[Jomz]

Originally Posted by hema4saran

+1. My friend bought a 2012 Fusion with 85k miles on the odo for around $7k couple of years back. The car was mostly trouble free and drives very good. But he got an issue with alternator which needs to be replaced. The dealership quoted around $1300 for replacing it. He got it done at a local garage for around $400. He sourced the part from a scrapyard.

The build quality of Ford cars are very good compared to the Japs and Koreans. They are built like a tank.

Originally Posted by 14000rpm

Indeed. It does seem a bit high but then, on checking with some locals, I'm told Subaru's do retain good value out here. Either ways I have no intention of buying this anymore as it goes out of budget if after considering low-balling efforts.

Now set my eyes on a few low-mile CPO Ford Focus's.

Low-miler : My definition of low-miler is a car with 12k or lesser miles per year.
how do you guys see?

Interestingly,Ford Fusions, I'm told, are favorites to the Insurance folks and attracts lesser rate. Lower insurance = lower Opex since car pays back but insurance money doesn't.

Michigan Dwellers- can you confirm?

Won't recommend a Focus with DCT. They have crazy amount of issues.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cult...rshift-owners/


... on the plus side, you can click on the settlement link and probably gset some money after the transmission blows up.

[VPSuchin]

Is anyone considering the Kia Stinger as their next vehicle? Seems to be incredible value for the money and has been getting very positive reviews. The GT is around $50K but even the 2.0T turbo has good reviews and seems to offer a lot of standard features, starting at $32K

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSWQTkbTYIQ

Official pricing for the available trims

Remains to be seen if people will look beyond the brand and choose this over an Acura,Infiniti or even BMW/Audi...

[mail4ajo]

Team, got a 2017 Honda Pilot EX-L with Sensing last month. Overall the exp with car and dealership was good. Plus I got a pretty good deal on price which was due to November being a slack month.

Any one considering the Pilot, Highlander or similar, feel free to connect.

[Technocrat]

Congrats, How much below MSRP? what was your OTD? Did you exchange or Finance or both?

[RishikeshK]

I am in need of help from fellow Team-BHPians residing in the USA particularly in the New Jersey state.

My wife is working in New Jersey right now and she is planning to move back to India by December end as her project completes. She drives a '07 Honda Accord EX-L which is now to be sold. We bought it as a single owner car from an Acura dealer only 6 months ago (I was there in the USA at that time).

Here is the link to the advt which has all the required details including the contact number. The car is in excellent condition.

http://cars.sulekha.com/2007-honda-a...any-nj_1023634

It would be really helpful if the USA-based Team-BHPians could spread the word to assist us. I've moved back to India and can only help her remotely.

I'm not sure if such posts are allowed/welcome on this thread, but I'm in real need here. Admins - please moderate as appropriate.

TIA,
Rishikesh

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by RishikeshK

I am in need of help from fellow Team-BHPians residing in the USA particularly in the New Jersey state.

A few things you can do:

1) In addition to Sulekha, advertise the car on Craigslist: you can get negotiate to get the highest value from prospective buyers. But this will also require the most effort

2) Take the car to the nearest Honda dealer: simple and easy. But you'll get end up getting a low resale

3) CarMax: even more simple. No negotiation, on-the-spot deal

Point 2) and 3) are Plan B. They will get the job done instantly but obviously won't get you the kind of money you'd want.

Point 1) can take months and tremendous vigilance (to avoid engaging with scammers).

In the interest of time and peace of mind, since your wife has to deal with larger issues (considering she's moving back to India) all by herself, consider point 2) and 3).

[mail4ajo]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Congrats, How much below MSRP? what was your OTD? Did you exchange or Finance or both?

I got a good deal I would say. 37K out of the door. I took the extended warranty for 2K. MSRP alone would have been 38K plus destination and taxes.

I went on last day in November at last 2-3 hrs before close. No way would have got the deal in December. Lot of demand in Dec. No trade in, retaining my Corolla for Wife.

[vivekiny2k]

I replaced my 2007 Nissan quest with 2017 Acura MDX last year, Black interior and exterior. I didn't find any threads on MDX ownership so I am hoping I can provide some of the information. So far I have driven a little over 15K miles.

I had been driving Nissan quest minivan for 10 years which had started to show it's age. Here was my criteria for a replacement:

1. Comfortable seats - First and foremost, I am a thin man with no natural cushioning whatsoever on my back. and because of my low weight I barely make a dent in the seats. so not only the seat had to conform to my shape ( I can't stand lumbar support, I need it to be concave) but it also needed to be soft. most of the cars I test drove had seats that felt like a rock to me. Only Acura passed this. If I had bought another car, I would have had purchased a cushioned seat for myself.
2. AWD - Our driveway is at about 20 degrees incline, and getting a car up in snow has always been a challenge. Also we have hills in this area which I didn't feel comfortable driving in fresh snow.
3.Space - It had to provide space for our long trips, and possibly extra seats for guests if needed. so sedans were out for the most part.
4. driver assist technology - This was the reason I had been postponing the purchase because I wanted something close to an autonomous driving.
5. Misc - I was still open to other things like convertible, performance/prestige cars etc, but that will come at a cost of other factors mentioned above. In which case my wife's (upgrade to 2011 BMW 328i xdrive, from the VW beetle convertible she had been driving since 2010) would become our family car.

Decision 1: what car? here is a list I actually was maintaining while researching, each had at least something to contribute to my requirements above.



points to note:

- Honda civic is probably the most convenient option if you need driver assist technology
- infiniti is the best option if you need performance and driver assist
- Honda pilot has the same AWD as MDX. but once you add all the options, it's priced at the same level as MDX too.

Long story short, after considering all the variables, Acura MDX SH-AWD turned out to be the final winner. I ended up gong to Colombia Acura and their response was pretty good.
Compare that to almost any Honda dealer who do not even want to talk to you if the car you need is not in stock, which is almost always.

Decision 2: Lease or buy?

I ended up leasing the car because

1. I wanted the payments to be low.
2. I was sure either the effect of technologies will wear out and I will go back to old school (it didn't) or there will be something newer in 3 years I would want and will just return the MDX back to Acura at that point (yet to find out).

For anybody trying to make the decision, here are the key numbers to look at. these are not the exact numbers because of dealer confidentiality, but they are a good representative. The only discount I received was the SH-AWD for the FWD price, which was about $1,500 difference. The car was in high demand and didn't have many incentives at the time.

Car price: $43,000
Dealer premium for assuming the risk: $4,000
taxes, fees etc: $3,000

Total:$50,000

Estimates value of car after depreciation of three years: $29,000

i.e. Balance that I needed to pay: $21,000

Down payment: $3,000

monthly payment on the remaining 18,000 for 36 months ~ $500

In contrast, I would have paid upwards of 1,000 per month If I had financed it, even if spread across 4 years.

Here is a picture of the car while visiting our cabin, it was snowing. And it was clear no matter what kind of AWD you have, you till need control over your mind and hands to keep from drifiting into a ditch








The third screen you see at the bottom is a Garmin GPS I have kept next to the cupholder.





This was when we drove it in times square over the summer vacation.




And this is how the AWD system looks when driving.

https://youtu.be/YpECmY1D7oY

Coming back to the car itself, I got the basic version, with SH-AWD (Acura's super handling all wheel drive).

Following are the specs that matter

- 3.5 L 290 HP NA engine
- Acura's SH-AWD system: it provides power to the wheels that need it in real time. I will post a video of it showing it on the dash. e.g., if you are turning left, you will see that the most power goes to the rear right wheel, providing steering torque. It also does something funky with braking the forward wheels while accelerating the rear, to grip the road in adverse conditions. I don't know if I will ever get ti experience it.
- 9 speed auto transmission
- button gears (push to engage park, drive and neutral, pull for reverse.there are individual buttons for each mode except sport, which engages with the drive mode. I have accidently put the car in sports mode many times by pressing drive twice inadvertently.
- 3 driving dynamics settings (comfort, normal, sport)
- pandora and aha connectivity for music
- multi functional display - the dash can toggle between remaining miles left in the fuel tank, tire pressure, fuel efficiency, oil health, SH-AWD power meter etc. I usually keep it blank to keep the dash clean.
- Auto high beam - the high beam automatically comes on if it's dark and there are no cars around. I find it to be less than intelligent and ended up turning it off quite a few times. On the other hand, I like this feature because it helps in keeping wild life away especially since so many deer collisions happen on highways.
- 7 seats
- MPG- I get an average of 18 MPG in mixed driving. on highways upto 25 MPG.
- base comes with Lane keeping assistant, collision mitigation system, adaptive cruise control, backup camera etc. The only safety option it is missing is blind spot warning that is included in higher variants. More on that below.


1. Lane keeping assist system (LKAS): When turned on, it reads the lane markings on the road and steers the wheel to keep you in lane. on moderate curves it keeps steering so you don't have to. While it does that, you can see the steering move and if you resist, it will let you steer the car. Also, if it detects no driver input for about 15 seconds, it flashes a warning on the dash saying "steering input needed" and disengages. This is a safety precaution from drivers giving up all control. Even when off, if the car goes outside visible lane markings, the steering starts shaking and corrects to some extent, avoiding unintentional off-roading.

2. Adaptive cruise control (ACC) with low speed follow: This is fairly common these days in cars. You set a speed for cruise control, the radar keeps watching the car in front and maintains a safe distance. if the car in front comes to a complete stops and starts within a second or two, it continues to follow. Any longer than that and it will need accelerator pedal pressed to start from standstill. However, I have found that the response is quite jerky at low speeds and I prefer to press brake (which disengages the ACC) and engage it again when I am at cruising speeds.

3. Automatic Brake hold: it needs to be activated every time the ignition is turned on, I wish It could be left on all the time. Then every time the car is stopped at a red light, the parking brakes are engaged so you don't have to keep pressing the brakes. once the accelerator is pressed, the brakes are released automatically. It's also avoid unintentional creeping of the vehicle.

4. Collision mitigation system: it keeps an eye on the front and when it detects a risk of collision, gives a beep and then applies a brake. I have not experienced the third stage yet (complete slamming of brakes )

With 1 and 2 above engaged, I have found that my long drives (usually 10 hrs+) have become amazingly relaxing. My feet are completely off the brake and accelerator, and I lightly keep my hand on the steering (when I am driving on a long stretch of highway) and gently nudge the steering every 15 seconds to keep LKAS awake. I take the control back when I am in city limits with more traffic. Also, minor lapses in attention (say glancing sideways to check for traffic when changing lanes) are more forgiving in case the traffic ahead had come to a stop (has happened to me before) or the road turns. The car slows down as soon as it detects the car in front slowing down. I was afraid this will be one of those gimmicks that will wear out with time, but it has been an amazing help.

With number 3 above, the feet are again fairly relaxed in city conditions when stopped at lights.

As far the drive, it's luxurious as an Acura can expected to be. in fact, I test drove the TLX and MDX and didn't see much difference in drive dynamics, so opted for MDX for the extra space. But again, I am not a car connoisseur. The NVH level is pretty low, even in the sports mode.

So far I have driven 15,000 miles, my work commute is pretty short (about 2 miles each way), so most of these are our vacations to Florida, NY, Smoky mountains, Carolinas etc. And I found it fairly easy and intuitive. The visibility all around is excellent, I do use extra mirrors on the side mirrors for parking in addition to the rear view camera because of it's size, it has to fit correctly in parking spots with mot much space to play with. So far I have only serviced it cone based on oil health meter, another service should be due in another 2000 miles. No other expenses yet.

I read another thread on self driving cars and I think this is a fairly good compromise until a technology emerges which is safe enough for me to trust my life with it. Hoping in another 2 years something else comes up that makes me want to exchange it for newer technology .

In summary,things I like

1. The luxury of Acura, plush interiors, comfort controls, connectivity etc.
2. Space. even with the rear seats up it leaves a good amount of space for carrying stuff.
3. Driving experience. Responsive, accurate, and with SH-AWD it is a dream to drive.
4. technology. As mentioned above, it's the sole reason I bought the car and it totally met my expectations.
5. Safety. The safety options are top of the line.

Things that could improve, nothing really, but if I had to nitpick

1. the intelligent settings are not to intelligent. e.g. on the curves car doesn't take the steering into consideration and thinks I am going to slam into an obstacle straight ahead.
2. Ditto with auto high beam, continuous switching between high and low beam starts to bother you after a while.

[Jomz]

nice car, I also leased from Columbia Acura a while back. Have only good things to say about them. They did not charge me on the return, even though the car has an extra 100 miles.

Does it have android auto/ apple carplay??

I think the Pilot had those.

[vivekiny2k]

Originally Posted by Jomz

Does it have android auto/ apple carplay??

I think the Pilot had those.

No, the base version does not. you have to buy higher variants.

Good to know Acura was nice to you. I might exceed the miles too.

[vineethvazhayil]

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

No, the base version does not. you have to buy higher variants.

That's a bummer - given there are 2 screens on it!

We also had a car purchase that happened in December. Traded in the Infiniti for the Honda Clarity Plugin Hybrid. Wifey drives it to work and makes good use of the electric range. Will post more details and impressions soon.

[m.shekhar]

Got myself a 2011 Honda Accord EX-L V6. First car in the US of A!

[mohit]

Now that we are talking changes, let me add mine too

Replaced the aging Civic with a Ford Focus Electric. There was a long wait as Ontario added the car to its Electric rebate program and Ford was not anticipating these kind of volumes in Canada.

Still getting used to managing the charging options but things are much better after getting a Level 2 charger at home.

[Jomz]

Originally Posted by vineethvazhayil

That's a bummer - given there are 2 screens on it!

I think you cannot get android auto/ carplay on the acura at all.
But In Honda pilot on the higher trims it is available - which does not make any sense.

[vineethvazhayil]

Originally Posted by Jomz

I think you cannot get android auto/ carplay on the acura at all.
But In Honda pilot on the higher trims it is available - which does not make any sense.

Bizarre. You are right. It is only on the NSX (because globally it is also sold as a Honda?) Android Auto - Acura Supported Vehicles.
Given how weird Honda (and Acura) entertainment systems are - I'd rather take Android Auto/ Apple Carplay.