Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Acura TL 2006+
This discussion has been closed.
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
You gave good insights, and I just want to pick out 2 little sentences from your post and pick on 'em a little. :P The RLs nav knob might be nicer, but I heard that the RL doesn't have a touch-scren like the TL. Is that true? If so, I think that's a big negative. Also, the TL has sun sensing cliamte control, too. It's used for the passenger side only. Is that the same as with the RL? I assume you don't need it for the driver, too, b/c if it was affecting both, you'd just adjust the main temp control.
Also, Acura won't discontinue the RL. There is still a market that it targets; mostly from the age of 45-65. Performance and styling aren't as important. Quality of ride and legroom are quite important though. I have sat in both the new TL and the new RL and there is an adequate difference in legroom between the two. This may be important to some. That is the $15,000 question.
Thanks for bringing that up. I have a navi with my 2002 TL-S and I love the touch screen ability. I have sat in other vehicles with navi's and have always appreciated having the touch screen in my car, because I am used to it. However, don't the new TL's and RL's have voice activated navigation systems? Doesn't that eliminate the need for a touchscreen some if not most of the time? A couple of drawbacks on the touchscreen that I have noticed over the past three and a half years. 1) Cleaning off the fingerprints is annoying. My screen looks greasy almost all of the time, which is not very appealing. 2) I feel like putting my fist through the screen when I touch a "highlighted" letter or number and the thing does not register it until you touch it for about the fourth or fifth time. Thank goodness that doesn't happen all of the time. But then again it is all about what you are comfortable with, right? Personally, I think that I could get used to life without a touch screen. Maybe I wouldn't miss it at all after awhile. Who knows? My point is that the RL's navi is more intuitive than the TL's, which most people can operate once it is studied and learned.
Response to sentence dissection #2:
You are right about the TL offering the solar sensing, but with navigation models only, since it uses GPS info from the navi in order to detect where the sun is. Since the RL comes standard with the navigation system, then you don't need to worry about that option, and therefore it is an advantage over the TL. That is what I was getting at originally. Also, it functions virtually the same way in both cars.
Not only that, but the RL has a sunshade and the TL doesn't.
Turn your hand over, and use your fingernail to select - it usually works, and leaves no print. Tim
But would it leave scratches? :confuse:
However, if you look at the market, we seem to be migrating toward a quicker, sportier populace. Forget about the horsepower war going on between sedans and coupes across the board. We are all too aware of that. But look at all of the luxury crossover vehicles either in the market or coming into the market (i.e. Infiniti FX45, Cadillac SRX, the soon to be Mercedes R-Class, and the upcoming BMW V5). This shows that our society wants high performance in vehicles that were not originally designed to be high performance (the SUV). That is what is killing the new RL. The luxury sedan market has become so performance competitive over the past 3-5 years, that the RL's boost in engine pep wasn't enough in the mind of luxury sport sedan minded customers to swing demand in the RL's favor. When it comes down to it, you cannot ignore the inevitable. Society wants more power, and they are willing to sacrifice a little luxury to get it. How else to do explain all of the luxury sedans beefing up the size of the wheels? 3-5 years ago the average wheel size on a vehicle in this segment was 16-17 inches. Now almost all of them come standard with 18" wheels. Less ride quality, more cornering. The RL's only saving grace is the fact that it is totally different from its predecesor, and that it provides a good blend of performance with a superior ride to keep the traditional luxury car driver satisfied.
And Acura doesn't have the status of a Lexus of MB E Class . .barely up to the Infiniti at this point.
What else can we possibly mention on the 2006 TL, especially with there only being rumors at this point? Side view mirror turn indicators, SH-AWD, and a boost in horsepower; that is about all that is feasible to assume the 2006 TL will have in addition to the 05' offering. I am not ignoring the topic, I am outlying the issues. The truth is, if they improve the 2006 TL too much, then there might not be an RL to discuss anymore. We are all just passing the time while we wait for the truth on the 06' TL. There is some good discussion going on here, wouldn't you agree?
Not only that, but at least we are talking about Acuras again. Last week when I was on vacation all anybody wanted to talk about was how much the Lexus LS costs. I could see you getting heated over that. But we are talking about the landscape that is Acura. Without looking at the big picture, it is hard to evaluate all of the parts of that picture, especially when determining that which will be the 2006 TL. It is something that Honda/Acura are looking at too, I hope. Don't make the 2006 TL too much of a good thing, or it will alienate the RL even more so.
I've got a 2000 TL and love it but its time for a new car and I'd like to get a 2006 TL if it has some new stuff...
1. MP3 ready & IPOD ready (instead of DVD audio).
2. Navi to come down in price (I'd buy it but not for what their asking now)
3. Turn signal lights on side panels or mirrors.
4. AWD and more horsepower (OK everyone has said it before. Its not a huge deal for me but nice to have).
5. Tighter turn ratio.
6. Seats that wear well.
7. Front and rear sensors.
8. Key FOB that holds its paint.">
Other than that please don't mess with a good thing!
Amen!
I rented an el cheapo PT Cruiser convertible for the weekend for a little fun in the sun, and the key fob for that looks like it is 10x sturdier and more durable than the one for the TL. I still think they should just integrate the remote into the key head. That way you would at least eliminate the key scratching up the remote.
(BTW, the PT Cruiser turned out to be a much better car than I expected. Not much power, but the Neon engine was quite smooth. And the biggest surprise was that even with the top down, there was nary a squeak or rattle! Acura, pay attention :mad: )
TL will not be AWD until it's redesigned. IPOD will work starting in the fall.
My alternative. I subscribe to "Napster To Go" for $14...fill my mp3 jukebox player....and have access to 1,000,000 songs. AND I can take that music anywhere I want to go outside the car. That is the way.
Most of the time, "yes." The system doesn't recognize verbal commands not pre-programmed into the system, so if you need to enter a street name, it must be done manually. The Infinity M has outdone the Acura in this regard, from my understanding of its system.
BTW, I use an eyeglass cloth to clean the scren. Works well.
you can plug into the adapter one of those memory flash sticks... there are sizes ranging from 128, 256, and 512MB... which means lots of space for music.
As for MP3 player capacity...I work with a 5 gigabyte player...which has the ability to hold 2,500 songs.
Pricing...$14 with Napster to Go. I believe Yahoo has a plan for something like $7 a month. Both where you can download unlimited number of songs a month.
I have the fm transmitter for my iPOD and it has a lot of static. Having true iPOD connectivity would give you:
- much better sound (true digital)
- control of songs and playlists via your radio buttons or steering wheel buttons
- on screen display of id3 tags (song, artist, etc. )
- access to a gazillion songs
this is what the new BMW 3 Series has.
Oh well...the in-dash six CD changer still works out great with the awesome sound system. You can always burn a few CDs with you music mix and plug them in for six hours of music enjoyment.
Too many liability concerns..
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!
Edmunds Moderator
There's a reason why navi were put in cars....there was a reason DVD players were put in cars...and now there is a resaon why navi based cars play DVD's...
The buying public wants it!!! It's simple, no demand, no product...
Hell, you can take an $8000 brand new Kia and take out the stock radio and put in an after market pioneer am/fm/cd changer pop up screen stereo that plays DVD's...
Laptop's play DVD's...set it on the passenger seat and plow down the highway watching "The fast and the furious"...
I am not saying that I agree with having these systems in the view of the driver but it is a convience that someone wanted otherwise this product would not be available....IMO of course....