Hey all--
I feel like I've fallen off the face of the Earth with all the driving I've been doing recently, but I've actually only missed a few days' worth of posts. BTW, I had a nightmare two nights ago in Durham that I was banned from Acurazine for the rest of my life. I know, I know, I'm seeking help.
I picked up my car on Jan. 2, and between then and the 10th I put 700 miles, and in the last two days I drove it from home (New Jersey) to school (Atlanta) and I've got some nifty impressions that I'm just eager to share with you all, whether you like it or not. Plus, I'm looking for a few comments.

Yes!:
-Nav is schweet. Nothing can compare; the calculation/recalculation times are second to none, its database of restaurants is huge and relatively up to date (maybe a year behind). I'm still looking for a "Find nearest Starbucks" voice command though...
-HIDs are ah-freaking-mazing. I did the Atlanta to Jersey drive in my old A4 a few weeks ago, and the HIDs give new light to 95 in Virginia... my passenger was like "whoa, coooooooool..." the entire way down. Plus, I spotted a VERY WELL hidden cop in Virginia thanks to the HIDs. Score.
-The sound system is growing on me, though the Bose in my A4 was better, for sure. I really need to play with the settings for sure though.
-Aux jack is money. I have a wireless remote for my iPod, and it makes my life so good.
-Bluetooth is worth its weight in gold, and it works well enough for me even if it doesn't show battery/signal strength for my phone (Treo 650 with Verizon).
-The car handles rain very well... actually, it handles pretty well in all conditions. I actually enjoyed the drive once I got settled in.
-Steering Wheel radio buttons are something I now cannot live without.
-The car has a really nice, smooth power delivery. I love it.
-Steering is spot-on. I really enjoy the new wheel, very comfortable to hold for long periods of time.

No :
-There is an odd thunk when I close the driver's door. It doesn't sound right... gotta get that checked out.
-Driver's seat squeaks SO BADLY. I HATE THAT.
-The memory seats do not work! It was on number 1, I moved the seat back, decided I didn't like it, and tried to press 1 to bring it back up again... nothing. Not even a blink or anything. Roar.
-Rattle in the center stack. Gotta get that checked out too.
-Somewhere around Greenville, SC, the sales manager called and YELLED at me about the score they received on the phone survey! For twenty minutes she talked and yelled and I yelled right back at her, which was insane... I've never experienced anything like that in my life. By the way, she's now probably trolling this site, looking for my comments... hello Kerry from Bridgewater Acura. How are you? Have you FedExed my plates yet like you promised you would and then reneged because the salesman said that I wasn't worth it?
-The elapsed time kept resetting even though I swear I set it not to do that. No biggie, I'll figure that out.
-Voice commands don't work well on older highways, because of road noise I guess.
-The dealer left some of the PDI plastic on my car around the edges of the hood/grille which burned on the way down. That smell is killer.
-Certain frequencies of bass cause everything in my car to rattle... especially in the driver's door/door pocket. What's that all about?

On the whole, I'm really happy... I've done this 900-mile drive twice in the last three weeks, and I definitely enjoyed it more with the TSX. The nav is just so worth it, I can't even tell you. The A4 had some nice touches, but I appreciate the TSX more I think. The bluetooth and aux plug also made this drive so much more bearable. The car handles very predictably, and was great for passing on the highway; I had a lot of fun weaving .

Sorry for the long post, but I just had to share after driving for so long... happy motoring!!

-rpc

 

ROFL... Kerry from Bridgewater. Did not have a good experience with her/them as well.
The few times I spoke with her over the phone, she talked down to me with an arrogant attitude.

Who was your salesman?

 

Patrick.

Seriously, I enjoyed my dealership experience overall... I just can't believe some of the crap I put up with. They let me drive out of there without insurance, even though they assured me that I had it! They took no COD, and forgot to take the title for my trade, and on, and on. But still, they were honest and upfront about everything (besides the date of the car's arrival, which was hampered by the holidays) and I believe they deserve some credit for that. I honestly can't believe the review I gave turned out so badly, esp since they got full 5s for important things like fulfillment of commitments. The final review was like 75/100.

But yeah, Kerry literally yelled at me for giving them a bad review. I'm sitting there going "Did I just drive from South Carolina into a parallel universe?? Wtf happened to customer service?!?" She had the guts to be like "Well, you're in school... how would you feel if you got a 75 out of 100 in a class?" I was like "That's a horrible analogy! If I told a teacher I'd hand her the final project on Dec. 23 and turned it in on Jan. 2, I would be lucky if I didn't get an F!"

Freaking 25-minute phone call. Yikes.

-rpc

 

so why did you give them bad rep ?

 

rpc,
That santos mcgarry ticket is in some trouble.

 

I didn't feel like I did when I took the survey, but I guess it came out that low. I had her read my answers off to me, and some of the stuff is really stupid, like "Did the salesman explain the warranty to you?" Well, no, he didn't, and that's an automatic 0 versus a 5 if he did, and nothing in between. Many questions are like that.

If AHM wanted a real survey, they would have sent me pages of bubble sheets like Audi did, not a three-minute phoner which apparently dictates whether or not my salesperson's going to be able to eat for the next year...

-rpc

 

I went through the same thing back when I bought my car. Got a fairly irate call from the salesman when I didn't give them fives across the board, when I was doing nothing more than being honest. It wasn't like I slammed them, I just gave my honest impressions.