kurtatx

Still complete nonsense. The TLX is orders of magnitude better than any Accord.

panamera125

Man, read all this and you'd think we were talking about some Chevy Aveo! I can't believe they can be so negative yet give the car a score in the top 3. I have been in at least 5 new 3-series loaner cars, and in my opinion, the TLX's interior is 100% on par. Over the summer, we had a 328i with "piano black" finish... The car squeaked like it was 20 years old! The trim felt like cheap painted plastic. Not to say that the 3-series isn't luxurious (because it is), but the TLX is absolutely similar, give or take a few bits/pieces. Can't say anything about driving the TLX though since I haven't.

Stew4HD

Well said.

You better not drive a TLX either.. you'll want to trade in that panny you have

corrado85

iTrader: (1)

mapleloaf

Completely agree. I love the look of the transmission as well and you can put your heavy gym bag into the passenger seat without hitting the shifter. The moron on the left who couldn't figure it out admitted to driving a BMW….so the German bias is obvious. Their opinions are at best exaggerated and at worst just flat out misguided. A classic example of Yuppies who worship at the German shrine and feel smug in their ignorance. I don't want a stripped down BMW 320 that still costs significantly me more than my Acura TLX, and whose questionable superior driving dynamics will NEVER be apparent to me, as I don't drive at a race track. I love the 2.4 but ended up getting the 3.5 SH-AWD and love the smoothness and traction. As for the Fusion is quieter and handles better……that is simply ridiculous and unfounded.

mapleloaf

2015 Acura TLX beats BMW, Infiniti and Lexus in road handling and comfort - Torque News

A different perspective.

CheeseyPoofs McNut

I traded my loaded midsized Accord EXL Sedan in on a TLX - so anecdotally it turns out CR's opinion is wrong!! Nuff said!! Counterpoint!

To be fair - Torque News is the biggest shill site on the planet. I give them zero credibility.

a77

10 grand? Keep repeating this. It's not much more than 5 grand in Canada. Accord EXL CVT is 29,550. TLX is 34,990. For which you get way better ride, far superior interior finish (style too but that's subjective, as is my personal preference for the Accord's exterior style), vastly quieter, 20 more hp, a sublime 8 speed instead of a (admittedly good) CVT (but still a CVT), flappy paddles, far better stereo (even non-ELS), far better LED lighting, a 60/40 split rear seat, better warranty, PAW-S etc. The Accord is a great car but please, this is easily 5k worth. Sure the Accord has more space. Actually a Fit has more rear legroom. So what?

Ze germans will charge you 5 grand just for the upgraded stereo.

Acura-OC

2014 Accord?

4thaccord

Unfortunately you then have to take the TLX home and drive it. And according to just 2 sources I checked (KBB and Intellichoice), the Accord is at least $7,500 cheaper to own over 5 years (KBB says $8K) over a comparable TSX.

Those had better be some pretty darn bright LED headlights for that kind of cash.

niray9

I just wish it had a little less body roll and I would have been thrilled. However on the flip side the bump absorption is better. At this point, TLX is the only car that meets my needs in terms of price,quality,reliability,noise,cost of operation, years of worry free service.

CheeseyPoofs McNut

2013 Accord EXL.

a77

Not disagreeing about the cost of ownership. It's a cheaper car and more basic cars almost always hold their value better. Just look at manufacturers' own depreciation estimates. And if you buy it you have a greater loss of interest etc. And higher insurance. And premium gas. A Civic or a CRV would cost even less over the term. Doesn't change the fact that the purchase cost difference is between 5 and 6K not 10K. It's a choice one makes. The Accord is a great car, and the Accord Sport MT probably the best value sedan out there. I have had 3 Accord's, 4 if you count the TSX as a Euro Accord. But if cost of 5 year ownership is a primary criterion you would buy a used car as the main ingredient is always initial depreciation. People choose to pay more for something they think is better and a worthwhile extra expense for them. All anyone really needs to get from a to b is a Fit. It's almost as quick (the MT may be quicker than an Accord CVT), will hold more stuff, has as much leg room in the back, is far more economical, etc etc.

Your other sentiments are not worth commenting on.

baelim

I really don't want to fuel the Accord vs TLX battle going on here but I checked your numbers and cost of ownership seems to include maintenance, repairs, fuel, depreciation, financing, insurance and even the estimated state fees. Most of these are comparable simply at a price point and are not really car specific.

In other words (and I'm just trying to level the field here) if hypothetically speaking a loaded Accord was priced exactly the same as the equally featured TLX the only hard variables worth comparing would be maintenance, repairs, and fuel.

So doing the math on a 2013 TL vs 2013 Accord from Motortrend I see a $1563 difference for Maintenance and Repair and $3186 difference for the recommended premium fuel in the 5 year span. Cross out the fuel difference for Premium is only recommended and not obligatory (coming from the TLX engineer's mouth) and the major difference really is $1563 in a 5 year spam.

For that you get a premium car and service (the car loaner is really a lifesaver for the productive side of me) and I can live with that.

But just to add the counter argument and hopefully bring the thread back to the CR score (to it's credit or discredit), the TLX scored Average (the white circle) in the ownership costs while the Accord got Better (Dotted Red Circle).

Yes a Honda is cheaper and comparable in features against its own Acura brand in many ways but people's needs are beyond just dollars and features and boils down to unique needs and necessities that bring them to choose one over the other.

My wife and I chose the TLX over the EX-L because we're going to start a family soon. I know it sounds like a misnomer on why we would pick the smaller cut but in reality once we have the 2nd child we will HAVE to get a minivan and the TLX will remain the commuter it already is. Plus the leatherette of the TLX cleans off easier over baby "stuff" and I'm not about to split hairs between leather and leatherette for my first set of heated seats. Also I mentioned this before but the Acura loaner program will be a must for us who will own just one car until the minivan happens down the road. Lastly the one thing that I do appreciate about the Accord is that it has a large following of DIY modders and fixes for their infotainment but because this is shared with Acura I'll benefit nonetheless. We initially looked at the Accord for its price point but we really wanted heated seats and once we started going up the trim it became comparable to the TLX base. I hated the lane watch assist on the Accord and the TLX base doesn't have it... I can go on...and on and on

tlxsteve

Speaking of the lights, the TLX high beams are really bright. I feel bad using them to flash at someone who has their incandescent high beams on. It's like a flash bulb going off.

Some one was getting ready to cut in front of me. I flashed the high beams and they bolted back to their original lane.

Maybe they were also scared by the 10 head lights?

CheeseyPoofs McNut

Amen my brother. You don't buy a TLX based on logic - you buy it because you can!

Meanwhile my wife bought a 2013 Mazda 3 when the new redesigned 2014's were coming out and got an amazing deal on a car that was a great value to begin with. It rides rough and has lots of NVH but by God it's fun to drive and is a GREAT value - better value than the Accord methinks!

You can turn the Lane watch assist camera off if you want. Personally that's the only thing I miss from the Accord - it's 10 times more useful than the blind spot monitors and I don't understand why every car isn't moving that direction. Great safety feature IMO!

4thaccord

The point is that the difference in cost and value between 2 cars doesn't begin and end with what is on the sticker price. As expected, many car salesmen will not point that out to buyers; only when it's too late do some customers realize they can't afford the insurance, fuel, repairs, etc.

Your reinforcement and perpetuation of such car salesman stereotypes are not worth commenting on.

And if anyone thinks a TLX is worth $12k more than an Accord INCLUDING STICKER PRICE AND COST OF OWNERSHIP, I have a bridge I'd like to sell them.

tlxsteve

I pretty much buy what I like and don't follow a crowd. Since I bought the TLX and found you guys I appreciate your ideas and input. I'll try not to follow too closely.

baelim

Just so you know I paid 28,510 for my base TLX which its comparable to the EX-L's msrp. And if you're going to argue purely on numbers why not just champion the Camry which is 3000 cheaper in ownership across 5 years? Even better the comparably featured Camry trim is 2000 less than the Honda version making a 5k difference across the board. Im gonna go out of the limb here and assume you chose the Accord over the competition out of a preference and not just by pure numbers because if not true apparently you're a sucker like the rest of us but just at another level.

Stew4HD

^^ well said!

baelim

Everybody please stay tuned for the most clever come back from 4thaccord which may or may not involve an imaginary number like $12K but will rant incomprehensibly about the TLX and definitely not before he changes his user name to "1stYaris" or better yet, "I-think-I'll-just-walk"

a77

Do I really sound like a stereotypical car salesperson? Why would I be plugging (am I?) a car I don't even sell. God help me if I do. Not that you meet many these days. Times have changed. My dealership doesn't even pay on commission.

Quandry

What a great collection of ads! Makes you want to completely avoid any showroom/store with commissioned staff.

4thaccord

The comment was made about whether the TLX was or was not worth $5k over the Accord. Because they are made by the same company. And are very similar. Someone said it was. Which is what I responded to. I said it wasn't. In fact concrete numbers were provided as to why I felt it isn't. The original comment did not compare the TLX to the Camry. Or the Pilot. Or the F150. It compared it to the Accord. Not really that hard to follow or understand at all for even the semi-intelligent.

If you research the 5 year cost to own, add to it the difference in sticker price, you get $12k over the time period. Not imaginary at all. Fact based. Not really that hard to follow or understand at all for even the semi-intelligent.

Watching so-called adults getting their panties in a bunch because they overpaid for an Accord - it's THAT kind of thrill.

a35tl

You called it!

4WDrift

After directly experiencing 10 Accords and 3 Acuras (CL/TLs) over the years, I'll take a stripper Acura over a loaded Honda.

baelim

I think I can think of a couple more new username suggestions for you:

- Carmy?WhatCamry?
- Accord-It'sTHATkindofThrill

Stew4HD

I am sure there are plenty more that I could come up with

oracion

Agreed! Drive cars with different headlights side-by-side and the difference is obvious.

mapleloaf

I am puzzled by the many comments by reviewers about appearance. I find many BMWs to be somewhat bland, especially from the side and rear. Take away the vaunted badge and people would comment more negatively about the pontiac like front grill. To me, the TLX is at least as attractive as the 3 series and 5 series, inside and out. I happen to love the two screens, having audio and misc below and the map or whatever else I want above. As for redundancy, other than audio, it's minimal. I'm over 50 and figured it out pretty quickly. I also love the push button transmission interface…as I am often putting a brief case or gym bag in the other seat and don't have the tangle worry.

I have had Acura TSXs,1 CSX, 4 Honda Accords and 2 civics, and love Acura/HondaHonda reliability. It also gives me substantial experience in comparing the two divisions. I do like the current generation of Honda Accord and have test driven it fairly extensively. However, i am mystified by the comments that suggest there are few differences for the money compared to the TLX. The refinement is substantially better in the TLX, as it should be. Both are good values, however, they are not nearly the same car, especially when you move up to the SH-AWD.

Acura's niche is exactly what some have stated - to build good cars that combine technology, looks, sportiness, handling, fuel efficiency, with a high value proposition. They cannot be the best in all areas without substantially raising the price and reducing the value proposition. In reality, any improvement in handling a 328i Xdrive might have over my 3.5 SHAWD will not ever be discernible to me and the VAST majority of drivers…and I am not convinced there is an improvement based on some of the reviews and videos i have seen. Most of us don't want to pay 5-10k more for something that is hard to quantify and almost indiscernible….while giving up some luxuries to keep the price point down. Most luxury car drivers do not drive the shit out of their vehicles…check out the Sunday drivers who sip the German koolaid and buy the badges. They drive very "carefully". FOr me, I'll be content with my car that does everything well and has lots of interior refinement.

Finally, as I near the end of my little rant, I would say that Acura needs to tell their story more effectively. I did read somewhere recently that they are planning to do just that. BTW, I will close by saying that the slogan "its that kind of thrill" doesn't need to mean its the fastest or the best cornering car, etc….but that it does so many things very well. At my age, milano leather and the ELS system are pretty thrilling

George Knighton

You know, I don't think I can recall when they were ever good at that.

Acura have their own agency that have done well with imagery. The advertisement that shows the RLX, TLX and NSX at the horse races competing with a bunch of automatons, I think that was pretty good.

But the whole Seinfeld RLX thing was off, and so was Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. Unfortunately, I think they blew the 2014 budget on that.

I never did like that. At the same time, it caters to the image we want to leave behind, and manages to seem disingenuous.

:-/

g37guy01

I disagree about the styling of the BMW vs Acura...but to each their own.


I was alongside a new M3 yesterday. That car does not need a vaunted badge; it's one heck of a looker.

niray9

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeqedyEboK0#t=355

CR's view of the TLX 2.4 before the report came out. Go to 5:57

Fozy Bear

FYI

Actually, from "D" while you are parked and your foot is on the break and seat belt undone, once you open the door, the car automatically goes into "P". No need to hit the "P" button!

9SpeedTran

The more I see my TLX, the more I think it is an superbly sophisticated, elegant design. I feel that they used Jaguar as their model, not BMW.

George Knighton

This is where Alex Dykes ("Alex on Autos") and CNET (Brian Cooley) are beginning to replace traditional motor magazine reviewers.

People need to spend enough time with a car to realize the differences in content, whereas traditional reviewers are out there drag racing the cars and doing G-Force skidpad that are generally useless to us.

The way that we love cars in 2015 is very different from the way it used to be.

We might even want to know crash test results. :-)

Mr Hyde

The M3 is a "Hey look at ME!" kind of car with all its scoops, carbon fiber, bulges, etc. It shares few body panels with the volume 3 series, and is a poor baseline to use as a comparison.

The 335 my brother drives is mehh as far as styling, as is the current 5. They carry on the brand styling, but are neither offensive, nor polarizing in their style.

Seems like few are willing to take the risk nowadays for fear of alienating buyers.

Acura_Dude

NwTSXmt

Very elegant...also slow and no longer a sports sedan...Hopefully Acura will come out with a Type-S version..

dmski

@NwTSXmt Are you talking about the 4cyl model? It was reported that SH-AWD version can do 0-60 in 5.4 sec. Yeah, its not a Corvette but it's not that slow....