Automotive Forums

Right now, I am deciding if I should keep my RSX Type S for a year or two or I should trade in my new RSX for the used EVO IX.

2006 Acura RSX Type S - 14K miles - brought new for one year for $25K - trade-in $18K
2006 EVO IX - 13K miles - $27K

I am not sure what to do now. I can afford the EVO IX, but I would not have much money left each month. So finanically, I am ok.

I want to keep the EVO for a year or two, and then trade in for another car.

Basically, I like to drive many different cars like Mazda RX-8, Mazadaspeed 3, Nissan 350Z, Civic Si, Honda Fit, VV GTI, STi, etc. However, I still like my RSX.

If EVO X actually release, would the price of EVO IX drop much lower? Should I wait or get the EVO IX now? Or should I just keep my RSX for 2 more years since I only have the RSX for one year?

Thanks!  

A lot of your questions are really only answerable by you.  If you're not happy with your RSX, or crave the big jump in power and handling that the EVO IX will give you, and you can afford it, why not?  

But you seem happy with the RSX, so trading up to an EVO is really a matter of preference.  

I do think, however, that it makes a lot more financial sense to keep your RSX.  If you can afford the higher payments of the EVO, but are happy driving the RSX, why not just make bigger payments on the RSX, get it paid off sooner, and use excellent resale value of the RSX to put a fat down payment on an EVO X or similar?  Let's say you can get the RSX paid off in 2-3 years.  It'll probably be worth $12K or more, depending on miles and condition, and you can buy a new $30K car while financing just $18K.  Just a thought.  It's entirely up to you whether or not it's worth the extra financial burden of switching, right now, to higher monthly payments refinanced on the EVO for another 3-5 years.  

It stands to reason that pretty much any car looses a bit of resale value after a new model is introduced, especially if that new model is a) a high-profile car like the EVO, and b) if it's significantly improved over the previous model.  In the EVO's case, I expect resale values of the EVO IX to fall a bit owing to the very noticable difference between the old Lancer/Evo's rather low-rent interior, and the new one's attractive and higher-quality interior.  But that's just speculation, and the fact remains that EVO's of any generation (though we only got the IX in the US) have a cult following that's willing to pay for this somewhat rarified and unique car.  Put simply, waiting a year for the EVO X's introduction to the US market won't significantly impact the resale value of the old one.  

Also consider this.  Even if you can afford it payment wise, the EVO will surely cost more to run than anything made by Honda.  I'm not an EVO owner, nor do I have any experience with them, but it stands to reason that recommended or not, you should only use a high-quality synthetic oil in pretty much any high-performance turbo-charged engine (or anything turbocharged for that matter).  At $60-70 per oil change, that can add up.  Doing it yourself negates the price disadvantage.  Also, EVO's require premium fuel and get poor gas mileage.  Acura recommends premium for the Type-S, but it's not crucial--in a turbocharged car, even a single major detonation event can cause serious damage.  The EVO's sophisticated AWD system is also potentially costly to repair and/or maintain if thing don't go as planned.  And if you manage to wear out one or two tires faster than the others (for example in my area, I always wear out the left front tire because the only decent place to really haul around corners are exit/entrance ramps), you have to replace ALL the tires to keep them roughly similar in circumference.  

But the fact is that if you can afford a high-performance $27K car, you can probably afford to maintain it.  But if you're already pushing the limit of financial viability by making payments on the EVO, consider that it'll cost you more to run as well.  

Ever thought of splitting the difference, and trading straight-up for a 2006 WRX?  OR what about spending $25K on a brand new Mazdaspeed3?