What's the words? I did the purchasing last Saturday (09/30/2000) and expected the delivery in two weeks (middle of Oct.). Today, the dealer called me said my car would be ready tomorrow. I would not go to bed tonight :-)
Yes the wheels are still stock. Only the tires have been upgraded from the stock 205/60-R16 Touring Energy tires to Michelin Pilot 225/55-R16 (Ultra High Performance All-Season)... I like the stock wheels. The performance difference, handling, dry/wet grip is phenomenal. In fact, I am just using what is already present in the TL - a wonderful suspension (4 wheel independant double wishbones with rear multi-link) and a fantastic chassis... The only reason Acura chose the OEM Energy Michelins, IMO, is to cut costs...
If I were to add the same tires (Ultra High performance Pilots) to say, the Lexus ES300 (which also incidentally carries the stock tires of the TL), I would overwhelm the suspension/chassis, and the benefits I probably might get would be fairly minimal ....since the entire car is designed more for comfort and straight line cruising alone, unlike the TL....
Does the side wall seem thicker on that size tire, compared to the stock tires? (I mean, is the distance from the bottom of the rim to the ground noticeably greater from the profile view of the car?)
The tires donot bulge out of the sidewalls. I hate that look and confirmed that it does not bulge out before fitting these tires onto the stock rims. Also, they do not rub at all which was another one of my fears.....
You could check out the link below for photos that have mounted 225/55-R16 tires on the stock rims:
None of these photos are of my car even though the Gold is the same as my car's color.
The Gold one (Naples Gold Metallic) has "Bridgestone RE730 225/55ZR-16" tires and the Gray looking one (Laguna Green Metallic) has on "Bridgestone Potenza SO-2 Pole Position 225/55ZR-16".
Basically both of them are exactly the same size as my tire - Michelin Pilot 225/55ZR-16.
I provided those links for having an idea of how the tires of that size would look on the TL with the stock rims.
I will also be posting pictures of my car with the Michelins on after I am able to take some photos of them...
My tires are: "Michelin Pilot XGT Z4 225/55ZR-16. Forgot to mention the XGT Z4 in the specification earlier... there are Pilot XGT H4s also available which should suffice too at a much lower cost even though the grip may not be as good as the Z4s.
We just picked up our '00 non-nav 3.2TL this past weekend. This week I drove my regular commute to work (a major highway about 40 miles outside of New York City) and I noticed that my 2 favorite NY City FM stations faded in and out along my commute. Another car of ours, a Dodge Stealth, never had this problem for the past 2 years I have been commuting this route. (The stealth has an aerial antenna.)
I took the car to the dealer to have it checked, and they said everything was fine. I asked the head service consultant if others had complained about this and indirectly she told me yes, that others had. She told me that the antennas mounted in the glass are weaker than free standing ones are.
The service consultant called Acura's tech line to see if there was a "fix" for this and she also spoke with the service manager. She was told that there are no faults with the radio or antenna and that you can't compare reception among different cars (or even two identical cars).
I also ran into the sales manager while I was waiting and asked him if this was normal. He confirmed that the aerial antennas are stronger than those in the glass. {FYI: I asked him why Acura put them in the glass, and he said it was for cost reasons. He said that the power motors for the aerial antennas kept needing to be replaced (which was expensive), and this was a better option). I asked him if there was a way to remedy this situation and he said I could check with a local car stereo installer to see if something could be done.
Has anyone else experienced this problem with their FM reception? Any ideas on how to remedy this problem?
feisty1 - which station is that? Z100? BTW - you have one of my long time favorite car, the Stealth. I used to want one really bad many years ago. Then they stopped making them.
I never had big problems with glass mounted antennas, I can get Z100 almost from New Haven, CT.
hunter - I like the Michelin XGT V4 on my 300M a lot.
You can have an antenna installed. I had a frenched power antenna installed in one of my show cars, and it was pretty trick. Just power it to the same circuit as the head unit. That way you can retract it in car washes, etc by turning the radio off. You can place it just about anywhere you want, as long as the motor and retracted antenna have a place to hide. As for my '99 MBP, I'll keep the glass mounted one and lean on CDs.
Do you have the Michelin XGT V4 or the Michelin Pilot XGT V4 tires ? Both sound the same but are different. The Michelin Pilot XGT H4/V4/Z4 are more expensive and considerably better than the regular XGTs.
In the reviews of the Michelin Pilot XGT V4 in www.tirerack.com, one poster who owns an Acura Integra GSR has commented:
"Car originally had normal XGT-V4s, after changing to the Pilots it's like driving a new, more nimble version of the same car. Handling is crisper, the tires are much quieter and don't squeal unnecessarily"
Incidentally, the Dodge Stealth is the twin of the Mitsubishi 3000 GT. Both of them are built by Mitsubishi in Japan but Dodge has re-badged its version and called it the "Stealth" with some slight styling changes. Even I kind of liked the aggressive stance of the 3000GT/Stealth twins.
1. The dealer told me if I took the survey to him without fulfilling anything, he could give me two oil changes free. I noticed that a lady posted similar issue on this forum. And was suggested to deliever the original copy (fulfilled??) to dealer to get free tank of oil, and make a copy to manufacturer. How do you guys think about this?
2. Since the wood trim is installed, it's almost impossible to get the cup holder out. Does anyone have this problem?
3. I know rattle is essentially subjective issue. While I do test drive, I ask the dealer about this. He says that it's normal. 'you could compare this with the noise from by-pasing car'. I agree with him about this. But still not comfortable. What do you experts suggest?
1) What you do is upto you but I think what the dealer is suggesting is un-ethical and I would not go along with such suggestions.
2) Can't answer that since I donot have the wood trim installed.
3) My car is tight as a drum (after 5 months of ownership) and that is how a new car ought to be. I have tried out quite a few TLs of various friends and found all of them to be exceptional with respect to fit and finish - no rattles at all. If your car rattles, then you should buttonhole the dealer and ask him to resolve it to your satisfaction; since when you pay 30 + large for a car, you expect it to be perfect - especially when it is a car built by Acura. I would not settle for less.
do you think OEM would spring for more expensive Pilot XGT V4 tires? no I have regular Michelin XGT V4. But they are quite good. The Pilot XGT V4 must be even better. If my XGT V4s wear out soon, I will make sure to replace them with the Pilots.
3000GT has evolved into some kind of Samurai styling, plus they can't figure out what to do with the rear wing. Stealth had a more fluid styling.
Yes, Z-100 and WPLJ. I am actually driving 684. The stealth -- 9 years old now (and running perfectly!)-- never had the FM fading in and out that the 3.2TL does. It is a shame that we have a Bose system and cruddy reception.
My salesperson was very up front to me in admitting that he gets a bonus if I turn in the customer satisfaction survey with a perfect score. He asked that if I had any sort of problem that would prevent me from giving him a perfect score, that I first contact him and allow him to try and fix it.
Since he was very helpful in every other regard, I had no qualms about giving him the perfect score (and bonus).
The way boomoo described it does sound sort of sleazy and unethical. You might question why he wants you to do this and see if he comes clean about the bonus. (Or ask his sales manager if this is standard policy.)
Then again, you might just take the two free oil changes and run... it's no skin off your nose!
I have been largely unimpressed with the radio reception in the TL. I haven't had fading problems, but I do get a fair amount of crackling and static in the background from time to time.
On the other hand, I like having the in-glass antenna. I felt that the motorized antenna on my last car was a pain in the butt.
If you want to know more about your 3.2TL regarding Engineering/Design/Mechanicals, go to this site- www.hondabeat.com/acura/tltech.cfm This section is 26 pages of good information on your 3.2TL.
I have decided to purchase a 2001 TL w/o Navigation . Could someone recommend an Acura Dealership in Orange County, CA that I could receive a good offer? Thank you.
I also recommend South Coast Acura. I purchased my 2000TL in Nov. They will deal with you + gave me a higher than expected allowance on my trade in. The Service Dept is very friendly and helpful. The car has been great.
Has anyone received the update? I found a link to the update with a telephone number to order it on the Acura web site last month. They told me that the update would be available this month and I ordered it. It has not arrived yet and I can not find the link on the Acura web site anymore. Makes me wonder what is going on.
How much of a difference is there in the update as compared to what was available in the car in June 2000 ? Have they improved the detailed coverage extensively ? If not, then I prefer to wait for maybe another year or so before going in for my update.
Big difference. They sent me a 25+ page FAX with 3 single-spaced columns per page of listed cities with detailed coverage. I guestimate that expands detailed coverage to about 3000 cities versus only 100+ in the Y2K DVD. Go to the link above, click on the FAQ for a telephone number you can call to make sure the areas you are interested in are covered.
I just got the navigation DVD ROM upgrade. What you get (or what I got anyway) is the DVD in a jewel case in a small cardboard box that was packed in a large 7” x 10” x 14” box entirely filled with styrofoam peanuts, way too much packaging I thought. The DVD was labeled with version number 2.03 and copyrighted 1999 that I thought should have been 2000 but Acura assured me I had the right one. The insert with the DVD had a listing of the cities with local street detail similar to that near the back of the navigation system owner’s manual. I compared the two. Here are the new cities listed.
California -- Fresno, Sin Luis Obispo Massachusetts -- Cape Cod Nebraska -- Lincoln New York – Buffalo, Rochester Oregon -- Eugene Pennsylvania -- State College Rhode Island – All South Carolina –Greenville/Spartanburg Virginia – Winchester Wisconsin – Kenosha, Milwaukee
I was hoping my home state of Minnesota would include street detail for cities like Duluth, St. Cloud and Rochester, but they are not listed and looking at the map I did not see any detail other than major streets running through these cities. I was told by someone at Acura that the first DVD was only about one third filled so I was expecting a lot of cities to be added to the detailed street list with this next DVD.
I talked with an Acura customer service guy. He indicated that some of the cities and metro areas have street detail extending further out. I did not really verify this because it would be difficult to do so. I assume the business and road database was updated but again I did not check anything in particular. The Acura guy agreed with me that the Acura web site should indicate what the upgrade contains over the previous version. Perhaps Acura might provide some information in the future. Without this information is hard to determine if you should upgrade for 152 dollars or wait a year or two.
Of all the bugs and data base errors I found and reported, none of them seem to be fixed. I reported these over this last summer which I expect was probably too late to get included in this version. For example, the system will still try to navigate me through a dead end street (it thinks it’s a through street) to get to my home. In a couple of other cases the system does not speak or otherwise indicate a turn even though “blue” route does show a turn. I am guessing it might take several months for changes to get completely processed.
I did seem to notice that on the highest zoom-in setting the car icon does not seem to lag slightly like it did with the previous version. Otherwise, the upgraded system looks exactly the same, same menus, same map appearance, same female voice.
Thanks for the tip on the Fax from customer service. The first three pages are a list of new coverage areas. If you want to see them, go to: http://www.acura-tl.com/ubb/Forum6/HTML/000089.html This is a large file, takes a while on a modem...
Back in September, I called the DVD update line to ask whether my local area would have detailed coverage in the updated DVD now released. In answer, I received a 26 page FAX that looked a lot like the 3-page FAX mentioned in the previous post. Based on that FAX, I reported in this forum that this was a major update and roughly 3000 cities and towns would be covered. I apologize if that misled anyone. I regret now that I threw out the FAX after noting that my area was to be covered. (Rochester, NY)
I have received the update and confirmed that only a limited number of cities have detailed coverage. In the case of New York, only Buffalo, Rochester, New York City and Cooperstown are covered. (Many small towns that surround these cities are covered as can be seen in the FAX in the previous post.)
The update is actually only a modest update. Last year's DVD covered a little more than 100 cities with eight states having no detailed coverage. The flyer that came with the DVD lists only about 130 cities and eight states have no detailed coverage. (It appears that the FAX in the previous post lists many small towns in the metropolitan areas surrounding the listed cities.)
Prospective buyers - make sure you know what you are getting. I am glad that my local area is covered, but since I do a lot of traveling, am disappointed in the update overall.
I have a 2000 TL with 9000 miles on it. Recently, I've started hearing a "boom" noise when starting the car cold as mentioned by someone previously. I don't hear it all the time but if the car has been sitting around more than 4 to 5 hours, I hear the noise, especially as the weather got colder. The noise really bothered me and I took it to the dealer but they did not find anything wrong with the car. I still keep hearing the noise. (not all the time, but maybe 8 out 10 times when starting the car cold). Does anybody have the same problem?? Please help.
For some time now, I also have heard what I term a mild "clunk" when starting cold (not always but most of the time). I plan on asking my dealer about it next week. I agree that it would help to know whether other owners have noticed this.
I am also disappointed at Acura for not having more detailed coverage in their update. I have not bought the update yet and plan to wait maybe an year or two and then go in for an update...maybe then it would provide detailed coverage for the entire US......
Guys, check this out....it is the wood steering wheel available for the Honda Inspire (known in the US as the Acura 3.2TL) in Japan. You will note that the Driving side is on the right but everything else in the interior is exactly like the 3.2TL sold in the US.
Has anybody been able to locate chrome or stainless steel fenderwell trim? The option from Acura is black vinyl which just doesn't make it. None of the custom shops around St Louis have anything off the shelf & I'd have to go to body shop for something hand built.
Following is the actual listing for the detailed coverage areas as scanned from the DVD liner that came with the Acura DVD version 2.03 that was just released.
If you are considering buying the DVD system or the upgrade, you may want to check whether your area and the areas you intend to travel to have detailed coverage.
IMHO, it is a pretty weak offering since you can buy several PC based applications that cover every street in the country on a CD for less than $50.00 and, as pointed out in a previous post, adds only a small number of new areas compared to the previous version.
Joel
Alabama None
Arizona Phoenix Metropolitan area
Arkansas None
California Fresno Los Angeles/San Diego Metropolitan area Sacramento Metropolitan area San Francisco Bay area(Approximately Monterey to Sonoma) San Luis Obispo
Colorado Denver/Boulder/Colorado Springs Metropolitan area
Connecticut Bridgeport Danbury Hartford Metropolitan area New Haven Metropolitan area Norwalk Stamford
Delaware Wilmington Metropolitan area
Florida Fort Myers Metropolitan area Jacksonville Metropolitan area Miami/Fort Lauderdale West Palm Beach Metropolitan Areas Orlando Metropolitan area Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg Metropolitan area
Georgia Atlanta Metropolitan area
Idaho Sun Valley Ski Resorts
Illinois Chicago Metropolitan area (to Wisconsin border) East St Louis Metropolitan area
Indiana Gary/Hammond Metropolitan Area Indianapolis Metropolitan area Kokomo Metropolitan area
Iowa None
Kansas
Kansas City/Leavenworth Metropolitan area
Kentucky None
Louisiana New Orleans Metropolitan Area Maine None
Maryland Baltimore/Washington D.C. Metropolitan area Ocean City
Massachusetts Boston Metropolitan area Cape Cod Springfield Metropolitan area
Michigan Boyne City Charlevoix Detroit Metropolitan area (including Ann Arbor, Pontiac, and Flint) Elk Rapids Grand Rapids Metropolitan area Harbor Springs Lansing Metropolitan area Petoskey Traverse City Metropolitan area
Minnesota Minneapolis/St. Paul Metropolitan area Moorehead
Mississippi None
Missouri Kansas City Metropolitan area St. Louis Metropolitan area Montana None
Nebraska Lincoln
Nevada Las Vegas Metropolitan area Reno/Lake Tahoe
New Hampshire Manchester Nashua
New Jersey Atlantic City/Cape May Metropolitan area Camden Metropolitan area Trenton Metropolitan area Northern New Jersey
New Mexico Albuquerque
Santa Fe Taos Ski Resorts
New York Buffalo Cooperstown New York City Metropolitan Area Rochester
North Carolina Charlotte Metropolitan Area Raleigh-Durham Metropolitan Area Wrnston-Salem Greensboro Metropolitan area North Dakota Fargo Metropolitan area Ohio Columbus/Marysville Metropolitan area Cincinnati Metropolitan area Cleveland Metropolitan area Oklahoma Oklahoma City Oregon Eugene Portland/Salem Metropolitan Area Pennsylvania Gettysburg Philadelphia Metropolitan area Pittsburgh Metropolitan area State College
Rhode Island All
South Carolina Greenville/Spartansburg Myrtle Beach Metropolitan area Rock Hill Metropolitan area South Dakota None Tennessee Knoxville/Farragut Metropolitan area Memphis Metropolitan Area Nashville Austin Metropolitan area Dallas/Fort Worth Metropolitan area Houston Metropolitan area San Antonio Metropolitan area South Padre Island
Utah Park City Salt Lake City Metropolitan area
Vermont None
Virginia Alexandria Arlington Charlottesville Fairfax Falls Church Fredricksburg Manassas Manassas Park Richmond Metropolitan area Williamsburg/Norfolk/ Virginia Beach Metropolitan area Winchester
Washington Seattle/Tacoma/Olympia Metropolitan area
Unfortunately all the navigation systems I've seen seem to have this same limitation on available cities. They all appear to get their data from NavTech and NavTech only covers the cities mentioned above. I assume that the reason PC cds carry more detailed information than this is that those cds are simply visual maps that do not have exact gps coordinates for the listed streets.
Whatever the reason, I would check carefully to see if it meets your geographical needs before purchasing.
"hockey1" suggested that the lack of detailed coverage on the new Acura DVD was because the data is not available from Navtech. This is not true. I called Alpine today and requested a listing of detailed coverage for their DVD based GPS system. They sent me a PDF file listing their coverage. 48 pages long with about 160 cities per page for over 7500 locations with local coverage. Comparing that to the measly 130+ in the Acura update listed in post #245 in this forum.
I really feel ripped off.
When I first got my TL, I complained in a letter to Acura's president about the poor level of detailed. I received a phone call from a Customer Service Manager who, among other things told me that Acura's coverage would be a year behind Alpine's because Acura require them to remove information about other manufacturer's dealer locations from the DVD. Whether you believe this or not, the evidence supports if you compare the amount of coverage you get with the Apline DVD with that from Acura.
The Alpine document is listed as "SmartMap Pro DVD Version 1.10 (NVD-A111) Detailed Coverage by State". If you want to see it, I will be happy to send you the PDF document if you send me a note at joelhel@geocities.com .
"hockey1" suggested that the lack of detailed coverage on the new Acura DVD was because the data is not available from Navtech. This is not true. I called Alpine today and requested a listing of detailed coverage for their DVD based GPS system. They sent me a PDF file listing their coverage. 48 pages long with about 160 cities per page for over 7500 locations with local coverage. Comparing that to the measly 130+ in the Acura update listed in post #245 in this forum, I really feel ripped off.
When I first got my TL, I complained in a letter to Acura's president about the poor level of detailed coverage. I received a phone call from a Customer Service Manager who, among other things told me that Acura's coverage would be a year behind Alpine's because Acura requires them to remove information about other manufacturer's dealer locations from the DVD. Whether you believe this or not, the evidence supports it if you compare the amount of coverage you get with the Alpine DVD with that from Acura.
The Alpine document is listed as "SmartMap Pro DVD Version 1.10 (NVD-A111) Detailed Coverage by State". If you want to see it, I will be happy to send you the PDF document if you send me a note at joelhel@geocities.com .
I agree that Acura need to synchronise their database with that of Alpine...I am not affected much since the areas I go to are pretty much covered in detail....
Moreover I donot know why Acura needs to be one year behind the Alpine detail coverage areas..since conventional logic states that it does not take more than a couple of days/weeks to take off the other manufacturers data from the database... definitely not ONE YEAR...
I would like to write to Acura about this since we have paid quite a lot for this item and would not want to be left with something that is less than perfect... would you know where to write to ?
...for validating the suspicions of us non-nav owners that, for $2000, it was an over-glorified toy that was still too much in its infancy to be of much use to the majority of people.
:-)
To find contact information on where to write a letter, go to the acura web site (www.acura.com), click on "My Acura", then on "Acura Client Services". There is also an online request form.
---------------------
(By the way, I'm not really looking to start a flame war; that was just a friendly dig. I've already read all the posts about what a wonder of technology the Nav is and how you all use it far more than you ever expected; no need to re-post.)
I found that contacting Acura Client Service gets you generally to lower level employees. It is better to write the president.
Koichi Amemiya, President American Honda Motor Company, Inc. 1919 Torrance Blvd. Torrance, CA 90501
You won't hear from him, but you will get to a higher level manager than you would get by calling their customer service number.
Acura advertises that the GPS system will get you 'door-to-door, virtually anywhere'. Based on my experience, that is just not true and they should be held accountable for their promises.
My husband and I think the NAV system is great. It has taken us door-to-door everytime we have used it and we use it almost every time we get into the car. I don't understand what you all are complaining about, unless you live in an area where the NAV system clearly does not have extensive coverage.
Let's not overstate the issue with the NAV system. It has been much more than a toy for my family especially since we live in an area with lots of coverage (NJ). Secondly, while it is sad that updates are not happening at a fast and furious pace, they will occur and the already installed hardware will still be relevant!
Got my 2001 Acura TL for 2 weeks. Yesterday went to fulfill the tank for the very first time. Guess what: I got 25 miles/gallon(Amerian). Could you believe it? I drive half high way and half local. Since I'm right in break in period, the speed is limited at 50 - 55 mph on high way and 40 - 55 at local. My everyday drive is alway about 5 miles one way. Really love my car. So far there's nothing bothers me at all.
NJ is obviously the "Hot Spot" to be driving with a NAV system. You're right. We do seem to agree on alot of issues, I guess it's that tri-state mentality.
Now if only the NAV system can get me to Shea Stadium if I can get tickets to the Subway Series!
I would like the DVD database to be a fully updated one with detailed coverage for the entire US....but I certainly will not buy a car without this "TOY" after having had it in my car for the past several months and having used it everywhere I have gone....maybe I was lucky in having travelled only in areas which had detailed NAV coverage....
Updates will happen in due course of time....maybe in a couple of years the coverage should be truly comprehensive...but the point is that the basic NAV hardware is in place to accomodate any future updates....and luckily Acura employs cutting edge technology (DVD based systems) unlike some of its competitors who still soldier on with lower capacity and slower CD-based NAV systems...
Bottomline ? Everything else being equal, I will not buy a future car if it does not offer NAV.....
A guy after my heart. A fellow Mets fan that owns a TL w/NAV that lives in NJ. What else could a woman want?
I doubt highly I'll get tickets, but I am determined to try. I was at the seventh game of the 1986 World Series, so watching it on TV won't be the worst thing I can think of. I refuse to pay the ridiculous premiums. I am going to try the phone # on Saturday for Shea. My fingers are crossed.
For 2000 and $2000 the car should have mastered the issue of a simple disk(dvd) or have TWO(...(1) one for MAPS and(2)two for the EXTRAS!!! As you select options(restaurants,etc.) it goes all over the USA no matter where you are at!!!! joelhe--thanks and thank you for speaking for the rest of many who are not with this medium.FULL MAP coverage should be as easy as mapquest.com--- QUESTION? why does the system always turns on?it should be an option of use.I'm behind you 100%. By the way, to other posters please be patient, the EAST COAST is mostly covered but not the MIDWEST!!!. thanks
Comments
have been upgraded from the stock 205/60-R16
Touring Energy tires to Michelin Pilot 225/55-R16
(Ultra High Performance All-Season)... I like the
stock wheels. The performance difference,
handling, dry/wet grip is phenomenal. In fact, I
am just using what is already present in the TL - a wonderful suspension (4 wheel independant double wishbones with rear multi-link) and a fantastic chassis... The only reason Acura chose the OEM Energy Michelins, IMO, is to cut costs...
If I were to add the same tires (Ultra High
performance Pilots) to say, the Lexus ES300
(which also incidentally carries the stock tires of the TL), I would overwhelm the suspension/chassis, and the benefits I probably might get would be fairly minimal ....since the entire car is designed more for comfort and straight line cruising alone, unlike the TL....
(I mean, is the distance from the bottom of the rim to the ground noticeably greater from the profile view of the car?)
You could check out the link below for photos that have mounted 225/55-R16 tires on the stock rims:
http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/einsteintl?d&.flabel=fld4&.src=ph
Some additional photos of the 225/55-R16 tires on the stock TL rims:
http://www.geocities.com/brighttl2000/Image91.jpg http://www.geocities.com/brighttl2000/Image31.jpg http://www.geocities.com/brighttl2000/Image21.jpg www.geocities.com/brighttl2000/2.html www.geocities.com/brighttl2000/3.html www.geocities.com/brighttl2000/4.html www.geocities.com/brighttl2000/5.html www.geocities.com/brighttl2000/6.html
The Gold one (Naples Gold Metallic) has "Bridgestone RE730 225/55ZR-16" tires and the Gray looking one (Laguna Green Metallic) has on "Bridgestone Potenza SO-2 Pole Position 225/55ZR-16".
Basically both of them are exactly the same size as my tire - Michelin Pilot 225/55ZR-16.
I provided those links for having an idea of how the tires of that size would look on the TL with the stock rims.
I will also be posting pictures of my car with the Michelins on after I am able to take some photos of them...
Later...AH
Later...AH
I took the car to the dealer to have it checked, and they said everything was fine. I asked the head service consultant if others had complained about this and indirectly she told me yes, that others had. She told me that the antennas mounted in the glass are weaker than free standing ones are.
The service consultant called Acura's tech line to see if there was a "fix" for this and she also spoke with the service manager. She was told that there are no faults with the radio or antenna and that you can't compare reception among different cars (or even two identical cars).
I also ran into the sales manager while I was waiting and asked him if this was normal. He confirmed that the aerial antennas are stronger than those in the glass. {FYI: I asked him why Acura put them in the glass, and he said it was for cost reasons. He said that the power motors for the aerial antennas kept needing to be replaced (which was expensive), and this was a better option). I asked him if there was a way to remedy this situation and he said I could check with a local car stereo installer to see if something could be done.
Has anyone else experienced this problem with their FM reception? Any ideas on how to remedy this problem?
BTW - you have one of my long time favorite car, the Stealth. I used to want one really bad many years ago. Then they stopped making them.
I never had big problems with glass mounted antennas, I can get Z100 almost from New Haven, CT.
hunter - I like the Michelin XGT V4 on my 300M a lot.
In the reviews of the Michelin Pilot XGT V4 in www.tirerack.com, one poster who owns an Acura Integra GSR has commented:
"Car originally had normal XGT-V4s, after changing to the Pilots it's like driving a new, more nimble version of the same car. Handling is crisper, the tires are much quieter and don't squeal unnecessarily"
Incidentally, the Dodge Stealth is the twin of the Mitsubishi 3000 GT. Both of them are built by Mitsubishi in Japan but Dodge has re-badged its version and called it the "Stealth" with some slight styling changes. Even I kind of liked the aggressive stance of the 3000GT/Stealth twins.
Later...AH
1. The dealer told me if I took the survey to him without fulfilling anything, he could give me two oil changes free. I noticed that a lady posted similar issue on this forum. And was suggested to deliever the original copy (fulfilled??) to dealer to get free tank of oil, and make a copy to manufacturer. How do you guys think about this?
2. Since the wood trim is installed, it's almost impossible to get the cup holder out. Does anyone have this problem?
3. I know rattle is essentially subjective issue. While I do test drive, I ask the dealer about this. He says that it's normal. 'you could compare this with the noise from by-pasing car'. I agree with him about this. But still not comfortable. What do you experts suggest?
Thanks a lot
Boomoo
1) What you do is upto you but I think what the dealer is suggesting is un-ethical and I would not go along with such suggestions.
2) Can't answer that since I donot have the wood trim installed.
3) My car is tight as a drum (after 5 months of ownership) and that is how a new car ought to be. I have tried out quite a few TLs of various friends and found all of them to be exceptional with respect to fit and finish - no rattles at all. If your car rattles, then you should buttonhole the dealer and ask him to resolve it to your satisfaction; since when you pay 30 + large for a car, you expect it to be perfect - especially when it is a car built by Acura. I would not settle for less.
Later...AH
no I have regular Michelin XGT V4. But they are quite good. The Pilot XGT V4 must be even better. If my XGT V4s wear out soon, I will make sure to replace them with the Pilots.
3000GT has evolved into some kind of Samurai styling, plus they can't figure out what to do with the rear wing. Stealth had a more fluid styling.
Since he was very helpful in every other regard, I had no qualms about giving him the perfect score (and bonus).
The way boomoo described it does sound sort of sleazy and unethical. You might question why he wants you to do this and see if he comes clean about the bonus. (Or ask his sales manager if this is standard policy.)
Then again, you might just take the two free oil changes and run... it's no skin off your nose!
On the other hand, I like having the in-glass antenna. I felt that the motorized antenna on my last car was a pain in the butt.
www.hondabeat.com/acura/tltech.cfm
This section is 26 pages of good information on your 3.2TL.
my 2000TL in Nov. They will deal with you + gave
me a higher than expected allowance on my trade in.
The Service Dept is very friendly and helpful.
The car has been great.
http://www.acura.com/engineering/eng_navigation_intro.asp?pop=dvd
How much of a difference is there in the update as compared to what was available in the car in June 2000 ? Have they improved the detailed coverage extensively ? If not, then I prefer to wait for maybe another year or so before going in for my update.
Later...AH
California -- Fresno, Sin Luis Obispo
Massachusetts -- Cape Cod
Nebraska -- Lincoln
New York – Buffalo, Rochester
Oregon -- Eugene
Pennsylvania -- State College
Rhode Island – All
South Carolina –Greenville/Spartanburg
Virginia – Winchester
Wisconsin – Kenosha, Milwaukee
I was hoping my home state of Minnesota would include street detail for cities like Duluth, St. Cloud and Rochester, but they are not listed and looking at the map I did not see any detail other than major streets running through these cities. I was told by someone at Acura that the first DVD was only about one third filled so I was expecting a lot of cities to be added to the detailed street list with this next DVD.
I talked with an Acura customer service guy. He indicated that some of the cities and metro areas have street detail extending further out. I did not really verify this because it would be difficult to do so. I assume the business and road database was updated but again I did not check anything in particular. The Acura guy agreed with me that the Acura web site should indicate what the upgrade contains over the previous version. Perhaps Acura might provide some information in the future. Without this information is hard to determine if you should upgrade for 152 dollars or wait a year or two.
Of all the bugs and data base errors I found and reported, none of them seem to be fixed. I reported these over this last summer which I expect was probably too late to get included in this version. For example, the system will still try to navigate me through a dead end street (it thinks it’s a through street) to get to my home. In a couple of other cases the system does not speak or otherwise indicate a turn even though “blue” route does show a turn. I am guessing it might take several months for changes to get completely processed.
I did seem to notice that on the highest zoom-in setting the car icon does not seem to lag slightly like it did with the previous version. Otherwise, the upgraded system looks exactly the same, same menus, same map appearance, same female voice.
http://www.acura-tl.com/ubb/Forum6/HTML/000089.html
This is a large file, takes a while on a modem...
I have received the update and confirmed that only a limited number of cities have detailed coverage. In the case of New York, only Buffalo, Rochester, New York City and Cooperstown are covered. (Many small towns that surround these cities are covered as can be seen in the FAX in the previous post.)
The update is actually only a modest update. Last year's DVD covered a little more than 100 cities with eight states having no detailed coverage. The flyer that came with the DVD lists only about 130 cities and eight states have no detailed coverage. (It appears that the FAX in the previous post lists many small towns in the metropolitan areas surrounding the listed cities.)
Prospective buyers - make sure you know what you are getting. I am glad that my local area is covered, but since I do a lot of traveling, am disappointed in the update overall.
Joel
Later...AH
Here you go...
http://www.acura-tl.com/images/Inspire_Steering_Wheel.jpg
Later...AH
None of the custom shops around St Louis have anything off the shelf & I'd have to go to body shop for something hand built.
If you are considering buying the DVD system or the upgrade, you may want to check whether your area and the areas you intend to travel to have detailed coverage.
IMHO, it is a pretty weak offering since you can buy several PC based applications that cover every street in the country on a CD for less than $50.00 and, as pointed out in a previous post, adds only a small number of new areas compared to the previous version.
Joel
Alabama
None
Arizona
Phoenix Metropolitan area
Arkansas
None
California
Fresno
Los Angeles/San Diego Metropolitan area
Sacramento Metropolitan area San Francisco Bay area(Approximately Monterey to Sonoma)
San Luis Obispo
Colorado
Denver/Boulder/Colorado Springs Metropolitan area
Connecticut
Bridgeport
Danbury
Hartford Metropolitan area
New Haven Metropolitan area
Norwalk
Stamford
Delaware
Wilmington Metropolitan area
Florida
Fort Myers Metropolitan area
Jacksonville Metropolitan area
Miami/Fort Lauderdale
West Palm Beach Metropolitan Areas
Orlando Metropolitan area
Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg Metropolitan area
Georgia
Atlanta Metropolitan area
Idaho
Sun Valley Ski Resorts
Illinois
Chicago Metropolitan area
(to Wisconsin border)
East St Louis Metropolitan area
Indiana
Gary/Hammond Metropolitan Area Indianapolis Metropolitan area Kokomo Metropolitan area
Iowa
None
Kansas
Kansas City/Leavenworth Metropolitan area
Kentucky
None
Louisiana
New Orleans Metropolitan Area
Maine
None
Maryland
Baltimore/Washington D.C. Metropolitan area
Ocean City
Massachusetts
Boston Metropolitan area
Cape Cod
Springfield Metropolitan area
Michigan
Boyne City
Charlevoix
Detroit Metropolitan area (including Ann Arbor,
Pontiac, and Flint)
Elk Rapids
Grand Rapids Metropolitan area
Harbor Springs
Lansing Metropolitan area
Petoskey
Traverse City Metropolitan area
Minnesota
Minneapolis/St. Paul
Metropolitan area
Moorehead
Mississippi
None
Missouri
Kansas City Metropolitan area St. Louis Metropolitan area
Montana
None
Nebraska
Lincoln
Nevada
Las Vegas Metropolitan area
Reno/Lake Tahoe
New Hampshire
Manchester
Nashua
New Jersey
Atlantic City/Cape May
Metropolitan area
Camden Metropolitan area
Trenton Metropolitan area
Northern New Jersey
New Mexico
Albuquerque
Santa Fe
Taos Ski Resorts
New York
Buffalo
Cooperstown
New York City Metropolitan Area
Rochester
North Carolina
Charlotte Metropolitan Area
Raleigh-Durham Metropolitan Area
Wrnston-Salem Greensboro Metropolitan area
North Dakota
Fargo Metropolitan area
Ohio
Columbus/Marysville
Metropolitan area
Cincinnati Metropolitan area Cleveland Metropolitan area
Oklahoma
Oklahoma City
Oregon
Eugene
Portland/Salem Metropolitan Area
Pennsylvania
Gettysburg
Philadelphia Metropolitan area
Pittsburgh Metropolitan area
State College
Rhode Island
All
South Carolina
Greenville/Spartansburg
Myrtle Beach Metropolitan area Rock Hill Metropolitan area
South Dakota
None
Tennessee
Knoxville/Farragut
Metropolitan area
Memphis Metropolitan Area Nashville
Austin Metropolitan area
Dallas/Fort Worth Metropolitan area
Houston Metropolitan area
San Antonio Metropolitan area
South Padre Island
Utah
Park City
Salt Lake City Metropolitan area
Vermont
None
Virginia
Alexandria
Arlington
Charlottesville
Fairfax
Falls Church
Fredricksburg
Manassas
Manassas Park
Richmond Metropolitan area
Williamsburg/Norfolk/
Virginia Beach Metropolitan area Winchester
Washington
Seattle/Tacoma/Olympia
Metropolitan area
West Virginia
Harpers Ferry Metropolitan Area
Wisconsin
Kenosha
Milwaukee
Wyoming
Jackson Ski Resorts
Whatever the reason, I would check carefully to see if it meets your geographical needs before purchasing.
I really feel ripped off.
When I first got my TL, I complained in a letter to Acura's president about the poor level of detailed. I received a phone call from a Customer Service Manager who, among other things told me that Acura's coverage would be a year behind Alpine's because Acura require them to remove information about other manufacturer's dealer locations from the DVD. Whether you believe this or not, the evidence supports if you compare the amount of coverage you get with the Apline DVD with that from Acura.
The Alpine document is listed as "SmartMap Pro DVD Version 1.10 (NVD-A111) Detailed Coverage by State". If you want to see it, I will be happy to send you the PDF document if you send me a note at joelhel@geocities.com .
When I first got my TL, I complained in a letter to Acura's president about the poor level of detailed coverage. I received a phone call from a Customer Service Manager who, among other things told me that Acura's coverage would be a year behind Alpine's because Acura requires them to remove information about other manufacturer's dealer locations from the DVD. Whether you believe this or not, the evidence supports it if you compare the amount of coverage you get with the Alpine DVD with that from Acura.
The Alpine document is listed as "SmartMap Pro DVD Version 1.10 (NVD-A111) Detailed Coverage by State". If you want to see it, I will be happy to send you the PDF document if you send me a note at joelhel@geocities.com .
Moreover I donot know why Acura needs to be one year behind the Alpine detail coverage areas..since conventional logic states that it does not take more than a couple of days/weeks to take off the other manufacturers data from the database... definitely not ONE YEAR...
I would like to write to Acura about this since we have paid quite a lot for this item and would not want to be left with something that is less than perfect... would you know where to write to ?
Later...AH
:-)
To find contact information on where to write a letter, go to the acura web site (www.acura.com), click on "My Acura", then on "Acura Client Services". There is also an online request form.
---------------------
(By the way, I'm not really looking to start a flame war; that was just a friendly dig. I've already read all the posts about what a wonder of technology the Nav is and how you all use it far more than you ever expected; no need to re-post.)
Koichi Amemiya, President
American Honda Motor Company, Inc.
1919 Torrance Blvd.
Torrance, CA 90501
You won't hear from him, but you will get to a higher level manager than you would get by calling their customer service number.
Acura advertises that the GPS system will get you 'door-to-door, virtually anywhere'. Based on my experience, that is just not true and they should be held accountable for their promises.
If you feel as I do, please write.
Joel
No flaming here just pointing out the obvious!
Now if only the NAV system can get me to Shea Stadium if I can get tickets to the Subway Series!
Updates will happen in due course of time....maybe in a couple of years the coverage should be truly comprehensive...but the point is that the basic NAV hardware is in place to accomodate any future updates....and luckily Acura employs cutting edge technology (DVD based systems) unlike some of its competitors who still soldier on with lower capacity and slower CD-based NAV systems...
Bottomline ? Everything else being equal, I will not buy a future car if it does not offer NAV.....
Later...AH
I will be happy to view the Met's winning on TV.
I doubt highly I'll get tickets, but I am determined to try. I was at the seventh game of the 1986 World Series, so watching it on TV won't be the worst thing I can think of. I refuse to pay the ridiculous premiums. I am going to try the phone # on Saturday for Shea. My fingers are crossed.