jmps

We decided on the TL for my wife's next car. She is very excited about it. A couple of questions.

We are debating on getting the Tech package. She doesn't care about having Nav but some of the other features interest us. The key question is is how much nicer the leahter is. Will it hold up better than the base leather? Any thoughts on this or Tech in general?

The price we got from TrueCar is 32,680. Does this sound like a good price? Also, we are adding mats and side protectors. What are people paying to have the side mouldings put on?

Thanks!

g37guy01

Congrats on the decision. I am jealous of you guys who say their wife gets excited. My wife could care less. The only reason she comes along when I shop for cars for us, is she is a very good people person and negotiator and has no problem saying no to a deal in a non-confrontational way.

beav626

I thought the leather was the same in both cars.

Oswald Vater

Most buyers who get the base seem to end up with remorse over not getting the tech. Plenty of posters on this forum ask questions as to how to convert their bases to techs. I would spend the extra whether you would use all the features or not but check out both before making the decision though.

Your truecar price is excellent! Hopefully you will find a dealer willing to meet it.

jmps

The leather is perforated and "Murano" in tech. I don't know if the leather itself is really any different. It doesn't look that different except for the perforations.

The Truecar price we got was for the base. The dealer said they would honor it a week or so ago. We shall see...

Treblig

IMO the tech leather has a softer hand to it. As far as the Tech package, I would agree with Oswald Vater, you could wind up regretting not getting it. Once you/she have it you will be glad you got it.

TRIUMPHT

iTrader: (1)

Take it from a person that owned a base model 4th Gen TL. Even if you don't go for AWD with TECH at least get TECH. I traded my car in after a year and i had put tons of mone into it modding.

tuxacura

I was in the same shoes. I wanted the base model but my wife wanted Tech since she likes the back up camera and the nav system. But now that I am driving the tech, I really appreciate other features like keyless entry/start. And the stereo is excellent, specially with DVD-As. Not sure about the wear and tear of the leather, but the perforated one feels quite nice.

JM2010 SH-AWD

In addition to nav and stereo upgrades, you get back up camera, keyless remote and the leather is decidely nicer. I can't say which one will wear longer, but I have 15K on my SH-AWD Tech over two years and the leather looks very nice. I'd probably be fine with the car without those features, but to my mind they turn the car from very competent to special.

jmps

Thanks for the info everyone. We are going to to one last compare and decide. We need to see if the leather quality and sound system make a difference. I think whichever she decides she will be happy.

weather

JMPS....Take from a guy who bought a TSX non tech and REGRETTED every single day thereafter....if you can afford it, do buy the Tech package. I did not make the same mistake on my 2012 TL and it was worth the money.

The stereo is just stunning, but if if you really want to appreciate the quality of the ELS system, try and find a DVD audio disk, you will be floored on how accurate the sound reproduction is. In addition, the backup camera and other features of the Tech package is worth it. In addition, if you can afford the SH-AWD version, do it, you wife will love you even more once she discovers how truly fantastic this AWD system truly is.

Finally, when you make your purchase, please make sure you post some pics

under9hell

invoice price for base is 340179(after destination) - 1500 incentive = 32517.
I bet you could get at least 200 below invoice or make dealer giving you splash guards or side molding for free.
Be careful with all the doc fee and stuff though. calculate your TTL and deal on the drive out price.

Side molding is easy to install, part is about $120.

Tech pkg is nice, if you like it. To me it wasn't worth the extra $3400 when I bought the car.

jmps

We put down a deposit down on a non-tech TL. We listened to the base audio and looked at the base leather and decided against the extra $3400. We were already at the top of our budget and feel lucky just to be able to get a car a nice as this. It is Graphite/Taupe and we should get it by the end of the month. They didn't have that combo in stock.

They did take the truecar price. We did add splash guards and moldings and they made a bit more that way. Overall I think we did OK.

AGK

I am glad I got the tech package, even if I don't use the nav, I know it's there when I need it. The back up camera comes in handy, and the push button is cool.

under9hell

congrats on your new car. By the way it seems that leather on both tech or non tech is not in good quality, you can find many threads here. Some were lucky to have dealers change seat leather before warranty run out.

jmps

Thanks for the heads up. We will keep an eye on the leather and if it has issues try to deal with it under warranty. I will do a search.

Oswald Vater

Congrats! Either way, base or tech, you can't go wrong. TL is a great car and will give you many years of reliable driving enjoyment.

KiloPutty

Definitely get the tech package! If price is an issue, I'd look at a Kia Optima fully loaded - keyless entry alone will be worth it - you never realize what a burden it is to use a manual key until you switch to keyless.

thought the tech package on the TL gets you so much more, it's a good value IMO. Audio, leather, nav, backup camera. These are all things you will use on a regular basis.

nanos

SeismicGuy

Hey JMPS--a day late and a dollar short but I too would have recommended the Tech package. My wife and I are older fuddy-duddies but still appreciate some of the extra features like the keyless entry and upgraded sound system. The perforated leather also looks a bit sportier, as does the spoiler that comes with the Tech.

Still depending on what vehicle you are coming from, I think you will be extremely happy with the TL. The Graphite/Taupe is exceptionally smart looking.

jmps

It would be nice to have the Tech for the reasons you say. She is coming from a Honda Ody that was twelve years old. We sold it private and is temp driving our daughters Elantra who is at college and can't wait to get into the TL. She will be VERY happy.

The HD seems pretty obsolete. I plan to stick an Ipod in the center console. We also aren't in love with the idea of a car based Nav. Between our phones and a Garmin we seem set in that regard and don't have to do expensive updates.

If it were my car I would have considered Tech more. I like to play with things and really like having a really nice sound system. She did like the Tech sound better too. She would have liked the backup camera. We both would have liked the leather and the keyless.

It is too bad Tech didn't come with the lane change indicator. She test drove a Camry and thought it was nice to have. She almost had an accident once because of a car in her blind spot. Driving the Camry is what convinced her to go with the TL. Nice but not fun.

Maybe in our next Acura we'll get it.