lldknyll26

so i'm in korea visiting friends and always wondered why theres no acura TL in south korea. And today i was walking and spotted a 3G TL (non type s) and came with cleared corner front headlights(standard) and cleared corner taillights (standard). The car definitely stood out with cleared corners front and back. The car stood out even more than a bmw m3 or m5. Is there acura TL in japan? I know they have it in china.

lldknyll26

and one more thing... in korea theres no such thing as Acura brand. The new RL has the Honda logo. And this TL had the acura logo. I'm guessing it was imported directly from elsewhere. However lexus and infiniti exists. I don't know why acura doesn't exist in korea

alexSU

iTrader: (3)

No Acura in Europe either.

SpecTro

iTrader: (2)

wasnt the acura brand going global? I remember ready that at v t e c d o t n e t.

Bearcat94

Probably a Chinese TL imported. AFAIK, the TL is sold as the Acura TL only in North America and China.

Globally (Europe, Asia, etc) there are a number of "Acura" models (or Acura-like models) that are sold with the Honda badge. For example, in Japan, the 2G TL was a Honda Sabre or Honda Inspire, iirc.

Since Honda bases so many models on the Accord Platform, anywhere you find the Accord, the up market trim/model may be similar to an Acura model here.

tinad2004

there are no acuras in europe and acuras only exist in usa unless they are imported from the us, the have the same body cars but they go under the honda logo , for example honda accord would look just like the tsx and the rl they call the legend and its with the honda logo as well, but i did not come across a tl look alike i think that tls are just based on the US market and honda hasnt produced a TL counterpart for europe

TonemanTLS

Up here in Canada we even have the CSX which is an upscale Civic

Blazing GT

TonemanTLS

Are u refering to my post?

Majofo

There's a strong military presence in ROK, so I'm guessing some active duty soldier owns it. I was visiting family a few years back in ROK and I saw a '76 stingray.. I normally don't pay much attention to them but damn it stood out there.

LoveMyTL-S

I was thinking the same thing. Probably military or civil service person shipped it over.

Babnik

Acura entered the Russian market last year: http://www.acurazone.ru/

They don't sell well because it's like 1.5 million rubles for a new TL, that's like 50,000 USD. You can get a BMW much cheaper.

tinad2004

i was in russia this summer and i didn't see an acura but i did see the acura body type with the honda logo, refer to my above post, i dont understand why acura would be entered into the russian market when its the exact same thing that the honda produces

erick3

i wonder what that guy uses to run his car? isn't gas freaking like 10 dollars a gallon in korea?!

Herblenny

I was in Korea Oct 08 and saw koenigsegg CCX driving down the street in Soeul.

Majofo

.. yeah.. when I was there a few years back I thought gas prices were high ~$2.50 / gal.. until I realized it was /liter.. .. ..

If he's a civil service worker they usually have their own gas stations on base that are subsidized, so they'd be paying less than civilians.

6spdtl-s

iTrader: (1)

sounds like a CDM TL

atsx1313

they are still yet to sell in south korea rite??

rossv1

MarcoNorthPolo

Correct.

tones160

After 5 yrs the thread comes back to life lol....I do hear BMWs sell a lot cheaper than Japanese cars in Europe. Supposedly they cost about the same as a Ford to us lol.

M.I.N.O.

iTrader: (1)

There's no Acura in the Middle East either. I had my TL shipped to UAE and Saudi Arabia, and everywhere I go I get approached by random people complementing me on my car and asking me what it is. You'd think I was driving a damn Ferrari or Lambo lol.

flyromeo3

There is a TL in the middle east. Luqman shipped his over.
However, she's in a coma right now =(

Majofo

fixed

M.I.N.O.

iTrader: (1)

Cool. Nice to know I'm not alone out here.

yungsixx

it was probally someone in the military who had it shipped there. im in the army and was stationed there last year. that's the only way you saw any car that wasn't Samsung, kia, or hyundai

tones160

I had no idea Samsung makes car lol. Just googled it and not bad at all!

paekshin

I know this thread has been bit old, but I wanted to share some pics anyway. Just like everyone mentioned, there is no Acura brand in Korea. However, there is Lexus and infiniti. I don't know why Honda is not bringing in Acura but, there must be some kind of reason. By the way, there is Honda brand in Korea. Most of the Acuras in Korea are brought by people who have lived in United States, someone very interested in Acura, ROK army, or American citizens who comes to work in Korea. We also have a little community like Acurazine in Korea. But, it is very small, since there aren't that many Acuras in Korea. However, there are many Acura models like TL, TSX, RDX, MDX, NSX, and even ZDX. Here are some pics of my car and a pic of Korean Acura community meet.

1995hoo

In the opposite vein, here is a picture of what to us would be a first-generation TSX, but in Europe was an Accord. Picture taken in St Andrews in April 2006 in the public car park across the street from the first tee/18th green on the Old Course. (This wasn't my rental car; I had a Passat turbodiesel 5MT. Great car.)

Mr Marco

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

RJ repping in South Korea! Who would have thought.

aboysua6

I'm trying to wonder how much the owners have to pay the tariff taxes on these cars when they get shipped over. Its gotta be pricey if im correct...

wise_optimist

A friend of mine took his 2007 MDX when he got a job at Posco(?). He said the conversion and inspection totaled about $10,000. But then, his parents are pretty rich, his dad being former Samsung executive.

He said it wasn't really a loss because if he wants to sell it, he'd more than likely to get more than what he paid for all conversion + import tax.

nttstt444

iTrader: (1)

Well, In the beginning (mid 80s) when the Acura brand debuted in NA, they weren't really any different from their Honda counterparts in Japan. It was more or less to get people in the US and Canada to buy higher end Hondas. They did this by branding them as Acura. I suppose it wasn't much of an issue elsewhere in the world, that's why Acura is only in NA. Our 3G TL's are actually the first model exclusive to Acura,there is no Honda version of the 3G. There is certainly more of a gap between the 2 brands these days. Neat pics.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Let's set up a dealership....

paekshin

Tariff taxes are pretty expensive. It might have changed with the FTA, however, when I brought my car to Korea from United States, I had to pay about USD $2,000 just for the shipping, and about 34% of the MSRP of the car. This is because I brought a new car. If one buys a used car, then they would put taxes depending on what the car is worth at that time. All this is possible because cars in Korea are more expensive than United States. A new fully loaded Honda accord costs a little more than USD $40,000 without the tax. And the fully loaded Lexus ES350 costs about a little more than USD $63,000 without the tax. This is why almost 80% in Korean car market are Korean cars such as Hyundai, Kia, samsung, and Ssangyong. Funny thing is, hyundai aren't that cheap either. Since, fully loaded Hyundai Genesis without tax costs a little more than USD $70,000. Which I think is crazy

flyromeo3

Didn't know Samsung made cars.

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

Would acura navigations work in these countries? Perhaps use a Honda gps disc for the area?

gatrhumpy

iTrader: (1)

He's right. AF has a large presence there, so I'm guessing it's some Active Duty AF guy.

paekshin

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