Finally bought a car

2006 Acura TSX automatic, since wifemobile. Pictures to follow when I get home. We found a poorly repaired front cracked lip that was clearly done by the prior owner. We found some rock chips. Other than that it was immaculate.

After driving it, we decided it needs new rotors (although now I'm wondering if it just got new pads and they weren't seated right); clearly needs an alignment, and I'm probably going to go with some new tires too. But overall it drove great.

The best part was that this was already priced competitively for our area for the mileage and condition, but I told the salesman that with the alignment, tires, brakes, and old battery that it would need to come down $1500. I should have said $2000 since he bit.

After checking the carfax, we found it was a 1owner car who was pretty religious about maintenance and had all the work done at a local Acura dealer. Score. Once I saw that I was handing an envelope of cash and a check over.

Threads to follow asking about tires/wheels and seat modifications.

As an aside, we drove some TL's (disappointing), accords (meh), and 2010 is250. That was the surprise--that Lexus, even though it was road hard and put up wet, was maybe the best car I have ever driven. And I come from a world of bmw, Infiniti, Subaru, and Miata's. It was a phenomenal car. Unfortunately there is next to zero headroom. with the seat reclined back to a "baller" level, I still was looking at the sun visor. Which was not down.

Congrats on the new wheels. I like the looks of the TSX, but have not driven one

It's interesting what you said about the IS250. On paper, they look perfect for what id want in a car, but I know of no one that has one that could give feedback

Yeah, it was really a great car. I didn't drive it in anger; it was slightly underpowered (250 and automatic), and it was heavy--but it just drove like a car is supposed to. It was really a great car. If I had fit (I'm only 5'10" but with a really long torso) we would have scrapped the TSX search and been looking for one.

mtn wrote: 2006 Acura TSX automatic, since wifemobile. Pictures to follow when I get home. We found a poorly repaired front cracked lip that was clearly done by the prior owner. We found some rock chips. Other than that it was immaculate. After driving it, we decided it needs new rotors (although now I'm wondering if it just got new pads and they weren't seated right); clearly needs an alignment, and I'm probably going to go with some new tires too. But overall it drove great. The best part was that this was already priced competitively for our area for the mileage and condition, but I told the salesman that with the alignment, tires, brakes, and old battery that it would need to come down $1500. I should have said $2000 since he bit. After checking the carfax, we found it was a 1owner car who was pretty religious about maintenance and had all the work done at a local Acura dealer. Score. Once I saw that I was handing an envelope of cash and a check over. Threads to follow asking about tires/wheels and seat modifications.

before you spend the money for rotors, try bedding them as though it was a race car ... 60 to 20 over and over ... do this until the pads stink to hell and back ... do it until you don't have ANY brakes at all ...

then park it somewhere, without touching the brakes ... ( I usually use the motor to slow, then the parking brake, because you haven't used the rears all that much) and wait until the brakes are completely cool ... see if the "warped" rotors are ok

good luck ... sounds like a great find

At the time, Acura was chided for being too conservative on it's exterior design, yet I think it was the pinnacle of design for this car. Clean, sharp, great lines, not too busy. After this, it was all downhill with ugly beaks and garish chrome.

I was hoping to read "After driving it, we decided it needs a 6 speed manual transmission, proper.

Appleseed wrote: I was hoping to read "After driving it, we decided it needs a 6 speed manual transmission, proper.

My little brother has an 04 with the 6 speed; he was with me test driving it. We knew that already :P

The automatic is the nicest ATX I've ever driven, bar none. It's almost always in the right gear.

The rotors thing is endemic to the TSX. Ours does it too. I don't know if there isn't enough pad clearance, or what? But eventually over the life of the pads the rotors get deposits on them and flutter the brake pedal a bit. You can burn them off like wbj suggests, but it will come back.

Your wife will love it. And you will too. How many miles and what did you pay, of you don't mind me asking?

So don't even bother doing anything with the brakes? Brakes do feel fine, no fade or anything.

I paid, before ttl, $7,500 with 103.5k miles from a Subaru/Mazda dealer. We looked really hard for one, and this was by far the best that wasn't outrageously priced. Some were rode hard and put up wet. 3 had been in accidents. One, a 2010 with 160k for $10k, I test drove twice--the first time the dash was lit up like a Christmas tree from an Acura dealer, but it otherwise seemed ok. Came back 3 days later--still lit up! At an Acura dealership!

We were looking. All around Chicago and Milwaukee. Could have done better if we had more time, but there were already two that had sold before we could test drive them that had been on the lot for two days or less.

Duke wrote: The automatic is the nicest ATX I've ever driven, bar none. It's almost always in the right gear. The rotors thing is endemic to the TSX. Ours does it too. I don't know if there isn't enough pad clearance, or what? But eventually over the life of the pads the rotors get deposits on them and flutter the brake pedal a bit. You can burn them off like **wbj** suggests, but it will come back. Your wife will love it. And you will too. How many miles and what did you pay, of you don't mind me asking?

I had this as a recurring problem with my Impreza ... finally I did what I said ... I got to the point where there literally was zero brakes left ... foot to the floor, no slowing down ... stink like you wouldn't believe ... 30 - 45 min later, I drove it home, not touching the brakes (parking brake if I absolutely HAD to slow more quickly than I'd planned

left it over night and drove it the next day ... no brake shimmy ... 5k miles later still no brake shimmy ... but it did take several times before I got it all sorted out ... and this isn't a promise that it will fix it for you ... but I'd give it a major effort before I spent the $$ for rotors

can you switch from ceramic to semi-metallic to solve the brake problem?

Yes, anyone know? We don't have a place where we can safely try wbjones's method, so I think we're just going to live with it for awhile. I'm now mostly convinced that it is indeed the pad wear issue rather than warpage, so that is nice.

Can't figure out pictures from my iphone. So just imagine a silver TSX.

pinchvalve wrote: At the time, Acura was chided for being too conservative on it's exterior design, yet I think it was the pinnacle of design for this car. Clean, sharp, great lines, not too busy. After this, it was all downhill with ugly beaks and garish chrome.

Completely agree. Honda peaked around the same time. They've aged well. Everything since then...not so much

mtn wrote: Yes, anyone know? We don't have a place where we can safely try wbjones's method, so I think we're just going to live with it for awhile. I'm now mostly convinced that it is indeed the pad wear issue rather than warpage, so that is nice. Can't figure out pictures from my iphone. So just imagine a silver TSX.

Congrats on the purchase, I loved my friends tsx (same as yours) heck I'm still trying to convince my girlfriend to trade her accord in for one!

Proper braking technique will cure it. Ever car I've driven that had brake shimmy didn't when I was done driving. Idk what causes it but I usually brake fairly late and hard (nothing dangerous just harder than a grandmother would brake) and it clears up. But you said it's your wife's car? So there's no telling if it will get better or worse just let her drive and see what happens. But seriously if it's bothersome at least do the half ass method and do two or three consecutive panic brakes from highway speed to ALMOST stopped. Don't stop completely. Go out on the highway at midnight or something.

Aside: I don't remember if it was here or elsewhere it was mentioned but brake rotors don't warp, they just get deposits on them that makes the pedal shimmy. It was a long argument over weather rotors warp or not but when really hard braking fixes the problem I tend to agree that it's just deposits on the rotor and not it warped

It's definitely a buildup issue. I did a brake job at 30k just to get rid of the pedal flutter. Switched to Akebono EuroPro pads and fresh Brembo rotors. Now, at 61k, it's fluttering a little again.

Invest in an cheap hammer-driven impact screwdriver if you don't have one. The rotors are retained by a stubby flathead Phillips screw that can only be loosened that way.

belteshazzar wrote: can you switch from ceramic to semi-metallic to solve the brake problem?

keep in mind that semi-metallic will dust much much more

mtn wrote: Yes, anyone know? We don't have a place where we can safely try wbjones's method, so I think we're just going to live with it for awhile. I'm now mostly convinced that it is indeed the pad wear issue rather than warpage, so that is nice. Can't figure out pictures from my iphone. So just imagine a silver TSX.

hadn't thought about that ... I've got a back road that doesn't have much/any traffic ...depending on the time of day. so I can get the brakes as hot as I want ... and can get back home without touching the brake pedal ... assuming I plan all my stops well in advance

too bad about the lack of a back road

chiodos wrote: Aside: I don't remember if it was here or elsewhere it was mentioned but brake rotors don't warp, they just get deposits on them that makes the pedal shimmy. It was a long argument over weather rotors warp or not but when really hard braking fixes the problem I tend to agree that it's just deposits on the rotor and not it warped

I was involved in that ...

I'm on my "new" lap top, and don't have access to the link from Stop Tech ... I'll be on the Mac Mini later, and will add the link to this thread ... it's a good read

some got their undies all in a wad because it's from a brake pad/rotor selling company ...without stopping long enough to actually read the link ... and realize that they WEREN'T trying to sell anyone anything... LOL

Bought some steel wheels with Blizzaks on them, 16's. Tires looked brand new--I think I even saw a bit of sticker still on one of them--but the build date was in 09. I retrieved them out of a basement, and I couldn't find any cracking or dry rot, so I think they'll be ok for the rest of this winter and hopefully next. There was a dent on one of the (steel) wheels, but the tire was holding air so we're just going to watch it.

The car had had all (well, I'm pretty sure all) of its work done at a local Acura Dealership, so I had the wife go there today to have the new (used) wheels balanced, put on the car, and then aligned. I know we overpaid at $200 for the whole thing, but I also had her get the service history and wanted to see if they came out saying that anything else had to be done. They told us an oil change; the last one was 6 months ago. We passed since it was only 2.8k miles on it since then.

Some highlights from the service history: (23 visits in 10 years, mostly oil changes/maintenance)

• Rear brakes recommended in August 2015. They didn't do it. We didn't either.
• Valves and Spark Plugs in August 2015
• Transmission flush in 2013

Just about everything else was an oil change. Knock on wood, but I think we got pretty lucky. Wife said that the car rides SO MUCH BETTER now--no more shaking above 60, and the ride is much quieter and softer--that would make sense since we changed from UHP 17's to winter 16's.

Sounds like a great buy, pretty impressive given your time constraints.

I've always liked the TSXs. Never driven one, but I've ridden in a college buddy's numerous times while he still had it. The K series sound great for 4 bangers too.

wbjones wrote:

chiodos wrote: Aside: I don't remember if it was here or elsewhere it was mentioned but brake rotors don't warp, they just get deposits on them that makes the pedal shimmy. It was a long argument over weather rotors warp or not but when really hard braking fixes the problem I tend to agree that it's just deposits on the rotor and not it warped

I was involved in that ... I'm on my "new" lap top, and don't have access to the link from Stop Tech ... I'll be on the Mac Mini later, and will add the link to this thread ... it's a good read some got their undies all in a wad because it's from a brake pad/rotor selling company ...without stopping long enough to actually read the link ... and realize that they WEREN'T trying to sell anyone anything... LOL

here's one of the warped rotor myths links

http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/-warped-brake-disc-and-other-myths

here's another

http://www.alconkits.com/technical-info

both good reads ... but not enough to change the minds of those that think you can get your cast iron rotors hot enough and then cool the quickly enough to warp them ... cherry red rotors temps ... 1275 °- 1450° ... that's pretty darn hot

In reply to wbjones:

I have warped rotors in the past. Throwing them on the lathe revealed the truth. They were so bad they couldn't be brought back true without getting them too thin. OF course they were solid, non vented rotors. Much easier to do than on a vented rotor.

usually the come from the manufacture that out of round/warped .. at least that's what we've found ... some times I've had to turn had them turned straight out of the box ... and it's not necessarily the cheap a$$ Chinese junk ... my "sponsor" gets me Italian Brembo's and they are just as bad

Thickness variation /= warpage. Putting it on a lathe doesn't tell you that it's warped unless the high and low spots actually alternate from one side of the rotor to the other. It's pretty common to machine a rotor much less on one side than the other, which 'should' raise questions about what's actually occurring.