Well after a lot of negotiations with my wife we are getting rid of our 04 TL(Her choice, I wanted to go for 300K but a happy wife makes for a happy life). The car has 164000 miles on it and has been the best car we have ever owned. We've had it before we were married and had kids and it feels like part of the family. This site has been the best, I have saved thousands over the life of the car fixing and performing all maintenance and problems myself. The only thing I have had to pay a mechanic for is replacing the front shocks and the timing belt change.
We bought a 2010 VW Jetta TDI, as we are commuting 175-200 miles a day between the two of us, we work opposite schedules, and the fuel savings is almost paying for the car. Now I have to give the TL a good cleaning, get the service records out and putting it on CraigList and/or EBay.
We are hoping to get a MDX for the family vehicle in about two years so hopefully I'll be back. Once again thank you to everyone on the site for being a wealth of information that would have cost me thousands.

 

Glad to see that the car has served you well and it's certainly disappointing that one needs to alter transportation depending on fuel prices so that the companies can fill their pockets. We still have the TL, but back in '08 we made a similar move. We sold the last Grand Cherokee V-8 and purchased a new Kia Optima, I know Kia, but let me say that in the 106,000 miles I've only replaced 2 front stabilizer end links, pads front (76k) and rear (87k), 2 sun visors that were done under warranty, the car gets double the mileage of the Jeep and saves about $300 p/mo in fuel. Actually the Kia is larger inside than the TL, has a larger trunk, and fold down rear seats that allowed me to bring home just yesterday, 13-16’ pieces of crown molding stuffed through the passenger compartment. This is why the TL is used only about 3,500 miles p/year.
Good decision and hope you have similar luck with the Jetta and maybe we'll be seeing you back in an Acura, but in the meantime count your savings while using the Jetta.

 

I can understand the change. Sometimes you have to take one for the family. I did something similiar when our 96 Voyager died. Had to trade in my 08 WDP TL-S for two vehicles. I got a 06 Honda CR-V for me and a 03 350Z for her. We needed at least one vehicle to haul things in. Both cars have been great. Tough but necessary choices. Have fun with the Jetta and don't be a stranger. You don't have to own an Acura to jump into the forum. Good luck!!

 

That's the right move. Ive contemplated it a couple times these days because of the gas prices.

 

You will love the Jetta ... I came from a Passt to the TL and still miss some of the German quality.

 

I had a 03 Golf TDI that I got rid of for an SUV and really enjoyed it. With the mileage we drive and hopefully I can still get $7-8K for our TL the Jetta is only costing us $250/month and the $100/month in fuel savings it really is a no brainer.

 

Totally understandable you gotta take one for the family sometimes. Good luck with the Jetta, it should really help you out with the gas prices.

 

There she is!!!

 

What mileage are you getting with the Jetta?

 

For the first two days of mixed highway and rural 50 mph driving the computer is saying 45.2 mpg but I won't believe that til I fill it up and do the real math. I'll keep you posted.

 

Nice looking Jetta.

 

Sweet. That's pretty good. I'm not a big V-Dub fan but some of those diesels get pretty good mileage.

 

The VW diesels also seem respectably quick for their mileage too. I had a new one in front of me on an on ramp the other day and was expecting a slow ramp up in speed (like most Priuses) but the driver floored it. There's something about on ramps that makes me always want to do a robust launch when conditions warrant so I'll do that when nobody is ahead of me anyway. I had that 'oh well' feeling but the Jetta TDI was a definite surprise.

 

There is a Jetta TDI wagon in the family, it gets mid to high 40's even while towing a boat. They are little torque monsters and they are great on fuel.

 

Well after a week of driving and almost 1000 miles, we got 40.7 mpg out of the first 3/4 of a tank and 42.3 out of the second half tank. Not as comfy as the TL but much easier on the wallet and it is a fun little car to drive. It has a little turbo lag but when you mash the pedal it goessssss.