TL_2000

When I first saw pictures of the new TL at the New York Car Show, I thought, "oh it still not production". Recently, I have seen the pictures that are all over the internet and I thought, "how could they". I am 25 and I have a 2000 TL and I was hoping on upgrading to the 04 model. Hell No. The technology is great, the DVD and all that, but it look a lika ****. Pardon my speech, but who designed this thing? I hear a word like Aggressive and I think who the hell is writing this. The car looks like a honda, not an Acura.

For the love of Acura, please, bring back the Legend's styling, with some fine touches of course, and lets end this thing. Sure it will sell, but previous Acura TL owners will look elsewhere. We're young, we've saved up some money and looking to spend. I'm sure there are plenty 98, 99, 00 and so on, TL owners who would love to upgrade, and some will, but i won't and I don't think most will.

Let it be told the 04 TL "should" a flop. Its like the perfect girl your mom wants to set u up with. Sure she graduated MIT, works at NASA, and pays for dinner, but you can't show her to your friends. Even if you give her the Oprah makeover, she's still the same %$g.

Good luck and God Speed to my friends at Honda, um i mean Acura, please waaaaaaaakkkeeeup.

VtecMW

Where's Marge to give Homer a hug? All that hate can't be good.

vicpai

......and what makes you think you're in the majority?? .....Styling-wise, IMHO, the new '04 TL is simply "THE BOMB"......Acura HIT THE NAIL RIGHT ON THE HEAD by making the new TL a whopping 6.3 inches shorter!! Three cheers to Acura for taking this step in the right direction .......and yes, I'm an ex-TL owner, 29 yrs old, and now own an MDX and would buy the new TL in a heartbeat (I had a 2000TL/Navi, and while I liked that car in general, I HATED how long it was!)......I'm quite surprised that someone your age would like a 193-inch-long land barge, which the previous TL was, fit for 70 year old men who like to drive "boats" .......As a matter of fact, I might buy this new TL next year, just to INCREASE Acura's sales, :thefinger and also do some word-of-mouth advertising to promote it, just to increase their bottom line for taking this step in the right direction by making this vehicle SIGNIFICANTLY shorter!!!!!

Once again KUDOS to Acura for making this new TL smaller, sportier, more agile, more nimble, geared towards a more YOUNGER/YOUTHFUL audience, and therefore, IT WILL NOT SCREAM "FAMILY" or "BOAT FOR OLD MEN" like the previous-gen TL did!!

VtecMW

Acura is definitely getting my money. The last gen TL is nice, but way too long. I don't like the shape of the TSX. I can't stand the TSX's rear either.

I'm glad they came through this this one!

CLens

Ditto.

TL_2000

No one understands my delimma, the car is sweet and all the things that they have done to it are great. I really appreciate that its shorter and it handles better and its faster and all that stuff. But you can't tell me that car doesn't look like a honda from the front or side view. It has no flavor to it. Imagine eating vanilla ice cream for 3 years and just when you expect some strawberry or chocolate, you still get vanilla.

All im saying is, I can't wait for the 2006 model TL.

QUIETSTORMMVN_IN

The 04 TL exterior does nothing for me at all. It might as well be called the TSX type S. I've been a loyal Honda/Acura buyer most of my young life(82 Accord, 98 Accord, 00 TL. Although i like the Honda line of vehicles, the acura line(at least the ones i can afford) leave a lot to be desired. Unless i can afford the new RL or the NSX by 2007 or 2008, Acura has lost me as a customer.

corey415

What exactly does a honda look like... or more specifically what Honda does the 2004 TL resemble? Personally, it resembles the TSX, which is an acura.

unlemming

I like the TL a lot more than the new American Accord but it does look a lot like the Euro Accord.

Raheel

Hey TL_2000, its alright that you dont like it, You will just miss out..

The sale of this thing will be Great and it will be a step up for Acura..

Also I didn't like the 04TL at first, but after seeing some press-production pictures, I fell in love..

And all those features and LSD, Brembos, 18's, 6 Speed, Bluetooth, DVD-A, For under $35k?

How could you go wrong, its the best bang for the buck as it has always been..

iNteGraz92

the euro accord = tsx
acura wants a family look, that is why the tl looks like a larger tsx.

iNteGraz92

please show me what honda it looks like. unless you're referring to the euro accord/tsx

njtls

i actualy think the new design will lose a more customers then it wil gain....sure it will atract alot of young buyers....but in my town...95% of tl's driven are by old people (no offence to old people here)....i bet only the ones who enjoy sporty cars will go for this...and those are but few...and generally..the older people are hte ones more likely to beable to afford a 35k car

Ken1997TL

The new TL's looks are a love it/hate it issue. I have a '97 (a REAL land barge compared to the 2nd generation TL) and I like the looks. My dad has a '03 TL and is glad he got it, he likes the improvements to the car for '04 but is totally turned off by both the interior and exterior. He especially dislikes the "cheap shiny plastic look". He likes the new Accord's interior and absolutely can't stand the exterior of that car.

He didn't mind the TSX's looks, but he has sworn he'll never buy another 4 cylinder again. Oh well.

Master-G

I don't understand why anyone would buy a car that they think looks like a "land barge" and is fit for 70 year old men who like to drive "boats", eventhough they like everything else.

[At the dealership] Damn! This thing looks like a land barge that's only fit for 70 year old men........I'll take it!!

I personally like the length of the car. I can remember my parents driving an Olds 98 and Cadillac Fleetwood. Now those were some real barges!

doopstr

Well because of the length, the TL might be off the list if I needed another family sedan.

We tried the BMW 3 series and there was no way I was going to be loading an unloading car seats in that. Plus the trunk was too small.

The TL was long enough and sporty enough to satisfy all our needs. I guess the Lex ES is the only thing left for us and that isn't sporty

The trunk in the '02 is just barely acceptable. I'm assuming the one in the '04 will be smaller.

Looks like we will be keeping the 02 for a long time.

bodyshopguy

If Europe and Japan had an Acura line, which they dont, then all cars would be named Hondaswhich they are. Just as Toyota and Lexus did in the past. Only recently has Lexus decided to bring the Lexus name to Japan. Who is to say that the new Toyota Solara and Avalon dont look like lexus family memebers. Hello they do. Guys this is pathetic. The cars (Hondas/Acura) look great and they are all members of the same family. Just get past this Honda Acura thing and look at the car for what it is.

unlemming

Talking about the exterior only, not the frame, the pics I posted look extremely similar. I don't have a problem with that, but the question was asked Personally I like the new TL, not the TSX (I don't like small cars, including the 3 series that TL is compared to..feh) If I had bags of money, trust me, I would have a 04TL next month.

TL_2000

This is all about looks, we're not talking tech or specs and A picture is worth a thousand words. I think the Euro Honda even looks better than the new TL. If I had bangs of money I would get new E55 AMG, but thats just me.

redterminator

I have to agree with TL_2000 on some points. The new TL does have a more aggressive look but not necessarily a more luxurious one. It seems like the Acura brand name exists to compete in the luxury car market, but at the same time the TL looks to made more to compete with Maximas rather than Lexus or Mercedes. I'm not saying that the car looks good or bad but rather that Acura seems to be marketing a different target buyer and some of us miss the traits of luxury and refinement that were present in previous models.

Maxim

I think you have a point. Honda tries too hard IMHO to not offend anyone. Methinks that the Acura, at the very least, should have been more revolutionary in design, recognizing that the target audience of the TL is the enthusiast, and that the true family car is the Accord Sedan. I did see a lot of women drive the previous generation TL. Not to be sexist or something, but maybe that is the reason for the relatively anonymous styling

corey415

I don't think the target audience of the TL are the enthusiasts. In fact, isn't acura predicting that 85-90% of the 04 TLs will be sold with automatic transmissions.

Personally, I think the 04TL designs fits its true demographic perfectly.

Tommy

After looking at the 04 carefully, I am keeping my 02-TL. I think the front of the 02 TL has just the right touch for me. I still enjoy looking at it. The rear could be more aggressive but I am not sure if I like the 04 rearend neither.

Raheel

Well Honda is Smart what they did is make the car customizable, if you are a enthusiast get the 6 Speed with LSD and Brembos, If you are into Luxury get navigation because the car is already luxurious and add in MP3 Player and more accessories, If you like technology that is standard with DVD-A Player, Bluetooth, XM Radio all standard and more, and if you want Looks get the diff rims, body kit, spoiler lip, A-Spec Lowered.

As this review states that they have targetted the car a little more towards enthusiasts than the last TL..

"Thus, the 2004 Acura TL, which, according to the company's marketing manager, Dave Gardner, is meant to appeal to buyers in the mid-40s age group, as opposed to the 53-and-up buyers who purchased the previous generation of TL."

- http://autos.canada.com/vancouver/buying/story.aspx?id=94DF3AA1-B859-41FF-AC94-BB60FD285AE8

I like how smart Honda is, they only make one option on the car persay Navi or Non-Navi, Which made the TL the best bang for the buck because everything was standard, but Now Acura also offers A-Spec, Rims, and so many more customizable accessories, this way the consumer thinks he is getting a car with tons of standard features, and when the consumer buys accessories, he feels his car is customized and Honda makes TONS AND TONS of money on accessories

FutureX 2001

Being an owner of An Acura Legend. Not to insult any of the AcuraTL car owners of previous model years. I think they're great. But I do like this new 2004 model, over the previous models. Maybe slightly a little "bulky" so to say, but overall I like it.

EmuMessenger

The Legend is one of the greatest cars of ALL-TIME!

rhizopod

I agree.

neuronbob

Amen to that. The RL (Japan-market "Legend") is a great car, but nowhere near what the early-mid 90's Legends were. As I was bemoaning about in another thread about another car, I was still in training and couldn't afford to even look at something in the Legend's class.

vicpai

.....it's truly a LEGEND

Raheel

And I hope the new TL will be a Touring Legend

brucedeb1

When the TL was produced it came out after the Legend was put to sleep. The talk around Honda was the RL stood for "Real Legend", TL stood for "Toy Legend", CL stood for "Coupe Legend". Just adding my two cents worth......

Raheel

Too bad the Toy Legend Outsells the Real Legend

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

Once again, I'm glad I got an '03. The '04's design just doesn't do it for me.

TerrySlash

I agree with TL_2000, and it seems like many of you guys are not understanding what he is saying. 2004 is a great car with all the power and technology gizmos. But it does not turn my head just like the new G35 coupe, 350z, IS300 did when they first came out. For me, its exterior is nice, not spectacular. But different people have different taste.

But Acura should get respect for making their recognition. Meaning...2004 TL looks like the TSX because Acura is starting to build a general shape to their cars. First to do it for Japanese car manufacturers. Just like BMW, Audi, Benz...etc, have their similar shape for people to recognize that it is a BMW, Benz, or Audi without looking at the emblem. Now you can say that Rsx, Tsx, MDX and TL is from Acura without looking at the logo emblems.

Raheel

It doesn't turn your head because you dont see it on the streets, Wait until its on the streets, I gurantee your head will turn and pop out of its socket.. Even the Ugly Maxima makes my head turn all the time!