moeronn

The residual percentage is less, true, but it doesn't hurt resale value. You just don't get much for the Navi... when I was thinking about leasing, I did the numbers and after a 3 year lease, the navi was worth $500 more than the non-navi. Not much difference, but definitely not less than a non-navi.

I definitely wanted the navi because it was possible I was moving out of state, but it was more than a $3000 option in SoCal - i.e. not much of a discount at all. I found out that I was staying put, so the navi wasn't worth that much to me. Still a cool thing to have... wish I had it, but not losing any sleep over it.

SilverJ

Your right...if you want a navi 6spd count on paying at LEAST 3500-4000 more depending on your location..maybe a little less for the automatic.
If money is no object get it...

rets

IMHO, money is an issue here. Please buy non-Navi and get portable Navi device instead.

caball88

people don't always realize this but time is money. i consider my time valuable and if you just arbitrary price per hour on what you think its worth, you will save some money in terms of time. plus its an extra toy i will admit that but its nice to be able to buy nice things. that's human nature we want stuff that is new and "nice". that is the reason most of us got the TL right? i mean i could have bought an accord coupe and saved thousands. but i wanted something that was "nicer". there's no absolute justification for the navi, if you want it get. it does provide something other than the cool factor. it does serve a purpose and offers a convenience for most of us that have it. its really up to you to determine if its worth the extra cash for it. if what it offers seems trivial to you and the money can be better spent elsewhere get the non-navi. most of us here who own a navi version will say its great and tell you all the nice features about it. but please don't scrutinize us and claim that we are justifying a purchase. i don't call any non-navi owner a cheap-skate cause they couldn't afford the navi. because its not true for most non-navi owners they didn't want it or it wasn't worth it to them which is perfectly fine.

svtmike

Time is often money, but if you make $80k a year it's only money if you would make more than $80k a year if you didn't get lost or spend the time looking up addresses, or if you experienced less real $ cost as a result.

I can count the number of times I have to get directions (in my home town) per year on the fingers of one hand, and same with the number of times I get lost. Where I really could use a Nav is exactly where it's never available: in rental cars outside of my home town.

Mike

Steveb

Not at all unfair. I had a 2002 TL S non-Navi before the 2004 TL non-Navi I have now so I definitely don't have "sour grapes". At that time I heard all the comments about how great Navi was. So naturally I considered getting Navi on the 2004 but just didn't see a need for it. I don't travel much by car. I use the same ATM which is right by my house. I wasn't impressed at all with the resolution of the screen. (Thought the graphics looked like old technology.) I can change my AC and stereo faster by pressing the manual controls. (While taking my eye off the road about as long as it takes to blink an eye.) If it takes longer to do these things that's not an advance in technology. It's a step backwards.

And it's not about whether I can afford it or not. Some wealthy people will only make purchases they feel will benifit them. They make wise decisions. That's why many wealthy people are wealthy.

boltjames

The car looks ugly without the navi screen. Even if the thing was useless, it's necessary to avoid having a gaping head wound right smack dab in the middle of the award-winning dash.

jonro

I speak only for myself, but I wouldn't have to rationalize it, even if it were just a toy. I'd say, "I just bought a $2,000 toy, and I get to play with it every day. What a deal" For a myriad of reasons that I've posted elsewhere, I find Navi a useful tool, a safety feature, amazing technology and, OK, a cool toy. I strongly disagree with your hypothesis that people don't admit to regretting a navi because they don't want to admit to making an expensive mistake. I've read a number of posts where people have admitted to far more expensive mistakes. No, the people who buy them, like them. They are not for everyone. I'm not trying to convince anyone to buy one, but I'm happy to share my experiences with them.

NathanSilver

I can't imagine NOT buying the Navi.

Randall_TL

I hate everyone with the Navi.

SpecialFX

Rets,
I got my car at Smithtown Acura. Except for the $100 the beat me out of I'm very happy. The price was still $600 less than other dealers' offers and, as I said, in stock. That was the lock right there as my car was stolen about 3 weeks ago and I'd been using my wife's car. She really needed it back. Fortunately she's home with the new baby so she hasn't been going out much.

Unfortunately the TL will be her car and I get demoted to her old car. '95 Nissan Altima with 109000 miles. I drive too much, and in areas that the TL just shouldn't be exposed to yet.

As for Nav vs non, as a technogeek (engineer) I love it. I sat in the driveway for hours last night playing with all the toys. When I went in the house everyone was asleep already. We could probably get by without it but, why?

Who here with the Nav didn't program it for home before leaving the dealership just to see what route it would take you home? Surely I'm not the only one. BTW - I didn't like it's first choice so I had it recalculate and took the second route. Love it.

rets

Thanks, I just wondered which dealer could be so generous...

Again, Congratulations for your new ride and new baby in the family.

criss

I did, but then again was I driving from NJ to the DC area. Strangely the TL took me a different way than my wifes 03 MDX navi told her to go at first . They have the same ver of navi so it was a little strange. Once we got home I realize the MDX was set to minimize toll roads.

TLGator

:lol1:

At least I hope you're joking.

jtruman

Yes!!

That's been my experience, too. It teaches me new ways I would have never known! I hate driving local, so it has a way to figure out the best highway routing. But this really only apply to us who live in major metropolitan area with more than 1 major highway.

Jss1

Agreed. Sometimes when I am going somewhere it takes me through back roads and one way streets and I don't have a clue where its taking me. Usually it is much faster than sticking to the major roads or a route I would usually take. The database is very good.

whatacar

I had the same misgivings that Randall had about the Navi. I live in the SF bay area and got my non-Navi TL for 31.5K so the the Navi car would have cost me 3.5K more going by what I hear from bay area buyers.

I do luv Navi, so here is what I did. I got a cheap Casio E-125 Pocket PC (E-bay $99) and TOMTOM Navigator + mouse GPS + vent mount for $220 (buygpsnow.com) I now have a superb Navigation system which I mount on the vent to the left of the steering wheel at a level that needs only a slight glance down to see the display.

TomTom has a 3-D view that is great. The Casio PDA has a large display and the audio is good enough.

So I say to all that miss not having the Navi, there is life out there with non-navi TL. oh! did I mention that I use the extra space on my memory to store my MP3 music and transmit via a FM transmitter to the TL glorious sound system?

Will post a picture when I can...

Enjoy the car.... The best I have ever driven!!!

SilverJ

a lot of people dont realize there is aftermarket navi out there. Really you could get a superior navigation unit for $5-700 dolllars aftermarket.
The bonuses you get with the acura navi is the integration with the car itself...as far as navigation units go there are better alternatives to the alpine navi the acura uses. Having it integrated is cooler though...but I wasnt willing to pay 4000 for "cool" ----espescially knowing that the nav adds only about 5-700 dollars to the car on trade in and thats being generous..