Well, I finally went with my gut and common sense. I just ordered a NEW Aegean Blue 02 TLS. I let my Credit Union "Autoland broker" do the searching and haggling for price, then I just go pick it up at the credit union where all the paperwork is done at the same time. It will be delivered Monday or Tuesday... CAN YOU SAY LONG WEEKEND! I had a hard time, as many of you know, deciding on color and whether or not to pop for the 2003. The broker told me that none of the dealers where budging on 2003s, and that he could only locate 2 ABP new vehicles in the L.A. area. (both 2002) I got the 2002 for $30,000 even (non-navi). That's $1,800 less than he was able to score a 2003 for me, and I was tired of waiting. I could have waited (impatiently, my birthday is next week)for him to locate a 03 ABP, but I couldn't stand the wait and the extra cost will now go for stereo upgrades instead of the bragging rights of a "03 sticker"... With the fact that every car I buy, I keep forever, and drive into the ground, I guess I couldn't justify the extra expense for an identical car just to say it was a 2003. I plan to buy and keep this car until it's very old and tired. I have a 94 Camry V6XLE that I will use as my second car now, and will drive it into the ground before I jump ahead of the TLS with another purchase whenever the Camry becomes old and tired. It only has $75K miles on it now and is still going strong... BUT I am REALLY looking forward to the performance and handling upgrade of my new TLS. I will notice the difference, won't I? I just need to hear the confirmation to help with the payment factor. So while a lot of new buyers are jumping on the 2003 bandwagon, I have decided to stay back with the majority of this group and pick up a new 02 at what I feel is a decent deal. Wish me luck on the tranny, rattles, slow starts, etc. lemon issues.... Thanks! I've finally arrived!

 

Congratulations. Not a bad price either. That's about what I paid and you didn't have to deal with the dealer yourself.

My 2002 TL-S has no rattles, original trans and has had no problems what-so-ever. It has been 10 months of pleasureable ownership as of tomorrow and the car has 11,200 miles on the clock.

Godd luck and enjoy.

 

Dude, congrats on your new car!

I wish you nothing but the most pleasurable driving experiences into the future!

I was in the same '02/'03 boat as you. I wanted an '02 blk/blk w/navi, UNFORTUNATELY, the dealer could not locate one! So, I had to go for an '03 at a slightly higher price (even though it is 99% identical to the '02) and a 1-2 month wait.

It's all good though, I can't wait myself! At least I'll know that nobody but myself has driven it. I know that I've screwed up the break-in period for a few Acura TL owners on some of my test drives!

 

Thanks, it feels good to be part of the club. I am sure hoping that my particular arrival is a sweet one! Is there any way to tell from the VIN number or other means when the car was manufactured? I would just like to know out of curiousity sake. I would like to hope that it hasn't been setting on a lot for very long, and that maybe it is far enough along in production to be out of the bad tranny batch... An interesting side note is that I picked up a new 03 sales brochure at the dealer a week ago, and I also requested a brochure by email from the Acura.com website. They sent me a 02 brochure. The car pics inside are identical... The Aegean Blue and Nobel Green model have the same license plate numbers in both brochures. (CNG612 & KYN376) They just "Photoshopped" a little ONSTAR antenna on top of the 03 pics... Other than that, it's the same car. They didn't even bother to put a picture of an Anthracite car in the new 03 brochure. They did, however, add the new color "chip" in the back of the brochure.

 

The month of manufacture will be on the plate on your drivers door jam. If the car is still "gift wrapped" there will be an assembly sheet under the plastic on the passenger seat. It will give the actual day(s). If you don't have that, all the dealer can do is guess on the specific build dates.

Drive the car and enjoy.