Ask the Best and Brightest: Acura RSX?

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

“Dear thetruthaboutcars.com, I am asking your advice on what type of car would suit me best. I am a high school student who is the not-so-proud owner of a 1997 Pontiac Sunfire. I recently took a ride in my neighbor’s Acura RSX and was impressed with the overall quality of the car, especially the interior and the car’s performance in general. It looked like my neighbor had so much fun, flawlessly shifting through the gears. I was amazed at how superior this car was to my low-quality Sunfire. I came to the conclusion that the RSX would be a perfect car for me because of it’s high quality ,small size, and because of how much fun it looked to be behind it’s wheel. When I go off to college and have the money, I plan on buying a better car for myself. Is there any car out there that is similar to the RSX that matches it in quality, size, and performance that I can look into? Any advise is appreciated.”

Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • Beken Beken on May 19, 2009

    When I was in college (dating myself), I bought a used Pontiac Astre (aka Chevy Vega). The Astre is the pre-cursor to the Sunbird and then the Sunfire. It was a godawful car, especially when my friends were driving Datsun 510s, Corolla GTS', BMW 320i, Sciroccos etc. But it was cheap and easy to fix. An hour a week of tinkering with it kept it running until after I graduated and after a year of experience into a career, I was able to afford just about any car I wanted. I sold my college wheels that had over 120,000 miles on it. It was in decent running condition that somebody else actually paid me money for it. Like others here, I would suggest you conserve your money now until after you're graduated and living on your own money (and not your parents'). Owning a car should be a responsibility and not an entitlement. Good luck to you.

  • The Comedian The Comedian on May 27, 2009

    I had a co-worker at my last job who'd been with that company for 41 years when I started, 47 years now. His father worked as a tool maker at the same company for 62 years. What the company newsletter article doesn't tell you is that the only reason Frank stuck around after his first summer is because he bought a car on credit. He'd been planning on going to college, but he had that car note to take care of, so he kept working. For 47 years. If you ask Frank now he'll tell you that he regrets not having gone to college, but I'm not sure that matters. He was married a few years after starting work, had three children, now has several grandchildren, a home, a vacation camp, and new cars every 3 years, though he's kept the same wife. He is also among the happiest people I've every worked with. He had a perpetually bright outlook. He knew everything about our business, and was great with customers, co-workers, superiors and assembly workers alike. Now I'm not saying that you would be better off going to college, getting a job or joining the service. I'm just saying that you have to be careful about committing your tomorrows for things you want today. There is nothing wrong with living your life the way you want to, just be sure that 1) You decide what you want to do, II) You don't accidentally derail your plans with avoidable bad financial decisions and that C) You find happiness in living a good life no matter what path you choose. Frank didn't do 1 or II, but he excelled at C. BTW - My old employer has now outsourced pretty much everything they do to other business units and vendors, both domestic and foreign. Frank is due to get laid off before he hits his 48th anniversary at the company.

  • AlexD AlexD on May 29, 2009

    I bought my first car at the age of 28 - after completing all my studies. Do I regret not having one before? Not at all. I took the bus, split on car pooling, rented for road trips, rode a bike. Understandably, you may need wheels to get to campus - drive your beater or get a bike. You'll come out one night after studying at the library and find your windows broken and beer in the back seat, so it's best to be pragmatic here. Your priority is to study hard, get laid, save money to backpack in Europe and get laid there, then come back to graduate top of your class, trade school or whatever, then think about a nice ride.

  • Msrsx Msrsx on Oct 11, 2009

    well speaking from experiance here i had a integra while i was in high school...great reliable car..and no maintence just the oil change ect. these cars hardly break down and if you like the rsx but want something cheaper with same performance try a GSR integra..there faster ( lighter body) and a good bang for your buck...anyhoo moving on when i gratuated high school and when into college i bought a used rsx for about 8,000 and it had about 60,xxx miles on it..leather interior everything was perfect. great on gas ( good thing if your comuting to school like me) but like everybody says..i got 3 475 dollar speeding tickets! its fun to drive ^_^( maybe a lil too much fun lol) and the insurance went from being 60 a month for my integra to about 400 (prob bc of the speeding tickets) but in the long run this wasnt worth it going into college i should have stuck with my integra..so do the smart thing and upgrade from the pos and get a integra if your looking for speed looks and handling ( and plus if your into moding cars like me then an integra is a easy one to work on..i did most of the work on both my rsx and integra my self) but do what makes you happy..im just giving you my 2 cents

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