NFLblitze1

there have been a few threads on this, but i felt like it was neccesary to bring this subject up again. on my way home from school, i noticed something kind of akward, i saw 4 3G TL's on the road...in a row.....one after the other, i thought to myself, it isn't possible that there was a meet of some sort because i checked the forums and acura inspired...etc....so then it just popped into my head maybe our car is just that amazing....so i decided to count how many TL's i could count on the way home which is a 30 minute ride. i got up to 10 in less than 5 minutes.....im thinkin...okay..not too bad.....within the next 15 minutes i counted 25 TL's alone.........and then to top it off....right before i turn onto my street....i see a DARK BLUE A-SPEC TL....uch....im happy that honda made such a great car so affordable for people, but at the same time its disheartening because it makes me feel like i have something very basic, but the one thing i have left to hold onto, im still the only SSM with the WING SPOILER that ive seen in northern jersey

sorry had to vent..

subinf

You are going to notice that with pretty much every car on the market (with the exception of exotics due to their high cost and low production numbers). The 3G TL was something special when it was hard for dealerships to keep high stock on them, but as with any Honda car, they spread. Same with BMW, Audi, Jaguar, MBZ, etc. We are just joining the numbers....on my way to work in the morning I see at least 15 or 20 new 3 and 5 series BMW's and thats just around town.

UnsanePyro

Keep in mind too, your more likely to notice it because you drive it too. There were a couple TL's around me that I never noticed until Igot mine. Same with my friends Tercel, and another friends Maxima.

rets

So maybe you could try to be the early bird of buying the early-build 4GTL while 4G comes out in the future, then move to somewhere small market.


I have seen at least 2~5 TLs everyday in NYC since Jan. 2004.

NFLblitze1

its not even that, it feels like i see them at every corner, it makes me feel like im driving something just so basic, our cars are probably one of the best buys for the mone you pay and for what you get out on the market.

subinf

Right, that may be true, and Acura is not out to provide a select few with great cars for a good price, they are out to make money. They would love if everyone in America owned a TL, thats just how it goes. Gotta get something over 80k if you want to be unique.

RhythmAddict

I dont care who has one as long as I have mine.

alpine97tt

I have my TL as a daily driver, its kinda nice having a car that "blends" in with the crowd, because my Twin Turbo Supra kinda sticks out, especially with Johnny Law.
KE

ClnOB

TL is a nice car in/out so, you cant blame people for buying them :-) in a couple of years roads will be swarned by TL's

Techzilla

That's funny because I was thinking today how rare TL's are where I live. I've got the only one that I know of. Earlier today I saw one drive by while I was walking down the street, but it had North Carolina plates, so I guess they were just tourists.

The closest Acura dealer is about 40 miles away which keeps the numbers down. It seems like almost everyone here with this class of car drives an Audi A4 Quattro or BMW 330xi. They're both great cars, but you see one every 30 seconds.

kona

I agree. Others gotta be saying the same thing too.

2004 Sales from Forbes.com
71,000 G35s
78,000 TLs
107,000 3 Series

caball88

i see lots of TL's in the street in nyc but i don't see too many 6MT.

special-ed

There maybe alot, but 80% of the ones i've seen are stock and don't even have the ground kit on which is why I upgraded the rims and wheels first thing. If you have the ground kit and want to stray from the masses, easiest thing to do is slap on some nice shoes.

MikeekiM

If your goal is to drive a unique (or even semi-unique) car, you need to price other people out of the market... You just naturally see less cars as the sticker price goes up... (unfortunately, this is not a viable strategy for me).

Or you need to keep your car and hope that they retire the current generation quickly, and that cars will dissappear through attrition (due to age, accidents, etc...)...

As unlikely as the latter strategy sounds, it does work... I kept my 1988 1st Generation Acura Integra in cherry shape... I just traded it in in 2003... But my car really stood out as the road started getting taken over by 2nd and 3rd gen models... And the remaining 1st gen models started looking like crap...

I was actually very happy when they retired the 1st gen...after about 10 years, my car (in the condition it was in) was more of a rarity...

I currently have a 2nd gen TL, and am looking forward to attrition to start...it won't happen quickly...but at least they aren't making any more!

MikeekiM

Oh...the other way to have a unique ride (at least for the short term) is to buy a new model early in it's production run...right when a new generation model comes out...

That's what I did with the purchase of my 1999 Honda Odyssey... I got on the waiting list 4 months before the first one rolled off the truck... And it was a very unique car for a while... Got lots of attention, and lots of questions in parking lots...

Didn't last long though...

Carlmock

i live in a fairly well to do area and Ive noticed a lot of TLs. In fact its caused me to give a second thought about buying one. not sure now if its going to be a TL, an A4 or the FX35. oh well

navdhanju

Thats why you mod the shit out of your car.

F23A4

TLs and new Maximas are definitely in abundance around my 'hood.

Prolanman

I don't think that Acura has made them so affordable for all people. You are more likely to see more TL's in areas with higher income areas such as the NJ, NY, Conn tristate area. I also see an abundance on BMW, Infiniti, Lexus, and Mercedes living on Long Island. I wouldn't consider most of those cars affordable to the masses.

Another thing is that there seem to be a large number of Tl owners in their late teens - early 20's on Acurazine. I'm sure that some of them purchased their TL through hard work. I also sure that someone who is 17 must have had the car purchased for them by a parent.

subinf

True about the Odyssey...trying to get hitches for those vehicles was impossible, backordered and the like. While this might be true for every vehicle the Odyssey was one where I remember there being a huge backlog in accessories for it because it was so new (I work at a repair shop, sell trailer parts).

I dont really know if that makes it a direct correlation or not, but anytime a new or redesigned vehicle enters the market I would assume first year production numbers are low (see popularity, dont trust premarket research???), as to avoid an overproduction and loss in profit. I have done no research into this whatsoever but i would like to know if Acura boosted production for their 2005 models because of the huge popularity of the TL. Remember the PT cruiser...impossible to get one during the first year of its existance, and now they are a dime a dozen.

Casper42

Same out here on the left coast.

I refer to the 5AT as the "Grocery Getter" model to my friends.
The 5AT Base beign the Ultra Grocery Getter, and the 5AT NAVI being the Soccer Mom model.

I have only seen (outside of meets) 2 other 3G TLs that had any Upgrades on them.

spacejamz

am i the only one who is being rubbed the wrong way about this?

this forum is always welcoming and congratulating new members, but now all of sudden there are too many TL's now?

what kind of elitest BS is this? are other people not supposed to buy a TL now because we already have one?

sorry...end of my rant...

TLyoung'un

^ naw, can't blame them for wanting an awesome car.....

its just that..... its kind of sad when the unique factor is gone.....
dont you feel sad? i feel kind of sad....

spacejamz

I mght be going out on a limb here, but I would guess that those of us over 30 probably don't care...

Shock_N_Awe

Exactly!

dpeease

I've been running into a few more here in Atanta since the new year. When I got mine back in Sept, they were fairly scarce. Its nice to see other people with good taste

/dont care

Contivity

On the way to lunch from my workplace (less than 1 mile drive) I saw 4 TLs... Not sure if most of them are in this forum.... Anaheim (Orangethorpe & Miller area)

Sherlock

dpeease, I was just about to post that I don't see a "whole" lot of them here in atlanta versus the amount of people with money. I mean, look at the 3 series and C and E class MB's, so its not like people can't buy them.

As you all know I was a very early adopter of the TL, October 8th 2003, vin# 259. Translate that as STUPID early adopter. (yea my car is a P.O.S.) (No Acura STILL hasn't paid off the loan and come to collect the car) (yes my loan is over due now and I'm going to have to eat another car payment) (yes I'm ticked). But anyway.

For the first 6 months, maybe 9, I never saw another TL in atlanta. Now I see maybe one or two a week on the connector. My first few months were daily comments at lights or gas stations of the old usuals: "man, is that the new bmw 5 ??" Man that his hot, what is that. "That's the new TL ?? that's awesome".. Now no one even turns anymore. Doesn't bug me, I still turn everytime I get out of my front door and see it in my driveway, the front end still gives me morning wood. Then the nice highway vibrations while driving it helps that wood and to give me a free body massage.

We have, what, 3 or 4 acura dealers just in atlanta, and it's still not a seen every day car, thank god.

dpeease

You are correct. Most people "with money" in Atlanta wont go with anything less than an Audi, BMW, or Benz. You see alot of BMWs and Benzs.

I live a few blocks from Acura Carland, so maybe a portion of those TLs I see are test drivers or porters.