seriously...
I've notice a lot of comparisons / self justifications between the TL and cars of $10k more as if they are equal comparable products.
Are people trying to justify spending more for a lesser car?
Probably not since in my opinion the cars being compared are not lesser (S4 and 330). So why then? they need to justify the status symbol?

dunno.

 

 

 

 

Seriously though, I think part of it may be that people are still self-consious about the 2nd tier luxury status of the "Acura" nameplate, regardless of how good our TLs are.

I think Acura missed a huge opportunity to undo some of the damage they caused back in the late '90s by renaming the all-new '05 RL back to the "Legend". I don't think the Acura name has ever been the same since the Legend nameplate went away.

But that's off topic. I'll compare my TL favorably to anything on the market up to $40K. That's why I own mine. People still asking that question are either comparison shopping for an upcoming model, or are having buyers remorse - possibly some '04 owners that are dissappointed with their build quality due to Acura having to unexpectedly speed up production to meet the numbers demands of such a successful new car...

 

 

 

Whenever a car compares favorably (at least on paper) to other cars costing significantly more, there are going to be comarisons - some pointing out how close the product comes to matching competitors that cost a lot more, others pointing out how much further is left to go. Some no doubt are badge-justifying (It's good, yes, but it's still no BMW/Mercedes/Lexus/Infiniti/pick-your-favorite), some are justifying the if-it-looks-too-good-to-be-true-it-probably-is school of thought.