What was your very first impression, when you first saw/rode/drove a/your CL-S? My first impression was.. "This shit is pimp as hell! Holy crap, it's fast, too!" Then I was like "Nnnaaaaaw. I can't afford this." Then I saw the sticker price, and was like "Holy crap, SOLD!!!" before I even drove it. lol.


Who's next?

I know, I know. We just haven't had a good thread in a while, I thought this would stir up a couple pages.

 

"wow this car is too fast and too furious"

jk, thought wow it handles better than my 94 camry wagon, and has more oomph than my 90 celica GT... i'll take it...

 

My story is pretty bad, I know I am gonna get my balls busted for this one.

I had a 2000 TL-P that I used to travel for work all the time. My girl got a job at the same company and was gonna buy a Mazada 3, but we need Navi, so the mazada was gonna be like 21 G's with Navi.


I jump on Ebay and was like, What ThE Hell, an acura CL, whats a CL. She eventually bought a Silver 2002 CL-S. At first, I was gonna be like, Its not much different than My 2000 TL-P, Shit, after I drove it for the first time, I was like, OH hell no, my girl has a better car than me.

A month later I bought a 2001 CL-S, mine is NBP, but I hate when we have our cars parked next to each other, it looks like we have a mini Acura Meet in my driveway. But I love Acuras and always will.

 

it'll do untill I can afford a 430 spider.

 

I hated the front and back ends, mainly the lights are all too big and fat. Wanted something sleeker, more like my 95 Legend Coupe. But loved the features, interior, shifter. Traded in my Legend

 

how's your car running with the zex shot?

 

I haven't installed it yet. Going to install on my next car.

 

yeah, that sounds about right. When i saw it online, i figured i'd see if i can swing the payments, etc and once i sat in it and drove it, i was sold

 

My thought after turning out of the stealership was..... "Fuck, I shoulda bought a stick... But this auto will probably grow on me. It's not too bad, I still have tiptronic."

 

I actually went to the Acura dealer looking to by a TLs, to be honest i didn't even know the CLs existed. The dealer had a satin silver TLs I was looking at for like 17k. then they had an '03 CL 6speed for like 26k so i payed it no attention (my price capped around 21 or so). But my dad was like well what do you think of this car? and to be honest i didn't like how it looked very much, but i got in and was messing around with the clutch and shifter and was like wow, this is a really nice transmission so i decided to go for a test drive. once i got that thing on the road i fell in love. Bought it the next day for 21K and have definetly grown to like the looks too, especially with the few mods I have...Now i look at the other cars i could have bought, and theres nothing i'd rather have than the CLs

 

My boy had a 97 cl and i loved that one...it was so pimp so when the new gen came out i was like "YES the same car but not the same look..." then i tried to buy one and i couldnt afford it.....got a FORD CONTOUR instead .....(its hard out here for a pimp)....

then finally got some paper....looked at this sexy red biznitch....told my friend to drive it cuz i couldnt drive stick ...sat in the passanger and said "oh hell yea...im bout to rape this b....she's mine forever"

stayed there till 9 on new years eve.....was late to the party...but came in a fresh cl-s 6spd. ....uuuuuuuuhhhh....skeet everywhere.....lmao

 

bought mine the day after thanksgiving. couldn't believe that such a sharp looking car was on the lot. got in saw the navi and was sold. i didn't even need to test drive, but did anyway because i couldn't wait... was impressed at the pick up that it had

the best thing was the ride home when i found about V-TECH.....been loving it ever since

 

Man I love my 03 CL-S auto,satin silver. wish i had a stick but o well. I bought the lease off an exec who had it at my company, so i realy didnt have a choice on much but it had 32K on it and the lease buyout was $16K. Mint condiion too! I was sold even before i drove it. just grew on me ever since. I'm about to do alot of modding!!! very excited.

next few weeks:: tein SS coilover kit
CT headers
CT Catback
CT Sways
CT Icebox
Unorthodox pulley kit
Ingalls full Upper control arms
RJ 18x8 Devotion 1pf wheels
possibly other stuff as well

 

was looking around in '00 as my '96 SHO was getting long in the tooth. actually wanted a TL-s but they weren't made then. would have preferred a manual but ditto. would have preferred RWD but... for the money, there was nothing out there with that much power and that many features (didn't get the navi, wished now I did). I've been driving it daily since then, almost 100K miles; could afford a much nicer car now but no reason to sell it off. even now, it still bothers me a little when my wife drives it.

 

Great thread, Ryan! I like reading stuff like this. It's cool to see how people ended up with what they are driving.

I was car shopping one day (cause I totaled my F-150). I was shopping for a Mustand GT w/MT when I came to a realization that maybe a V8 powered, rwd muscle car wouldn't be the best thing for me to have here with as much driving as I do and it would be my only mode of trasportation at the time. Well, at the same time, same day, I started searching for a Honda Prelude since I always loved them. I went to the Honda dealer to see what they had and all of the sudden I came across a black beauty. I sat in the car, took it for a drive and I was sold on it immediately. My only regret was not having them take out all the door dings before I brought it home.

I love my CLS though.

 

it was the only cool car that nobody i knew had. had lots of yuppy shit i swore i would never own. now i won't buy another daily driver without hids and climate control.

 

Funny you mention that... I'll never buy another car without heated seats!

 

Then

 

Didnt have too much money (wanted to put down 4G's and pay under $300 a month), and i had to have stick and a V6. The more research i did the more i figured i couldnt afford a 3 series beemer. Narrowed it down to a 2002ish maxima or solara. Stumbled upon a great price for my 6speed on autotrader.com. When i test drove it I loved the bucket seats, the smoothness of the transmission, the HID's, and the front dash. In my opinion, this was the nicest car for the money on the market. Im so glad I own this rather than the nissan or toyota.

 

My first impression was "I can't believe I spent 30K on a car"

My CLS is the first new car I've ever owned...

But the first time I hit redline in each gear going from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, made me feel a whole lot better about spending the money

Worth every penny...

 

At the time I thought I bought an old man's car; it was way to plush for what I was used to.

 

first thought when i first drove it at the dealership: "wow!!! driving a car is so much nicer then driving my moms tahoe!!"

on the drive home: "daaangg its soo smoooth and i can barely hear the engine even though im going 60??!"


i love my cl-s, its very very nice for a first car. navi is a pluss, originally i didnt care for it and actually asked the salesperson if they could sell it for cheaper if they took out the navi (lol). but navi's grown on me, its MUCH more useful than it first seemed.

 

I never knew what the CL was called, I knew about the TL-S as my friend's dad had one but had no idea what the two door was called. I went to carmax not knowing it's name and then I saw it. I had seen one about a year or so before driving fast as hell infront of a walmart and I was like that is a fast, really good looking car, that would be nice to own one someday( I thought it cost 45k+). So im looking around seeing a couple TL-Ps and I know if any I'd want the S and all of a sudden I see the CL Type S Silver on Black just how I like it (even though black on black is just a tad better looking).

I knew I had to look at it (after seeing how much of a bargin it was), our sales person (who we've bought cars from before) opened it up the doors and I was pretty much taken by the interior, features and especially those seats. We took it for a drive and it just took off like a bat outa hell and when it chirped in 2nd gear in an auto I just knew this was the car. Sales person says "damn this is the fastest one of these I've ever been in" and later on I found out that those infamous Comptech headers were already installed and carmax had'nt noticed .

To sum it up, Overall first impression: DAMN THIS CAR IS NICE!

 

I've always been a Honda Coupe buyer -Prelude - 88Legend - 95Legend,
so when the 1st gen CL was announced as the 'Legend coupe replacement' I thought Acura had hit bottom or run out of ideas.
Then the 2nd gen CLS was announced, I saw a great package, lots of features, but NO shifter, I passed again.
When the 03 6MT was announced I knew I'd get one. If my 95 Legend was a 6MT I probably would have kept it longer, but I never could find a clean 6speed Legend, so the 03 CLS 6MT was my Legend replacement.
The CLS is a great car but the Legend Coupes were better in a lot of ways (and cost $10k more). I still miss the Legend, it had a quality the CLS doesn't have.

 

Hell yea....thats what i was looking to buy for a long time but never could get one that was worth it... 95 gs legend stick stayed rare...and the ones i saw were already owned and the owners werent giving it up.....

 

I loved the looks, but I was really happy to see it had dual wishbone suspension and multi-link rear. PERFECT for hydraulics. Kinda felt bad cutting the trunk floor out of it the weekend I bought it, but it's only sheetmetal.

-Aaron

 

Actually the GS was the sedan version of the LS Coupe. There was no GS Legend Coupe. I still sometimes see a 2nd gen Legend Coupe around, there was a wrecked up automatic in my hood, 6 speeds (sedan or coupe) are rare, kinda like the 6MT CLS!

 

finally.....i thought that long time ago but a friend told me i was wrong and i never researched it. ...i knew there were no gs coupes.....stupid guy got tricked by seeing a coupe with gs rims.......

 

My first impression was the quietness and the smooth ride. I went from a 92 Eclipse with a stiff suspension and a 3inch pipe to LUXURY I didn't realize how tired I was of loud exhaust noise and teeth rattling rides.

 

My boy had it when it first came out in 01 and at the time we both had Accords and boy what a difference. From then I was hooked, but didnt wanna spend loot so I eventually bought a 97 CL , stopped being cheap and bought the TL-S but always will have a spot in my heart for the CL-S

 

prior to buying my CL-S in april i had a '91 Legend Sedan A/T and a '91 Legend Coupe L 5spd and i loved em both to death, the coupe was my baby. but one day i was just driving by the acura dealership, wasnt thinking of buying a new car anytime soon..and the CL-S was the only one there, SSM, and when i saw the stickers on the windshield that said "6 Speed!" "260hp" i took a double take and told myself i had to have the car. i just had to sell my legends. i actually sold both of them on my actual birthday, then bought my CL-S the next day for 23,000. it had 31,000 miles on it and Comptech Headers and ice box

the moment i took it for the first test drive i knew it was exactly what i wanted and the most i could possibly spend too. the first thing i thought when i sat in the car was "my legend coupe..but 10 years newer, just as classy, with tons of nice features and styling". I immediately fell in love with every single thing about. i plan to keep it for many years to come.

 

That's great.. That's what I said, untill I drove something with RWD, and torque. (Corvette)

 

true..which is why im keepin it till the next NSX comes out...V-10 RWD..and an Acura..yeeeuhh!!

 

I loved the cl once i saw it driving by on the 60fwy. The fact that there isn't alot out there is one reason for getting it. Till this day, i'm still in love everytime i drive it.

 

I needed a new car, went around town looking at EVERY dealership. Nothing caught my eye or budget. While my dad shopped for an RX8 at the Acura dealership I turned around and fell in love with this CL. A big FOR SALE sign inside a beautiful car, in my favorite color (aegean blue), every single luxury option I ever wanted, at the exact price I wanted. Too good to be true?

I bought the first car I ever test drove.

Signed the papers that day. Now all I hear are compliments. Couldn't be happier with this car, and every single time I walk up to it I smile.

 

Test drove a red 03 6 speed at the end of 03 for a buddy of mine, he couldnt drive stick. Right then and there i knew at some point i was going to have it. He ended up not buying it. I ended up buying a 01 honda prelude sh. The prelude broke down on me more than you can imagine. the place i bought it from ripped me off, sooooo i get screwed, no car, 8gs in dept and to dead engine. months later....
Went around to a bunch of places looking to make a deal for my dead prelude, test drove sub's, camaro's, vw's and an audi a4. was at the audi dealership for some time, really likin the a4.
Was headed home and was passing Davis Acura, decided why not, check it out.... as i pull in, there she was. SSM/ebony-'03CLS-6speed-32k miles. Went right inside.
"I need the keys for that car."
they worked out a great deal for me and i am still very appreciative for it, they took the lude off me and gave me the car i had been wanting for 3 years. couldnt be happier @ 37k miles

 

So what ever happened with the Prelude?

 

I adored the '92-'96 Prelude Si. I miss that car. My mom had White 5-speed Si way back when, then traded it for a flippin 4x4 truck. *sigh*

 

i was on the freeway and saw a pimp daddy gold CL-S and thought to myself daym that guy fixed up his accord to look real clean? He must be rich to fix up a new car like that ? Week later i got my car stolen. went to the dealer and guess what i found.

 

Yep as soon as I took mine for a test drive, I was sold instantly. Saw the nav unit, the 260hp, I was like hell ya, the HID's, yep I fell in love. So Ryan how come you don't feel the same now.