As a favor, I stopped by one of the local Nissan dealers in Houston to pick up a buddy while his Altima was being serviced. While I was waiting, I looked around the lot. They had a demo Maxima on the lot, and I decided to take a look at what all the fuss was about with this car.

It looked sharp, and the price is reasonable, but lo and behold, what was on the front driver's seat....BUT PRINTS.

There was a distinguishable imprint of two buns, with a raised crease where the crack rests. Can it be that other leather than the TL's is susceptible to butt prints? Granted this is not a luxury brand, but this was a demo with less than 1000 miles on it.

For the record, I have an ’05 TL with 5000 miles and no butt prints.

 

maybe you are a lightwight...LOL. Some of the people I have seen complain about butt prints weigh in at over 225...

Technically the tl is not a luxury brand.. Close but no cigar...

 

We agree that the TL is not a lux, but rather a near-lux. I wrote the "luxury" statement because every time people complain about the butt prints, they say that a luxury car like ours shouldn't have that problem.

Also, I am a lightweight by some people's definitions - 180 pounds.

 

The seats in the Maxima SUKK!!! They are soft and have no support whatsoever. One of the reason I got rid of my 04 for the TL....I got sick of sliding all over the place!!

 

Since when was an Acura TL not a luxury car??? Last time I checked it by far was!

 

well maybe for you it is... lol all depends on what you are used to...

 

If you think "relocation" means you need to put the wheels back on your house .....

you might think this is a luxury car!

 

lol, yeah I must live in the ghetto.

 

no not a ghetto just out of your car...lol

 

The TL is categorized as a luxury car. Acura is the luxury brand of Honda, just like Lexus is to Toyota, Infiniti is to Nissan.

So are you saying that the G35 is not a luxury car? The ES330 and IS 300 is not a luxury car?

 

 

The TL is classified as a "Near Luxury Car"

I am saying that the G35 is NOT a luxury car. The ES330 is NOT a luxury car. The IS 300 is NOT a luxury car.

But don't take my word for it. To keep this from becoming a 20 questions type of a thread (How about this .. how about that...), I looked it up ... Here's what a bunch of others who are more in the know than I am had to say about it.
autos.msn.com

Near-luxury cars offer trim configurations and option packages that provide luxury features and performance in price ranges that are lower than traditional luxury or high-performance cars.

smartmotorist.com

Automotive marketers have created a new "near-luxury" sedan category, meaning any new sedan priced between $30,000 and $40,000, while the traditional luxury sedan costs over $40,000 when new. Near-luxury sedans are usually mid-sized; luxury sedans are usually large, though there are a few exceptions to the size and price limitations.

carsdirect.com

The near-luxury segment spans in base MSRP from about $23,000 to $37,000. Other than price, what sets these cars apart from the rest of the luxury class is their size. Near-luxury cars generally offer less interior room than their big brothers, but their smaller size often translates into agile handling and a sportier demeanor.

In fact, Forbes as well as a couple of car insurance sites said the same thing. The only site that I could find that wouldn't use the "Near Luxury" classification is Edmunds who wussed out and have a "Luxury <$35,000" category.

Oh, and by the way .. all of the sites listed above had the Acura TL firmly planted in the "Near Luxury" class (except for Edmunds as described above)

 

BMW 3 series not a luxury car also?

 

http://www.canadianautoreview.com/2004_acura_tl.htm

http://www.autobytel.com/content/res...a/Acura-TL.htm

http://autos.yahoo.com/newcars/acura...ork%2Fcpc%2FPI

Even Honda/Acura itself classifies the TL has a luxury sedan. I guess Honda/Acura doesn't know what car they built. Maybe it's a rebadged KIA?

If a car is sold under a luxury brand name, than it's a luxury car.

 

ES330, G35, BM 3 series, Mercedes C and TL, to name a few, are all classified as "near luxury" which are sub-luxury class. Near luxury fits in between regular (eg. accord, camry) and luxury (mercedes E and BMW 5 series), hence, near luxury. Nothing bad about near luxury because it's almost luxury! With all the amenities and comfort, my TL is complete luxury in my book.

 

that's right "near"

 

Say do you live next to Dick Hurts from Holden...

 

I didn't know that TL was a brand.

Another question. Does the price or the style make a car a luxury car? Because I would defintely call the Lexus ES330 a luxury car. That thing has a more luxurious feel than the more exspensive GS. The GS has more of a lux/sport feel especially the GS430.

My whole point is Acura took the same route with the TL. It's more of a lux/sport feel. It has nothing to do with the lack of quality. I do not think Acura suffers in the quality category like some more exspensive brands(Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar) just to name a few.

 

Just because some magazines or websites say that a car is luxury based on the price bracket it is in doesn't mean anything. It is classified as luxury because the manufacturer says it is. I'm sure the manufacturer knows what kind of car they are building.

I agree with sufall96. The Lexus ES330 is definitely a luxury car.

The TL is a performance luxury sedan.

 

I'm sorry, but an RSX is NOT a luxury car.

 

.. cause there's certainly no marketing advantage to calling yourself a "luxury car"

Kind of like a "premium hot dog" ... must be good it says its premium!

 

Well stated.

 

If there is a marketing advantage in calling yourself a "luxury car", than wouldn't all car manufacturers do it? Do you see Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Kia, Hyundai, Mazda...etc. calling themselves luxury?

 

....nothing like belaboring a position in order to fabricate a consensus where little currently exists.

 

Luxury, near-luxury, etc. its all semantics.

Hey does no one care about the buttprints in the Max? Are we all too concerned about the market position of the TL?

My humble opinion. Buttprints in a Max don't matter to me. Near-luxury or Luxury don't matter to me. I bought my car because I liked it, and its strengths appealed to me, not because someone told me it was a "luxury" or a "near-luxury" automobile.

 

Agreed

 

Nuff said.

 

Finally someone is beginning to see my point to this thread in the first place. I started this thread to poke some fun at some of the complaints I hear on this site.

Let's agree that most of us own one of the best cars in the marketplace, the TL. It is a car with a very long list of cool features, and it is fun to drive to boot. Knowing all of this, some still want something to complain about. All they can find is a few wrinkles in the seat, and from that we get numerous butt print threads.

I made the Maxima comment for two reasons:
1. Other cars have soft leather (the real reason for the prints IMO) and are prone to butt prints besides the TL.
2. I knew that as soon as I started the thread, people would write that the Maxima with butt prints is not as big a deal since it isn't a luxury car. Evidently, having a car that is considered luxury means having zero flaws.

The entire lux/near-lux conversation cracks me up. Yes, the TL is a luxury car by most of our standards, but it's viewed by most magazines and analysts as near-lux based on price and its competitors.

The thread was a sarcastic attempt to get people to see that butt prints are not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

9 times out of 10 it gets ugly when people bring up Maxima or G35 in this forum and has for the 3.5 years I have been here no matter what the subject is.

 

TL has been referred to as "entry-level luxury".

Just what does a luxury car have (in your view) that the TL does not have?

 

Nowadays, the term 'Luxury' is more a statement than something tangible.
Styling and nameplate aside, you'd have to really split hairs between the Maxima and TL in comparing the cars themselves. It's simply a matter preference.

Now maybe the fact that Nissan had the audacity to make the Maxima an upscale sedan (a la TL) while retaining that 'NISSAN' badge probably puts off ACURA TL owners who want to distinguish themselves and are 'subjected to' crude comparisons. C'est la vie!!

As for the term luxury car, I think Smart Motorist defines it along the lines I've always understood it:

"Automotive marketers have created a new "near-luxury" sedan category, meaning any new sedan priced between $30,000 and $40,000, while the traditional luxury sedan costs over $40,000 when new. Near-luxury sedans are usually mid-sized; luxury sedans are usually large, though there are a few exceptions to the size and price limitations"

 

Actually do people really care. I mean you got the car for a particular reason. The term used to describe the car is not some exclusive club. Remaining objective about all this, does the A spec then fall into the luxury segment because it crosses over into the 40K range? Does getting a discount off the 40K down to 38K mean it just fell out of the luxury category..

There will always be the niles and fraser cranes of this world that need to belong to a club or segment...LOL by the by could you pass me the grey poupon... opps I guess not, since you are driving a maxima... Do you know the difference between a 10 bottle of merlot vs a 30. I doubt it...

And I think that now so many cars are in the 30-40 price class... 45 and about is now a luxury car... basically it is a demograhic used by marketeers to identify a market segment.

They fail to say that the guy who bought it lives in his mom's basment... lol

 

I personally could care less. Besides, all I see is a depreciating asset.

 

what is the RL considered?

 

I own a TL but I drive a rental Maxima regularly. I have owned Maximas for 14 years previous to my TL.

They are not in the same catagory. You don't even have to drive them to see the difference. Just sit inside and turn on the key. Or not.

There is not a whole lot of difference between the Maxima and the Altima. I am not saying they are not excellent cars. They just don't have the same look and feel of style, comfort, quiet, and feel as the TL.

Compared to the TL, the Maxima is nice and roomy, torquey, but kind of cheesy. The new ones don't even have the quality feel that my older Maximas had.

Love the engine, though. I tried so hard to love the car but I couldn't get over the interior and the butt-ugly grille.

 

Ironically, this same sentiment on Acurazine pretty much exists for every Nissan being discussed. To wit, I feel compelled to create a form post from your post:

Copy and Paste at your leisure.

 

You put words in my mouth. But you make a point. I always said if they made a 2 door Maxima with rear wheel drive- I'm there! The 350Z was a bit impracticle. I shopped for the G35 Coupe. I actually decided to get one. Three things bothered me: 1) the stealership would not budge off of list price, 2) I could not find one without a premium package (I wasn't going to pay $1,000 for a sun roof that I didn't want), and 3) The interior and instrument panel was cheesey.

As far as I know, those three reasons still exist.

I also decided to spend a little extra and go up a notch toward a luxury automobile. I also cross-shopped M-B 320E and BMW 530.

Maybe you didn't hear me, but I am a Nissan lover. I just think they screwed up on this current generation of Maxima and the G35 falls short of what it could be. Can you say you don't agree about the grille and interior of the Maxima? I notice you don't have one either.

 

Lighten up X; in more ways than one, it's not that big of a deal.

 

Just responding to your comments. Did you think that would just fly without a response on an Acura TL forum? LOL

That's not my "heavy" post. You would know it if it were.

 

This is all that matters to me.