule to be adequate. FYI we had a 1990 Integra that was amazingly reliable. We had it for 12 years and 220,000 miles and the car was still running strong when I sold it. I used the same maintenance strategy for that car.
Hope this helps.
I know that there was a TSB for the leather coming apart near the top of the seat, but I didn't see anything for the side. Any one else experience this problem? I hope it's covered under the warranty.
Thanks, Kurt
I had my car in for the oil change and asked the dealer again to center the steering wheel, and after checking it out, they told me nothing further could be done. Which I think means nothing further can be done UNDER WARRANTY. So the top of the little Acura symbol on my wheel points left 4 or 5 degrees left whenever I am going straight. ;-(
I may pay to have it re-aligned, if I get a sec'. If it is fixed after that, perhaps I will go and show them the results.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Acura only warrants the alignment for the first 10K, understandably.
I have had several new cars of various brands delivered to me in this condition - an off-center wheel is a very common problem, seemingly. Of course, all those others were fixed after their first visit to the dealer. This one has had two visits so far, with no positive results.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I can believe a 60K is more than $400 though. By the time mine is out of warranty, it will be going somewhere other than the dealer - I am beginning to get the impression the technical proficiency of my dealer is NOT all that...
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
This was explained to me once by a mechanic friend, but I forget now what exactly he said.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Thanks, Charles
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
My car does the same thing. It too is a base model with the manual 5-speed box. It happens after startup when the engine is cold. I've got 8700 miles on it over 4 1/2 months (I DRIVE this puppy!). I've side-stepped the hesitation by raising the RPMs slightly in 3rd, then slowly releasing the clutch. Gotta be GENTLE! On a cold engine, it only happens when I go for 3rd the first time. After that, it's seamless shifting.
My service reminder is doing the 10-second flash right now. This thing has such a sweet little engine! I'm gonna switch to Mobil-1 synthetic.
That is the only time when I wish the first three gears were a little closer together - those of us with the base model have only five for a set ratio span, whereas those folks with an 'S' get six ratios in the same span.
You can reset the maintenance light yourself - I remember reading the instructions in the manual - so that it doesn't flash at you all the time.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I had an SRS light come on, which I wasn't too sure about. I went to my dealership and they charged me $100 to solve it. That ticked me off b/c Acura told me it would be covered under warranty. Apparently, some plug got disconnected under one or both of the front seats, which I'm thinking a local car wash shop did when I asked them to detail the interior.
:-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
It was blowing heat and cold normally last night - it was the directional selector switch that was not doing its thing - it was stuck shooting the air at the windshield.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
That could be it.
Computer might have gotten an electrical glitch which made the vent control stop functioning.
Powering the car down and back up again probably makes the computer perform a diagnostic test which straightened out your problem.
....or the squirrel finally found his way out.
any acorns laying around your car?
:-)
So this thing turned over 11K miles, and my mind thought "maintenance time?". Went to the book, and it said oil change/tire rotation at 10K miles. So I headed to the dealer (I like to use the dealer for maintenance until the warranty is up) and had to endure 10 minutes of the sales advisor trying to pressure me into their "minor service" which he not only highly recommended but damn near insisted on. It included a bunch of junk my book say the car does not need until 20K, and their "recommended interval" for this service is 7500 miles!
Anyway, I insisted on just the tire rotation and oil change, and got out of there for $65, which includes a car wash in and out, worth $10 to me, and topping of all fluids. Which makes it an acceptable price.
What would their price have been for the "minor service"? $135! And it does not include any more actions than were already performed, just a whole bunch of extra inspections.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I'm quickly approaching 25 kmi.! So far, all is well (knock on wood).
I used to expect that I would have no repairs on any car I bought new for the first 100K miles, since I am attentive to the proper maintenance at the proper intervals. That is still my hope, but no longer my expectation. Cars are not built as well as they used to be, and that includes Acura/Hondas...
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I'm getting really close to hitting 25 kmi. : \
Seriously though, they only have to continue to work flawlessly for ten years or so, after that they can go berserk for all I care. By then my yankee Integra will be in the hands of someone else...
Just turned over 12K. I research tires almost daily and dream of replacing these banshee Michelins...
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Believe me, I know what you mean about your tires. At first, I was ready to dump my tires @ 20 kmi., but I decided to stretch it out another year. So now I'm thinking of jettisoning them @ 30 kmi., but if my finances don't allow me to spend ~$2k on new tires and wheels, then I'll do it @ 40 kmi. for sure. I want to move up 17".
I will resume heavy researching in a few thousand miles as I approach 30 kmi. Let me know what your research uncovers. It looks like we're after the same kind of tires. ;-)
A month after I bought this car, I was almost ready to just burn some money and replace these crappy tires, but then I decided I could wait just a lit-tle bit longer, and 25 "lit-tle bit longers" later, I figure I will just gird up my patience and get some use out of these overpriced Michelins. Of course, the "silver lining" on these loud low-traction low-limit tires is their treadwear rating - at 12K mine hardly show any wear at all. Depending on my patience, they could easily go 50K, I think.
Funny: they have totally updated the RSX-S in so many ways for '05, but they are still using these sucko tires to the best of my knowledge. My local dealer has '05s on the lot with the same tires in a 17" version.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)