Guest

I am considering the purchase of a TL without nav. in the
Baltimore area. I have talked to 4 dealers so far and the best
price that I have received is $29,950. This includes a spoiler,
mud guards, taxes, tags, delivery (out the door price). This
seems high to me... Is this a good buy? The dealer that
is offering this price is Acura West.

Also, I have some concerns about the TL:

1) I have read that the brakes are poor. Is this true? I currently
have a Toyota Celica which has excellent brakes.

2) What type of gas mileage are people getting with mixed city/
highway driving.

3) The TL brochure says that 91 octane is recommended, but not
required. Has anyone tried regular unlead gas? Should I be
concerned that using anything less that 91 octane could
cause engine problems?


Thanks in advance for any information that you might be able
to provide.

FTM-1

I think the price they gave you is the list price on the car.
With the added cost of everything else such as spoiler I don't think its bad deal. I am not sure about Acura West I started to buy my car from them. I live in D.C. but was always in Catonsville area once a week. I remember when Acura West opened years ago I would go out & look at Legends. My Aunt Lived in Baltimore for many years & moved out near Acura West 12yrs ago. I don't get over that way much since her death a few years ago.I don't know much about service quality at Acura West. I did purchase my sunshade from them about a year ago.I purchased my car from Rosenthal Acura in Gathiersburg. The time of travel to Rosenthall for me is about the same as to Acura West. The feul issue was not a problem for me. The 91octane is the required feul& thats what I use. I did by mistake fill up from almost empty with mid grade gas one time. I was over in that area at the Mobil station on Rolling Rd. across from Security Mall. The fuel light was on in the car so I got some gas & filled up with mid grade by mistake. The car ran pretty good on the way back to D.C. on Rt29.
I did notice on the few up hill steep grades the power was not there. In the city I ran arournd town that week with no noticeable problems from using lower than 91. I would however use the 91octane its not that much of a drain to your pocket. I have been getting gas in Southern MD. since the winter. I go to my sisters house about once a week or like last week spend the whole week. The premium gas there is just as cheap as regular in the city areas. I got Texaco for $1.55 the other day & the weekends they have a 3cent off deal. Some stations are even cheaper. The gas mileage is about average for a car this size. I think most people on this board tend to put foot in the tank. The car is quick from 0-60 it is no sissy. Acura sent me an E-mail a few weeks ago it said Acura Tech Tip. The tip said your car is required to use 91 octane anything higher is wasting money. After I got the car the dealership had new owners car clinic. They gave us advice on the cars we purchased. The service maneger said then to use premium feul. He also said if we could not get premium to use the next lowest grade if it was an emergency. He did stress not to use it to save money. It is a great highway car lots of power to pass & merge into traffic. With the car fully loaded with people & lugguage it does very well. The brakes are good enough for me the car remains stable in panic stops. I had to make more than a few from highway speeds of over 80MPH. The car is very stable in this situation city stops also. I think some of the brake issue is the tires Acura uses. The car is on par with Lincoln LS.& 300M in stopping. One car magazine said if the tires were changed the car probaly would brake better. They did this test last year with the TL & its rivals, The TL,ES300,300M they change the stock tires on one of its rivals & that car did much better. They said that the TL would probaly do the same. The stock all season tires are not the best for this car. They do give it good gas mileage & low road noise. The TL brake pedal feel took me a few weeks to get use too. I had a 94 Accord EX 5sp with ABS the brake pedal feel was harder. The TL pedal feel is firmer as with a Luxury cars so it took time to adjust. I myself have always owned Honda cars for the past 21yrs. The TL has no more little problems with it than my 90 AccordLX & my 94EX. Each of them were #1 sellers & ranked high with Consumer Reports & car magazines. The TL is a best buy & rated high with Consemer Reports & AAA as top cars in its class. After 18 months of ownership I am still happy with my purchase. Some advice for you make sure you don't want the Navigation System.
Many people on this board have kicked themselfs for not getting it. I wanted this option anyway & got it its a great feature you could drop the spoiler & get it later. The other thing is if you are planning on getting the underbody kit later the mudflaps won't fit with it.