Christopher.

Hello,
Gonna start with my car purchase story:

Option to get on a company car plan and a tight budget meant trading in the 2014 Toyota Sienna for either a Honda or Acura reducing our $480/mo payment on the Toyota to $0 a month (out of our pockets). I wanted the 2018 Civic Type R, dealer first told me "no you can't test drive one" then said "OK got approval from my G.M. come in tomorrow". I go in, and they look at me like a freak when I tell them I'm here to test drive the Type R - they look through my email exchanges and say "well too bad, GM sold the Type R to his friend and no way can you test drive it".
I'm pissed, but, test drive the 2018 Accord Sport 2.0T anyway, nice car, I like it, but I want leather seats. They had just sold their last 2018 Accord EX-L 2.0T, which I would have bought on the spot. CR-V does not come with 2.0T option, or I would have bought that in a heartbeat. I don't want an anemic little 1.5 engine even if it is Turbo. I would have bought the Civic Type R because it would have been a blast to drive every time I got in my car, I would have had a grin on my face. Even if some of you Acura owners might have laughed at my boy toy, the feeling of the driving experience would have well outweighed any laughs at my Civic. Plus, my 14 year old son really wanted me to get the Type R. But... the dealer I was at was slapping a $10K up charge on the Type R and couldn't even tell me when the next one would be available. I called other dealers, they were more reasonable charging either $0 over MSRP or up to $2.5K over, but this dealer wasn't going to budge on price. So I'd decided I'd had enough and wasn't buying my car there, went to the Acura up the street. Dealership under the same name, but I didn't have time to drive across town and I wanted to finish my car buying, that is, if I found the right car.

Buying my 2018 Acura TLX 3.5L V6 P.A.W.S. Technology Package:
I explained to the Acura dealer that I wanted a car that cost about $500 / month financed (not leased) and that I was trading in my 2014 Toyota Sienna. I explained how I would have bought the Type R, and that I didn't want a tiny engine. He asked me what color(s) I liked and what interior - I wanted dark leather black or grey and a light exterior, silver or white (so it's not as hot in the summer). And he suggested the 2018 V6 TLX. We took it for a test drive. The Acura is nicer looking on the outside, more refined on the inside. The performance felt about the same between the 3.5L V6 Acura and the 2.0T Accord. I figured my only regret would be giving up some fuel efficiency. I think (but am not 100% certain on all these) I'm gaining: better handling with a more advanced suspension system and the P.A.W.S steering, a smoother and quieter ride, and perhaps more long term reliability with the tried and tested V6 over a new turbo 4? I know I'm getting a better warranty, $24.95 oil changes for the life of the car, and a few thousands dollars more off the MSRP (in addition to $1,000 more trade in allowance) vs. what the Honda dealer was offering.

One thing that caught me off guard was finding out (after I bought the car) that it doesn't come with Remote Start - I hadn't bought an Acura before, but I new that you could get Remote Start with some of the Honda's so it didn't even occur to me that it would be possible to get a higher end model car without that feature, particularly not one that's supposed to be a "luxury" brand.

The car is very comfortable, and a pleasure to drive, but, shockingly, the gas mileage seems even worse than what I was getting in my mini van, and, it's not that much more "exciting" to drive than my mini van was, though I expect it to be able to handle a lot better at speed, on windy roads etc. It certainly is a lot nicer to PARK this car than parking the van! That is a big plus.

The "Technology" package has a lot of neat features, which I'm not sure I'll use doing mostly city driving. The LKAS and ACC are nifty, and I'm sure to appreciate them when taking highway trips. I love the way the instrument panel, and dual display look at night, the rear view mirror is slick, the sound system is decent, and I like how I can talk to the car with either it's built in nav/phone dialing system, or, the integrated Android Auto.

While Android Auto is pretty slick, some aspects of it are also very disappointing. For instance, if I say "OK Google" it will only help me with a VERY limited set of tasks, and it will not answer questions such as "OK Google, is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable" (it just comes back with the exceedingly annoying "I'm not sure how to help with "is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable" please say "help" for a list of available commands".

The little compartment in the center where the 12V and USB ports are is suppose to be a place you can put your cell phone, but, with a USB plug stuck in the bottom a reasonable sized phone (5.0" - 5.5" screen) won't fit! There is no little drawer on the left to put cards and change (why did they take those out?) It won't let you transfer audio files to the head unit's hard drive, only rip directly from CD, navigation controls such as typing in letters is restricted while the car is driving so your passenger can't even navigate properly! (Luckily I can use Android Auto and use Waze or Google Maps to get around this, but that kind of makes the built in a pointless and expensive redundant waste).

Considering how poor the gas mileage seems to be thus far, I'm disappointed the car does't feel more "peppy", but on the other hand, I do like how the car does feel smooth and quiet without feeling like I'm in a boat (which is how I would describe the old Buick Century I had tried around the year 2000). Over time, I think I will really enjoy the balance between the comfort of the car and the decent handling and slightly firm road feel - certainly better than a car that lets in a lot of road noise, or that has an overly stiff suspension that makes your teeth rattle.

I'm hoping that I have a car that will be reliable and remain a pleasure to use for many years to come (at least 5, anyway).

Christopher.

Christopher.

Previous cars I owned:

Volvo Station Wagon (old)
1981 Formula Firebird
Honda CRX (don't remember what year)
VW Golf GTi
Toyota Camry 2.0L NA 4 cylinder (1997)
Toyota Scion xD (2008)
Toyota Sienna (2014)

cu2wagon

Welcome to the Acura fold... Your observations are par for the course. A lot of folks feel the same way; Acura does so slick marketing and advertising, but in the end they're basically tarted up Hondas. Not really luxury, but sort of luxury-lite.

They don't really do anything poorly, but certainly don't knock it out of the park anywhere either.

But a decent enough commuter.

Happy motoring!

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

Congrats on the new car!!
regarding the last line...the car will last far longer than 5 years!!!(it's a honda, afterall!)

Christopher.

Thanks!
Oh, that's not what I meant - just that I may trade it in after 5 years to stay on the company car plan which only pays towards a Honda or Acura that is under 5 years old.

Once I add the remote start, I'm not sure what other luxury feature I would want. It's got nice leather seats, great climate control, all sorts of cool features, just the right balance between performance handling/comfort for "everyday use", and I'm really liking how the car looks, inside and out. I think this car is only going to grow on me as time goes by.