The $15,000 Question: Acura TSX

Honda probably sells ten Accords for every one Acura TSX in the United States.  But ironically, the Acura TSX IS the Honda Accord in other parts of the world.



Still, if you're looking for a leaner, sharper Honda sedan, one with a the rev-happy 2.4 liter VTEC engine from the S2000 roadster, but don't care for the boy racer Civic with its split instrument panel, you're in luck.

I always felt the 200-2012 Honda Accord was a little too ponderous, especially compared to the 1996 Accord I owned back in the 1990's.  That Accord, with it's high revving four cylinder and precise 5-speed manual gear box, always felt more like a poor man's BMW to me.  Similarly equipped, the Acura TSX has that same precision and feels like a direct decendant to the old Accord.

Is Kia the New Honda?

Ten to twenty years ago, all my friends, and many family members drove Hondas.  It seems everyone had an Accord or Civic.  When they got married, they traded those Accords and Civics on Odysseys and Pilots.  When their kids began to drive, they learned in Accords and Civics, beginning the cycle anew again.  But lately those same people have started moving on from Hondas to something that starts with the letter 'K'.    


So it makes me wonder:  Is Kia the new Honda?

I know there's some debate about the longevity of Kia products, and the Forte and Optima haven't yet mastered that perfect mix of ride and handling like the Civic and Accord.  But from a function, utility, and value standpoint, Kia has checked all the boxes.  And to my eye, Kia has got their styling right.



The Kia Sorento is much more attractive than the Honda Pilot.  Same goes for the Optima, Forte, and Sportage, which are better looking than the Accord, Civic, and CR-V.  The new Kias have a sense of premium style, which is intentional since they lured Peter Schreyer away from Audi.  When I look at the current Pilot, I feel like Honda just phoned it in.  It looks like it was inspired by a refrigerator box.  The impression of phoning it in is further highlighted by the last two generations of Accords, which were described as "Buick like" by several car magazines, during a time when Buick was catering to the over-50 set.  It culminated with the dismal 2012 Civic, which was bad enough for Consumer Reports to take it off its recommended list, stating it was much worse than the car it replaced, and forcing Honda to scramble to introduce a refreshed version a year later.

But Honda's missteps aren't the only reason Kia has been successful as of late.  Once known as a cheap car of last resort, Kias now boast attractive styling and good value.  Bottom line, the company is building good cars that can stand on their own merits.



When you build a good car, one with features people want, that is attractively styled, a good value and a sell it at a good price, people will come.

Auto Show Musings

I went to the KC Auto Show yesterday. Here are some random thoughts & musings:

Chrysler, Ford and GM have come a long way in a short time. The quality of the look and feel of their new cars is amazing. Chrysler's new interiors are stunning as are Ford's. GM is finally building cars I'm interested in, including the new Chevrolet Cruze and Buick Regal.

When it comes to imports, Hyundai and Kia are lapping the field on Toyota and Honda. The Korean automakers have always provide a good value at a low price. Now they're turning out stunning designs and workmanship. The new Kia Optima looks better than a Jaguar XF--and I never thought I'd say that. And the Hyundai Elantra looks like it came from the future. I sat in a Mercedes C300 and then the Elantra. Both cars are about the same size, and line up nicely on paper, but you can buy two loaded Elantras for the price of one C300. What's more, the Elantra actually had a nicer interior with its mix of materials, design and colors. Even if they were the same price, I'd still pick the Elantra.

My latest obsession is a Mini Countryman. It's the first Mini you can get four normal sized people in without a shoehorn and some butter. At $27-30K, I thought it was price, but it's everything I want in a car. Unique styling, room for four, all wheel drive, good gas mileage, and loads of fun. I'm sure this obsession will pass eventually--people who genuinely obsess about cars are like serial monogamists or high functioning addicts. And if they have means, they will collect cars like Charlie Sheen collects women and grams of coke. But for those of us with limited means, who have to make due with one car in the garage, the Countryman would be hard to beat.

Beater Challenge: $800 to $0

It's been awhile since I posted to this blog. It's not from the lack of ideas, but a lack of time. Occasionally, reality intrudes on my Walter Mitty escapism...

For now, I'll just post the results of the Beater Challenge. By this point, I would have paid $800 in car payments for the Honda. $800 is about half of what I paid for the Cutlass, which has cost me exactly $0, except for gas and an oil change.

That's not to say there aren't things I could fix on the Cutlass. But it's a question of spending money on minor annoyances. The door lock and power window on the driver's side occasionally stick. Like a toilet, you have to jiggle the handle until the door opens. It's probably just a loose electrical connection somewhere inside the door.

Then there's the stereo. The tape player stopped working, so I can no longer listen to my iPod in the car. Fortunately the stereo does have a CD player and I've burned a number of CDs to listen to. It doesn't have quite the nostalgia of cutting a mix tape, but it serves its purpose.

If I had either of these problems on a new car, I'd have them fixed under warranty. On a thirteen year old car, they are an annoyance but ones that can be tolerated. I suppose if the Cutlass were an MG or some other interesting old car, these issues would be part of the charm of the car. But on a beater, they are simply something to live with, like a scar or old wound which hasn't quite healed.

How often should you change your oil?

How often should you change your oil? If you lived in the era of the shade tree mechanic or run a garage, your answer is probably "faithfully every 3,000 miles".

That answer may have been correct in the era of carburetors and bias-ply tires, but not today. Oil, like the cars that use it, has changed over the last thirty to forty years. Now you can go 5,000, 10,000, even 15,000 miles between oil changes. And if you use synthetic oil, that interval is even longer.

Some cars like most late model BMW, Honda and GM cars equipped with OnStar have onboard diagnostic tools to measure remaining oil life. All cars have the recommended service intervals published in their owner's manuals. And all manufacturers now recommend changing the oil between 5,000 and 10,000 miles depending on your driving conditions.

In my opinion, the only time you need to change the oil earlier than 5,000 miles is if you bought a brand new car and want to change the oil after the car's break in period. After that, just follow your owner's manual. Doing so will prevent you from voiding your warranty and save you money.

Beater Challenge Update for September

I've gotten to know the Cutlass pretty well in the last month and I've discovered there's things I like about the car and things I don't. It's not as refined as my old Infiniti and it lacks that car's performance. If you've ever driven a mid 1990s GM car back to back with a Toyota Camry from that era, you know what I'm talking about. The Cutlass came standard with features like keyless entry, ABS, and traction control but the design and execution of those features leaves you wondering if GM was even trying in those days. The fog lights are a prime example. On the Infiniti, they useful, adding visibility to the sides of the car and beneath the headlights. On the Cutlass they're afterthoughts that cast a feeble glow just bright enough to reveal their location which is buried deep inside the bumper.

There are other examples of shoddy work as well, but since I bought the car for less than I sold the Infiniti for, I'm reluctant to complain. Ultimately the Cutlass is a good, solid, reliable car. And except for some dents and scrapes which make it look a little like Mickey Rourke, there is nothing wrong with it. In the month that I've owned it, I've done nothing but fill it with gas and give it a good cleaning. If I owned the fictional Honda Accord in our challenge, I would have done all of that and written a check for $400 for the first payment.

So the score for the first month is Accord $400, Cutlass $0.

And that makes up for a lot. Even the fog lights.

The Great Beater Experiment

Which costs less money, driving an old beater or buying a 2-3 year old used car? Having driven older cars for a while, I think I know the answer--it's always cheaper to drive an older, paid for car than making car payments. But I've never kept track of exactly how much I saved.

So now I'm going to perform an experiment.

I am buying my Grandma Ruby's 1997 Cutlass. After driving it for two months, I've found it to be a solid, reliable car. It only has 78,000 miles on it and everything works. And I can buy it for the about the same amount as a down payment on a 2-3 year old Honda Accord. I'm picking the Honda because many people consider it the benchmark four door family sedan and it has one of the lowest total ownership costs based on insurance, repairs and depreciation.

To compare cost, I'll weigh the monthly car payment against any repair bills incurred on the Cutlass. The payment on the Honda will be set at $400, which is on the low side of what you would pay if you financed a $15-$16K car for 36 months. To keep it simple, I will not figure in taxes, insurance, or depreciation. I will also not count oil changes or tires in the equation, since you would expect to incur those costs on both cars.

Using those calculations, I estimate it cost me $7500 to drive my Infiniti for three years, which is about half of what it would have cost to drive the benchmark Honda. I'm curious to see if I can do better with the Cutlass.

The Best Cars for Snow

My friend Jody, who writes a blog called the AgrOpinion, likes to challenge me with car questions. Recently she asked me what I thought was the best snow car.

In most cases, it would have to be something with all wheel drive or AWD. All wheel drive is different than traditional four wheel drive because all four wheels are always connected to the drivetrain by a fluid-filled center differential. Traditional four wheel drive is a part-time system with a mechanical differential. In two wheel drive mode, only two wheels, typically the rear ones, are connected to the drivetrain. When you encounter slippery conditions, like snow, mud or sand, you can shift into four wheel drive and all four wheels will receive power. The traditional four wheel drive vehicle has more capability for traveling off road, or through deep snow, and are useful for people who live in places called Beaver Camp . But for people who live in suburbia, whose offroad excursions are limited to a snowdrift at the local shopping mall, AWD is the better choice.

Why? The reason is simple--four wheel drive can only be used in slippery conditions. AWD can be driven in any condition and is especially useful for roads that alternate from dry, to wet, to snow packed and back to dry. These conditions describe most of the road conditions in the Midwest this week, even with the record snow and cold temperatures.

There are a number of AWD vehicles on the market. Some are SUVs like the Honda CRV or Ford Flex. Some are normal looking cars made by everyone from Ford and Toyota to premium cars like Audi or Mercedes Benz. There are even high performance sports cars like the Porsche 911 and Lamborghini Gallardo which offer AWD. But my favorite AWD cars are made by a pair of quirky, offbeat car makers called Subaru and Suzuki. It used to be Subarus were only driven by Vermont college professors and Maine housewives who shopped at LL Bean, but anyone who has spent time in a Honda will feel at home in a new Legacy or Outback. Mention Suzuki, and people think "motorcycle" or "that jeep-thingy that flips over" but they make a great small wagon called the SX4, which you can buy new for under $18K.

My personal choice would be the Subaru Legacy GT, with either the 2.5 liter turbocharged engine or the 3.0 V6. It offers AWD with enough performance and creature comfort to make a BMW jealous, and looks that won't make you cringe.

I Miss Pop-Up Lights

Although the 1980s are not considered a high watermark of automotive design there was one element from that era that is missing today. Pop-up headlights.

Pop-up and hidden lights originated in the 1930s with cars like the Cord 810 and the Buick Y-Job concept car. They reappeared in the 1960s on the Corvette, Buick Rivera, Pontiac GTO and Dodge Charger. Before long they spread to Italian makes like Lamborghini, Ferrari and Alfa Romeo. But they were the most prevalent in the 1980s, appearing on everything from exotic cars to Hondas and Toyotas. They came in all styles and shapes, from ones that flipped up, like on the Honda Prelude, to ones that rotated 180 degrees like on the Corvette C4. There were also exposed pop-up lights like the ones on the Porsche 928 and the 1982 Toyota Celica that I owned in college.

Fifteen years later, pop-up lights have all but vanished. The last new car with pop-ups was either the 1997-2004 Corvette or Lotus Esprit. I know a big reason they went away is cost. Fixed lights are cheaper to produce and less expensive to repair. They also weigh less and take up less space. And like most styling trends, they were a bit of a fad as well, like tail fins, digital instruments and talking cars. But like most fads, it's only a matter of time before they reappear. If the Chevrolet Camaro, Ford Mustang, and Dodge Challenger are any indicator, I suspect we'll see pop-up lights again in the near future.

10 Cars for $10K - 80s Collectibles

The average car nut is usually forced to make a choice. Buy a reliable daily driver and a toy or one car to fit both requirements. The second route is straightforward. Instead of opting for a Camry, like most normal people, the car nut picks something like a Mini Cooper, Dodge Challenger, or BMW M3--all of which have a degree of practicality but can also induce face splitting grins on demand.

The other route is more difficult, requiring a balancing act and a very understanding spouse. Spend too much on the toy and you're likely to own a daily driver that will have you taking the bus. Spend too much on the daily driver and you're the owner of a toy that sits on blocks or lurks in boxes.

However, there are cars out there that make this balancing act easier and can be had for less than ten grand in good, if not excellent, condition. The following is a list of ten cars from the 1980s, a decade enthusiasts only recently began scavenging for collector cars. While this is by no means a complete list, each of these cars should appreciate in value and are fun to drive.

1. Alfa Romeo Spider - The car Dustin Hoffman drove in The Graduate was still in production when he did Rain Man. The 1980s version may lack the clean lines of the original but is less temperamental. The Pininfarina styling holds up well today and the driving experience is light and crisp, like a Pinot Grigio.

2. Audi Quattro - Before Audi became synonymous with unintended acceleration, it made a name for itself in the rally racing world with the Quattro. The turbo-charged all-wheel drive sports coupes were almost as fast as pure sports cars of that era and set the standard for cars like the Subaru WRX and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo.

3. Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z - Think Camaro and the brain conjurs up an image of the mullet wearing high school bully who prowls the streets in a primer and Bondo Z-28 with Poison blaring from his Pioneer cassette deck. But the IROC, named for the International Race of Champions, offers Corvette like performance in a 2+2 coupe or convertible.

4. Chevrolet Corvette - Love or hate the Tron inspired digital gauges, the C4 Corvette offers clean looks and world class performance. Convertibles may be out of the $10 grand price range, but you can still pick up a well maintained coupe. Avoid the 1984-85 models which had the Crossfire fuel injection and rattle trap suspensions.

5. Ford Mustang - I couldn't put the Camaro on this list and leave off the Mustang. While I'm not crazy about the 1987-92 GT with its junky add-ons, you can't go wrong with any of the 5.0 liter cars or the turbocharged SVO.

6. Honda CRX - This car is a favorite of autocrossers everywhere. Light, quick and cheap, with bulletproof Civic drivetrains, this car is pure fun to drive. The only downside is that so many of them have been bastardized by the import tuner crowd.

7. Jaguar XJ-S - The Jag is a classic grand touring car with a smooth V12 engine and a cockpit like an olde English study. You can find good examples under $10K because the car has a reputation for being more temperamental and unreliable than Lindsey Lohan. Some of that reputation is deserved, but for my money, nothing in this price range touches it for looks and style.

8. Mazda RX-7 - Like the CRX, the RX-7 is light, quick, cheap to run and a blast to drive. It's also the only car on the planet powered by the turbine like Wankel rotary engine. Collectors prefer the looks of the first generation car, but the 1986-1992 models offer better performance and the lineup includes a roadster.

9. Porsche 944 - The 944 is brilliance masked by subtlety. You can have a mild mannered base model, or the outrageously quick Turbo or S2. All versions are equally competent as a track cars or daily drivers.

10. VW Rabbit GTI - The original hot hatch. Think Quattro-lite without the all-wheel drive and at a fraction of the price.

Motorbike Mania

Recently, I stumbled across this motorbike. I’m not sure who makes it but I was struck by its rugged, simplistic beauty and filled with the desire to own one. In college I owned a Honda 50cc motorbike and I used to cruise the city in the pre-dawn hours of morning, after I got off work. I had the streets to myself, riding with the company of my thoughts and the buzz of a two stroke engine.

For Americans, motorcycles are Rock and Roll. They are a symbol of youth and rebellion. Ride one and you are a young Marlon Brando or Peter Fonda. And in addition to the image they project, motorcycles are just plain fun to ride. All those reasons are why you see middle aged people on Harleys. The person who pulls up next to you on a Road King, decked out in leather chaps, could just as easily be your dentist.

Recently more people have also taken up riding scooters and motorbikes. Vespas are more popular now than when Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn rode one in "My Roman Holiday." People are restoring Honda Cubs, the Model T of motorcycles, with the same zeal as vintage hot rods. I doubt anyone will make a sequel to "Easy Rider" featuring a Honda Rukus or Yamaha Vino, but the Top Gear hosts recently rode three motorbikes across Vietnam in one of their most epic adventures to date.

Getting somewhere on a motorbike is an accomplishment. A trip is a throwback to a time before the internet, on demand everything and jet travel. You ride at a leisury pace, a mere crawl in todays frentic society. I like to think this is why motorbikes have caught on recently--but whatever reason, it's good to see.

In Praise of the Beater

Henry David Thoreau wrote about the futility of acquiring material wealth. If he were alive today, his argument would apply to cars as well. Thoreau would be appalled with our car culture, shunning it for public transportation. But if he had to drive, I’m sure he would own a beater.

A beater is the car equivalent of a horse at a glue factory. Its value fluctuates depending on how much gas is in the tank. Usually people who drive beaters are a flat tire away from permanent bus ridership. But not always. Sometimes a person drives a beater because they like the car too much to part with it. Or a person may view car payments with the same disdain Thoreau had for paying taxes. Aspiring race car drivers or people restoring a car drive beaters so they can spend money on their other car. Celebrities sometimes drive beaters to blend in anonymously. Sometimes the person driving the car in front of you, with a bumper sticker that says “My other car is a Porsche,” really does own a Porsche.

Most of the cars I owned were beaters. My hand-me-down Olds Cutlass and the VW Thing qualify. I also had a Buick Century which was an especially good beater; one I took for granted until I sold it. The Buick was roomy, comfortable, the air conditioning worked and it got great gas mileage. It wore peeling paint, a GM factory option at the time, and no hubcaps. When I drove it, traffic parted for me like I was Moses at the Red Sea.

A few years ago, the Buick began ringing up large repair bills. I decided I’d had enough and bought a brand new Hyundai Sonata. The Sonata was a great car. I liked the styling, which was criticized for looking like a funky Korean Jaguar, and liked rowing the Porsche licensed Tiptronic gearbox. Compared to the Buick, the Sonata was a joy to drive and in two years of ownership, nothing ever went wrong.

After a while, driving a new car began to wear on me. At work, I parked on the street downtown and mysterious scuffs would appear. My kids spilled milk and Teddy Grahams in the backseat. I realized I was leading a life of quiet desperation and car payments, so I put the Sonata up for sale and began looking for another beater.

I looked at Hondas and Toyotas, but the ones in my price range were shot to hell or looked like rejects from “The Fast and the Furious”. I looked at GM cars, but couldn’t bring myself to own another wobbly land yacht. One day I stumbled across a ten year-old Infiniti I30 with less than a hundred thousand miles on it. I remembered it was the same basic car as the Nissan Maxima but better looking. Curious to why it was in my price range, I called the owner who informed me it had slight hail damage. Two hours later, I brought it home.

The Infiniti is too nice to be described as a beater. Everything works and I wouldn’t hesitate to drive it on a two thousand mile road trip. It’s more rewarding to drive than the Sonata and has leather seats and a sunroof. I don’t mind parking on the streets or in the sun. I don’t cringe anymore when I hear, “Uh oh, Daddy! I spilled!”. And even though it’s black, I don’t feel the insatiable need to keep it washed. But it does clean up well and I’m not ashamed to take my wife out in public in it.

For me the Infiniti is the best of both worlds. Thoreau would not approve. But he might appreciate it, if he knew it saved me from the quiet desperation of car payments.

Big Three Win J.D. Power Awards

For a time in the 1990s, all my friends and I drove Hondas. I'm not exactly sure why but maybe it was a combination of herd mentality in twenty-something adults, who yearn to be different, coupled with an evolving sensibility that let us escape our teen years largely intact. Hondas looked nice and were quality made automobiles that rarely broke. By comparison, nearly everyone I knew was skeptical of cars made by GM, Ford, and Chrysler because we perceived they lacked those same qualities.

Styling and quality are subjective. We all have our own notions of what looks good and our own standards of quality. I owned a 1996 Accord and have always thought it was one of the best looking, highest quality cars Honda ever made. You may agree with my opinion or might think I was dropped as a baby.

Like most people, my opinions are based on my experience, the opinions of people I respect, and the facts as I choose to interpret them. Part of my opinion of Hondas, and my perception about the quality of any car, is based on the findings of J.D. Power and Associates. Like the old E.F. Hutton saying, when J.D. Power talks, I listen.

This week J.D. Power came out with the results of their Initial Quality Study for 2009. This study measures the problems new car owners experience within the first 90 days of ownership. The results for 2009 showed many of the top ranked cars were made by the Big Three. Cars like the Chevy Malibu, Pontiac G6, Ford Mustang, Mercury Sable and Chrysler PT Cruiser scored as well or higher in this survey than similar cars made by Honda, Toyota and Lexus.

This news surprised a lot of people, but it shouldn't. Detroit has always made some very good cars. Bob Lutz has been saying this for years, and as the ultimate car guy, he should know. Lutz has worked for BMW, Ford, Chrysler and in 2002 he became GM's self appointed car czar. At the launch of the Pontiac G6, he stated that the quality of GM cars was as good as the imports. GM just needed to do a better job of getting the word out.

The word is now out. If I were in the market today, I would be hard pressed not to consider buying something from the Big Three. The cars on J.D. Power's list are quality vehicles offering a tremendous value in price and content. Many of them carry huge rebates or financing incentives. And to my eye, they offer good stying as well.