hi all,

i was poking around, looking to buy a car in the next 4 months. I'm shopping in the 26k range and the CPO TSX's and TL's caught my eye. I was initially looking at TSX's but their prices are 25k cpo low miles and..at that point i dont mind going the extra 3-4k for a brand new one. so the TL is a better value from a CPO point of view unless a cpo TSX can be had for 25-26k w/ less than 20k miles.

I was searching autotrader and seeing 2009 TL's w/ ~25k miles for about $26-28k. Now I've never bought a CPO car before so I was hoping to see if these prices are "good". Meaning , are they good deals and/or will a local dealer work with me to purchase one from a dealer cross country (i have a trade-in which I dont feel safe driving cross country)?

On a completely different note I'm not an enthusiastic driver but i do drive quickly and passing power is something i appreciate. I drive a 2.0T VW Jetta DSG and i think it has more than enough power for daily use, mostly because of the turbo and the availability of torque at such low RPM's. MPG is around 25 combined. Build quality is great. Materials are great, would a TSX or a TL be a better fit?

Yeah..that was a lot...thanks.

 

Are the TL's & TSX equipped with the Tech package or no? Have you test driven any of these vehicles?

 

depends on what YOU want and what you are comfortable with purchasing.

for pricing:
check ALL the book values (KBB, edmund's, nada) then compare to give you an idea (KBB and edmund's will give CPO retail pricing as well). i would just look at trade in value and retail.
THEN check cars.com and/or autotrader to see what the actual market value price ranges are for said vehicle for your area with comparable miles and features.

CPO vs non-CPO:
CPO- you get add'l 12 mos/12K mi bumper to bumper and up to 7yr/100K for drivetrain (from original). you also get the reassurance (you hope) of the manufacturer's 150 point certification that the car is mechanically sound. dealer's spend a small chunk of change to get the car CPO'd and reconditioned to be able to sell it as so. they also usually pick the best of the litter that gets traded in and send the rest out to auction (some dealers). there are some dealers that will get cars at auction and recondition them to get them CPO'd. however i would be weary of auction vehicles, they went to auction for a reason. will cost a little bit more but consider the peace of mind and the add'l warranty coverage you will get.

non-CPO-as is, that's it. no add'l warranties unless you pay for them. so unless you nit-pick the hell out of it and get all the kinks worked out of the car prior to delivery (ie free) you'll be stuck with the bill. now if the car has been well maintained adn taken car of...you can't go wrong with an acura.

as far as finding one and getting the best deal: if you live in or near a major metro area...you'll be in good shape. smaller markets and hence smaller inventories will lead to slightly higher prices (the whole supply and demand thing).

there are a bunch of other things you might consider, but those are the basics. happy hunting.

 

No, not all TL's and TSX's have the TECH package.

 

Bought my 07 Type S and 09 SH-AWD Tech both CPO - no complaints, and paid substantially less than new.

 

Bought an 09 SH-AWD Tech CPO from a dealer - paid a lot less back in April than the cars are going for now... oh, I was also a PITA about the price, but I wanted to see how low the guy would actually go.

Auction cars aren't always a bad thing - as long as you have a REALLY good broker. I was originally planning on buying a TL from the auction block, but the Russians kept snapping them up as the gavel fell. After a couple missed opportunities, I more aggressively searched for a car w/in the tri-state area. I was comfortable purchasing an auction car, because I whole-heartedly trusted the broker.... I knew he wouldn't buy a POS car, and have first hand knowledge of previous cars he's purchased for family members and friends (albeit Jags, Ferraris and Maseratis, but still...). I knew that they only purchase the highest quality car, and would be honest w/ me.

All depends on your comfort level of CPO vs. non-CPO.

 

TL=Honda reliability
VW=Below average