Trackruner228

iTrader: (1)

I dont really get how everyone here thinks acura is doing that bad. Last I heard acura is still making a profit. Come down here to charlotte TLs, MDXs, and TSXs, are EVERYWHERE. I see at least one of each car a day. In consumer reports for luxury car company guess who was number 1 for reliablity? Acura (with lexus as a close second.) On that page where it rates companys overall which company got 100% of vechiles recommened? Honda. Now dont tell me that doesnt matter because LOTS of people look at that before buying a car. 81% of people who bought a TL said they would again.

Now also look at other companys. Chrysler is doing so bad that they are trying to sell themseleves. Ford and GM arent trying to sell but they are loosing shitloads of money. Last I checked both honda and acura are making profits?

So while maybe acura isnt doing perfect or the best I think it could be a lot worse.

teranfon

I agree with many of your points, especially with your reference to Honda and its direction. Three years ago I was in the market for a new car. I had NEVER owned a Honda product in the past, and was looking for something to replace my 540 with. Throughout my BMW ownership I was increasingly frustrated with it's reliability and servicing. Many of my friends were repeat Honda purchasers and swore by their reliability, servicing, workmanship, and fun-to-drive quotient. I eventually short listed my choices down to an Accord coupe six speed or TSX six-speed. I could purchase either car for basically the same amount. It was great having both a Honda and Acura dealer side by side, and not affiliated with each other in any way. After a few months of test drives and comparisons I chose the Accord. Why? To me it seemed more "representative" of the virtues I was looking for. Not to say the Acura was an inferior product, in fact I would have the same difficulty choosing between both cars if I had to choose again today. The Accord, however, with its V6 power and coupe styling, gave me everything I wanted in a car. Again, I don't want anyone to misinterpret my opinion as a knock against Acura and its products, but I often felt that there was not enough differentiation between it and it's parent company. I think Acura has fine products and I would definitely consider one again, but would also find myself wondering if I could find some the same virtues in lower priced Honda badged automobile.

Terry

TMQ

For all the money that Honda makes, and its huge market capitalization - 65 $billion, I always hear people talk about Honda being a small company and doesn't have the resources to develop a V8 platform or RWD sedan. I think it's more about the choices that Honda makes for its products.

If Honda wants to make a V8 sedan with RWD for Acura, I'm sure it could have done that 10 years ago.

Hondas are great cars. Acura should be a natural extension for many Honda owners, but from the data I've seen - customer retention etc., Acura hasn't done nearly as well. I just wonder how long Acura can sustain given the type of improvements that other car makers seem to make these days.

Is SH-AWD the right answer for Acura? What's its answer for a coupe? People were generally excited when TSX and the 3rd gen TL came out, but quickly one has to realize that Acura needs something more to hang with the competition - especially starting in 2007.

my 2 cents.

dom

Ya, TSX is their ONLY problem. RDX sales stink, the all-new MDX is selling below expectations, The refreshed TL with a Type-S now available sales are dropping with another full MY to go and the RL was dead in the water. The only stable sales number is coming from the now 4 YEAR OLD practically unchanged TSX that has been selling above expectations from day 1. Yet its the problem?

Get a clue buddy.

123456SPEED

As a premium coupe driver, staying loyal to Acura can be frustrating. Loved my 88 and 95 Legend coupes, but if you wanted a 6 speed/6cylinder vehicle from Acura it was 8 years until the 03 CLS 6MT, (which I drive now). ok they had the NSX.

HondaCo drops coupes like flies - Prelude, Legend, CL, Integra, RSX, NSX....while Infiniti's G, BMW 3, even Nissan Altima has a coupe coming. (I hear Toyota is dropping the ugly Solara, which never had an MT/6cyl combo anyway).
I've looked at the TL and RL, eh, okay for sedans. If Acura wants to known as sporty, they need a premium coupe but all I think we'll get is one off the TSX, ugh.

I'm probably gonna get an extended warranty on my CLS and wait. I agree that Honda is a more realized line than Acura. I think the new Civic coupe is the best loooking design Honda has out now, and it has it's flaws.

Mokos23

From what I've been reading with all these comments, this are my cliffnotes:

Honda needs better marketing, which I think they're really starting to correct with the dropping of the RSX. All they need is a new coupe that looks more upscale.

I think Acura is the only luxury brand that doesn't have a coupe now. Honda needs to have strategy to keep Acura performing well and even better. All I know and this is just my opinion, but sometimes I feel Honda is more highly regarded than it's luxury division. This is the complete opposite between Toyota and Lexus and Nissan and Infiniti, where the luxury divisions are more highly regarded than the parent company

mrdeeno

that is EXACTLY why i left Acura.

I went from a honda civic to a cl-s, and was anxiously waiting to get into an RL...but where's my V8? SH-AWD is fine and I would have settled for that if a V8 was available, but I was ready to move up to a car that should be at least as quick as my cl-s was.

customer loyalty is stronger than automakers seem to believe, and if they fail to capture that loyalty with the right products (ie lose customers that move on to V8, or RWD, or something sportier), then they gave up a huge advantage to another automaker that does offer things that upwardly mobile customers look for. Look at how many people still bought GM's and Ford's crappy products in the 80's, 90's and early 2000's...mostly customers who were loyal and were wililng to look past the crappiness.

lucky for Honda, financially, the "family sedan" and "upmarket entry sedan/coupe" are developed for them to capture that huge volume of buyers.

laidback93

Well speaking of loyalty... It's definitely started to wain with the purchase of my 03 TL-S. All of the Honda products I've owned before never gave me as much trouble as this car. Don't get me wrong, I still love this car, but all the little things going wrong with it are starting to wear on me. I figured buying a car with 60K would be safe because it's a Honda product. Now I'm not so sure.

Also, I'm still angry that they dropped the Integra name. I honestly think it hurt sales and may have led to it being discontinued.

Nissans are starting to look better to me all the time. I hate saying that as I'm a huge Honda fan.

Mokos23

I'm mad when they dropped the Legend name it was so much more elegant than RL.

laidback93

Yeah I really love the Legend name too.

However, I wasn't really too keen on the Vigor name.

SRK85

I'm not saying its a problem. I'm just saying if I had 30,000 I would buy something different then a TSX. Don't get me wrong the TSX is a nice car, I just think its a bit overpriced.

dom

Sorry, but you made it sound as though Acura's only problem was the TSX being overpriced but thats simply not the case going by sales numbers. The car has sold above expectations and has never had a slump, at a price point where is faces competition from not only Lexus, Audi, BMW, SaaB, Volvo and MB but from Honda, Toyota, Mazda and Subaru to name a few. Arguably the TSX and TL are currently the only things that are RIGHT with Acura, although I'd personally add the MDX to that list.

SRK85

True it depends what you compare it to. TSX compared to the A4, S40, and C230.But Is a great price. But compared to the new Altima its kind of underpriced. But then again the Altima is from a basic form of Nissan, and the TSX is from the luxury line. The MDX is hot too. Plus I could have sworn a 2006 TSX with auto transmission and navi was 28,000. I could be wrong.

dom

05 TSX Navi MSRP was $29,560. I'm pretty sure the 06/07 is a few hundred more. But its common for Navi's to be sold for 28K or less, thats probably what your thinking of.

TMQ

It's the car, not the name, that's the problem. After all, the Legend name continues in the rest of the world but doesn't do much, as it's the same thing as the RL. If the Legend name had been kept on the RL in the U.S., you'd know that it's the FWD, V6 etc. that really killed the momentum for Acura, not a model name change.