ben1233

...well maybe not the cried part.

Went into Chicago this weekend with my parents for a little excursion. Among the planned stops was a trip to Oak Brook Shopping Center, Wildfire Grill, Trader Joes (hey, we need a couple of cases of 2 buck Chuck) and most importantly, Ed Napleton Acura in Elmurst
(near Oak Brook). Napleton had about 8 TL's on the lot in black, white, blue, gold, anthracite, and silver. Only one of the 8 had the NAV. Went for a test drive
in the anthracite and was fairly impressed. (I say fairly because interstate traffic was heavy at the time, and we didn't get the chance to really flog the
car). I'm not going to go into detail about the test drive itself, becuase I think enough people have hashed that over. -Although I will say that, yes, you need
to press the pedal more than you're accustomed to in other cars. The juice isn't really all there unless you press the pedal down and *mean* it. If you fail to do this, power will come on strong at 3K RPM. I also easily noticed a difference in the "rumble" of the engine with this new model. It can easily be described
as being more "raw" in this respect. This morning as we were driving it out of the hotel lot, I was actually concerned about the noise.
Of course, it sat out overnight, so it was only an issue of the engine being started cold. Also, seeing out over the hood is no different than the 99-03
models. Obviously, its no where ***close*** to the low cowl view of my prev-gen Integra.

Prior to our new '04, we had an '01 (Premium) TL. Big difference in fit and finish. Those of you debating between the previous gen and the new gen are in
for a surprise. None of those goofy areas of gathered leather or fake looking wood. This thing is put together like a Gucci suit (ala TSX). I liked the aluminum trim
even more than I thought I would and the faux-carbon fiber isn't that bad either. The seats are heavenly, although I still think the RSX (ahem, not the TSX)
takes the cake.

On ramps can be taken at much higher speeds with more confidence. The '01 moved around the onramp like a whale compared to this thing. With the
old car, my dad would never get too carried away in the curves, but the '04 (I think) was making him feel like a kid again. Dare I say he smiled
while driving this new TL. The ride was distinctly firm compared to the '01, but that's not a bad thing. The motions over bumps are well controlled given the
overall nature of the car. Road noise has been noticiably reduced by a medium-sized amount much thanks to the new sound-deadening windsheild. I can easily
tell a difference in this arena.

After the test drive, it was only a matter of picking out a color. Coming from Nighthawk Black, the general consensus was "something ligher and easier to
keep clean." We ended up debating between the antracite and the silver. My thought was that the antracite, although cool looking on the showroom floor,
would begin to look dawdy as it collected dirt. So we ended up taking the Silver with Ebony.

So of course you're all wondering about the deal. Overall my dad (and I) were fairly pleased. They shot us a low ball offer on our '01 w/ 43,000 mi, and
they were knocking off the destination fee for the '04. Not good enough. After a 10-minute family meeting, we arrived at a new figure, which was a total
difference of $1,500. We didn't care where the $1500 came from (be it given to us on trade or knocked off sticker). The dealer went for this offer in about
10 minutes. We are the proud new owners of a Silver/Black '04 TL.

On the 3 hour ride home, I finally had the chance to dink around with all this high-tech gadgetry. The DVD-A capability is absolutely phenomenal. One
track on the demo disk in particular blew me away. While in high school, I was involved with the A Cappella (without instrumention) choir. Track 12 on
the demo disc made me feel like I was standing on stage again. I turned it up to about "30" and it gave me chills. I didn't get to really test the bass
as I didn't have any of my house music compliations with me. The highs, however, put the highs in the '01 to shame. What bass I did hear was much MUCH
tighter than that in the '01. XM is cool, dude. The only thing is that you get a total of 12 channels at one time during the 3-month trial period.
Every time you start the car, the 12 channels that you get rotates. I haven't gotten to hear anything from the comedy, dance, news, or financial radio
stations yet. I'm thinking about calling XM an asking them to turn me on to full capacity for three months. How are we supposed to make an informed
decision when we don't have full functionality??? Hopefully, I'll be able to bend their ear a little bit.

All you six speed wanters might (not) like to hear this. Napleton told me that they had on 6MT on their ordering list and about a week ago, it was
"wiped clean" from the sheet. Our dealer in particular said "we won't have one for quite some time." So I'm not sure what the deal is.

In closing, for those of you hoping to get a relatively good deal on a TL, I'd suggest that the timing issue really helped us quite a bit during our purchase.
The Cubs' loss definitely had an effect on business. In a month when almost everyone is back in a good mood in the Chicagoland area, I wouldn't expect to
get this deal. Also, as advertising on this car grows - along with public knowledge, I expect a surge in sales. I was *very* surprised to see 8 on the
lot in Chicago.

So far we've had the car in our hometown for about 6 hours. Save for a 15 minute trip out to get Chinese its been sitting in our garage. Our neighbors
came out and commented on it in a matter of minutes. During that trip out for Chinese, 3 people commented on it and two people I even saw peering in the
windows. It is a head turner.

I'll be happy to answer any '00-'01 to '04 comparison questions. I'll also be checking the Sticky thread that Justin as set up for us. Thanks!!

RJC RSX

excellent remarks, thanks for sharing your experience

i hope you varied your speed on the highway!

legendguy

ben,

If you want to try out all the XM radios channels you might just have to spring for paying the $10 for a month. I think (based on my home XM experience) that you can pay month by month. Just make sure that they truly cancel your subscription at the end of the month if you do not want it (I cancelled it but it still showed up on my Visa bill for 2 months, so I called and they took care of this). Incidentally, does anyone know what happens after 3 months if you don't take the service? Does the XM button do nothing then or do you still get a few test channels of XM??

Other questions for Ben:
1. If both '00 and '04 have Navi, how do they compare?
2. Do you think quality is up, even, or down between years?
3. Do you think all the bright metal trim is viewed as positive by your neighbors, etc. or negatively?
4. Is the new TL noticeably quieter?

Thanks, your comments were/are appreciated.

justinjsw

The XM info is incorrect. You receive more than just the 12 channels even during the preview period. Call XM and they will give you the passcode for it. The dealership should have done that for you before the purchase.

majormojo

Holy crap. $1500 diff between a '01 /w 43K mi and a new '04? Gotta be a typo there... Do you mean $15,000 (fifteen thousand)?

stlgasman

What did you ultimately get for your 01?

ben1233

1. Sorry, couldn't talk pops into the NAV unit. Besides, they only had one NAV unit on the lot (which I didn't
get to play with) and it wasn't our color choice. I really can't help you with this question.

2. I think quality is up by a large margin. The way everything clicks and presses has been improved. The dials
on the radio are better - in the '01 when you turned the volume knob, the knob itself did not turn in a perfect
circle. It was kind of a lopsided one. Even the texture/feel on the stereo faceplate is improved. It kind of has
a coarse feel, making it feel not *so* much like plastic. The '01's faceplate was the plain, smooth stuff.
I don't envision having a problem with the pop out storage bins on each door - as long as your not whaling on
them every day. Again, the seat quality (in terms of leather and bolstering) are much better.


3. No real comments about the bright metal trim specifically. My neighbor did say that he loved the interior,
however. Personally, after having the aluminum, I will never go back to faux wood.


4. Quieter? Yes. While I'm not too sure about the back seat, I can say that road noise in the front seat has been
reduced somewhat. And that acoustic resin in the windsheild does help. The only problem in the roads that we
traveled in IL were ultra smooth. The 290 and 90 Tollways have recently been reconstructed, so it didn't really
put the TL to the test. Specifically speaking, the sound of bumps come through more pronounced on city streets.



OH! And the brakes! They absolutely DO NOT feel like a carryover from last years TL. The mushy pedal feel
is gone without a trace - dare I say they are a bit touchy....

ben1233

Hmmm, I see. Yes, the channels seem to rotate themselves every time you start the car, only giving you access to about 12 at a time. Even our dealer warned, "now when you roll off the lot you'll probably get all 100 channels for a short period of time. But come early next week XM will shut you down to about 12 - that is their 'tease.'"

But thanks for your help, I will be calling XM.

ben1233

Let me rephrase:

The difference between the '01 and the '04 was not 1500. I'm saying the *deal* itself was off by 1500. My dad isn't going to like me doing this, and it isn't respecting the dealer but I think I'm going to have to give the nitty gritties.

They low balled us with $15.5K for the '01. They were giving us the '04 at sticker price w/o the destination charge. This is where the the $1500 comes into play. We wanted the gap between the '04 and '01 to be lessened by $1500K. As I said, they easily went for this.

So view it however you want to:
1) We got the TL for sticker minus $2000 and a lowsy trade-in offer
2) We got a good trade in offer (17K), and paid sticker minus destination for the new one.

I apologize for the confusion. Let me know if you still have questions.

need4spd_RENAMED

I have had the TL for 10 days now, I get all the XM stations still(the dealer must have set it up, as I never did).

Also, there is a button to push (with the Nav system, it is on the left of the audio screen) to select if you can navigate all 100 stations, or just the ones in the catigory you are in, this may be the problem you are having. It took me a while to figure this out as I did not have time for the dealer to fully explain the radio.

Good choice on color I am sure there will be a lot of SSM's on the road.

turbowhat

SSM/quartz.... i would have prefered Black/quartz, but then i would have had to wait until Dec

ben1233

I think my dealer had it backwards. He said that we'd first receive all 100 channels, but then be reduced to 12 after a couple of days. Instead, I think he meant we'd receive 12 for a short while, but after everything went through XM's systems, we'd get 100. If this doesn't automatically happen today (monday) or tomorrow, I'll call XM. I also know a Chevy dealer, and she said she activate my service if I wanted. But so far, I love the XM.

I hadn't heard too much regarding the sound quality. I'm surprised they don't push this characteristic more. They mention it, but the don't emphasize it very well. I was listing to Eminem - Without Me on the 90's station (didn't that come out in '02?) and was blown away by the quality.

MrJumbo

You get 100 channels pre-paid by Acura for 3 months.

The rolling 6 channels you are getting now is the "demo" mode.

As soon as the dealer registers your sale with Acura, the information will be transmitted to XM and your car should go live with 100 channels in a few days.

You'll receive information in the mail soon after from XM radio describing the service and cost of the extension past the first 3 months.

Hope this helps.

ben1233

Alright guys! It works. Must take some time for the registration to go through XM's systems. Simply put, XM is awesome.