So the lease is about up on my 04 WDP/no nav. I decide to investigate the usual Asian suspects (Lexus, Acura, Infiniti - in that order). Lexus ES350 - nice car and well put together but no real excitement factor. Plus too much money (40g's vs. comparable-equipped TL). I never get to the Infiniti dealer. Acura dealer offers me a 3 year lease on an 08 WDP/navi for $450/month (no down money and they buy my 04 - mint condition with only 22k miles). I am happy about this as I still think the 3rd gen is the nicest looking car on the road, I couldn't wait for an 09 and from the sound of things I may be disappointed if I did and my payments stay the same. Anyway, I pick it up tomorrow.

Question - Has anyone else gone from an 04 to an 08? If so, what are your likes/dislikes? So far I like the turn-signal mirrors, lower-mounted fog lights, and the Michelin tires. Not to mention the Nav. Anything else I need to know?

 

Congrats on the TL but could you clarify- they "buy my 04- mint condition w/ 22k miles comment? Did you mean they bought out the rest of your lease payments?

 

The '08 TL also has a Tire Pressure Monitoring System, iPod/aux jack for the audio system and instant traffic on XM is available in certain metro areas- maybe not in Key West though!

My '05 lease is expiring later this year, so I'm in a similar boat. I might also buy out my car at lease end if the residual remains well below the car's FMV, as I really like the car. I'll go test the TL-S as well as the Japanese, American and German competition at some point, but the interior + clean body lines and taillights ('04-'06) of the TL are hard to beat.

 

Yup- 2 lease payments at $443 plus pay off the residual - total of about $16560.

 

I thought about buying my car outright too but the deal they gave me on the 08 with Nav, not to mention warranty coverage was only a few dollars more than financing a loan over 4 years. I also would have liked the "S" but couldn't swing it with my budget. Thanks for the other info - I forgot about the TPMS. I don't use an Ipod although my son may want to use the jack. About the instant traffic, I wouldn't think it would pick up Key West either even though we get about 2 million visitors a year. However, we make several trips to Miami to go shopping every year. I'm sure it will come in handy there.

 

Could you not sell your current TL for more than $16,560 ?

 

No doubt! However, as busy as I am with other matters of life I didn't want to deal with the hassle and inconvenience of trying to do so. Considering that the dealer waived the down payment on the 08 for me meant that I didn't have to eat up any of the profit a private sale might have generated out-of-pocket anyway. I will be curious as to what he tries to sell it for and if the market will accomodate it. He had more than several 3rd gen TL's on his lot already.

As an epilogue, I drove the car home from Miami last evening and must say I am impressed with the overall improvements vs the 04 when it was new. The ride on the Michelins was smoother - no evidence of flat-spotting like the Bridgestones. The Navi is absolutely awesome - sorry I didn't get it earlier. I also like the new instrument display - numerically a little more classy with the readouts not being as blocky. All in all, I am very pleased so far with this car and also the dealer experience at Miami Acura.