ranger

Most of us only send in comments when we are dissatisfied with our TLs. This is a little story that is all good.

My wife and I just got back from a five-week road trip that took us from South Carolina through the midwest and out to Las Vegas and then on to Southern California. We returned through the southern states.

We covered over 6,000 miles on all kinds of roads. Some were great like Nebraska and Texas Interstates but we also dealt with aggressive traffic in LV and LA and some dirt roads in Texas and Georgia. We even went through Monument Valley in Utah, which is closer to a four-wheel drive exercise. We also went from sea level to over 9,000 feet at the Grand Canyon.

Generally, we ran a little over the speed limit and yet averaged 30MPG. We were extra careful because we certainly did not want any hassles while far from home.

After cleaning all the bugs and grime off, I found only one chip and a couple of light scratches on the hood. Not bad when you consider that every state had road construction. The car ran like a clock - no problems at all; not even any new rattles.

I feel comfortable in recommending the Acura to anyone.


Ranger

cbptls

Excellent.

I drove 800+ miles over Labor Day weekend, second long road trip since owning the car since July and the car performed flawlessly with the exception of the VSA light that came on the last day back. (This was fixed by my local dealership, they said there was a fuse that blew)

Car is great for cruising, although a bit noisy on the sections where there was construction.

jeowen

Ranger that is great!! I love road trips, especially in the TL and it sounds like you saw some beautiful places...any favs that you suggest are a "must go"?

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

Nice write up.

AMIC

Glad to hear you had a great time with your TL!

2K5-TL-6SPD

I'm glad everything worked out with the trip and the car Sounds like it was alot of fun.....I should take a road trip around the country sometime. This TL is so comfortable I could travel the entire country no problem i'm sure

shooter

Good trip ! It's funny you mentioned no new rattles at the end .. LOL

ImPoRtHoNdA

LOL I agree with you on that one. Haha. May I ask how many miles is on your car? I am actually going down south California this weekend (looking up colleges) adding about 1000 miles prob. I hope no new rattles come up just like yours.

ChicagoBurbs

Very nice post! I commend your upbeat attitude, and welcome your observations.

One question....6K miles in 5 weeks....did you ever sleep?

I'm really glad you had a safe trip that seems to have been enjoyable, and that you experienced no significant negative impact brought on by car issues. Thanks for a nice story.

ranger

I hesitated to clutter up the user group with a trip diary, but due to popular request I'll give you a few more tidbits...

Here are some places that we visited that you might like:
The Arch in St. Louis, MO, Carhenge in Alliance, Neb., Arches Park in Moab, UT, Monument Valley, AZ, Grand Canyon, AZ, Las Vegas, NV, Laguna Beach, CA, Sedona, AZ, Saguaro Park, AZ, Big Bend Park, TX. Note that we like the outoors and not the cities. LV is an exception - remember the bar scene in Star Wars?

As to distance - some days we drove 400 miles, but most days we stayed under 300. We also stayed 3-4 days in some places without driving at all.

I mislead you a little on rattles - after we unloaded the car at home; there were no rattles, period. We now have 18,000 miles on our 2006 TL.

The first thing that I did when we got home was change the oil/filter. The service minder had just hit <5% life. I never went so far (7,000 miles) without a change. After changing oil at 3,000 mile intervals all my life, it's hard to adjust to the new standards.

Thanks for your interest,

Ranger

timmahh

Holy crap how the hell do you get 30mpg?

I avg 23 - 25

tessler

Wow. What a great trip report.

I'm totally new to the TL: I take possession of my 06/5AT/Navi tomorrow (thus no "hi from a newbie" post yet: I want to take pix and do it up proper). Ranger, your trip report is encouraging, as I'm also a 2-wheeler and am all about the mileage (just got back from a short trip on my K75 from NYC out to Wisconsin and back via the U.P.)

In any event, I've been lurking here for a few weeks and am thoroughly impressed by the level of expertise, enthusiasm and camaraderie found on these boards.

Looking forward to participating now

ranger

30 MPG? - It's all about the light foot. Cruise control makes a big difference too.

BTW - the computer shows 30, but I also divided all the mileage by all the gas I put in and got the same number. I might have done a little better if there hadn't been a horrendous traffic jam in Mississippi.

Ranger

rksokol

on the light foot thing.

I recently drove from DC to Philly and got 30 MPG. The best I can get in the DC area is 23 MPG.

MR1

First of all, great post Ranger, glad to hear about trouble free trip in a great car.

Mileage on the road in a TL of about 30 is fairly typical. Timmahh, if you have a chance to get out of Sacramento traffic for an all freeway tankful, you will be amazed how your mileage increases. Can you say Monterey or LA or even Redding? It's all about the long distace cruise with zero stop and go.

dampfnudel

That was funny, no new rattles. So it was just the old rattles that kept you guys entertained along the way.

Anyway, I've never visited the Outer Banks, so I may go there next month which would be my first long distance trip with my TL (more than 200 miles one-way). The only thing that concerns me is construction/traffic around DC, so I might take the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. It's been almost 20 years since the last time I drove over that impressive route. I'm not sure if I would ever cross the country by car, I prefer to fly if the distance is more than 500 miles.

Annsue

Thanks for the upbeat post, Ranger. You're a man after my own heart! We love road trips. Took one this summer from the DC area down to Shreveport, Louisiana and back and averaged 31-33 MPG with the A/C on the whole time. (We took my '07 TL-S.) Pretty impressive mileage if you ask me, especially since my husband, who drove the entire trip (he LOVES driving my car), was making me pull G's getting on all the interstate "on" ramps. We sure did enjoy hearing the sound of that exhaust during lift-off.

Dave1668

30 mpg was what i was getting in my last car, an accord.
doubting i'll get that in the TL S as 90% of my body weight seems to have shifted back to my right foot....

ranger

I was browsing and found this old post. We still have the 2006 Tl and just completed another road trip. This time we went from South Carolina to Arizona and then up to the Canadian Rockies. It was another great trip; saw some great sights, met a lot of nice people, and ate some great food. Our TL is now almost 11 years old and still didn't miss a beat. Our only annoyance was a MP3 player that got a little cranky. We traveled mostly back roads and averaged 31 MPG. I pretty much stick to the speed limits because we are not in a hurry and who knows how each state chooses to enforce the limit. Total mileage was about 8500 and the only issue after returning was the alignment went off and caused a little uneven tire wear.
Now for a new question. I was looking at a 2017 TLX and found that I can get one for about $900 less than MSRP. The 2016 TLX is available for about $3000 less than MSRP. What do you think? By the way; if I get a new one, the TL is going to my son.

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

No major changes to the 17 except for new color/interior combos I believe. IMHO, you should be getting about 5k off MSRP for the 16. Good luck.

DMZ

It's easy! Just drive like a normal human being and trash the lead foot.
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Jayfizzl3

How many miles on your tl now? I'm gonna be making a road trip from cali to Florida soon.

LeVeL

I'm driving to Michigan for a few days later this week. Probably 1700mi total - oil changed, alignment done, tires rotated, windshield washer fluid topped off, and CDs burned. Ready!

DMZ

Love your avatar ! Curious how 6MT's are commanding slightly higher prices on the used market.
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