wall e

hi, I was just wondering how many of you out there have scratches, scuffs, dingrs, dents basically cosmetic damage on your TL?

I want to buy a brand new car but I feel like its wiser just to buy used since cosmetic damgages are inevitable. I also wanna buy USED so that I wont be so paranoid whenever I park in public. Cuz i am gonna go banana's the day someone keys my car just because they noticed its new and it looks like the owner realli takes care of the car or cuz they are jealous or whatever.

I dont know if its normal to be a perfectionist when it comes to cars cuz anything else i dont realli get upset over. for instance, if i spill ketchup on my white shirt, im not gonna feel bad cuz i kno i can throw it in the laundry. but a car scratch is different cuz u can apply touch up paint but it will always be visible.

jimmyl

When you are young then your car is your major asset. So that causes you to obsess over it way more. Also, when younger, you actually have time to devote to doing that type of thing. Nothing wrong with that, it is a right of passage in some ways.
You will certainly drive yourself crazy though if you obsess over every little thing. First off, like you said, it's inevitable. Second, nobody else cares how perfect your car is but you. Third, these cars are nice, but certainly not really jealousy material. Sure, we like them because we have them, but they are just a nice Honda after all.
Buy used because it keeps you from paying the huge first depreciation......

BTW, I've had my TL 2 months now and it's been hit/bumped 4 times already!! None while I was in or around it.
Nobody can afford to fix every little scratch......

jda123

Nobody else will care about your car as much as you do. You are outnumbered. Do the best that you can, but remember that cars are not an investment or even a good asset, they are an expense.

It is just a car.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

I'm publishing a new book called; Life lessons learned from Azine.

swtnycboy

buy used because its cost efficient.

whether the car is used or new, you will get attached to it. be smart, don't be a retard. buy used!!

Jesstzn

Mine an 06 and bought new .. I had one small dent put in it by a meter reader and PDR took it out .. other than that I have nada.. not even rock chips ..

Mind you I am very careful where I go/park etc. Small towns are nice that way.

As for depreciation its only an issue if you plan on changing cars a lot .. I keep mine at least 6 years.

I but new because I was tired of buying someone elses problems.

wall e

i agree that buying used is cost efficient, but in order to buy used, someone had to buy new right? so im wondering what goes through the heads of the one's that make USED cars possible. Are they the one who pull the trigger on a new car and take one for the team? I kno that cars are one of the worst investsments cuz the value only goes down, but i liked to think a car is more than just a car, which is why I am with Acura.

I guess Jesstzn that is one of the advantages of living in a small town.

ez12a

fleet purchases and leases are what make up a good portion of these used cars.

Some people like the luxury but dont want to pay the full price up front (or plan to) so they lease it.

Crazy how after 7 years these cars' values went down by half or more (counting many factors). Just keeping that in mind I dont think i'll ever buy a luxury car new.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

kettle.

I hate cars

I bought mine new in Dec of '05. It has 99,000 on it now. It has one small scratch on a fender that I did myself while doing suspension work. No one can see it but me. It has one crack in the fake carbon fiber near the license plate which only one friend has noticed. The only ding is in the roof, no idea how it got there and you can only see it when the car is freshly washed and you have to be at the perfect angle. It's so small it looks like a paint flaw instead of a ding. It does have a few white paint marks on the mirrors from people opening their doors into me where luckily the mirrors saved the door from the scuff.

I know you can't stress too much about this stuff. I feel guilty how much stress I've caused the GF and people around me worrying about it over the years but I would still hurt someone if I caught them purposely letting their door open into me.

It's that first ding or scratch that's the worst. After that the rest aren't as bad. I made the mistake of getting the front of the car repainted once I stopped commuting as far which also required fixing a small ding. Once it was perfect again I started stressing like it was new again. I'll probably never get it repainted again, just too much stress. I still take very good care of it but I'm over keeping it perfect. If I don't watch it, it will end up like my father's GN, sitting in a garage under a cover and being driven down the street once every 3 years.

I'm not saying I would buy used just because of the stresses of keeping it perfect. I think my attitude has changed about that a little. I do have a hard time realizing it's a 5yr old car since my original mindset was it's a new car. My other car was bought when it was 10yrs old so I never had the same problem with it.

I hate cars

I'm slooowly getting to this point. I'll always be an enthusiast but I'm looking at houses right now and that's taking a lot of the emphasis off of the cars. I'll just put up barbed wire around the perimeter to keep kids and dogs away to keep the house perfect lol.

Bearcat94

Dings happen.

ilovemangoes

Buy a Used but get it checked out thoroughly. The depreciation sucks especially if you know that you will eventually get rid of the car unless you are planning to drive it to death.

Dings and scratches happen, I tried to keep my TL in perfect shape but in my 4 months of owning it, there have been 2 new dings and 4-5 new scratches.

I hate cars

I should explain why I bought mine brand new.... I just got tired of not knowing the history. It was nice to start out fresh and not have to worry about what carfax is not telling me and not worrying about previous maintenance or whether or not the car was abused. Next time I'll probably look for something a year or less old so I don't have to deal with depreciation but hopefully new enough that the owner did not have time to neglect it. With all of the semi-permanent audio stuff that I'm doing and the fact that it's paid off, no plans to sell mine.....ever.

I think or I hope that one day, buying new along with the obsessive maintenance since new will get me to the break-even point since mine *should* go a long time without any major troubles where some of the others that went 80k without replacing items such as the transmission switches and fluid might have expensive problems earlier on.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

i bought my car new in 05. why? b/c i wanted the whole new car experience and like IHC didn't want the hassle of the used car what if's.

my car suffered its first bumper tag within 24 hrs of owning it. i still had the temp tags on it. parked in a shopping center 10 min later come back...nice little scuff in my bumper. well i got that out of the way. luckily, a few yrs later i had the bumper replaced after i was rearended. no more flawed bumper and i'm much happier. so, do i have a few dings?? yes, but only i really know where they are. scratches?? only really fine ones, that i put there probably from washing or the car cover or brushing up against the car. again i am the only one that sees them. now since i live in a metro/suburban area, rock chips are inevitable. so i have a number of those little guys all over the front bumper and a number of them on the hood. nothing i can do about it short of driving in a bubble or not driving the car (not a option). so i accept those as the life of my TL as a daily driver.

i am anal about where i park my car and where i drive. sometimes i wished i kept my last car as the beater car. i do try and minimize the cosmetic damage as much as possible b/c let's face it, the TL or any car for that matter looks great when its well taken care of. if i wanted a pOS i would have bought a POS. if you buy used, hopefully you'll have the history of the car or buy a slightly used car that hasn't had a chance to be neglected (per IHC).

slickooz

I don't have a TL, but we recently bought a new TSX 2010 couple months back. After having it for about 2 weeks, someone backed right into the car. I was soo pissed my heart dropped, I was in the car when it happened. Insurance took care of it but you can still see the difference from the color.

I reason I try to stay away from a used car is because you don't know how the previous owner took care of it and what kind of gas he used. I know couple people that drives TL, BMW, Lexus and uses 87.

jungy4

I have bought cars both new and used. I have always took good care of my cars no matter how it was purchased. The amount of pain after seeing door dings is the same for me whether the car was bought new or used.

I still do not understand until this day how people ding other cars so much. Do they not care? Is it that hard to open your door without hitting anything?

I have always been careful when I park my car. I try to park at the end spots so I can have one side protected or park far away. There are times when I park anywhere when I will be gone for a short time, but it seems those are the only times when my car gets dinged.

Buying used after letting someone else take the depreciation is a way to go. But sometimes you get better interest rates on new cars.

ez12a

while i dont want to pay full price just like one who leases,

i fully intend to keep the car long term, rather than as a lease. I've sold my '93 Integra with 196k miles. Before that, an '89 Civic LX with 267k. I intend to surpass that with the TL if at all possible.

Kids. They often swing the doors wide and fast w/o a care. If you ever see them beware. Park away from mini vans, suvs, etc.

denny crane

I was close to buying a used Lexus GS but then it dawned on me -I planned on keeping the car for 10 years but the car would be 14 years old!!! This is contradictory to why I'd keep it for 10 years because I'd be paying for repairs long before I wanted too. I paid more than I wanted to for the TL but I figured its a quality car and it would be worth it.

LaCostaRacer

I have bought new and used. Our last three cars were purchased new mostly because used Hondas hold their value and there is not a lot of savings buying new .vs. used. For 3 or 4 thousand difference, I thought going new was a good value especially holding a car for 10 years or longer.

As far as dings go, my TL has done pretty well. No real side dings or issues, but I have a couple small blemishes on the front bumper and also rear bumper. Nothing major, but I notice them. For front protection, I now always park with a divider so any opposing car can't kiss my bumper. The rear bumper has been self-induced because of my kids have messed with my bumper in the garage and that can cause the door to scrape it. This happened the first month of ownership so it's not as painful now as it was. Some good touch-up paint does a decent job.

It is nice knowing what exactly has been done to the car and knowing there are no b/s issues with it like stripped drain bolts and such. Buying new has its advantages.

I hate cars

I agree, nothing you can do about rock chips. Once my commute shortened I got the front of the car repainted but IMO rock chips don't look like you neglect the car or don't care, they're just inevitable no matter how picky you are.

I also wish I still had the beater. It's so nice to park anywhere you want and not worry. I've probably walked an extra 100 miles since I bought the Tl trying to avoid dings.

That's what makes me so mad about dings. It sucks when the car ends up with a ding but it sucks more considering that it was put there just because someone did not respect your property. That's what makes me so mad. I would never hit another person's car and I doubt anyone would hit mine with me standing there. It's just a complete lack of respect.

My GF bought her '07 Murano brand new and she parks anywhere she wants. I counted 14 decent sized dings and a bunch more paint transfer last time out. Some of these dings are not the kind you make with a simple accidental bump either. This is why right or wrong, if I catch someone doing it out of neglect, it's going to be trouble.

wall e

well i am thinking about buying a 2.5 generation RL, but i dont kno if i should buy used or new. i wanna buy used cuz they are priced like TL's, but Acura is willing to sell me a new 2010 RL for 41K +D/H fees with 0.9% finance rate since my credit is good. i realli wanna buy new b/c i plan to die with this car, but its realli not worth 40K when u can buy a TL SH-AWD for less money and the TL is even 5 HP faster. so far i found an 2009 RL on carmax for 34k with 19K miles.

TLtrigirl, i can TOTALLY relate to you. I actually bought a brand new 08 TL and I scratched it the day i bought it. it was the WORST day of my life and it was ironic, too. I was backup up to park my car in the garage and i backed in too far that i hit my lawn mower and the sad part was I had the back up camera. I just was not use to the size of driving a TL cuz u kno I just got it cuz i was coming a from a mini cooper so i was used to feeling compact. i felt like the first person in the world to damage a brand new car within 1 hour of buying it. i will never forget that day.

04WDPSeDaN

iTrader: (1)

I was like you at one point. There's only so much you can do to protect your vehicle from others but things are going to happen. I realized my 04 TL is now 7 years old, still looks pretty much flawless because I would obsess over it. In a way I still do but not to the extreme like I was. It's more important to understand that something will happen to your car. An accident, rock chips, dings ect one day something like this happens, it sucks but it happens.

If I had to do it again, trust me I wouldn't invest that amount of money into my car and put most of that into the bank or invest it into a house. As you get older your thought process changes.

rkan121

depreciation sucks and it will always happen at any time. If I were you I would Just buy a used car that is the cleanest one around with what you are looking for ( options, exterior, interior, make and model). I would search for a couple months until you find the car thats right for you, Then you will know it when you see it . I just bought a 06 AM Acura TL w 64k miles. The car was baby its entire life and has a couple real minor rock chips on the front clip and two small BUFFABLE scratches on the rear clip. Other than that its a brand new car to me. Prehaps a car of this statue would be of interest to someone like you, they can be hard to find. also if you are worried about scratches, dont buy a black car!!!!

JAB00

I bought my 05 new. May will be 6 years of ownership. It still runs great. I only have 65K miles on it. It's been paid off for the last going on two years. I have my iPod integration and Blue Tooth so I am happy. My only regret is no Nav.

I plan on keeping the car at least another 3-4 years. I am the type who typically keeps for 6+ years. If I had to do it again, I'd probably buy slightly used, about <2 years old. A car that's lightly used has all the amenities as a new one at a $5K+ discount.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

kettle.

leedogg

walked into the dealer before doing research on azine, picked up a used silver TL (not my fav color). Came back did research on azine, realized i got a crappy price and went back to the dealer demanding my old car back. Walked out with a new WDP/black (fav color) for $800 more than I paid for the used TL.

SouthernBoy

If you take pride in the things you own and put property high on your list of soignificant priorities, then ignore those who would tell you that, "it's just a car" because for you, this is not the case at all. I also fall into that category and I make no apologies or excuses for my thinking this way.

I bought both of my 3G TL's new. My '05 automatic, the wife's, has a few places on the body that have marks and dings, but my '04 manual looks pristine. There is not one mark from some idiot opening a door on it because I am anal about my car and where I leave it.

You have every right to feel the way you do about what you own; don't let anyone try to make you feel otherwise. Just consider the source and continue to do as YOU see fit.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

i agree. if its important to you, you will care about those things you own. hell just the other day i was parking, and was about to park in a couple of spaces, realized i didn't feel comfy leaving my car in the space, pulled back out and went to another space i was more willing to leave my car. yeah, anal, and i'm paranoid. my car has been hit in a parking lot with no note.

even with my prior used cars, i still took care of them asthetically. yeah sure they had their prior owner's dings, but it was part of the car's character. i still wanted to make it look the best it could even with the few dings or scratches it had. and i was picky about where i parked, maybe not as picky as i am with the TL since i'm the first owner and want the car to be as good as it looked when it left the lot (like i mentioned earlier, there are a few cosmetic flaws which i accept, but its the life of a daily driver).

you gotta do what makes you happy in the end.

I hate cars

It's nice to hear a female that shares the same point of view. I've been given so much grief for parking so far away and worrying too much. The GF knows I'm obsessive but it was not fun on first dates to pass up front row parking for something farther out and pretending I didn't see the closer parking.

SouthernBoy

I have a very simple take on this. Cars don't heal. If I were to park someplace questionable and receive a dent or ding for my efforts, that blemish is not going to disappear by my wishing it to go away. I park my car away from other cars and I don't give a damn what anyone else thinks about it. It's mine, I own it, and I will do as I wish.

That is the attitude of someone who cares about the things they own.

nj2pa2nc

I am also very picky on where I park my 06 tsx. I park as far away from the entrance to stores as possible. I tried doing that at a Cabela's. When we came out of the store we found a shopping cart hit the bumper causing a few deep scratches. I had them repaired and the bumper repainted. Even after 120,000 miles I treat it the same as the first day I bought it.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

well, i guess you could say i'm one of those rare car chicks. i guess i get it from hanging around my brother (he has a number of car toys- his evo IX and the wife's modded G37 to name a couple) and my dad (he used to work in the industry as an engineer). most people who really know me, understand my anal tendencies, even some of my clients. or its just the OCD from my hobby.

@southernboy-yup, agreed. i worked hard for the money to buy the "things" that i own, and i'll do what i have to do to care for it.

princelybug

iTrader: (16)

I have scratches and rock chips. They're absolutely unavoidable.

SouthernBoy

Thank you. I have noticed that some folks think it strange or maybe too materialistic when people like us fawn over their cars and try our best to protect them. They don't believe that people should be so concerned with their property and they probably think the acquisition and protection of property is somehow anti-people. But I would bet that there are some things which they feel the same about as we do with our cars. A fine camera collection, expensive paintings, family heirlooms, or maybe a rare collection of books and records. They wouldn't dream of having someone scratch or damage those items, but they somehow don't project that same perception to others' feelings about their cars.

Strange.

SouthernBoy

I have very few of these on my '04. I purposely avoid major/super highways during certain times of the day so I don't get rocks or stones thrown up on my car. And during snow or ice, my car stays in my garage until the streets are deemed in my opinion to be worthy of my car's return. I use my pickup truck until said time. While probably not completely avoidable, such damage can be reduced quite a bit with forethought.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

not that strange necessarily. their car is an appliance. go from point A to pt B, tote kids around. i'm sure they obsessive over some collection of whatever. my mom wasn't a car chick (she probably couldn't tell you where the dipstick for the oil was), but she sure babied the hell out of her cars. parked way the hell far away so she wouldn't get door dings and scratches. she wanted her car to still look good years down the road. so i think it comes down to this: how important is said possession to YOU?? but i think we've already hit on that point. maybe since we're all enthusiasts here, we don't understand what non-car type people's perceptions are.

so back to OP, its all about what is important to YOU with regard to your car. as enthusiasts, of course we're gonna get upset and be anal about our car. some things we let go, some things it just bugs you so much you HAVE to get it fixed no matter what. as for purchasing...weigh the pros and cons and go with what you feel is best for your situation and make you happy. goodluck!

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

wish i was so fortunate to have that 2nd car. considered it every time it snows around here. just can't afford it right now.

SouthernBoy

I really got lucky on my pickup. It's a 2001 Ford Ranger I located in April 2002 on a dealer lot with only 1960 miles on it. The business manager at the dealership owned it and traded it for a larger truck to use for towing a boat. Typical Ford truck, it has been problem free.

BTW, the property angle I spoke of was actually a little different than what it may have appeared. There are folks who believe it is wrong or bad form to be so concerned with property. Your comments about point A to point B are dead on and that is how most people regard a vehicle. As you said, most of us don't follow that path.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

^^^gotcha...they just can't appreciate the things they do own, so sad. i own it, i'm gonna damn well be concerned and care about it.