Friday, May 8, 2009

My Review For 2009 Acura TSX

This review is for the 2009 Acura TSX from a 2005 Acura TSX owner.

I got a chance to borrow a 2009 Acura TSX as a loaner when I brought in my 2005 Acura TSX in for my 30K service.

Although I like the fact that the car is a little bigger and wider, I can't say that I like the new styling all that much. I'm still turned off by the new "Power Plenum" grill as it does not look luxurious at all. To me a car's grill should be like a manufacturer's signature. BMW does this concept very will.

Continuing with exterior appearance, I also like the location of the fog lights compared to the previous generation refreshed model's (2006-2008) location. The current generation's rim is comparable to the previous generation's model before the refresh (2004-2005), which are better looking than the refreshed (2006-2008) version. The rear styling of the car looks pretty good. Everyone I talked to likes the back, at least so much more than the front.

The interior of the car is nice, the leather seats are pretty soft and comfortable. However, some of the interior pieces feel too plastic, and the center console is too button happy. In my opinion, a simpler console is more elegant. I thought that Acura would have added rear passenger air vents in this generation's version already, but I guess not.

The car I borrowed, had the Technology Package as it included the navigation and backup camera. I have to admit, the Tech Pack made me even more jealous that I didn't get the navi in my 2005 TSX.

Driving the car... The 2009 Acura TSX feels a lot bigger than the previous generation, but it also seems "peepier." The engine's beefiness is adequent, but I can understand why Acura is releasing a V6 version soon. The car however does not feel nimble like the pervious generation. The automatic transmission comes with paddle shifters instead of the sequential sport shift like in the previous generation. I can't say that paddle shifters is that much more fun than the sport shift, I think it's all preference when it comes down to this, and I rather have the sport shift. It is however cooler to tell someone your car has paddle shifters.

So what does this all mean? At the end day, it's nice to drive around a 2009 Acura TSX, but I'm much happier with my clean exterior looking, simple center console, sequential sport shift, and nimble feeling 2005 Acura TSX. To quote edmunds.com's review: "The last one was better."








Sunday, May 3, 2009

My Fixed 2005 Acura TSX

I finally got my car back from Penske Auto Collision. They took 3 weeks instead of their estimated time of 2 weeks! So for 3 weeks I was driving around in a rental Chevy Cobalt. Penske said they found some "supplemental" work that they had the insurance approve. Maybe worth noting, but my co-worker (who recommended the place) said that Penske did the same thing to him. The repair ended up totaling $3305.32, the initial insurance appraisal Penske had to work with was $1625.30, I only had to pay my $500 deductible.

When I went to pick up my car, there was some initial disappointment. I inspected my car and found some paint missing from the rocker panel. I thought to myself, "I don't think this panel was affected by the accident," but after checking the before pictures, I guess there were some scratches on that panel too. Either way, I expressed my dissatisfaction of the questioned area. My advisor, John, told me they didn't do anything the insurance didn't approve. I thought to myself, "this makes no sense, my insurance gave you extra money and extra time to blend and repaint my front door which was totally not affected by the accident but won't you let you paint a part near the area of the accident?"

So I continued to express my disapproval. I said, "Look, I'm not asking you to repaint the whole panel, but it just seems like this part of the panel is missing some paint." John agreed, so he suggested that he take the car "back" for 5 minutes and get some paint to touch-up that area.

After my car returned from disappearing for about 10 minutes, I was a lot more satisfied. I'm not saying, I'm 100% happy, but about 98%. I don't think they could make me 100% satisfied because I actually had to tell them to take it back and they took 3 weeks!










My review for Penske Auto Collision:

Repair cost: D (They were the most expensive. I would not have taken my car there if I were paying out of my pocket.)

Repair time: D (They estimated 2 weeks, which was the longest of all 3 initial estimates, but instead took 3 weeks!)

Repair quality: B+ (Maybe I'm just anal, but I notice when there's missing paint on my car.)

Willing to work with you: A (They said if I experience any issues or anything give them a call, haven't had to do it yet, but they did take it back and touch up the paint when I expressed my dissatisfaction.)

Professionalism: A (I got a status report from them basically every Friday.)

Would I recommend them? Yes, but if money and time is an issue then take it somewhere else.

Popular Posts

Search it!