Hey all,
Been a while since I wrote a post, and part of the reason is my sporty new 2008 Acura TL. I really love it. I have been driving around a bunch and having a great time with it.
My old car, which was going on 8 years old, needed some major work done. Turned out to amount to almost 50% of it’s kelly blue-book value anyways, before I put that much money into a car I was thinking about replacing soon anyways, I decided it was time to take the plunge.
I did a lot of research. At first, I really wanted a BMW. My friend got a tricked out 5-series in the neighborhood of over 70k, and I must admit it is really nice. He tells me “Don’t get me wrong, I love my car… but do I love it more than TWO 35k cars? That’s hard to say”. He makes a pretty valid point here – BMWs are great and all, but are they THAT great? In the end, I decided that for the features I wanted, and the money I could afford to spend, a BMW was not an option, even a used BMW wouldn’t really get me what I wanted. I looked at many alternatives as well – I considered a Honda Accord (my old CR-V was a fine vehicle which literally saved my life on more than one occasion, endearing me significantly to Honda). I also looked at a Hyundai Sonata, a Nissan Altima, a Nissan Maxima, and a Honda Civic. Acura wasn’t even on my list, but it was a coworker’s recommendation which put it on my radar.
He told me that the new TSX is really nice, and I should go test drive one. He sent me specifically to Acura of Lynnwood where he “knew a guy” who wouldn’t “give me the hard sell”. Well, I went there “just for a test drive”, and fell in love. The guy he sent me to didn’t work there anymore, of course, but the sales guy I talked to was pretty good. I know you aren’t supposed to buy a car this way, but in reality, if everyone bought a car purely on statistics and performance per dollar, everyone would be driving a Toyota Camry or a Honda Civic, or the hybrid equivalents. “Holds 4 people, gets 30+ mpg, can go highway speeds” – that’s all you really need. But that’s not all I need. I was tired of driving a “4 banger”. I wanted something powerful, fun, sexy, something which said “this guy is successful and lives comfortably”. Yes, I know it’s pretty vain and stupid to judge a book by the car it drives, but it *does* matter.
He also “warned me” not to let them “talk me into” a TL. He explained that the new TL is coming out soon, and is a total redesign, and will probably be bigger and better for the same cost. He also guessed they would have a few TLs lying around they would be trying to unload. Well I followed his advice and went in to test drive a TSX. He was right that it was new and flashy and very cool. I just wasn’t 100% satisfied with the power. I mean, this is a car I intend to keep for many many years. Hopefully at *least* the 8 years my old car lasted. I asked “do you have anything with more power?” – the sales guy’s eyes must have lit up. What did he take me directly to, but the TL.
Now, due to my friend’s warnings, I was a little wary to begin with. Further evidence that my friend actually knew what he was talking about, the car already had 285 miles on it, more than one would expect on a brand new car, probably all from test drives. Also, they didn’t have a lot of them – my first-choice color wasn’t available (blue), but I saw a black one with light-colored interior which was close enough, after all, it was just a test drive.
I was driving around and having a great time, and the sales guy continued to show me all the nifty gadgets and things. Really, the only feature the redesigned TSX had which the “old” TL was missing was the ability to read MP3s directly off a flash drive. If I wanted to go that route, I would need an actual Ipod. This would have been a nice feature, but with a 6-disc MP3-CD-compatible changer, I was hardly that concerned (that is 4,200 minutes of 168kbit encoded MP3s, for those of you keeping track). The TL had heated seats, a nav system, hands-free bluetooth, voice-command navigation and calling, excellent climate control, and the power I felt the TSX was missing. Compared to the BMW, the only thing I was missing was the heads-up display. I really wanted one of those, I thought it would help me monitor my speed better, and it looks fucking sweet. In reality, it’s just another nifty gadget, hardly worth spending an extra 10k for it. Also, the Acuras are really just the “luxury name” used by Honda, so it is still in homage to the car maker whose SUV saved my life. Going from the TSX to the TL, I didn’t think a difference of 57 horsepower (201 versus 258) would be a big deal, but let me tell you, it was quite obvious.
Nope, that radar detector is not standard equipment – but it was a smart buy, trust me.
So obvious, the cop manning the speed trap noticed as I accelerated up to traffic speed on I-5 during my test drive. Yes, friends, I got a speeding citation during my test drive (which is bullshit, I was just accelerating up to the speed everyone else was going, and having a little fun doing it. The sales guy said cops usually give a warning during a test drive, this cop was obviously an asshole short on his monthly quota). Speeding ticket aside, I loved the car. I played the part of the “disinterested buyer” as best as I could, but I suspect the sales guy knew he had me. I managed to haggle down to dealer invoice or so, then a little lower (hey, I gotta pay a couple hundred bucks to contest this ticket, right?), but then they came at me with the extended warranty and the “zylon” coating to keep it shiny (especially for a black car – trust me!) and so on, so after all was said and done I ended up paying a bit more than I planned to. But you know what? I love my car, and hard sale or not, they took pretty good care of me at the dealership. They helped me with the financing, explained the paperwork for me, traded in my old car, ordered new plates for my new car, etc.
Seeing that now, just a month later, the new TL with even more horsepower, and a full body redesign, is available, some might think I would regret my hasty decision. I don’t. Having a 2009 TL rather than a 2008TL would be nice and all, but I wouldn’t have been able to haggle them down as far, and I am already paying more than I inteded to for my 2008 TL. I “got a deal”, just by settling on a different (not better or worse) body design, and giving up 20 hp and the ability to play MP3s off flash drives. One difference I didn’t know about, in fact, is that the 2009 TL is available in all-wheel drive, which I would have been interested in (hey, it rains here all the time), but that too would have increased the cost (from the website, looks like going from FWD to AWD is a $3,600 difference).
I asked the sales guy if he had been in a test drive where a guy got a speeding ticket before, he thought about it a minute and said, “yeh, I think…about three times”. I asked “did they buy the car?” and he said “ya know, yeh, I think all three did.” I guess that figure is now four. =)
*sniff* isn’t she purdy?