EVOLICARUS

long story short, went to acura today in st louis to get some warranty stuff fixed before my 50k. While waiting for my car to be serviced, i talked to a few salesmen about the 4g which they got to test run up in chicago last weekend. They all are worried about the 4gs selling, so they ordered 70 used 07-08 TLs

dudechewy

damn thats alot of tl-s

EVOLICARUS

i meant to say TL's not type-s..

Edward'TLS

Strange indeed. The waiting list for HOT cars is usually a few sheets long even before the cars come out, especially with new model styling change.

ostrich

Seriously, if I were the manager and the salesmen talked like that to the clients, they would all be fired...

On the other hand, they might just be saying that in order to get rid of their remaining 07-08 TL's.

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

^^ werd.

Eric Allen

I was in my dealership last week and was talking to the GM about the 4G, he is dismayed by the amount of negative feedback he is getting from existing customers and concerned about sales, he new I was looking to change my 05 and was really trying to push me into a 08, knowing I wouldn't go for the 4G.

KeithL

local dealer hear as of last week only had 3 people on waiting list for 4G TL.

luckyAKAhappy

somehow I doubt that considering dealers are offering up to 5-7k off of current models to clear inventory. They wouldn't be offering deep discounts to current models if they thought they couldn't move new models.

Edward'TLS

Given the current economy outlook and dismay auto sales figure (Honda/Acura included), the dealers will be more than eager to get rid of all current models, even if the new models can't sell.

They'll need to make even more room in the car lots to store all those growing number of unsold new models if the dealers don't think they'll sell well.

lindros2

Honestly even Audi is offering lease deals on the just-released 2009 A4. Economy is tough; pushing 40k+ Acura "mid-range" cars was a dumb move. Reducing the price of the RL would have made more sense.

Stash

I don't think they are pushing them. That is their market and they have been working on this car for many years, so it isn't like they can just decide to wait until the economy turns around. Acura and Honda won't feel the pinch like other car makers, but there will be good deals to be had.

Colin

It's too early to tell, but the "tough economy' might force former E class or 5 series owners into the TL because it offers the size they are used to but with more features and at a better price. This migration might be hastened by the way they are pulling back from leasing. Anyway, the TL starts at 35K, why do you assume that all will be 40k+?

They cannot reduce the price of the RL without hurting the already poor residuals.

CL6

Yea a waiting list to pay invoice.

Business is always great and every car is always selling like hotcakes. That's what you say to customers.

Hugh9269

Nissan just put out a lease program on the new Maxima. The dealer just a few weeks before told be they were no programs or finance deals.

neuronbob

These are excellent points, Colin.

I wish Acura's marketing division could say something similar....they should hire you to shake them up. Not kidding.

Razzi

they can alleviate crappy sales by firing the whole damn design team. jesus h christ

smsTL

iTrader: (1)

Legend2TL

It takes years to bring a auto design from concept to the sale floor, hence it's virtually impossible to predict the economic conditions when a vehicle is introduced.

Most of the 4G TL's sold are predicted to be below $40K anyway.

The only time I ever read that a manufacturer ever hedged it's bets on a new radical vehicle was the 1G Ford Taurus. Ford continued to produce the LTD at a different plant in case the new Taurus was a failure (hence the reason why the Taurus was produced at the Atlanta Ford manufacturing facility). In the end the radical Taurus was a great success, despite many critics (who sounded similar to some of the drama critics on the Acurazine 4G forum) who thought it would be a disaster.

KeithL

Thats a great point, so where are the manufactueres at prodccuing cutting edge designs!. What I really don't get are some of the concept cars that are beautiful yet when they get to production they tone them down a bit. I mean if the concept got such great reviews why wouldn't they think people would buy it! Look at the Genesis concept, looks great, the production car has been toned down somewhat. I don't see anything wrong with the concept that would hurt sales.

Legend2TL

Odd coincidence but the new head of Honda North America operations has been after Honda Corporate (Japan) for years to make some of the new manufacturing lines more flexible and modular so they could shift vehicle production from large to small or vice versa. The majority of Honda facilities are limited in production range (Alabama has the Odyssey/Pilot/MDX/Ridgeline? but not Accord or Civic).

A few years ago Honda Japan approved this for some of the newer lines (I can't recall which ones in North America are) and it's paid off in that the increase in Civic sales in the past year were made at these newer modular manufacturing lines.

One of the key critical factors for profitability in low margin auto production is to accurately predict the sales for a vehicle. It's a extremely difficult task but anyone who's taken Sloan School of Managment classes knows that is repeated throughout the program.

sparky57

You were grammatically correct the first time. Apostrophes are used for the possessive case and contractions. I knew you were not talking about the Type-S.

rw

WayneJay

As a longtime Honda fan, I'm so disappionted with the direction their moving in these days. I honestly think Honda/Acura has lost their way and I hope they listen to criticism and act quickly on trying to right the ship. I though the 1G TSX and 3G TL were two of the best looking sedans one could buy. While the 2G TSX is not too, bad I'm really worried for Acura with the 4G TL.

Does Honda listen to people other than those who just bought a new car?

jzacuto

Carsdirect.com is offering 08s at $6400 off MSRP.

Gargola

I thought the 3g TL was a cutting edge design when it came out, different from anything else on the road, but I loved it the first time I saw it.

Can't say the same about the 4g.

ASASN21

What new $35K+ car still has a 5AT??? What new car the size of the TL still has 17" frigin rims??? Does it have keyless entry? NO. Seriously, are you f*cking kidding me!? These are all minor things which should just be required for new cars in the price range and class of the TL, and Honda just completely ignored them. And let's not even begin to get into the looks of the 4G...

The 4G TL is a complete abomination.

Colin

A 2007 or 2008 TL Type-S

CL6

You mean keyless go... keyless entry is when you use the remote to unlock the doors...

PetesTL

The '08 G35 still has a 5AT....still pretty fast ('09's will have 7AT's though). The 4G has keyless entry and keyless start (Tech package).

Jesstzn

From what I saw of it both front and back are basically ugly. I moved from VW Passat/Audi to a TL because they went to a gawd aweful big plastic horse shoe front end and now the TL has gone gawdy too.

I guess my next move is to a 335i .. trouble is up here the economy isn't in the dumps yet and no one is offering any form of incentives.

Even the Mazda6 lookes better then the new TL except for the wierd exhaust tips.

ASASN21

Oh right. Well I meant the thing that Lexus has, where you don't even have a key. It just has the sensor thing on the doors and the push button start.

Wow... you just completed missed the point. The point is that Honda is WAY behind the times.

Another one that completely missed the point. I was the ranting about the 09 TL, and you mention a car that is an 08...?? Then you actually completely made my point by mentioning that the NEW G35 will have a 7AT (because obviously Infiniti realized they f'ed up), while the joke (09 TL) will still have the little 5AT.

Colin

In a medium that relies totally on the written word, I cannot be responsible if you are unable to articulate your posts correctly to say what you really maan.

ASASN21

You really do not want to get into an intellectual battle with me buddy, so put the dictionary away.

biggygo

5 speed AT is not necessarily inferior to 6 or 7 speed ATs...the spacing and height of the gears matching the characteristics of the engine is more important...I've heard so many people complain about Lexus' transmissions being too busy trying to find the correct gears - to the point that they have just gotten rid of their vehicle and taken huge losses - and these are 7 and 8 speeds.
Moral of the story: more gears does not necessarily = more advanced (or better).

elstls

Agree!

Colin

I don't get into battles with people on forums. You made a statement, I replied, you said I missed the point and I replied that the point wasn't clear. No battle, calm down.

Skrewologist

I feel the same... worried for Acura. I'm not saying the 4G TL is a bad car at all; the looks just don't appeal to me much. The rear is nice and that's it.