Had to go by the dealership today and they had a 2007 base RL on the show room floor. Was curious to see the fake wood dash. I must say, if I hadn't known they had changed from real wood I might not have noticed. It looks slightly different, but darn good. There is chance it might not look as good under sun light, but I was impressed.

Bob

 

I agree, I also saw it and didn't think it was fake. I went in unbiased because I only read afterwards that it was fake. Matter of fact, I thought the real wood was fake.

 

I wonder how much Acura saves with that. While most would argue that a REAL luxury car would have REAL wood, the fact is that most people could never tell the difference if they did a good job on the synthetic stuff.

The wood on my old Vigor looked quite good and it didn't have the ton of "varnish" that my RL has. On the other hand, the fake wookd penelling on those old Chrysler K cars looked more convincing than the plastiwood in my '01 TL.

 

Most people won't be able to tell. But for me, if the wood is lacquered, I can tell by the gloss. The veneer has a gloss to it, the fake stuff simply shiny and reflects/glare light. You can see it in this pic...the wood on the dash is real, the wood on the doors and on the steering wheel is fake, that's why the colors are off.

 

I'd wager it would be quite a lot of money, hence it was one of the first thing to go to bring the price down significantly. I can't find the pic now, but when the new RL debuted, there was a pic of a factory worker working the wood posted on the Acura site. Either he was buffing it or polishing it, but either way, it's probably a lot cheaper for the fake stuff.

 

I purchased a 2005 RL and had a Calibre put in it. I had turned the 2005 in for a 2006 and had the Calibre reinstalled on this car. Come to find out, both cars had fake wood on the dash. None of the cars came with real wood. If you doubt it, stick your hand through the glove compartment and touch the 'wood' trim. Get any splinters? If you thump it, you will see that it's plastic.

 

Well then are you saying Acura is lying? The marketing materials specifically state that the wood is real.

 

I am stating that out the two RLs that I had/have neither one has a real wood dash. Stick your hand throught the glove compartment and feel for yourself. When I was having the Calibre put in, they had to take the instrument cluster out and I happened to see the the top of the 'wood' insert. It was not wood. I then stuck my hand though the glove compartment and felt the back off the 'wood' insert. Sure as hell did not feel like wood to me. Give it a try.

 

Thats because just like Lexus and Infiniti, it is wood veneer. Your not gonna feel wood behind the dash because it is backed up with plastic to support it. None of the Japanese luxury companies use solid wood anymore. It is all wood veneer.

 

Actually, nobody uses solid wood anymore, because of the way it performs in a crash. Splintering wood fragments all over the interior of a car are not exactly a safety feature. So, everyone uses wood veneer laminated onto metal, with a heavy polyurethane covering.

 

You're wrong. Sorry.

 

yeah as stated it'd be wood veneer not solid chunks of wood.

 

The wood in the RL is so highly polished that it is very difficult to tell if it is real or not. I have read two reviews where they stated it was fake but it was an 05 review and therefore real. Of course, reporters in newspapers are not known for their accuracy! To the owner, it's in the interpretation - real means quality, fake means Chevy.

 

I just don't get the fake wood thing. If it's not going to be wood, why not just use nice looking plastic or brushed aluminum? Costs less and doesn't look cheezy. I'll never get it.

 

Everyone has different tastes. I, for one, really like the look of real wood on dashboards and dislike the "cheezy" look of plastic and [fake] brushed aluminum. If the fake wood plastics are indistinguishable from the real thing, I am usually okay with that, however most of them look fake. The stuff on the RL is quite good though.

Bob

 

CL6, prove that I'm wrong and I will retract my statement. Until then, I am right.

 

Here is my proof right from a District Parts and Sales Mangaer. See if you can top it.

"-As far as the wood question goes, it is listed as "wood" on the website. However, we have for many years and on several models used a plastic composite that actually winds up looking better than wood, is easier to care for and thus lasts better, and is much more easily fashioned into pieces that will suit the contours of the vehicle via the molding process. In some cases, we'll disclose this by saying "wood-look steering wheel" as evidenced in the accessory portion of the website under the RL section. Other items such as "wood knob" are actually wood. So, it depends on the application. The bottom line is that we hold either material up to the standard of appearance and wear so as to suit the image of the vehicle."

 

Acura cannot afford the lawsuits to lie, therefore you're clue is : "wood knob" are actually wood. and "wood-look steering wheel"

You answerred you own question.

 

You've got me thinking about wood vs plood in cars.

For me, if the plood is as good-looking as real wood, then that's OK. More important is how the stuff is used in the car. I think the wood in the RL is very dramatic, and sets off a very stylish and unique interior.

The 2005-2006 RL has real curly maple wood on the dashboard. The doors feature plood. I haven't seen the 2007 plood dash, but since the door plood is pretty decent as fake wood goes I would imagine the dash would look good, too.

The plood in the TL is also used very tastefully, looks fairly real, and sets off the interior nicely. The RX300 has a nice piece of wood on the dash (sort of U-shaped) that is also unique and dramatic. But the wood pieces around the window switches don't really do much for me.

While the wood in the GS300 is real, and very nice, I find its use on just the console kind rather boring. The M35 has a nicer use of wood on the dash, even if the matte finish isn't to everyone's taste.

For me, its all in how the material is used (assuming it looks passable).

Rob144

 

Actually, everyone in here already knows that the RL uses real wood for 05-06 base models. It is YOU that needs to prove to US that it is fake wood and not real wood. Your the minority here so the majority has nothing to prove.

 

We already had this dicussion more than a month ago. Search if you want, or not. If you can't believe what people here say (and I sell Acuras for a living) I'd rather you live in continued ignorance. You have about 5 posts to your name right now so I'm not inclined to help your further. And your tone sucks, too.

 

+1 for fake wood looking good

 

CL6,

First off, you are the one who started with the 'You're wrong. Sorry.' post. I did not have a tone with you or anyone else. You make a statement, well back it up.

Second, just b/c I have only five posts you can't be bothered to help out a fellow RL owner by explaining your point. I thought that is what this forum is for. I'm sure you had only 5 posts at one time in your life. I could only hope that you are more helpful with your customers.

BTW, I've been participating in this forum for quite some time (prior to purchasing the 2005 RL). I had to start a new username because of password/email problems with my old account.

For everyone else that responded to my post, I was simply stating my observation and what I was told by an Acura District Parts and Sales Manager.

 

Um, the district managers answer says for many years and on several models. Nowhere do I see him saying "yes the wood on the 05 RL is fake." I thought it was common knowledge the wood used on the TL was a plastic composite so to me his answer is directed more at that and like the MDX than the RL.

I fail to see why you can't accept that it is a strip of veneer glued onto a plastic backing or whatever else since that makes far more sense than a company actually using a big thick piece of wood and planing/cutting/sanding it down and chucking it into a car.

Even if it wasn't wood veneer then who cares? It looks good and looks real.

 

Saying that you are wrong, sorry, is not, to me, rude. For 2007 The base RL comes with fake wood. Only the base model. So... what does that tell you? It says that, obviously, the non-base model has real wood. Since 2007 is the first year of the base model (which has fake wood) and because the other models have not changed, then obviously the 05 and 06 have real wood. As I said, this was covered about 6-8 weeks ago if you care to search for this discussion. At that time, there was some question as to whether or not the 07 base RL would really have fake wood so I scanned the sales training materials which stated it would. If you compare a base and non-base side-by-side it is obvious which wood is fake and which is real.

I sell Acuras for a living and the other posters here know a lot about their RLs. If you still choose to believe that your RL has fake wood then I won't stop you and, honestly, the subject is not of enough interest to me to expend any more time on the subject. If I offended you, I am sorry.

Lastly, why Acura would show pictures of an employee planing a piece of wood by hand which will go into an RL if those cars had fake wood is beyond me. I guess Oliver Stone is involved at some level.

All RLs have fake wood on the doors and the steering wheel, if so optioned out.

 

Can a Moderator please close this thread. No one is going to change this guys mind.

 

The way they make fake wood trim and "real" wood trim now is almost indistinguishable. On the current cars, you almost can't tell even if it is real. BAD fake wood, like the super-cheesy tortoise-shell-like plastic on the G2 CL/TL, is just execrable. I remember going to an auto show 3 or 4 years ago, looking at the Caddies, and saying to myself: "Only GM can make a $60,000 car look like it has the interior of a $20,000 car." The fake wood in the Buicks, on the other hand, was some of the best I'd ever seen - it seemed to actually absorb the light and had depth.

If you want to know how bad "real" wood can be ... I had a '91 Legend L, which did not come with the wood center console and door panels, so I emailed an aftermarket company about their custom-cut appliques. They sent samples. They were basically large polyurethane press-on stickers. I took one of them apart (I decided not to go that route) and the "wood" was a layer no thicker than a paper matchstick, embedded in maybe 1/8" of molded poly.

GoHawks - I also had a Vigor, and the real striped Zebrawood was fantastic - God do I miss that car (if you had a '94, you'd have had birds-eye instead).

 

Ernie, he may be right, he may be wrong, but the argument and ad hominems aren't productive. I usually try to ignore the trolls (he's not precisely a troll in this case, but it's a side discussion that's def. stifled the larger discussion) and put things back on a productive track when threading.

 

Here are the FACTS:

91 - 95 Legend LS and GS = REAL wood
92 - 94 Vigor GS = REAL wood
96 - 04 RL = REAL wood
05 - 06 RL = REAL wood
07 RL (non-base) = REAL wood

End of discussion

 

I had a '93... I loved that car.

 

I had a '93 too. If I hadn't totaled it, I'd probably still have it. It was my first non-beater, in the rare candy-apple red with grey premium leather. It had more personality (although not more gravitas) than the Legend that came after, and more panache than the TSXs that followed the Legend. It's one of the most underrated/forgotten Acuras, which is a shame.

 

I agree about the "personality" part. I think it's biggest flaw was it's extremely tight back seat. I was single when I bought it, but it got real tight as I got married and had kids. I also think people couldn't get over the fact that it was a 5-Cylinder. It had decent handling for a FWD car due to the engine/tranny layout. Killer (DSP) stereo as well. Well ahead of it's time. Too bad they tended to rust around the rear wheel wells pretty early.

 

1st gen 2.5 TL sounds like a good car for you then

5 inches of extra rear legroom and still retains the good ride and handling

 

True.

The funny thing is that the 1st gen TLs never grabbed me. Seemed boring (styling-wise). I don't know why since it was similar to the Vigor, but maybe that's just it, after a while the styling get's a little stale. That and the fact that the competition moved ahead while the 2nd gen TLs seemed like just a stretched version of the Vigor.

 

Styling is subjective, I know Acura was trying to go towards a more subdued luxury look.

The interior was ahead of its competition though and holds up VERY well after many years. Material quality is superior to the 2nd gen TLs and fit/finish was better as well.

Too bad navigation systems never made it into the design.

 

Jeez, we had this discussion a month ago and I think the consensus was that we believe CL6 because he, unlike many car salesmen, actually knows what he's selling. Beyond that, Acura documents what CL6 is saying in many places.

The way this thread can be kept useful is for someone to post a pic of the plood. If there's more arguing about nothing, the thread will be locked.

Back to playing with the baby, who's just starting to roll over....

 

Thanks Bob

 

Agreed on all points.

I still think the Vigors, 1st gen TLs, Legends etc. still look current after all these years.


Wasn't the 1st gen TL built in Japan? That may explain why the interiors have held up for so long.

While the Vigor and 1st gen TLs were loosely based on the Accords, they were much more distant cousins of the Accord as opposed to the 2nd & 3rd gen TLs. The 1st Gen had the longitudinally mounted engine and slightly longer wheel base.

 

1st gen TLs were built in Japan and they used not-so environmentally friendly materials, which explains their longevity.

And yes the 1st gen TL was very very loosely based on the Accord. In fact, the 1st gen 3.2 TL's entire front end was lifted straight from the Legend. Engine, transmission (shared with the RL) body and suspension were all compatible.

 

You learn something every day. I had no idea Vigors had real wood. They were before my time. Interesting stuff to be sure.

I think someone already posted pictures of the plood, yes? If not, we have an 07 Base here of which I can snap a picture of the dash. Not sure it would show up in the photos, however.