I test drove 17 cars during my 3 month search (Oct 2004 – Jan 2005) to replace my 1995 Ford Explorer. Anyone top that? That was a fun 3 months! Here’s what I test drove with a short comment about each.

The criteria for my next car was that it was to be a sedan, with FWD or AWD, navi option available, decent trunk room for 4 set of golf bags and under $40k.

Not all cars I test drove had all these options but the strong majority of them did. I drove some that didn't have all these options because it was a car I had heard good things about. I’ll rank them in somewhat of the order of least liked to most liked with the TL obviously being the most liked.

Chevy Malibu Maxx – could not fit behind wheel. Leg kept hitting steering wheel

Toyota Matrix – Fun car but too small

Toyota Avalon – Boring car

Saab 9-3 – Ride not as good as expect

Nissan Altima – Nice car but no head room in rear seat

Volvo S60 – Nice interior but no rear seat leg room

BWM 325xi – great sports car ride but interior was not impressive and trunk too small

Honda Accord – very conservative looking but very nice car

Toyota Prius – if they had better seats that provide better bolster support I might have bought this one but didn’t want to wait 18 months to get one. Was going through my “green” phase.

Nissan Murano – did’nt really fit my criteria but did like it a lot but too expensive with all the options

Mazda 6 – nice inexpensive car but no navi option

Lexus ES330 – nice ride if you like a soft ride but navi was awful

Mazda 3 – liked it a lot but zero room for rear seat passenges behind a tall driver like me

Audi A4 – loved the interior and liked the ride but navi in 2004 was still CD based so big problem

Infiniti G35x – very impressive ride and features but little tight on rear leg room and navi controls a little awkward to use

Mercedes C240 4matic – liked this one a lot but would have liked more room, better nav and better hands free cell phone system. Trunk was small too. Fantastic combination of sports car ride and yet quiet and handled bumps well

Acura TL – the winner. Everything I was looking for (great nav, great handsfree cell phone system, rear seat room, trunk room and well under $40k. Test drove it 4 times to be sure and I'm thrilled with it!

 

I drove the 2004 Acura TL 5 times... does that count?

 

Yup! The search stops at 3rd gen TL. I drove G35, CTS and A4 and the TL and bought TL.

 

I started more on the economy side and then climbed up until I wasn't dissapointed:

Mazda 3 -- under powered
Mazda 6 -- not too bad
Altima -- fun to drive, good value but decided here to spend more money
Maxima -- FUGLY interior. What are they thinking?
Mazda RX-8 (just a joy ride) -- under powered, sounds like a chainsaw
TSX -- seemed kinda small, definately fun to drive. Decided to spend even more money
G35 sedan and coupe -- loved both, seats too narrow for my ass, boring interior
TL -- The G35 is more fun to drive, but the interior and the navi user interface put the TL over the top.

Of course, if I had known how crappy the leather was maybe the interior wouldn't have made so much difference.

 

G35 6MT - ordered one and waited 6 months with no car and got my deposit back (and bought a TL 6MT).
Maxima SE 6MT - too plasticky on the inside and hate the tooth grill
CTX 5MT - not too bad but too plasticky on the inside and just didn't feel right
A4 3.2 6MT - great car but back seat too small
S60 type R 6MT - great car but back seat too small
330i sport 6MT - great car but back seat too small

 

Drove the TL twice.

Drove the RL once - Very cool AWD system and gadgets galore. Couldn't justify the extra 15K.


Drove the Auto G35 Sedan - Fun to drive, and it was a nice car. I really enjoyed powering through the corners.

Had to stick with Acura so I traded my 99 TL for an 05.

No regrets.

 

Just one test drive here.



I went to the Infiniti dealership and tried to drive a G35 Coupe, but couldn't get anyone to help me.

Went the next weekend to the BMW dealership, saw the prices with the way
I wanted to kit my 3 series out, and decided against even driving it.

Next I went to Cadillac, and drove CTS, It was okay. Not bad, but serveral things worry me about them.. Resell Value and reliability plus I think they are getting a new body style soon.

Then I bought a 05 TL with Nav, without driving it. We went for a ride after we had already negotiated the deal.

 

2005 G35
2004 RL
2002 audi A6
lexus es
2005 passat
2004 Toureg

 

I test drove a bmw 5 series and loved it, but the sticker was 60k with all the options the TL has for under 35k. Interior, navi, handfree bluetooth and room is very important to me. I sat in alot of cars like the 3 series and so on but according to my budget. I got the TL which was best within my price range. I love this freaking car but i would have loved the BMW 530i. Maybe after my lease is up ill get it.

 

G35 and the Maxima are the only cars that I drove. I knew the TL would be the car though

 

I test drove:
04 Sequoia Ltd.
04 Armada
01 740i/iL (17 cars) -- love the car
03 540i 6MT -- don't like the Bangle-ized ones.
04 G35 Coupe 6MT
04-05 TL auto and 6MT
04 Accord V6 6MT

This car search took me almost 1 full year.

 

No test drives

Didn't even test the TL.. My heart was set on it

 

Test drove:

2001 Audi S4

New 2003 EVO VIII

The TL impressed me. Much more for your money.

 

None.

The only other cars I considered were the Camry SE V6, Accord EX V6 and G35X Sedan. I knew enough about all of them without driving them to know what I wanted.

 

Like bklynpanman I had heard about the TL from a friend who was the team leader for the introduction of the TL.
He had told me at a party this was one way cool car.
Some weeks later while walking in my neighborhood I passed the local dealer and bought a car without driving it or frankly planning to buy any car.
The dealer took my check, cleared it and within the hour I was on my way to the Opera.
The wife was a little surprised when I rode home to pick her up in the new car.
Hey, life can be long but, you never know.
I figure I'm going to live it while alive- if you know what I mean.

 

I have started with BMW 325i...to be honest this car was a total turn off for me.
Then I moved to Infiniti G35.The handling was nice however Infiniti should invest more money for a better interior...G35 interior looked so cheap to me that I decided to move on to....Acura TL. Well I must admit this was love at first sight, everything I wanted in a car was right there.
So here I am...a proud owner of a 2005 Acura TL.

 

I didn't know that I needed a new car until Consumer Reports published a review of the TL in April 2004. It was their highest new car rating to date! Suddenly my 1995 Accord with 150K miles (and no problems) needed to be replaced by a sleek family sedan / sports coupe.

I patiently (at times) waited for the right moment and will make my purchase this Sunday. I have driven the TL twice and visited dealerships 3 or 4 times. During that time I drove the BMW 3, Mecedes C, Cadillac STS and Lexus ES330 at a Cadillac car demonstration. I asked one of the organizers of the event why they didn't have any TL's here for us to drive for comparison and he said the price was too good to compare to the Cadillac.

For the value and the price of the TL, you just can't beat it!

 

seems like everyone test drove the g35 before they chose the TL :P

 

The thread starter went on 20 test drives...lol well yeah I guess I can see it.. So the Mazda 6 was nice but no navi... So, that means you spent like 14,000 on navi and cell phone features if the 20k mazda 6 could do it for you... wow...

It is all about the toys.

 

Test drove one car, a TSX. Floored the TSX and decided the acceleration was unacceptable and bought the TL the next weekend.

 

all '04's:

A4
A6 2.7T
G35
I35
M45
ACCORD V6
530
LS
TSX
Maxima
Altima

 

Test drove 4 in addition to the TL - BMW325i, Infiniti G35 Sedan, Lexus ES330, and Volvo S60R. In the end, it came down to the Volvo and TL. Went with the TL due to past experience and value for money.

 

Test drove 4 in addition to the TL - BMW325i, Infiniti G35 Sedan, Lexus ES330, and Volvo S60R. In the end, it came down to the Volvo and TL. Went with the TL due to past experience and value for money. If I were looking today I would include a Mustang and Chrysler 300C in the mix.

 

None.

Since the nearest Infinity, Lexus, or any other car I might have considered, dealer is 100 miles away, I didn't even bother to test drive any of them.

But I didn't need to because I knew I wanted the TL.

 

What aboutt he Pontiac GTO? 2 steps above regualr GM crapsmanship. I was looking at it, but the 2 door option kinda killed it. I am not sure if they have Navi available though.....400 hp is pretty nice though!!

 

I started the search to replace my 2000 Toyota Sienna with the TSX as a more original version of the Accord. However, it reminded me too much of the old Prelude, it was too small, and it didn't have DVD-Audio (I also didn't like the cupholders).

I also test drove the Highlander (transmission issues), Dodge Magnum (drives like an 18-wheeler), and Honda Pilot (GREAT and practical vehicle, but BORING to look at. I had agreed on price on this but they couldn't find a color that made me happy, so I walked and bought the TL the next week).

I really enjoyed test driving the cars and was not patronized by any of the salesmen. I think they realized that I knew what car at what trim level I was in the market for. Maybe they are better trained to deal with female customers - after all, green is green!

Karen

 

nothing.... not even a test on the TL... I walked in and drove out of the dealer. plus payed cost for the car.

 

I gave every manufacturer their shot at buying a car. I've had a 85 RX-7 and liked Mazda in the past. I realized that a Mazda 6 was a far inferior car than the TL but I was looking at it as saving money on a cheaper car with less options. With or without a navi, the TL is a much better car but if toys didn't matter a Mazda 6 would be a strong contender.

 

Infiniti G35 - tons of power, but engine was unrefined, making GM-ish sounds and it didn't like to rev. Boring exterior and awful manual transmission that felt like it came off a tractor. Reminded me of something like Mustang GT too much.

BMW 325i - underpowered, outdated and boring interior, boring manual transmission and there are too many of them

Mazda RX-8 - awesome ride, hot-looking, rev-happy engine, excellent manual tranny. However, the interior felt too cheap and owners boards are full of complains, especially about lousy 14mpg. It also needed to have two more doors and a bit more torque to be considered

Acura TSX - felt very much like my Prelude, but with two more doors. An excellent car, better than TL in many ways, but I've owned Prelude for almost five years, wanted something more different.

Subaru Legacy GT - loved the interiror, engine was a gem too. AWD. I just loved it while I was driving it but I was crying looking at it's exteriror from the outside. If it wasn't so generic, so... bland, that would be it.

BMW 525i - fugly inside and outside, boring to drive, expensive.

Saab 9-3. Felt too much like Chevrolet. Well, it kind of is.

Lexus IS300 - boring and generic japo-exteriror. Interior is full of the signs of bad taste too. Engine was nothing special, too much of "BMW wannabe". And since I passed on a real bimmer, IS didn't make sense at all.

Acura TL. Very smooth and refined ride. Excellent (typical Honda) pedals+stick combo. Good looking. Very refined and rev-happy engine. Nice looking and luxurious interior. A bit boring to drive compared to my Prelude, interior is assembled poorly (rattles are everywhere), suspension is underdamped to my liking.

Well, I didnt' find my perfect car - when I was getting my Prelude 4 years ago, it was IT. I was 110% satisfied. With TL it was more like "well, not exactly what I was looking for, but better than others". I was going to improve the suspension with some aftermarket parts, but I am afraid now that due to a harsher ride the interior will start to rattle even more.

 

none. one track mind set. 04 WDP TL. get in my garage.

 

I've driven what seems like 2 dozen cars (or test drives) and this is my week for a new car! It is now down to the G35X vs TL. By weeks end I will have a new car in my driveway. I have an offer for the G35X on the table for an excellent price. I really do like the exterior styling of this car and the Intellegent key is cool. Yesterday I drove the TL again (4th time) and have to say after some thought, I want the TL. I blew a chance for a 2005 AM/Ebony Navi that was used with only 3,200 miles. Got it down to $32750 and I waited too long, it's gone. Now I am pissed off and am not even thinking about the G35x any more. I didn't even think I wanted the Navi, but now I think I want it too! Now I am not sure how much I will have to pony up for a new 05TL Navi. Hope I can get 33,500, I'd be happy with that.

 

I test drove only 1 vehicle before choosing the TL. I had my mind set on the BMW 330Xi. This was to be my next car and my mind was set. I would not consider another car, for I wanted only a "BMW." The car handled great and the power was good, however, I was turned off by the loud exhaust noise. I know it's supposed to be sporty and all but I didn't want to have to yell when I'm talking to some. Maybe I'm getting old. The Navi wasn't great and the interior was okay IMO. I went to the acura dealer to test drive my second choice and was hooked on this car. The interior is very appealing and the gadgets were a bonus. It was nice and quiet like a luxury car should be.

 

I am in a similar place...my heart is with the new 2005.5 A4 with the 2.0T 6MT, but DAMN, the back seat is just TOO SMALL, I can't even fit my 12-year old back there.

The G35 is a great driver, fun power and RWD-based handling, and for 2005 the interior is better. But my wife and I have almost ruled it out because of the suspension. It's fun, but it's harsh. And we live in the suburbs of Chicago where we are surrounded by crappy roads. Two test drives and we both looked at each other and said, "Did that feel rough, or what" (Our current rides are a Volvo 940 and a VW Passat GL, both of which have a firm but more "compliant" ride).

What do you think??