james21_h

Hello, just want to share my experience from yesterday and it solidified how much I really love my 2012 TL-AWD Tech. So a good friend of mine let me test drove the E63 he is car sitting for his friend. He told me the car was $120K... So I couldn't resist to ask for test drive.
Let me tell ya, the sound of that engine when you first started it was AMAZING! Nice deep but not too loud. I wish my TL sounds like that!! It is a 120K car but it doesn't even have the blind spot indicator nor automatic folding mirror. I felt the car is about the same size as my TL if not smaller. The power, now the main topic, is not what I would expect... I don't know if it's because I didn't have the right setup (sport) or what, you have to floor the gas paddle to get that biturbo V8 going! But once it's going... holy crap that thing would pull your head back HARD!!! The road noise is really not much of difference of the TL (surprised). The braking was AWESOME. AND I most say, the automatic bolster adjusting feature when you make a turn was really awesome.
Overall experience, would I pay 120K for it? NO.... Is it 3 times better than my TL? No... It makes me appreciate my TL more than ever. TL is a solid built car and it is a definitely a value bargain!! With that said, my friend told me that the owner of the car is a 19 years old kid and recently got into troubles and the dad is taking him back to the country he is from. So the dad is about to sell the car for $70K.....!! They don't care the money much.... Well, $70K for 2014 E63 with only 3000 miles. Now that is a bargain!!!!!!

andrewcjduong

I had my friends C63 AMG for a while and that thing has all the features you said the E class didn't have which is weird. He paid a total of 90k but honestly I could see the value. There is absolutely no cabin noise. Great car, horrible on gas though.

potmilkz

those cars dont last that long though.. issues after issues after issues

atsx1313

dam for 19 year old kid??? envy me...

james21_h

Thats what im afraid of! Don't want to spend thousands to deal with issues!!

james21_h

No kidding. I have seen some spoil college kids driving ashton martins and high end porches. Money is not an issue for them!

TeamAcura

Dang 120K??? That's 911 GT3 and GTR territory! I can name a few more but you get the point.

d1sturb3d119

iTrader: (1)

You pay for the badge. Impressive cars but like you said, really can't justify the cost. That's the reason I love tuning. With enough of intellect you can either make the money and drop it on a car like that or tune a good platform to that level.

Same reason I've always wanted an SC or LS. I'll get the HP and lateral G's but I need a decent platform. I can't see the sense of dropping that money when there's no guarantee of reliability. If I pay that much I want a bulletproof car.

That's why Acura and Lexus will be my favorites for a long time! Love the ISF for that reason. Wish the GS or LS had some proper factory performance packages. Acura needs to get their shit together.

ABDomega

Like most German cars, they are practically customized. You will eventually be nickel and dimed for every option you want that mostly come standard on high end Japanese brands.

Brock79

For that money I'm going with a GTR or a new Z06 Vette.

andrewcjduong

While a lot of you might love your Acura and Japanese brand, and so do I. Don't get me wrong. But there's something about the german build quality that still gets me every time I sit in even a standard 3 series bmw or a c class benz. The driving experience of just silence when you play music and you hear absolute zero road noise. The sound the door makes when you close it. Those little details give you that feeling that the german overpriced car might have something to it. The sound deadening blows me away. Every time I close my TL, I hear a hollow sound that the doors have which a BMW doesn't.

So even though I say yes it's quite pricey and for 120k, you could get a lot more power. But for 120k, Mercedes is a luxury brand and the E63 AMG is a luxury car. Those little details make a difference vs a 120k Nissan GTR which I have also driven. Yes it's fast, but you hear minor things that you know Nissan lacked in when building the car. Could be as simple as non-stitched dash vs a fully stitched dash.

I'm just saying I see the value and I respect the companies that have a pricier optioned vehicle than others. Would I ever buy it? If I had 120k to spare an I was satisfied with everything in life and wanted a daily car, then maybe.

james21_h

I partially agree with you Andrew. I do respect the fine engineering from German auto! It was elegant. Felt like I am making 300K a year. It was fun to drive that is for sure. But for me, I would rather buy something else with 120K. But for 70K, I am intrigued!!

Edward'TLS

The E-class/5-series is the benchmark of mid-size luxury automobile, one that only the RLX is capable of trying to match.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Hmmm, I wonder where this thread got moved from? I'm sure I can figure it out without even looking at the log

cp3117

(I hear Ya) I belong to a few automotive forums, but I will never understand some 4G TL owners. Why do they always compare their rides to vehicles not even close to the same as theirs then claim how great of a value their car is???

At least this one isn't as bad as the one a couple years ago where a 4Ger compared his TL to a Porsche Panamera and claimed it was the same or better and how he saved himself $50K in the process.....

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

^ I appreciate loyalty as much as the next guy... but I prefer it comes with a side order of common sense.

But you're right... this isn't as bad as some of the one's I've seen

Moog-Type-S

I stopped reading after that.

00TL-P3.2

I don't get the "have to floor i to get it going" line. My grandmother's '14 S550 is a rocket without needing much throttle input & definitely doesn't require being 'floored'.
I can't imagine the lighter & more powerful E63 being worse

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

Pushing pedals is hard.

james21_h

Yeah i found that weird too. When i pressed it half way, it would response quick but more of mild acceleration. And when i pressed it all the way, it would pause for a second and then bang full power! I guess its computer control throttle to make sure. I will go to my friend's place again and drive it for another 10 minutes since i am really considering becoming its second owner

james21_h

Well, yes i am comparing orange to apple but my main point is that a car cost 3 times more it should give me at least 3 times of thrill!! And it really didn't at the time! But at 70k, i would say it's well worth it at least the first 3 years before all the super expensive maintenance costs. If i have 120k to spare i would spend it somewhere else!

ez12a

if you want a great thrills to $ buy a motorcycle?

charliemike

Folding mirrors. JFC.

05TLdcc

So let's say you have 70k, do you buy a high end Japanese car, or a slightly used Porsche 911, BMW M3, or E63 AMG?

It's not really even a question.

And before then "german reliability" nazi's swing by, my 10 year old 911 had 0 problems in my 2.5 years of ownership. I had to rebuild the trans, oil pan, and ac fan on my 05 TL in 2 years of ownership.

MySoCalLife

Porsche is renowned for its bullet proof reliability. When most people talks about the disapointing German reliability, they are talking about Mercedes, BMW, Audi.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Don't worry... most of us in Car Talk are on your side. Ton of BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Porsche, etc owners in Car Talk and just about all with very positive experiences. Since 2005 we've owned 5 Germans from VW to Audi to Mercedes to Porsche (currently have 3) and all have been as good or better then any Acura I used to own.

So don't worry, you're safe in Car Talk

cjTL

iTrader: (2)

Eh. That's a lot of money.

VR1

My friends dad has a 2011 E63.. Thing is an absolute monster..

oo7spy

Why move the thread? If a 4G TL owner wants to compare his car to another and get input from other 4G TL owners, what purpose does it serve in Car Talk? It will likely end up with insults and a lock. The idea that we can't discuss cars in a sub-forum other than the one specific to the sub-forum is STUPID.

Also, the OP's #1 (and really only) point was about value. Argue it all you want, but $40k to $120k is a plenty valid point.

james21_h

Yes, I have no idea why it got moved... But my main point was about value. 120K vs 40K. Thank you 007SPY for pointing it out!!
And yes, if I had 120K to spare, I wouldn't even look at Acura. Just like when you are buying a 40K car, you wouldn't even look at Toyota Yaris. But when you campare TL and Yaris. I would see TL being worth 3 times as much as Yaris (horse power is about 3 times more and the material is aboout 3 times nicer) but I can't justify E63 being 3 times better than TL. I am an Engineer so I do look at value much more than the badge...

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Please move this crap back to where it belongs.

What do you mods expect to get out of these threads?

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

No idea why it was moved. I didn't even look to see who moved it b/c generally once the decision is made to move it from one section to another, we leave it be.

If you guys feel the point has been made then I guess the option at this point would be to just let it fade away...

Costco

How do you know if someone is an engineer?

oonowindoo

You think $120k is expensive for E63, well that is only expensive to you (and me)
if we were making millions, $120k is no different than a $30k car.
So the conclusion: the car is not expensive, we are just not rich enough.

If you want to "test drive" any kind of Germans cars, you have to drive in Sport or Sport + mode.

In regular mode, they regulate your throttle response and RPM goes up very slow to save gas.

Just FYI, if you floor any AMG model (in the correct mode), you will burn tires through first 3 gears, that is how much power they got.

Saintor

My boss just traded in his M5 2014 for a 2014 E63 wagon.

james21_h

So quick update, i went to my friend's place for another "test drive" again and put it in the s and s plus mode this time. Holy $hit was what i was screaming while accelerate from a stop. Good thing the seat hold me in place but my heart was moved maybe half inch. That monster flies in s plus mode and yes the tires burnt the first two gears. This time i left the wife home so it was just me and my buddy. We drove for 20 minutes on 40 mph zone and the freeway for a little bit. The awd system kept the car in lane really well when we accelerate through the onramp. Man, that monster is fun to drive! It put a big smile on my face thats for sure. My buddy even offered me that i can keep the car this weekend since the owner doesn't care. He told the owner that im interested buying the car from him. Now a hard decision.... For 70k, it is an awesome deal but i can also buy a house with that money..... At least i have the car for the weekend to play with for free!!

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

I don't know why more people don't realize this...