Acura RSX v. Toyota Celica v. Mitsubishi Eclipse - READ ONLY

73 messages,  Last post on Sep 22, 2003 at 1:20 PM

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What is this discussion about? Acura RSX, Toyota Celica, Mitsubishi Eclipse, Coupe, Hatchback

#46 of 73 Subjective Criteria Score by beowulf7

May 16, 2002 (9:20 am)

A while ago, I said I'd provide my own scorecard on how I rate coupes in this class. Well, here it is (fairly self-explanatory). I hope the formatting comes out OK.  
 
					2002	2003	2002	2003	2002 
					Acura	Hyundai	M-B	Mitsu	Toyota 
					RSX	Tiburon	C230	Eclipse	Celica 
Subjective Criteria			Type-S	GT V6	Coupe	GTS	GT-S 
Ergonomics/Driver Comfort	10%	8	6	7	8	8 
Engine Performance		20%	8	7	6	7	6 
Handling/Braking/Steering	15%	8	5	8	5	8 
Exterior Styling		15%	5	10	6	8	8 
"TMV" Price			15%	8	10	4	6	7 
Reliability/Reputation/Resale	15%	8	4	8	6	6 
Utility/Features		5%	6	7	6	9	9 
Warranty Coverage		5%	8	10	7	7	6 
 
Total				100%	7.45	7.2	6.45	6.75	7.1 

#47 of 73 Looks better in Excel by beowulf7

May 16, 2002 (9:35 am)

Somehow, the formatting got a little messed up. I basically weighted each of the 8 criteria and then ranked them from a scale of 1 to 10 (where 1 is low and 10 is high). The RSX came in first place with a score of 7.45. The C-Coupe came in last place with 6.45 points. As you see, all of these cars are ranked very close to each other, and almost each one is the best in one area and worst in another. Looks like I'll go with the RSX-S!

#48 of 73 two rankings I have trouble swallowing by nippononly

May 16, 2002 (9:46 am)

Celica gets less rated for warranty coverage than the RSX, even tho it has the longer powertrain warranty?
 
But mainly, it gets the same reliability/resale rating as the Chrysler "oops, there's another recall" "good thing I saved money for repairs" Eclipse??????? No fair!!
 
OK, flamers, begin...

#49 of 73 RSX vs.CelicaGT-Which2buy??? by wendi66

May 18, 2002 (2:37 pm)

PLEASE help - need to write a check by 31 May!!!! RESALE: No data avail on RSX...can I ASSUME it will hold as well as '02 Celica in 5 yrs?
DESIGN: RSX is new,Celica is 3 yo..in 5 yrs won't there be more young males interested in used Celica vs. yuppies/college kids wanting usedAcura?
REPAIRS: are Acura parts/service >$$ than Toyota?
True Cost to Own-I think Acura's >$$ than Toyota?
PURCHASE PRICE: w/delivery, RSX man w/o leather pkg. is $1517 > than Celica GT w/ALL options except leather/GT-S engine/sunroof.
CONCLUSION: What do you advise? I'm practical, but slightly vain. I'm an idiot about anything mechanical. I need an extremely reliable car,low operating costs, and great resale. Thx 4 your help:)......

#50 of 73 Hmmm by nippononly

May 18, 2002 (11:39 pm)

resale: the RSX will definitely hold better resale as a percentage of its new purchase price than the celica will, especially after three years
 
design: the celica will be redesigned by 5 yrs from now, and RSX will most likely still have the same design, but I don't know what exactly that will mean for the used market. Integras were around for eight years in their last generation, but they were still hot sellers used. No way to know what the next celica will look like yet - dramatic change or merely evolution?
 
repairs: true cost to own is higher for RSX than for celica, but not by much. In five years you will most likely not have to do more than regular maintenance on either car, which will cost more on the Acura if you go to the dealer, but then there is always that Acura "Total Luxury Care" that you get for the additional money. If I am not mistaken both RSX and celica GT use 87 pump gas, while both celica GTS and RSX-S use 91.
 
purchase price: if you are considering the lower models of both, the cheaper car is definitely the celica with comparable options, altho the base RSX has one or two things the celica GT does not have, like rear disc brakes and bigger rims/tires. (standard moonroof too, right?). If you are considering RSX-S vs GTS, I think the RSX-S is cheaper, again comparably equipped.
 
Conclusion: well, I shopped the RSX extensively, and then bought the celica GT, but that is just me. Both cars have the three attributes you listed: extremely reliable, low operating costs, and great resale - you can't go too far wrong. I did not want the luxury nameplate, I like the Toyota dealer I have been frequenting for years, and I much prefer the looks of the celica to those of the RSX. Like, I say, you can't go wrong picking either of these cars.

#51 of 73 true cost to own? by uthinx

May 19, 2002 (10:38 am)

Plugging in my zip code at Edmunds and having the true cost to own numbers computed gave different results for me. The Celica was listed as having a slightly higher operating cost and retain a slightly higher resale percentage for the first three to four years. However, I dispute this as right now Celica sales are down which I think would affect resale value plus the reduce the price you might have to pay for one new.
The Eclipse and Camaro are a joke in value retention and the Volkwagen GTI runs at third.

#54 of 73 RSXvsCELICAvsECLIPSE by 03celica03

Jan 30, 2003 (8:34 pm)

Eclipse:nice stlye,too heavy and handling is questionable under hard driving engine works hard but due to weight is slow
Rsx:better quality,conservative pretty good handling and excellent for a driver who is older but wants a car that can accel and handle when needed but not as tight as celica
Celica:accel excell,ride excell,handles awesome,great gas mileage,ferrari front,Lows:use of scratchable plastics, weak paint but where it counts it has it.push this car hard and never feel like the car is at its limit just keep an eye behind you!

#55 of 73 acura by michiganman

Jan 31, 2003 (10:11 am)

"excellent for a driver who is older". I don't understand this part. It seems like you are saying something about people who would choose the RSX, but you don't mention specifically what that is, or what characteristics of the RSX would make them feel that way.

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