mrmako

That was the one thing I noticed having lived iin Japan, no Acura. Lexus is sold there, but Infiniti is not. There are some Infiniti cars there, but very few, and no dedicated dealerships. Honda only has Honda there.

1killercls

hey fanboy, there is literally TONS of quantifiable data and evidence that ranks Acura well below "Kraut Mobiles". Objective evidence and driver reviews, sales records...you name it. Just because you bought an Acura and drive an Acura does not make it the best. Snap the fuck out of it.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

that's because Acura is a north american brand.
the brand recently expanded to china.

ttribe

What part of "Quit your trolling" did you not understand?

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

I'd like to hope so but I doubt it. How many Acura sales are represented by active members of this forum? Maybe 0.1%? Even the inactive registered members, still probably <1%.

I like the looks of my 4G But I'll admit, if I weren't focused on function more than form, I probably wouldn't have bought a 4G.

SamDoe1

So yes then? And a placeholder for what? A new car? Acura is surely not going to sell you an upgrade package lol.

You're the type of dude that stuffs his pants with a sock aren't you?

Looks are subjective, I actually like the exterior of the Sport a lot. The interior is better still. The Accord 2.0T 6MT is currently in my top 3 new car list for later this spring.

There hasn't been a reason to buy an Acura sedan since the 9G Accord hit dealerships. There hasn't been a reason to buy any Acura (NSX aside) since the current gen Pilot and CRV's hit the lots. They should just cut their losses and move on at this point.

It definitely is still available.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/d...2832/overview/

So...slap the AWD system from the TLX onto the Accord as an option and call it a day. Most people don't realize that AWD doesn't help you stop or turn, tires do. And most people aren't driving their TLX/Accord hard enough to notice any difference anyway.

Acura is a NA market only brand right? I'm not sure it's sold anywhere else. Also, a lot of the Honda products are NA market only as well.

mrmako

Cliffs: Honda did not create a luxury brand in Japan, as Lexus did. They kept their core cars as Honda. Acura sales are lagging others by a wide margin, and this is cars only, no SUV's. They only sell one large car domestically, and can only tap the Accord spigot for so long.

Sure. Infiniti and Lexus were created as NA brands, but the name Lexus become synonymous with luxury. And in Japan that means something. So it was pitched as a direct rival to Mercedes and BMW (Audi was still a bit fringe there). I remember many a "Lexus ES" being a Toyota Windom, or the GS being an Aristo. When Lexus started there, they sold both models for a while. Toyota had the upper, "Oyaji" (old Japanese guy) market with the Crown series of cars. They wanted to bring the younger demographic in and with Lexus they saw that and it's been a hit.

Nissan saw the success of Lexus and brought some models over but quickly abandoned it as they saw no market. An M35/45 sold as an Infiniti made zero sense in Japan, as a Fuga (M35/45) with the same features had it's niche in the market. In Japan, Nissan is a brand with more "Kei cars" (660cc engine cars), but they also have the Skyline and the GT-R. They are not really a player in the luxury market there.

Honda brought over the Euro Accord as the TSX for the USA, and the 2G TL was sold as the Saber (the one I owned). Honda sold the Legend as a Honda. So they brought those from Japan, not a real engineering change, Same with the Vigor. So early on, Honda created Acura and brought over JDM models as LHD with nice features to compete with Lexus/Infiniti and had some success as these were proven models of luxury with sportiness and trusted Honda reliability (and that died pretty quickly with our transmissions). So the Legend/Saber/Vigor/ died with no replacement.

So the problem with Honda was the Acura brand strayed away from what it started as. Lexus, if you remember, was a pretty boring car to start with, They developed the sporty side as Acura abdicated that part of the business (mid to late 2000's) to go with styling that was an utter disgrace. They have yet to recover. The only thing keeping them afloat is SUV sales. Kill those and Acura dies.

Acura did have a decent market share in 2016:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/287620/luxury-vehicles-united-states-premium-vehicle-market-share/

So lets look at the mid size luxury market. Acura has only one vehicle there. The RLX. And it's numbers are abysmal:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/287751/midsize-luxury-vehicles-sales-by-make-in-the-united-states/

For entry level, the TLX is holding it's own, and the ILX is not good:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/287722/entry-luxury-vehicles-sales-by-make-in-the-united-states/

So as a car brand, Acura has a lot of work to do. The TLX could be the direction to go but they need to improve the product to really compete. They can't draw from Japanese models for their inspiration, as the only larger sedan they make there is the Accord Hybrid (at nearly $40K). So is there another car Honda JDM could tap? Nope:

http://www.honda.co.jp/ACCORD/

I agree Justnspace, an NA company. But they are failing at building cars that are competitive in the marketplace.

Saintor

It is not trolling; it is the bare truth.

And overall they are close to Caddy and even did beat Infiniti which has many more dedicated platforms (and probably much higher costs).
https://www.statista.com/statistics/...-market-share/

So yes they have their place.

kurtatx

Not sure how calling someone "stupid" represents the truth.

oonowindoo

You know that market share is being hold by 1 model right ? (MDX)
So let's just say MDX is doing great but Acura failed.

ttribe

I'm referring to the childish name calling and inflammatory comments. Now, stop it. You've been warned.

mrmako

If I could dig up the stats (combination of lazy/not enough time today) I would, but I bet there is a precipitous slide in Acura sales (minus the MDX) from 2008 onward. And all of us here owned one and loved/hated certain aspects of the car at one time, but no one wants to see them fail; however they are.

Christopher.

Umm, until a real TLX Type S is available? If they never do make a legit Type S, then eventually I'll install a turbo, but not until the car is at least a few years old

[Warning: Off Topic follows:]
I once put a cucumber in my pocket and then gently took my boss lady's hand and placed it on the cucumber, for the sake of amusement. But no, no socks in my underwear.

Before I became married with children, the way I tried to impress women was by talking to them. I even had one ex-girlfriend straight up tell me: "I didn't even think you were sexy until after you f--ked me." As often as not, I got rejected by "ordinary" looking girls that you might rate a "6" or a "7" (on a good day) - I mostly only had luck with girls that were so hot, that all the other guys were basically afraid to talk to them.

Another reason I didn't need sock stuffing was this: one time I was in a small tent with a girl at a summer festival in Vermont (and lots of people outside could hear us) and she *gasped* and said "oh, it's so big" - it's not big, but she was a virgin and had not seen a hard one in person before, so she was surprised. Needless to say, word spread around and I had no desire to prove the rumors to be wrong.
[/off topic]

mrmako

robscharp05

Unhappy with everything. Acura is not what it used to be. Horrible transmissions. Pushy service advisors. Lacking the luxury quotient of competitors and even previous Acura models. I miss the 04-06 days when even the RL was ahead of its competitors. Acura is just another brand that is sub-par. I will not leave the brand but I hope it improves soon. The new Lexus LS sure does look very nice. The new Accord's head unit is even better than the updated TLX's. I miss the wood and leather interiors of Acura's.

RDX10

RDX10

ttribe

MODERATOR NOTE: Okay, that's enough of this little derail. No more please.

RDX10

svtmike

robscharp05

Primarily because my family has owned six Acura's. I have owned two now. Many times I think I want to swap, but I cant. I still have hope in the brand. They're not bad cars, but could be better. I am a fan of the RLX. I think it is well built. As for the other models, they need improvement. I would love to see 4-Door Coupe and a true full-size flagship.

ttribe

IMO, brand loyalty in this day and age is a fool's errand. At any given time, there are so many better choices; not only versus Acura, but compared to just about any brand. There's probably never been so much choice geared at individual tastes and preferences.

kurtatx

My dad is notoriously brand loyal to Chevy. I spent way too much time in broken down cars to ever be loyal to one brand again. It's one thing to buy for a badge, it's another thing to repeat-buy for a badge.

Christopher.

Thank you for that bit of patience - sometimes I should know better than to respond to trolls, but I don't always think [carefully] before replying. I guess I took his bait and ran with it :embarrassed:

RDX10

robscharp05

Bottom line Acura is still a well-built car at a fairly good value compared to other premium brands. Compared to mainstream Ford/Toyota, I cannot say. If we all hated Acura we wouldn't be on this page. We just get frustrated haha. Almost like a marriage. Most end in divorce these days....

svtmike

I buy the car that speaks to me at the time. I look for best-in-class combination of superior interior, understated and attractive exterior, and performance that hopefully won't be a disaster long term. I have nevef kept a car less than 7 years until VW bought back my Golf TDI.

robscharp05

I always do look at the competition/ other models I like. When I bought my TLX I went back to Mercedes constantly to test drive the new C 300. I had to at least go back and forth about 3 times. The thing that got me, in the end, was the price of ownership. If Mercedes offered $53.95 for an Oil Change with a free tire rotation I would have gone for the Benz. I'm still starting out and have another car that is due for maintenance, and my local Mercedes dealership would not want to budge on any extras so I went for $12k more inexpensive TLX.

Abe_Froman

iTrader: (5)

I know the current Acura lineup doesn't have the nicest looking vehicles on the road, but they're far from the ugliest. The current Jeep Cherokee makes the Pontiac Aztek look good. I actually find the A-Spec TLX to be a attractive looking car. Here are my biggest disappointments and why I can't see myself in an Acura (TLX) in the foreseeable future:

1) Underpowered compared to some of the other vehicles in this price range. The J series is a awesome motor, but how about something that makes more low end power for daily use?

2) Features are terrible compared to what some of the competitors offer. You can get a Santa Fe these days with 360 camera, head steering wheel, etc.

3) I'm not even sure I would choose it over a new Accord. Acura has done nothing significant to differentiate the two. Shit in some most cases the Accord is the better car. This is a huge compliment to the Accord though. It comes with more features than a fully loaded C class.

robscharp05

That's one thing with luxury cars they upsell you by alot. It would be nice to see some fake wood that at least looks like wood in the TLX. Maybe some sunshades in the back? Better grade materials?? This is where I see Acura falling behind in the physical car. 1) Powertrain 2) Exterior Styling 3) Luxury Comfort

svtmike

Sometimes the difference in the features isn't just that they exist, but how they are implemented.

I would expect better camera quality, better 360 image splicing, more even steering wheel heat, for example, from the luxury/upscale version of the car.

robscharp05

I see where you're coming from. That just depends on how much the automaker spends on designing that feature. Some automakers get certain features right, and others don't. Most of the time luxury cars do a better job in that department but not always.

svtmike

SamDoe1

You are too easy.

Sorry, I'm done now. Back on topic

IMO, all of those things are now to the point where everyone has them. The attributes and features that we have historically associated with luxury cars (adaptive cruise, HID/LED lights, lane departure, all the safety ish, etc) are now available on a Toyota Corolla as expected with how technology goes. Even cameras are so cheap now that they are all essentially the same. On top of that, power is so easy to come by now that turbo technology has advanced to where we are now. Everyone has it and it's not hard to do. There's frankly no reason why an Accord should have a 280hp motor or a Camry should have 300hp.

All of the luxury brands, not just Acura, are trying hard to differentiate themselves from the "lower end" brands. The aspect of justifying why a BMW 330i is worth $15k more than a Honda Accord is getting harder and harder every day, and the depreciation curves of the two reflect that. The fit and finish of modern mass market cars is so much better than before that it makes it hard to figure out if the BMW is worth it over the Accord. Back in the early 00's, it was a no brainer. My old E46 from 2004 was orders of magnitude more polished than any mass market car of the same era both in terms of features, driving, fit, and finish. It was easy to see where your money is going. Today...not so easy to see where that extra $15k went other than to stick that expensive badge on the hood.

TacoBello

No, no... Acura is definitely past it's "ugly" stage. I don't think that is in question these days. I think it's more that Acura went from "ugly" to "vanilla bland" styling. They softened up the lines on their cars. The TLX A-Spec is the only one thus far that breaks out of that category. They injected a bit of character into the TLX at the mid model refresh. Limited changes, but changes nonetheless. The RDX is coming up next, in about 10 days or so. From the teaser shot, it looks pretty good, at least in my mind. It looks like it builds on what the TLX A-Spec currently is. Some will argue that it is just a prototype, which it is, but at least from the teaser shot it looked definitely like something they could sell. It reminds of the 3G TL prototype vs the actual 3G TL... which ended up looking better than the prototype!

Concept/Prototype:



Actual:

RDX10

Legend2TL

True, although the majority of Lexus and Infiniti models over their history are also JDM models that are also brought over as well. The biggest exception is the LS (original project code name F1) was a true Japanese Lexus design for the US market.
One side note the 2G and 3G TL's were designed and developed in the US by teams led by Charlie Baker and Erik Berkman respectively and exported the 2G TL back to Japan as the Honda Aspire.
And the TLX and 4G TL also AFAIK are also US models only.

Overall do agree that Acura desperately needs to step it up a few levels for their Acura sedans.
Audi managed to overcome their horrendous quality/reliability image and FWD roots to become serious luxury auto manufacturer contenders.
Still wonder what the supposedly RWD Acura sedan line would have been like before the 2008 financial crisis caused Honda to shutter it.

Abe_Froman

iTrader: (5)

I completely agree with you on this. I wonder if they reverted to the vanilla stying due to the harsh backlash they were getting on the grilles after the 3G.

RDX10

Sarlacc

Sounds like an abusive relationship to me...