Older Acura TLs

vaughn4

I'm in Florida too. Still get 29 - 31 Hwy driving on I-95 and I-4, A/C on all the time, and 70 - 85 MPH. Gas is $1.89 for Amoco premium unleaded.

ash213

Are you getting this mileage from begining or it improved over time. I bought 03 few weeks ago and mileage is just 19 with 80% highway driving.

vaughn4

How many miles do you have on it? I only have 5,700 on mine. The mileage started to improve around 4,000 miles.

ruski

I guess the traffic up by Orlando is better than down here neat Miami. Or maybe the air temperature is lower?

ash213

I have only about 1,000 miles so far.

carguy58

I saw the back end of TL. Don't like it. It doesn't look Japanese enough. I don't know whats going on with Honda and their styling. The 04 Tl looks like they took the shape of the back end of the Pontiac Grand Prix and slapped 02-03 Mitsubishi Galant tailights with a little 02+ Hyundai Sonata thrown in. I don't get what Honda is trying to do here. The new Accord and new TL look like every GM or Ford out there. What is Honda trying to be an American Car Company? To me its not a good move. Its like Honda is going through an idenity crisis like Mazda and Cadillac did in the mid to late 90's.

dulnev

Reading the official information page I got a very strong feel that TL wants to move out of the "near luxury" and more into straight "luxury" segment. The biggest indication to me is the number of improvements in the area of noise insulation: acoustic glass in the windshield, much thicker glass in side windows, reworked side mirrors, etc. THIS one of the main things that distinguishes truly luxury cars like Volvo S80 -level of noise.

jchan2

Acura would sell even less RLs than what they're selling now. The TL's styling I didn't like in the beginning; it's starting to grow on me. If Acura does bill this car as a true "Luxury Car" and not "Near Luxury" than this car would be a bargain. The Ultimate Luxury car, folks. Starts at $33K!

xqu

I have 77 miles on the car with 3/4 tank left just bought it yesterday.

varmint

My wife's '01 TL (base) has about 50K miles on it. Over the life of the car, it's averaged 25 mpg. Her daily commute is on town roads (two lane, low speed, only a few lights). On highway trips, we've gotten as much as 30-32 mpg.

bodble2

I think Honda will accept the RL being a lame duck for the time being. It will eventually move up-market, likely with AWD, 300+ hp, and Lexus-level luxury.

s852

Front wheel drive, Accord-based sedans with fake wood interior trim selling for are not luxury cars. Just like the ES300 and I35 are not luxury cars.
There will eventually be a new RL.

dkinla

if u think es 300 and i 35 is not luxury cars.. then what do u drive?

billyperks

They are not luxury cars, they are actually Entry Level Luxury.

I drove the I35 and the ES300, the ES300 has a luxury touch to it but it still falls short of the total luxury.

Sit in a LS, AUDI A6, Bimmer 5 series and all those upper forties and fifty thousand dollars cars and you will get a taste of luxury.

If you want to take it up a notch try the Bimmer 7 series or Audi 8 etc etc get the picture.

jchan2

Still. Thousands less than the compitition. Some of us would sacrifice for that intended amount of value over a Bimmer 5-Series and some of us just plain old don't like iDrive!

fserve55

????

TSX now or wait for new 04 TL....??

Also, what about the 01,02,or 03 TL....I can probably get an awesome deal on the 03's as their getting room for the 04 redesigns?

s852

Wait for the 2004 TL. If you want to spend less, then get a new TSX or Accord EXV6.
The 2003 TL really has little to offer over an Accord besides a 48 month warranty standard. You could buy a 2004 Accord EXV6 with or without Navi and an extended warranty for less than a heavily discounted 2003 TL which still would have less hp, weak stereo system, no voice command control and no side curtain airbags all riding on an aging platform.
If you don't like the looks of the Accord, then get a TSX or 2004 TL.

fserve55

Thanks for the good points....got anymore? you are rite.

crazybabydoc

My next car will be a TL but one of the best deals on the market is one of the straggler 2003 LS8s. IMHO, driving the EXv6, TSX, '03TL, and '04TL will be the clincher. But drop by your Lincoln dealer and take an LS for a spin.

(Purchased a used one for the wife's birthday)

bigbluu

Has anyone out there placed a deposit down for the new '04 TL yet? I'm interested to find out what the dealers are asking for. I know MSRP's haven't been released yet, but are the dealers agreeing to a fixed amount - say sticker, $500 over sticker, $500 under sticker, etc... Please note what state you're in also. Thanks.

kiiwii

Looks like the new TL is going to a great handling. From the official spec, the tires that are used have a "45" ratio. I know this = performance, but is this a compromise to comfort? I never owned a car with such low profile tires. Will TL has the great control feedback without having the "bumpy" feeling.

bodble2

The tire is wider than the one on the current Type-S. So even though the aspect ratio is lower, there is only a small reduction in the height of the sidewall which hopefully means comfort would not be much affected. What I'm more concerned with is whether the wider tires would result in a more jittery steering due to the tires reacting more to road imperfections.

jchan2

Does anyone know how large the discount is on a base TL in your area? In my area the discount appears to be $5000.

bigbluu

In SF Bay Area -

For base TL, it's about $3500 below sticker. And for Type S w/ Navi, it's about $4000.

ash213

$5,000 off MSRP! sound too good to be true, are you sure, what part of country are you in.

hunter001

Folks claiming lower mileage after switching the tires to something like the Max Performance Bridgestone S03s is completely off the mark and are comparing apples and oranges.

S03s will provide a tremendous amount of rolling resistance which in turn will degrade mileage significantly.

You wonder how the mileage for someone is too low and then learn the dirty little secret of the tire switch.

On the stock tires, I got around 22-25 with a city/hwy mix (mileage lowering/improving depending on the mix) and around 30-32mpg with an all-highway trip with auto-climate control set at 69 and speeds ranging from 60-100mph...mostly at around 80mph.

Once on an all-highway trip at a steady 70mph, I got around 36mpg, which was amazing. But it is extremely difficult to drive in such a manner other than for academic purposes.

Later...AH

dimaria

I have a 2002 - TL with 27,000 miles on it. I use only Amoco Premium and get 22 - 23 miles per gallon consistently in local driving. Most of my driving consists of home to the bus station about 20 miles per day round trip, stop and go lights etc. I have gotten as high as 36 miles per gallon on one long trip from NJ to Conneticut and back no A/C. Normal highway/local combined is 24 - 26 miles per gallon.

dimaria

I heard an advertisment yesterday for Curry Acura in Scaresdale New York which is taking orders for the 2004 TL. No mention of what's required. Also checked their website and there was no mention of pre -ordering the car.

billyperks

Please stay away from that dealership- they are not the most honest Acura dealership in the NY CT area.

Its like a cut throat business they run over there.
They tell you one thing on the phone and when you show it's a total diffrent story.

maxhonda99

Why does the '04 TL have to look like a Pontiac from some angles? Anyone notice the front end similarity to the Bonneville(headlight shape) and why did Acura have to go the cheesy route with the trapezoidal tailpipes?

IF ACURA IS LISTENING: ROUND TIPS PLEASE!

adam_kelley

What dealer would you recommend in the Fairfield/Westchester county? I had a really bad experience at Acura of Westchester back in '99, and ended up buying from Devon Acura up on Norwalk, CT.

bklynguy

I have a question about the TL's DVD-Audio System. If you burn a 4.7GB DVD+R/-R disc with about 100-120 songs ( standard CD red book format ), will the unit be able to read them ?

I'm not even sure if this is possible with current burning software.
( UPDATE - I just tried MusicMatch, it is possible. You get 510 minutes of music on one DVD+R disc, its just a question mark if the TL unit will read it )

jchan2

TL Type S Navigation. Base TL discount was about $2750.

ruski

left a bade taste in my mouth

I left tire burnout marks on Central Park Ave in front of their place, I was in such a rush to get out of there.

fserve55

The NEW 04 TL interior picks look (again) just like the TSX, which look just like th 03 Accord....honda needs to redo things....they're all just luxury versions of the Accord now....at least the older 99 or so to 03 TL was completely different interior then the Accord so when you were in it, it felt luxurious and like a upscale accord.....don't get me wrong, i think the interior on all 3 new Honda/Acuras are sweet and classy, but come on, if your an accord driver you feel great....if your a TSX or TL driver you may feel jipped.....???? my thoughts anyway.

fserve55

at least the older 99 or so to 03 TL was completely different interior then the Accord so when you were in it, it felt luxurious and NOT like an upscale accord

uncledavid

I had a '96 Accord and I went to drive a TL last summer. It basically had the exact same interior as my Accord, with somewhat better materials.

billyperks

I would recommend Devan Acura, although I think they are a little bit on the expensive end.
They treat you with repect over there and I think they are very honest with their numbers.
I bought my TL from Greenwich Acura, but the salesperon who sold me the car is now working at Devan Acura- go figure.

I service my car at Devan now after a nightmare experience with Greenwich-talk about treating you like a king(Devan that is).

I am not here promoting Devan, its just personal experience I am expressing here.

I also went to Westchester Acura, those guys are highway robbers.I told the sales guy that I know there is Factory to Dealer incentives going on.

Guess what is response was- "you don't go into my pocket and I won't go into yours."

I walked right out.

carguy58

Thats what I said before with the Pontiac resemblance except a little Mitsu Galant thrown in there on the back end. The back end looks too heavy and kinda dull. I don't get it I don't like these GM styling cues. First the 03 Accord now the 04 TL. If I wanted a GM car I would buy a GM car. Now the front end looks alright. The only complaint I have is it looks a TSX on the front end. I can live with that though. The back end and front end don't match up well.

Honda needs to go back to what they did on exterior styling in the 80's and 90's. The new stuff looks like everything else out there.

varmint

I see quite a few "borrowed" styling cues. The headlights are similar to the Pontiac and there's some similarity in the front bumper as well. Thing is, I think this front-end looks much better on the angular Acura than the slow curves of the Pontiac.

The character line running along the side reminds me of the same line on a few BMWs, but I don't consider this a direct copy. BMW nicked it from the last Civic and I'm sure we could find it on several other vehicles. It's too common for anyone to claim.

The taillights are a bit uninspired in their shape, but I like the monochromatic simplicity. I believe that, when lit, they will have the same even glow as several Caddy vehicles. I'd have preferred a shape more similar to the TSX, but then people would complain that it looks like a Camry. ;-)

ztiger93

Has anyone seen images of the spoiler/aero package that would come with the A-Spec package? If so, please link. I'm hoping the rear spoiler will make as much of a difference as the factory spoiler on my '97 CL. Like those Brembo brakes, too. Wonder how quickly it will be available and how much it will cost.

tomc16

I haven't purchased a new sedan in 13 years. The old saying was to be careful of buying a car in the first year of a brand new design. Is that still true or is there so much cross breeding with other models within the same family that it is safer than in the past?

dulnev

DVD-audio and a DVD-R/DVD-RW loaded with music have absolutelly nothing in common. The answer is NO.

maxhonda99

carguy58,

I actually like the TL front end better than the TSX even though it looks like the TSX. I think the TSX style front end works better on the TL because it's wider. The TSX grille looks kinda smushed and upright. Overall, I think the '04 TL is a improvement in most regards over the '03 as I really like the side profile also. The only thing I don't like is the rear end. The rear end is very blunt in it's cutoff, the tailights are style-less and the exhaust tips are straight off of a Pontiac(cheesy).

But, the '04 TL is still on my shopping list for next summer to replace my Accord. I simply love the interior. I think it's a major improvement over the current TL.

bodble2

I think the old saying still holds true to some degree, even with Honda. I'm not sure if the TL is based on the AmeriAccord platform or the EuroAccord. But both have been out for a year so hopefully any problem has had a chance to be rectified. But having said that, I would still say if you don't need/want the TL right away, wait a year before buying.

automophile

The rear of the TL may be a little bland, but at least Honda stayed away from the GOD-AWFUL Chrome light frames that Toyota has disgraced their car line with the last couple of years. Totally ruined the Lexus ES300 among others.

Anwyay, our TSX is so fantastic, I can't wait to get my hands on the new TL. I have been sweeping out a spot in the garage for it.

fserve55

No comments on the Interior, as I said, looking just like the 03-04 accord and the TSX...that's what I don't really care for...I wish it was all different...so we'd have 3 different classy cars to pick from interior wise..

gigi

Very interested in replacing my old Legend with the 2004 manual transmission TL when it arrives.

It is not clear what tires will be available, as I am hoping they offer a standard all season that is good in rain/snow. I've heard that "low profile" tires are not good in bad weather -- or durable.

Also, I can't seem to confirm if a full size spare will be available (as I think all cars should have one).

Any knowledge and comment regarding these 2 concerns would be appreciated. Thanks.

jchan2

I used to own a Honda Accord. It was a 97 San marino Red Special Edition Coupe that was special; something that you didn't see every day. I sold it for something we do see every other day- a Honda Odyssey. I'm getting ready to sweep the spot in my garage for some entry-level luxury car under $34K MSRP well equipped. (by that I don't mean cloth seats; I mean leather and a nice badge.)

socaldriver1

Is the discussion about transmissions over? I'm considering the 03 base TL and wonder if they've made any changes to the tranny? Or if the problems extend from the S type to include the base model. What's the risk here??