Rugel

Stoned CL<- Dude sell ur Tsx and get the G. Talk about G fan boy...

tmnhs81

He's an Infinity salesman in real life..

graphicguy

Straight out of the dealer's service dept from Infiniti who told me. The rest is my personal experience test driving the G and the TL.

Again, if you like the G, go for it.

Either the TL or the G is going to be an upgrade from your current TSX.

StonedCL

iTrader: (1)

I just bought my first home before I leased my TSX .. I leased it (can't get out earl) I needed to be under $400 / a month with nuttin down and the TSX was the best car I can get for that budget.. This is my first home and I had no clue how much everything cost (cable, heat, electric) so instead of leaving beyond my means like most Americans , I live under them to make sure I can pay my mortgage and all my bills. I feel a house is alot better investment then a car. SO I have about 20 months of this lease left and now I know how much my bills are so my next lease will be a infiniti (But not a G)

chinolatte

My opinion is probably going to be different than most here. I believe the TL and the G are entirely different cars in a different class and shouldn't really be compared to each other as they are. They're roughly in the same price range, that's it! The comparison ends at this point.

I used to be a Nissan guy. Before I got my TL, I had 5 Nissans and I thought naturally my next car would be an Infiniti. I had an old Altima, 2 Maximas, and Altima SE-R (TL's competition at the time, somewhat), and most recently a 350Z.
Coming directly from the Z, I wanted something bigger and nicer, without sacrificing handling all that much. Getting anything other than a sports car you sacrifice handling, of course, but there are options out there that minimize that.
The G is a small car. It isn't much bigger than the Z, handles great, sure, but its still small. Going up in size in the Infiniti lot is the M, FX, EX. None of them are sporty enough for me, so that was it for Infiniti.

The TL AWD 6MT may not be as quick as the Z and may not handle as well, but I'll tell you something, its EASIER to drive it and push it hard around turns than the Z thanks to its great AWD system. It is significantly bigger than the G - can't really compare the two cars. If anything you can compare the TL to the Infiniti M, but the M is significantly more expensive and a bit bigger still.

Getting back on topic, the most natural thing to do is get the right car for the right job. What are your needs? Need more room? Get the TL and call it a day - or comparison shop cars that are in the same class or size, the G is not one of them.

chinolatte

Smart.
I actually heard a very successful person say that you buy equity into something that holds or grows in value, and rent things that depreciate.

graphicguy

I LOATHE paying interest on anything. A mortgage...well, uniless you've got 100s of thousands sitting around doing nothing, that's almost a necessity to pay interest on.

A car is a depreciating asset. To pay interest on top of that....I just can't wrap my arms around that.

I understand why people lease a car. They can get more car for a palatable payment. However, I don't like leases either. You negotiate what you consider a good price. And then, you start adding in bank fees, acquisition fees, disposition fees, mileage fees, hope you don't have any turn in fees for excess wear and tear, etc....all of a sudden, that good negotiated purchase price doesn't look so good.

Plus, at the end of the lease you have nothing. You turn in your car with no equity, and you start the process all over again.

Credit card companies are always trying to figure out ways for me not to pay off my balance every month. But again, all the offers surround me paying them interest.

The more interest I can have coming into me, and the less interest I have to pay out, the better off I am. That interest offers me absolutely zero. I get nothing by paying it.

In short, cars are necessities in most parts of the country. As much as it hurts to invest 10s of thousands of dollars in them, it hurts even more to look at what you've got at the end of a car loan or lease and see what the car truly costs with interest.

Kind of got off on a tangent there.

If someone likes the G, buy it. Same goes for the TL. We're talking personal preference as to which one fits the needs of one person vs what fits the needs of another.

StonedCL

iTrader: (1)

Leasing IS THE WAY to go on a car (depending on the car) buy Infiniti and Acura have high residuals.. Currently the residual is 60% on a 39 month lease on a G sedan.. (my TSX was 58% for 30 months with 15K miles)
You can lease a $40K G37X for $460 a month with just taxes and fees down.
Yes you dont own the car .. But on the same 40K G37X with taxes and fees down the payment is $666 with no interest for 60 month (thats if they have no interest for 60 months), and you dont own the car till 60 months is up..
So at the end of 39 months if you wanna get out of the finance with the same money down you owe $14K on the car.. OK you might make more selling your 3.4 year old G BUT you paid $206 more a month for those 39 months (460 lease vs 666 finance) so in total about $8K.. so you would have to sell your car for 22K at the end of 39 months to make out better or the same as leasing a car.. Say you keep the car for all 60 months.. and you have it paid off and think u made out but you paid $206 more a month then if you where leasing fo you have to sell your car for 12k to make out the same as if you where leasing... And all these number where done with interest in the lease but w/o interest in the finance..

Unless you hold your car more then 7 years it makes no sense to finance..
I bought my CL-S for 30K in march of 2000 and had it 10 years and spent a total of about $60K on everythin car, interest, trannies, tires, mainence over the 10 years.. Thats $6k a year for a 30K car .. MY tsx is 380/month .. $380x12 is $4560 a year to drive.. So if I leased from the begining I would have been on my 4th new car and spent LESS overall then driving my 10 year old CL...

StonedCL

iTrader: (1)

I used to think leasing was the STUPIDEST thing that people can do.. BUt being in the buesness for 6 years now i have done a 360 and will never buy a car again.. more the 80% of our customers lease cars and 10% buy cash and only 10% finance.. The people that are Smart with money (accountants , CEO's, math teachers LOL) lease cars , the people that work with money and interest and know how money works lease cars.. The only people that finance are young people and people that have no clue...

Why do you think GM got into so much trouble, they got screwed cuz the customer made out on there SUV leases.. back 5-6 years ago you where able to lease a 40K envoy for $350 on then 3 years later when these leases came back and the buyout was 25-27K the SUV's where only worth $17K SO GM lost $8-$10K on EVERY SUV that they leased out 5-6 years ago...So the customer made out, imagine thos idiots that bought those SUV's instead of leasing them.. They owed 30K on suv's that where worth $16-$17k 2-3 years into there fiances..

smarty666

Actually, take if from a guy who has been through various luxury leases, companies that hold their value better, like Acura, Infiniti, Lexus, etc are the best for leasing purposes and I've read several articles that leasing vehicles from GM, Chrysler, etc who don't hold their values makes leasing very financially bad for those brands. I've even seen that a little bit with Nissan and my Maxima lease right now. While the Maxima itself holds its value very well and one of the best for Nissan (because of its reputation for quality and reliability) because its a Nissan and as a brand they don't hold their value as well it makes it more difficult for buying it out. I already know the buyout is thousands over MSRP and I can not go that route and I don't think I'll lease another Nissan after this one. I have had much better leases with Infiniti and especially Acura.

Just so you know graphic, and I'm not saying you should lease, Acura is one of the best company to lease with though. There is no disposition fee, no turn in fees, no excess mileage if you don't go over and if you do go over and lease or buy another Acura they'll forget that excess mileage, I never have by the way, and they give you a $1500 dollar wear and tear limit, but unless you've been in a accident or had something major done to the car, I've never had to use any of that $1500 and Acura has not been a really bastard or stickler when I've turn the car back in. To be honest, the buyout prices have been excellent with my Acura leases so I can't complain.

One thing I like about leases is, the depreciation is terrible the first 3-4 years of a car and its nice to let a bank have to take the hit on that instead of me. Cars have no equity unfortauntely so it is what it is. What annoys we with companies like Acura, Lexus, and Infiniti when I've inquired about buying and financing, when a car costs between 38-46k dollars on avg and the a#$hole salesman says they can only take $1500-2000 bucks off that high a price premium to fiance, I'm saying to myself, you have to do better than that for me to fiance something that costs that much. If you going to take that little pitful amount off, I'm better off leasing the damn thing because I can still negotiate the cap cost reduction 2-3k depending on what the factory is offering.

But like I said, I am thankful I leased this 08 of mine because I have a couple of problems, right from the get go that have me questioning its long term reliability. Having a power steering fluid leak and the steering gear box replaced at 10k doesn't exactly extrew confidence in me! If I had bought this car, I'd be stuck with it because unlike some people, I'm not made of money and can not go and take a huge loss if something happens to the car (such as in your case with your 2010) and get a brand new car to replace it.

graphicguy

Just my personal feelings on leases. You never own the car. Thus, you never have equity. Nor, do you ever have ownership, to do what you want, whenever you want, for whatever reason you want, with a lease.

Plus, whatever fees you pay for the lease (inception, disposition, etc), CAP cost reductions (down payment), money factors (interest on the lease) are monies you can never recover. It's a good deal for the dealer, the bank/leasing company, etc. Not so good for the lessee. Plus, the car is worth nothing to you after the lease. Whereas at the end of a finance contract, you own the car that's worth cash.

Using a 60 month finance contract, and using the residuals, a $40K TL has a worth roughly $16K. For a 36 month term, the same car should be worth roughly $26,000. Again, after either of those terms with a lease, you have nothing.

Even looking at the difference in monthly payments, with the lease's monthly payment being about $150 lower on a 36 month lease, that's only $5,400 you save on payments, but again, you own nothing that has any worth.

smarty...I understand what you're saying. I just can't make a financial case for it. It is easier for a dealership to get you into a car that you like, that may be prohibitive to buy. But, you actually pay in the end for that lower monthly payment.

smarty666

Thats fine but you are missing the point. There is no disposition fee as I have stated yet you keep mentioning it. You keep implying that there are all these fees and charges for leasing by Acura when there aren't, except for a aquisition/bank fee, which I always hosed them down to putting it into my down payment so that it really isn't costing anything. You put down as little money as possible for the down payment. Typically I put no more than $1000-1500 down on a lease and that is it. I think putting that little bit down on a $40k dollar car is not bad. I don't ever worry or care that I don't actually own a car. Why own something that will never have equity, even if you buy it, it still will never have equity, will depreciate out the wazzoo as soon as you drive off the lot, have NO unexpected expensive repair bills, etc that can hurt your budget. By having a known car payment each month all the time, you can budget it into your expenses much better, than if all of a sudden your hit with a $2-3 dollar repair bill one month that you didn't anticipate for.

The interest thing is hog wash because you have interest when you finance just like when you lease, the interest on a lease no where near matches the total interest you'll pay on financing the car. I find that stealerships play games with the interest rates on finances by advertising this 0.0% apr and then when I inquire about it they give me the song and dance that oh its really not 0% and really 0.9% so they round it up to 1% or tell me its only on certain models and really the interest is 2.9%. There is a big difference between 0% and 2.9% and that 2.9% is going to really add up on a $40k-$45k dollar automobile.

Yeah, take pride in owning a car that depreciates and losses its value more than any other product or service you'll ever have in life. Spend 40k on a TL that when you go to sell in 10 years you'll lucky if you get a few thousands for it. So what if you don't own the car, there are plenty of other things in life that you own (house, computer, etc) that allow you to establish credit and build up equity.

I hate to break it to you but no car has equity. It can never appreciate in value or give you any return on your money when you go to sell it because you can't make a profit on it. At least with leasing, I'm only paying for the time I use the car, which is in its prime!

But it all depends on what your finances, career, and goals are for a car. If you keep your cars for 10-12 years then financing is the way to go, but if you like new cars every few years, pay little down payments and no costly repair bills for your vehicles, then leasing is the way to go.

But I find it insulting that the stealerships expect me to finance a $40-45k dollar vehicle while only taking a lousy 2k bucks off it because I'm buying it, while I can do that or better when I negotiate my lease and the selling price. These stearlerships are going to have to do a lot better than that if they want me to finance the car! Plus, most of them I've found want 10-15k dollar down payments on their financing and most people don't have that kind of money laying around, especially when you have tons of other mortages and bills to pay.

YetiTL

Well, there's no free lunch and car business is the same. Leasing is a great tool if you like to change cars every 3-4 years. If you're the kind of guy that buy a car and keep it 5+years, then financing becomes better and better UNLESS no unschedule repairs and troubles happen.

What people should realise is that the montly payments for a lease are based on something like 84 months loans while financing usually goes for 60 months. Hence the bigger montly payments with the financing.

We can talk about leasing/financing all day but it depends sooo much of all the variables that no one is right or wrong until we have looked at all the data for a particular case...

My
-YetiTL

smarty666

Very well put YetiTL! I agree and I think graphic would agree it depends on your situation, what you want out of a car and finances, and other factors. Personally for me, I was scared with financing after many years of financing GM vehicles that just feel apart after the warranty period ended causing me thousands upon thousands of dollars to keep.

I thought that Acura would be better than that but like I said, I'm thankful I leased my 08 TL after the problems I have had because I think that if anything happens to a car within the first 3 years, regardless if it is covered and repaired by Acura or who ever, that is a bad omen of things to come with the car once the warranty period is over. To I hold Acura responsible for this, no. My car was not put together right and every automakers has 1 or 2 lemons out of 100 and I had a 06 TL before this that was problem free so I would not be hesitant to lease another Acura.

I would love to finance a Acura but these stealerships have to offer me a lot more than 2k bucks off a $40k dollar vehicle to buy it. If not, I'll have to continue to lease until they do so! 2k bucks is no incentive for financing in my opinion no matter how good or reliable their products are when the products cost that much money.

bagbklyn

There's a very good reason to lease. It's called safety, not that you don't have issues like Lexus and such with recalls but the advance in safety features alone should make you want to upgrade your car often. Compare any car 5 years ago to now and you will see a major difference safety wise. And there isn't the headache of knowing what if? After your warranty is over, everything is chance after that. Go to the dealer and hope it is a TSB or covered under the extended warranty.

It's a good feeling to get into a car and if something is happening you can go to the dealership and its not your problem. Like sometimes my TL stutters to start as if it has bad gas. If I owned the car I would have been at the dealer probably once a month, but since its a lease I can wait till the next service let them know. If they don't fix it, it will be Acura's problem at the end of the lease.

Just consider the lease a rental and after 3 years you get an updated, fresher one. Look how many times car change, from the G to the TL. Look at the 2nd gen G and the 2nd Gen TL till now. They look really dated.

BJG57

We are a family of 3 ( my son is 11 years old) who are relatively active) The other family car is a Subaru Legacy wagon which is great for carrying lot of cargo, skis etc.
i am looking for a car that is roomy, comfortable, yet has power and sportyness as I like to be able to have some fun exercising the car but as my wife says to me, "No sports cars! You need something that is also good for the family."
So my delema has gotten me to the G37 or the TL. The German sedans ( Audi A4, MB C Class, BMW 3 Series) don't seem to have same reliabilty as the Japanese manufacturers.
So the botton line is I need : Room, Handling, Power,Relibility.

bagbklyn

Since the way you just ordered it being room as the first and priority. Go with the TL, if you won't great handling go with the base AWD if your able to. If you won't power then go with G. But it sounds like you want room since you have a son and he will be growing since this is the age for that. This is the first car I sat in that I didn't have to put my seat all the way back and there is room to sit behind me. If you want a true test, take your son to the dealership, set up the car the way you drive and have him sit behind you and you will see what I mean.

PetesTL

Man, we can argue about the merits of these cars 'til the cows come home. Best thing for you to do is to schedule some time to go to the dealerships and test-drive all the cars (not just the TL and G37) in this category and see which ones best meets your needs. Just because one guy loves the TL or G37 doesn't mean you'll like it. Do yourself a favor and bring your whole family to the dealerships and start testing.

winstrolvtec

When it coms to leasing vs financing, I usually do a buyout cost evaluation on the current lease rates vs financing on every new car I am about to get so I know which will be cheaper at the 2 and 3 year mark when it might be time to turn in, trade in or sell. At the time I got the 4G, the 60 month finance buyout was an average of $2k cheaper than the 36 month lease buyout at the 2 and 3 year mark. So I know investing the extra money every month financing vs leasing will not only be returned I will also make or save an additional $2k over leasing for the same given time. The formula is largely dependant on the amount of interest charged in either case.

Take my situation as an example, it's an average of $150 more per month to finance instead of leasing, times 36 months, so an additional $5400 investment that you get back plus it yields an additional $2k return in one form or another because it's $2k cheaper to the same 3 year point. That's a 37% return on the additional $5400 invested. Ya, I could take the monthly savings from leasing and apply that to some other form of investment instead but I don't think I will get that kind of return or anything as sure.

Of course, there is the risk that the car is in an accident or massively depreciates more than expected in one way or another and in that case I could lose out or just break even compared to leasing, where I could just hand it over 3 years later and not have to worry but given the car is well kept and hardly driven, that is a chance I am willing to take. And if it's a brand not known for it's resale you may not want to take that chance altogether.

My former TLS' 60 month finance ended up costing me the same at 36 months as if I had leased it instead. That is after I figured for the equity return and cash out. Even in a break even situation like that or even if it was slightly more, I still would have rather financed. Reasons being, I own the car, don't have to worry about miles, and could sell it easier and possibly for more than trade in plus any sales tax advantage or simply traded out of it earlier and there is no tax write off's for me to consider.

It can work the other way as well. In shopping for a new CR-V for a family member, it turns out that the 3 year buyout or cost on the lease was actually cheaper than the 3 year buyout on a 60 month finance. The biggest reason for that is in my area Honda didn't offer an special APR or financing on the vehicle at the time so the rate was almost half of what it was to finance and it made leasing the car for 3 years cheaper than financing for 36 months and trading in on a 60 month term. If at that point there is still equity in the lease you have several ways of extracting it vs just handing it over.

The old CR-V was on it's last month of lease and the dealer was willing to buy this car out and apply positive equity towards a down payment. So having equity in leasing on Honda and Acura products is not really hard to come by either but it depends on the main factors of a cars value which are mileage and condition.

smarty666

I do the exact same thing as you when figuring buyout for financing vs leasing. But for me, at least here in NJ, the buyout with Acura for leasing as been better than the financing, because like I said for Acura and Lexus in particular to take a measly 2k bucks off a $40k automobile to buy it is just ridiculous. So I've been forced to lease. I have no problem buying a car outright at the end of a lease and keeping it if I absolutely love the car. But with leasing your much more flexible. Take my current situation with my 08 TL. Even though I love the car in styling, comfort, how it drives, etc with all the problems I have had, despite most being fixed by Acura, though the rattles/squeaks are starting to get to me, I'm not comfortable buying out the car. If I was financing I would not have this option and would have to keep it.

But there are many times, depending on a lot of factors when financing a vehicle can be more beneficial then leasing it just depends on so many things and your situation!

JM2010 SH-AWD

I think some of you may be missing Gguy's point (with which I happen to agree) - he's not talking about financing a car vs leasing but instead buying the car vs leasing. It's all about not paying interest to someone.

If you have to have a new car every few years, leasing may make sense, particularly if you can expense the lease payments on your taxes. But for those of us who keep our cars awhile (and therefore buy Acuras because they're one of the best bets for reliability over the long term), purchasing the car outright is the only option that makes economic sense, unless 1) you don't have the money at the time to make a cash purchase; or 2) you can get a no-interest or very low interest loan, such that you can invest the purchase price money and make more investing it than you are paying out in interest.

End of hijacking (with due apologies).

As for G37 v. TL, I personally think it's a close case at the base levels (G base vs. TL FWD), but not in the higher end models (G Sport or G-AWD vs. TL SH-AWD, especially the 6MT. But they are both fine cars - as others have said, test them extensively. See if the dealers will let you keep them overnight. The choice will probably become very clear as to what fits your needs best.

JAB00

I think that calculus is predicated on the situation. I think it makes more sense to buy, especially a reliable car with a high resale value, ie Acura. I financed my TL brand new in 2005. I paid it off this past summer. Since August no car payment. It has about 54K trouble free miles, save for routine maintenance. I imagine that I can keep this car another 3-4yrs, without a car note is not a bad deal. As long as I continue with routine maintenance, expenses should be fairly low. So I basically after 8yrs of ownership I would have driven the car 4yrs without a car note. I can sell it or trade it in at 100K miles and start the process all over again or keep it as a daily driver in addition to getting a new car. The one thing I'll never do again is buy brand new. It makes no sense. I'll always get a car 1 to 2 yrs old. The depreciation during the first two years is unreal. There's no disadvantage to owning a one to two year old well maintained car.

The only reason why someone should lease is if they're doing it for business, they just love new cars/gadgets, poor reliability or they cannot afford to buy as much car as they desire

winstrolvtec

The reason I factor the total cost to own or total buyout is to determine which can give you a cost advantage. Essentially it determines how much interest and fees you are paying regardless of the amount of time you keep it or the term it is set for. It's hard to explain in this way, I hope everyone understands what I am trying to say, that even if you are just looking to lease and return the car, somtimes putting up more money to finance and sell or trade at the end of 36 months just the same can actually make or save you money compared to leasing instead. Other times you can lose out and most of the time it actually costs the same thing but you have the benefit of ownership and those flexibilities instead of strapped to a lease but there is a lot that goes into that and many things to consider.

I like a new car every 2-3 years and don't like putting much of any any money down, usually the same upfront cost as leasing or just taxes and fes. For my situation I have never found financing to cost me more for the same term as leasing but that doesn't mean it can't. I have made out over leasing and have broken even, in either case it was worth the extra money every month. I not only made it back but also put a little extra in my pocket on occasion, making it cheaper to finance than lease in the long run for the same timeframe.

If it wasn't a high resale Acura product, I was accident prone, or couldn't keep it in at the very least decent condition with reasonable mileage than I probably would just lease it for 2 or 3 years instead. As you said, this is not a rule by any means, I don't believe there are any, every deal and case has to measured on it's own.

smarty666

All very true points man! I can tell you one thing after leasing a Nissan, Infiniti, Acura, and MB that Acura by far has the best leasing programs in regards to little to no fees, charges, and at when it came time to turn it in, Acura was no were near anal retentive about stuff like Infiniti and MB was! Plus, MB and Infiniti do not give you the 1500 dollar safety net for excess wear like Acura does so if there is something on the car with Infiniti or MB you have to pay for it. Also, Acura and Lexus I think are the only two left who don't have disposition fees on their leases! Talk about a scam, but that disposition fee is a whole bunch of BS to screw over the customer, I don't care what anybody says. You can't go wrong leasing with Acura though and I'd do it again in a heart beat!

graphicguy

JM....you nailed it. Even after 5 years and 100K miles, your used car has a value. You can sell it, and take the money. Trade it in and have a hefty down payment. Or keep it, and drive it for another 4-5-6 years with nothing but repairs and maintenance (which will never cost as much as a lease or purchase payment). Can't do that with a lease.

You can even sell a purchased car within 2 years of ownership and take whatever equity you have in the car and buy something else. Again, trying to do that with a lease and you're going to be upside down as far as equity is concerned and it will cost you dearly.

But, that's not the point I was making. Paying interest, whether on a lease (money factor) or on a loan is something I hate doing. When I can, I buy the car out right, hold onto it for about 5 years. Sell or trade it, and use the proceeds to buy something else. No proceeds will come from a lease.

Back to the topic at hand, a G or a TL, base or loaded, both are good choices. I have my "dings" on the G, which steered my towards the TL (my 2nd one) for all the reasons I stated before. For others, they'll go with the G for their own reasons. Some will go with An Audi, or even a 3 series. All of these cars play in the same sandbox. All have their strengths. All have their weaknesses.

smarty666

Be very happy graphic you are one of the few who can buy his cars outright. Unfortunately myself and probably 70% of the rest of the US population who can not afford to buy a car outright will just be paying interest for the rest of our lives.

PetesTL

Why the hate on leasing? Leasing works great for business owners like myself. My TL is leased under my company name and I write everything off of it. I don't want to buy a depreciating item like a car which becomes junk after a few years. Besides, I love driving a new vehicle every 2-3 years. Life is short.....I want to drive and enjoy as many cars in my lifetime as possible.

Hapa DC5

Glad I read through all of this. There are actually a lot of good points for both sides.

Now that I have a wedding coming up, wanting to buy a home, maintaining a lifestyle and wanting to be able to pay for unexpected costs (such as my dog's vet visit this morning) without using my cc has made me give up the need to change a car every few years.

As hard as it is, (since we all want nice new cars) I'd like to keep the TL for at least 3-4 years after it is paid for. I have a year and a half to go and I'll have the title in hand. Once my Fit is paid off (that my girl mostly drives), the same thing. Having two car notes in my name drives me nuts and I never want to do this again.

The next car I buy to replace my TL will be for cash (equity on the TL + savings). I'd rather pay myself each month then the bank.

Back on topic..

You can't go wrong with either car. I like both. However, I found the TLs navi to be more intuitive then the G. The G is more of a snug fit which wraps around you better and is a better performer.

If it were me, TL SH with a RJ grille. GL with whatever you decide.

ChaChaCharles

I just purchased the TL this past weekend after about 1 month of research. I initially was looking at the TSX, Camry Hybrid, and Accord EX-L V6. I then looked at my financial situation and decided to go a bit higher in pricing, leaving me to compare the TL, G37, IS250, and A4 Quattro. This was going to be my first "new" car and one I plan on keeping for quite a while as I'm about to get married and buying a house in the next few years. (Previously, I've owned a 95 MR2t, 97 240SX SE, 98 TL (3.2), 03 Altima SE, 06 325xi.)

After light negotiations for all models, the pricing was within each others ballpark ($29k - $32k). All 4 fine cars with ample things to play with. After looking over specs and amenities vs cost, I eliminated the Lexus. Then came to test driving. All 3 left performed great, but I did feel that the G37 & A4 were a bit on the small side if I was planning on having people in the back seat. Comfort level for the driver went from (highest to lowest) TL, A4, G37. The TL and A4 tied (followed by the G37) when looking at the craftsmanship of the interior and body molding. The cabin noise in all 3 were pretty good, but the TL seemed to be the quietest, closely followed by the A4, then G37. As far as performance, the G37 was fastest straight-line, the A4 handled the best, and the TL was in the middle of both categories. I'm not going to compare all the accessories, because everyone has their own preferences, and you can't go wrong with any of these cars. Now to the biggest decision for me, the exterior styling. A4 has the classy look, G37 has the sporty look, and the TL...well is great looking for some while others think it's an eye sore. I, of course, love the look...I believe it's a futuristic style that will make this car up-to-date for the next 10 years.

When it came down to it, I thought about what car would impress my clients more when I pulled up. My conclusion was to go with the TL. Like others have said, it's what you need out of the car. I really wanted to get a sedan, and the G37 sedan took away the sporty look of the coupe...which was the eventual reason the Infiniti dropped out of the race. The extra power was nice in the G37, but I'm done with ricing out my car. I then paired the A4 vs TL and it was clear cut. The TL looks more attractive to me, bigger cabin, more power, more accessories. The TL also had a $1750 factory-dealer incentive that I was able to use in negotiations and qualified for the 1.9% APR. Overall a more luxurious choice for a few thousand more.

Litt

This is exactly how I feel and why I lease. I can keep more of my money in my pocket for longer, and make smaller payments over time that are deductable. Besides realistically, I am never going to drive a car more then 4 years. I don't want to deal with rock chips, rust and bad trannies.

graphicguy

As a business owner, leasing has more of an appeal. It's a business expense....not a personal one.

It's taken me awhile. But, if I can't walk into a dealership and write a check, I'll do without the car. Or, I'll buy something else that's less expensive that I can write a check for.

I keep a little fund going for my car purchases.....kind of like making payments to myself. That way, I'm getting interest, not paying interest. When it's time for a new car, that's the fund I use.

I was tempted to go higher on the price scale this last go round, particularly when my former TL ownership started out badly. However, it just galled me that I would have to do so.

I've leased before...once. I didn't like the car over time. But, I was stuck in a lease and couldn't do anything about it. A lease doesn't have equity (or at least, it's highly rare that it does). You can't trade it in before the lease end without suffering a financial hit (usually a substantial one). Plus, you never reap any of the benefits of ownership (building equity in it...and being able to financially get in and out of the car relatively easily).

An example of how I bought my current TL (had an '04 previously). I had a Tahoe (great, trouble free vehicle BTW) that I used for hauling and towing. My need for hauling and towing went away.

So, my needs changed (particularly the need to get something better than the 13 MPG the Tahoe returned) and I sold the Tahoe for $20K. I had another $22K+ in my car saving "fund" (including the interest I had accrued). My target was to buy something in that $40K range, all in.

TL fell right into that range. Could have spent a little less and bought a G37x all loaded up. I test drove the G 3 different times and still preferred the TL. Could have spent more and got a 335i xdrive, or an Audi A4 all loaded up, even a Mercedes C class 4 matic. I even looked at a Jaguar XF demo that I probably could have bought in the low $40s.

TL hit my price point and was a car I liked more than the others. From that point, the decision was easy.

I was tempted to finance something up the ladder, like an Audi S4, or an A6, maybe a Mercedes E Class. Audi still scares me a bit with their reliability. Mercedes is way overpriced in my estimation, as is the BMW.

4-5 years from now, who knows what I'll like. I should have another $25K in my car fund. The TL will be worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $20K. We'll see where that takes me.

mdxrob

G37 for sure all around. The tl just looks well.. bad imo.

MyCarIsntInMyWifesName

I couldn't bring myself to pay over 35 grand for the TL FWD. Buy instead a Maxima or G37. If you like the TL get a loaded Accord V-6. It will has most of the same bells and whistles and save you thousands.

Or buy a Genesis, Lacrosse, TSX V-6, and so on. The list is plentiful

KeithL

Funny I owned a Camry hybrid in 2007, I understand why Toyota is in the shape they are in today. I had owned 5 Toyota's since 1989 and the 07 Hybrid was the worst put togther car, you can see where they cut so many corners. Toyota is not the Toyota of the 90's, they have too much pressure/competition now and need to keep costs under control. I think their Hybrid technology is the one to beat right now, but their cars are not as well put togther.

Monte TLS,MAX

Agreed!

Rockstar21

iTrader: (1)

the TL also comes in AWD fyi...
thats a big plus to some people, the only reason i'd even consider it.

my opinion on the accords styling over the new TL would persuade me to buy the honda though.

Monte TLS,MAX

To be fair lots of older TL's have had there fair share of leather issues as well, lots had butt print/wrinkle problems with the seat cushion and bad wear with the side bolsters on the seats. I recall and read of many complaining of that in this forum in the past.

MyCarIsntInMyWifesName

Oh the thread is titled "TL base" so I thought that was meaning a FWD TL.

But even so I'd have a G37x over a TL. Better in more ways than it isn't, but that's my .002.