| Listentomike |
I just got word back from my longtime trusted mechanic that my 94 Honda Accord (215,000 miles) needs a new clutch, radiator, etc. It's gonna cost me $1,800 to get fixed so I figure now is the time to finally make the upgrade to the MDX I've been eyeballing for a year now.
About me: I'm a 26 year old music business entrepreneur living in LA, not too concerned with having the flashiest car (which is rare in the LA music industry) but I still want something nice enough, hence my affection for the MDX. I've seen a couple 03's for around $16K, but from what I've read the 04 is a better all around vehicle. Those are going for 19-22K on Autotrader. I was hoping to keep my total purchase price under 20K, but would like to get an 04-06 if possible.
Would like the dual exhaust, navigation, side curtain airbags, etc, but all of that is only icing on the cake. Does anyone know what a monthly cost would be between a car purchased for 17K versus 22K? What models are everyone else's favorites? |
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| midnightMDX |
| Alot of people will tell you to get the 04-06 due to transmission issues on the early models. And their are a few more features added on the newer models like bluetooth and XM. You should get a insurance qoute and use an online loan calculator to see what payments may be like. Interest rate will depend on your credit. I dont think you can get a good one with alot of features for under 20k without alot of miles. |
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| Listentomike |
I found an 03 Touring with Nav system, listed private party for $16, 950 with 75K miles. I am leaning toward that over a basic 04 listed at $19,990 from a dealership.
The dealership is going to charge a sales tax, license, etc. plus higher interest than I could get from the credit union. The cost savings per month come out to be close to $75/month (even with my good credit), which over the long run seem like it would make up for the cost of a new transmission (if needed) at some point throughout my ownership. What do you think? |
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| midnightMDX |
| The 03s are pretty good, transmission wise. That sounds like a ok deal on that 03 Touring with Nav. Just make sure you inspect everything, test drive, test every little thing. Cause once you give up the cash, there is no turning back on that. Bring a mechanic friend. See if there are any major things that need repair. You can always haggle with the private seller, ask about service records. |
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| Listentomike |
| Thanks for the heads up. |
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| midnightMDX |
| You did drive the accord for a long time. Just think about this with the MDX. Its a vehicle you will be financing, so you need to make sure it will run well thru that time. With 75k miles on the clock, you will expect more major services to come up and possibilities of things going wrong on an older car. Not to mention the cost of gas to fill this thing. |
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| Listentomike |
| Speaking of gas, I'm trying to get an idea of just how much my gas costs will be increasing. How much does it currently cost you to fill up the tank? |
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| wasjr |
Check the service records on the vehicle. If it was serviced at the acura dealer go to the dealer and look at the records and check what warranty work, if any, was done. The 60k service is fairly major, make sure it was done.
Just a heads up that, other than repetitive maintenance, at 110k the timing belt, water pump, and belts should be replaced (the timing belt actually, but the incremental cost of belts and water pump is minimal).
If you want to see the differences between years, you can go to the edmunds website and look at each year. There is a section of whats new in each year. |
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