Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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Acura MDX (pre-2007)
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Steve, Host
The MDX continues to set the standard in the increasingly competitive luxury SUV segment. To maintain its leadership position, the 2006 MDX receives further refinements including stylish additions to the interior. Touring Package-equipped models now feature high quality ebony-colored Zebra wood pattern on the center console and door switches and refined satin chrome accents.
2006 enhancements include:
Ebony-colored Zebra wood-patterned trim on center console and door switch replaces Burl Wood-patterned trim on models equipped with Touring Package
Satin chrome replaces bright chrome interior accents on models equipped with Touring Package
New color: Amazon Green Metallic
New horsepower/torque ratings: 253 horsepower SAE net (Rev 8/04) @ 5800 rpm, 250 lbs-ft. of torque SAE net (Rev 8/04) at 3500 rpm
Horsepower/torque are unchanged, just using a new standard to measure them.
It seems to me that one's choice/opinion will affect the other's. Did you notice this? Maybe it is a project for M.S graduate student in the area such as statistics etc.
Charles
Assuming this is true, it may be best to try and deal on a 2005, and not wait on a 2006. Or would it be safe to assume that because not much is changing they will continue to offer deals on the 2006 models?
I'm looking to buy a used MDX 01/02' or Toyota Sequoia year 01/02'. The Sequoia looks to be a tad less expensiive for same model year / equipment. Are there any other pros' / con's to looking at purchasing one of these two vehicles?
Thanks!
bradesp
One caution - check the service records on the MDX and inquire into its transmisson. Has the recall service been done?
The two vehicles are significantly different in size and driving dynamics. My wife found the Sequia bigger than we needed and she preferred the comfort and easier maneuverability the MDX. If we were hauling a boat and/or really needed an full size 8 seater, the Sequia would have been a good choice. But for a family of four that does a lot of weekend trips with bikes, etc., the MDX is fine. Not to mention that it gets 20%+ better gas mileage.
I am picking up my MDX tomorrow. I have not had a new car since 1998. I just checked my 1998 Sienna owner's manual. It has a section about how to break in your new car. Basically, for the first 1000 miles, you should not drive over 55 mph, not driving for too long, etc, etc.
Does the new MDX still have such requirement? I have a weekend trip coming next week weekend.
Thanks,
Jane
Yes; all new vehicles have a break-in period. It will be clearly detailed in the manual and will be "something" like this.
No hard acceleration - 800 to a 1000 miles.
Do not drive at a constant speed for lond periods of time during first 800 to a 1000 miles.
Do not tow a trailer for ~800 miles.
No hard braking for 600 miles.
Mostly common sense stuff, you should be fine on your trip.
I'd add to avoid using the cruise control for the first 500+ miles, at least not for any extended periods. I do not know the technical reasons behind it, but every mechanic I've spoke with (not sales person - they often don't know) has recommended varying your speed for the first 500-800 miles. Something about the cylinders "seating" properly. We broke our 2005 MDX in on a 500 mile highway trip and followed those recommendations.
Checked the manual, the restrictions for break in period are much less than the ones listed for the Sienna. It is only the first 600 miles vs. the first 1000 miles for Sienna. There is no mention of don't of drive for too long or over 55 mph. I think I can take it for the drive to NJ this weekend. :shades:
Jane
Thanks!
As always, any help is greatly appreciated.
When you have a decent MP3 recorded at least 44,100 KHZ 128Kbs quality. The sound is astonishing. Dynamic range of the factory Bose sytem is impressive.
Pay me now or PAY me later never impacted me as much as it did with my 97 TL. I claimed over $9,000 in warranty work over 3 years, (not proud to mention), and was handed keys to a new vehicle each time. If you buy the "Extended" warranty.
I would pay more if they offered a 10yr/150,000 warranty for a $1000 or so more but they don't.
However, size isn't everything. The MDX is a higher resolution screen and the detail is clearer. Plus the map has more details on it, including names of parks, lakes, etc. (when you press the joystick).
The TL system has the advantage of integrating with the XM radio / audio system so you can view more info. but, other than that, I actually think the 2005 MDX Nav system, map display, etc. are just as good, if not better, in spite of the slightly smaller size.
The $100k Porsche 911 S that I am considering has a 5.6" information screen standard, but the Nav costs $2,060 to add.
can my honda dealership (only 3 miles away) do the warranty work? If not... any thoughts?
thanks.
>When you have a decent MP3 recorded at least 44,100 KHZ 128Kbs quality. The >sound is astonishing. Dynamic range of the factory Bose sytem is impressive.
You have no idea what you are talking about - do you?
1) "The average good quality MP3 file is about 3KB per song (3 min)." Are you kidding me? It's more like 3Mb
2) "After your burner >converts them to CDA the 3KB file gets compressed to 1KB meaning you could put >tons on an average 650MB disk."
Nothing gets compressed nowhere. The current standard for CD audio requires a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz and a sample size of 16 bits (2 bytes per sample). As a result, you need to store 2 x 44,100= 88,200 bytes of data every second to record in mono. Recording in stereo would require twice that much storage. That extrapolates to about 10 MB of data for every minute of stereo sound! So for a song of about 3 minutes ~ 30-40 MB.
Unfortunately, your computer can't store files in CDA format, so you still have to convert CDA files to another format to store on your hard disk.
I am considering buying a Porsche from a dealer located 130 miles from our second home. They have volunteered to drive halfway and meet me with a loaner car for any major service or warranty issue. Perhaps you could cut a similar deal with the Acura dealership, since it would only be 20 miles for each of you. Threaten to buy a Pilot in the event sweet talk doesn't work.
We have a 2005 MDX and 2004 TL and both are marginal with respect to seat comfort for long trips, with the TL slightly ahead of the MDX. Acura could learn a boatload from BMW, Mercedes, Volvo and Porsche about seat design. The Volvo XC90 in particular is so far superior to the MDX in seat comfort and design as to be embarassing. Seems like Acura accidentally hired a few too many unemployed Buick engineers by mistake.
I have no experience or knowledge with respect to trying to stiffen the seats up. With the heating elements and other mechanical considerations involoved, I would be skeptical. You might get it stiffened up and have it catch on fire. If it bothered me that much, I might just shop a trade at a Volvo dealership instead.
A rather drastic move, to be sure. But I know of two parents of our daughters' friends that had such severe difficulty with Japanese seats that they traded the cars and went Euro. One had bought a 2004 GX470 SUV and he is now in a 2005 Volvo XC90 V8. He had back surgery for a slipped disk and the Lexus seats offered poor support in spite of adjustable lumbar settings. The other couple traded a 2002 BMW 530i for a 2005 Acura RL. Less than two weeks later, they went back and undid the trade.
According to my orthopedic surgeon, anyone with back, knee or joint problems should not drive in any car for more than 1-2 hours without stopping and stretching. But he also has a low opinion of Japanese car seats and recommends Volvo and BMW to his patients who have difficulty driving in comfort. Unfortunately, we like the other Acura attributes - including reliability - too much to make seat comfort the top priority.
That said, perhaps having the MDX seats modified in some way is feasible. If you have success in investigating this option, please let us know.
I guess European cars need extremely comfortable seats for all the rides you'll need to take back to the dealer for service.... :-)
Just a little fyi for future reference. :-)
Steve, Host
We have Sage Brush Pearl 2004 MDX with the Quartz interior.
I took our MDX for service to address the problem with volume control on the steering wheel, which was sticking. When I would try to increase the volume it would change the channel instead.
According to the dealer, they repaired the problem by tightening up the ground wire.
Next day when I was doing cleaning of the MDX, I noticed that the color of the steering wheel and the column is different. It was all black. My wife who drives the car everyday is states that it used to be quartz (grayish).
I went back to the dealer and they insist that it was always black.
Can someone confirm for me the color of there steering wheel and the column.
Thank you
It is supposed to be black. I also own an '04 SageBrush w/ Quartz interior. The Quartz interior is two-toned with a black dash-board and black upper door panels. The steering column projects out of the dash and thus the proper match is black. :shades:
I am hoping to get people's experiences with mdx's and Gas Mileage on Highways. It would ultimately be a commuter car for me and I am on a budget. I spend 95% of my time on the highway.
Car anyone help me with real expectations for highways mileage.
Thanks,
KA
I have several posts in there as well; but bottom line I average low 20's on the highway.
I know you posted your message sometime ago, but I have the same problem with my 2003 MDX. It gets too hot inside, even at the lowest temperature setting. I rented a GM Trailblazer the other day and it has 3 or 4 lower temperature settings, so I think it is Acura's limitation in the temperature range for the climate control. My dealer doesn't feel there is a problem and wasn't very interested in what GM does. I was only using it as an example of lower available settings. Did you ever get a resolution for this issue?
Thanks.
Thank you.
Anyone have any scoop on this?
Sounds dumb but I've been saving for this car and would hate to purchase it and then find out a new "fancier" model was only a few months away. Thanks for any input.
Steve, Host
on a visit to BUERKLE ACURA in MN, my shopping experience was very unfriendly and the salesman rudely asked me to go and buy a honda pilot as i was comparing the similar features and the price on both vehicles.also they never replied to my phone calls even after leaving many messages requesting more information.
And you can always ask the floor manager for a different salesperson (maybe yours just lost an internet sale and was having a bad day).
Steve, Host
A couple of differences with the Pilot and the MDX that we noticed are:
1. the Pilot uses reg unleaded. To get good gas mileage in the MDX, you have to use the "plus" or "premium" grades.
2. the MDX has memory seats, the Pilot does not.
3. the Navi screen in the MDX is larger.
Also...try out the dealership in Bloomington, MN. They are ok, not too pushy or arrogant from our experience in dealing with them.