SteelBlue99

Alright guys, I need your help deciding what to do. Currently I have a 2004 Acura TL. 6-speed M/T navigation, everything. I've had it for about 2 years, and love it.




However, I found this: http://albuquerque.craigslist.org/cto/2630536746.html

I've wanted one of those for a while, but haven't been able to find one. I know this is a Jeep forum, but I figured i'd get some opinions. What do you guys think? Should I sell my TL, and buy the G35?

Payments will be about $20 higher, gas mileage will be a little worse, but more power & RWD.

swarley

i'll bite, with a very long explanation...

i base everything on my experiences and the experiences of family members and close friends. i bought an 05 acura tsx new and have driven the crap out of it. i love it and plan to keep it forever. my buddy is a master tech at an acura dealer and has been very up front with telling me about the very few and very little problems (like door lock actuators) that acuras/hondas may have and i am extremely comfortable with it.

before the acura, my wife had an 01 civic and it was also a great little car with no problems.

my brother had a 97 accord that was great, all he ever replaced on it was a battery and brake pads. it was stolen and beat to hell and recovered right before insurance was going to pay out for it... shame. anyways, he sold it to my sister who still drives it and it is one of the most reliable cars i've heard of. my bro moved onto an 01 accord and it's been the same, general maintenance besides a clogged cat that he needed to replace. it's been a great car.

my parents bought an 05 crv new and have had 0 problems and the same sister with the accord has an 06 pilot with 0 problems to date. my other sister has a tl almost exactly like yours, again 0 problems.

my experiences with nissans have been less friendly. my sis had a 97 200sx that ate 02 sensors for breakfast, lunch and dinner and was a pain in the butt. her husband had a sentra and it had a few really annoying problems of it's own, especially clutch cables. we also had an old stanza that was fine until it got over 100k on it and it started messing up. i also have another mechanic friend that had an altima but sold it when he finished school and could afford to get a better vehicle (an xj of course lol) because "they're crappy." he is pretty unbiased on vehicle makes which is not super common with mechanics in my experience but says you pretty much can't go wrong with honda or toyota and all makes have their winners and losers. his other car is a vw jetta vr6 and he says they are a nightmare to work on and buy parts for but he just plain loves the motor

my neighbor just got a brand new, loaded tl and it makes me wish i had like $50k cause the 310 hp with sh-awd is ridiculously awesome and the feel of an acura inside and out is amazing to me. my coworker also just got a brand new tsx and i'm super jealous of that as well. the 3.5 v6 is crazy in that car.

sorry for the novel, hope it helps though

edit: where was that pic taken? it looks like the ouray or silverton, CO area...

SteelBlue99

That's kinda what i'm thinking. *knock on wood* I've had my TL for just over 2 years. I've put 22k miles on it, and have had absolutely ZERO issues. All i've done to it, is change the oil & put new tires on it. That's literally it. I guess I just get bored of cars easily, which is why I was thinking about going for the Infiniti. I heard things about Infiniti/Nissan in the past, but i've read that they're getting significantly better in build quality/ reliability. I'll most likely keep the TL, just because it's a great car. The only downside, is FWD. We'll see though, as i'm driving up to look at the G35 this weekend. Thanks for the help!

Crazy! How did you notice that!? That picture was taken right on the other side of Engineer/ Cinnamon Pass in Lake City, CO.

swarley

we've gone from like 16 miles (i love new cars) to 90k miles on the tsx and have only had one door lock actuator quit (partially my fault) and my wife didn't understand downshifting all that well (it's a 6MT) and warped the rotors but they were replaced under warranty anyways. you can warp rotors in anything so i don't blame the car.

i have been told by everyone i know in the auto industry that the build quality has gone up on most every brand anymore because they just can't afford to make unreliable cars. keep in mind that everyone has their own brand loyalty and opinions. there are some brands i still wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole and besides that, why would i want anything besides a jeep and a honda/acura? lol

looks like i was a little ways off on the ouray guess but close enough. i love the beauty of that area. we went to ouray for our honeymoon in 06 and went back in 08. we were going to go this year but have been on too many trips... 3 moab trips (another in 2 weeks), hawaii/kauai and a few little trips here and there so we didn't make it. i keep telling myself we'll go again next year

SteelBlue99

It took me a long time to find my TL, since most are automatics, but it was definitely worth it. I'll probably go and look at that G35 just to see, but will most likely keep my TL.

You weren't very far off that guess at all, I was surprised. The picture isn't even that big, you've got a good eye. That whole area is beautiful! I'm up there quite a bit, since my girlfriends parents own a cabin in Lake City, right on Lake San Cristobal. Next time you're up there, go across Cinnamon or Engineer pass, into Lake City. It's a great place!

swarley

yeah, tl's with the 6mt are sick! we had the same trouble finding a tsx with a 6mt and they are way more popular.

i've been up on one of the big summits on the trails. we did imogene and another trail that escapes my memory and we were way up there. there was like 15' of snow on the sides of the trail in june. it's an amazing area.

SteelBlue99

Funny that you say that. Here's some pictures from when I went up in June.

swarley

yup, both sides of the trail were like that in parts. i wish i could remember the other trails we did but imogene pass is the only one that really sticks out. we were in a rental jk rubicon so we couldn't do black bear pass and i was bummed but the other trails were still fun. i wish i could take my xj there but the 7 hour drive would suuuuuuck and i'd have a hard time driving past moab at about the half way point lol

swarley

i just looked at a trail index and i think we did engineer pass and yankee boy basin. i believe engineer pass is the one that is riduculously high up and has a big flat part that everyone takes pics at. it's been 3 years so i'm not sure.

rainandsun

i guess i am going to choose acura. i don't know its just that i am using this car almost 3 years and find it more reliable in the road. actually everytime that there's a recalls i keep on attending to it.