Re: Bluetooth. I hope this will make some of you feel better
Now that it has warmed up outside, I've discovered that BT whether built in or an accessory is pretty useless. I don't know why, but our newly designed CTS suffers from alot of wind noise once you are moving above 30-40 mph and you have all the windows or even just the fronts open. It makes carrying on a conversation almost impossible. I have a system coming through the radio speakers. I can turn it up really loud, but the other side will hear alot of wind noise. The only way to carry on the conversation is to close all the windows and open the sunroof. Is it any different for owners with the new built-in system?
Re: Bluetooth. I hope this will make some of you feel better
I talk on the phone to my Mother every day while I am driving home. It is a 4 mile trip in town, stop light after stop light. I have to turn 3 times.
I use my BT earpiece to keep my hands on the wheel. I would love to have BT in my vehicle, however it wouldn't be a dealbreaker for me. I think the stereo system one might distract me more than the earpiece actually.
I usually get attacked by people on handsets or just being plain retarded. I don't think cell phone use, particularly hands free is a guarantee for bad driving any more than any other factor. It is all on the driver and each of us has a different level of distraction tolerance. Some people can't drive at all, some can drive with limited distraction and some do a good job even when a lot of craziness is happening. You can't legislate individual ability and making laws to protect the morons just tramps on the rest of us.
I don't want one of them to take me out either so I guess a line has to be drawn somewhere.
Buying one car over another because of one convenience is just silly IMHO. Cars will always get new features from year to year.
Just buy a new one every two years or lease
__________________ Views expressed by the author of this post do not necessarily represent those of the Lindsay Automotive Group.
Re: Bluetooth. I hope this will make some of you feel better
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjsC6
The problem is that up until two weeks ago, you could not get it at all in a CTS.
The TL is equipped standard like a loaded CTS - for about $10,000 less. So I'd say the BT was the equivilent of being free. No point in comparing a RL. I'm the first to admit that its not worth the money. I had a TL and can tell you that in every way it's comparable to the CTS except for the front drive/rear drive difference.
For that 10k more you get:
TL 258 HP CTS 304
TL 5 speed Auto/manual CTS 6 speed auto/manual
TL FWD CTS RWD or AWD
TL Heated Front Seats CTS Heated/Cooled Front Seats
TL Lumbar on Driver seat CTS Power Lumbar on Driver and passenger
TL One touch power windows front CTS One touch power windows Front and Back
TL Vented Disc on front standard Disc on back CTS Vented disc on all 4 wheels
TL No head light washers CTS hi pressure head light washer
TL no parking assist CTS audio/visual parking assist
TL No HDD intergration CTS HDD Navi and audio intergration
TL No Ipod Integration CTS Ipod intergration
TL 13 cu ft cargo CTS 14 cu Ft cargo
TL No auto entry CTS Auto Entry
TL no Remote Start CTS remote start
On top of that, for me sitting and driving a TL is no where near as nice as the CTS. The TL feels stiff, cold and stale. It's numbing to the road for me. The design and look to the CTS is better (IMO). The "uniqueness" of the CTS (at least for now) is much better with the CTS.
I'd say the TL is no where near the CTS. We own three TL's at my company for company cars. I love the Acura customer service and the quality of the build of the car is no doubt one of the best. However, in features it's really pretty basic. Yes it has bluetooth (which the CTS should have had from day one), but it's lacking a lot of other areas.
Is it worth 10k more... I don't know, but you get to decided. If you don't like a feature... don't buy it.
I knew the CTS didn't have BT when I bought it. I wanted BT as I used it daily in my BMW, but the other features of the car out weighted the lack of BT. I'll only have this car 3 years and then I'm off to another company car, so to me it wasn't a deal breaker.
The point I was making is that a STANDARD feature is still one you are paying for in the price of the car. It's just easier for the car maker to make it standard as they don't have to prodoce a bunch of different spec cars. In Acura, you have four options... Auto/Manual, Navi/No Navi, and Standard/S-type and Summer tires/Standard tires. I'd much rather have a car where I can pick and choose which features I want. Granted the pricing is a bit more doing it this way... but I still get the car closer to what I want.
Re: Bluetooth. I hope this will make some of you feel better
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bathel
For that 10k more you get:
TL 258 HP CTS 304
TL 5 speed Auto/manual CTS 6 speed auto/manual
TL FWD CTS RWD or AWD
TL Heated Front Seats CTS Heated/Cooled Front Seats
TL Lumbar on Driver seat CTS Power Lumbar on Driver and passenger
TL One touch power windows front CTS One touch power windows Front and Back
TL Vented Disc on front standard Disc on back CTS Vented disc on all 4 wheels
TL No head light washers CTS hi pressure head light washer
TL no parking assist CTS audio/visual parking assist
TL No HDD intergration CTS HDD Navi and audio intergration
TL No Ipod Integration CTS Ipod intergration
TL 13 cu ft cargo CTS 14 cu Ft cargo
TL No auto entry CTS Auto Entry
TL no Remote Start CTS remote start
On top of that, for me sitting and driving a TL is no where near as nice as the CTS. The TL feels stiff, cold and stale. It's numbing to the road for me. The design and look to the CTS is better (IMO). The "uniqueness" of the CTS (at least for now) is much better with the CTS.
I'd say the TL is no where near the CTS. We own three TL's at my company for company cars. I love the Acura customer service and the quality of the build of the car is no doubt one of the best. However, in features it's really pretty basic. Yes it has bluetooth (which the CTS should have had from day one), but it's lacking a lot of other areas.
Is it worth 10k more... I don't know, but you get to decided. If you don't like a feature... don't buy it.
I knew the CTS didn't have BT when I bought it. I wanted BT as I used it daily in my BMW, but the other features of the car out weighted the lack of BT. I'll only have this car 3 years and then I'm off to another company car, so to me it wasn't a deal breaker.
The point I was making is that a STANDARD feature is still one you are paying for in the price of the car. It's just easier for the car maker to make it standard as they don't have to prodoce a bunch of different spec cars. In Acura, you have four options... Auto/Manual, Navi/No Navi, and Standard/S-type and Summer tires/Standard tires. I'd much rather have a car where I can pick and choose which features I want. Granted the pricing is a bit more doing it this way... but I still get the car closer to what I want.
I won't take issue with you on your list of differences - and my hats off to you for your knowledge. But let me say this - I owned a TL for just over two years and I'll tell you that the differnces in equipment are pretty minor, and the TL was a great car. In fact, the only differences in equipment that I consider to be an issue are the lack of cooled seats (I live in Houston).
I've owned about 55 vehicles, and I'm unbelievably anal. As an example, my last four daily drivers have been a Infiniti G35 (first gen), Acura TL, Infiniti M45 and now the CTS. As fanatics, we all can agree that some cars meet our expectations, some exceed them, and some fall short. The TL was one of the few that exceeded mine and really blew me away with what a great car it was. The M45 had some annoyances, but overall it was probably my favorite all time car.
So far, the CTS has some great high points, but it also has some significant "flaws" that I think need to be worked out. They would be easy to fix, but their effect on my overall enjoyment of the car is significant enough that I don't think I'd buy another one if they are not addressed. The TL had virtually no such flaws for me.
I don't expect everyone to have the same complaints or priorities as I do, so I am not expecting everyone to agree - and I respect that. But debating such issues is part of my enjoyment of these forums. Thanks for the great give and take debate.
Re: Bluetooth. I hope this will make some of you feel better
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjsC6
I won't take issue with you on your list of differences - and my hats off to you for your knowledge. But let me say this - I owned a TL for just over two years and I'll tell you that the differnces in equipment are pretty minor, and the TL was a great car. In fact, the only differences in equipment that I consider to be an issue are the lack of cooled seats (I live in Houston).
I've owned about 55 vehicles, and I'm unbelievably anal. As an example, my last four daily drivers have been a Infiniti G35 (first gen), Acura TL, Infiniti M45 and now the CTS. As fanatics, we all can agree that some cars meet our expectations, some exceed them, and some fall short. The TL was one of the few that exceeded mine and really blew me away with what a great car it was. The M45 had some annoyances, but overall it was probably my favorite all time car.
So far, the CTS has some great high points, but it also has some significant "flaws" that I think need to be worked out. They would be easy to fix, but their effect on my overall enjoyment of the car is significant enough that I don't think I'd buy another one if they are not addressed. The TL had virtually no such flaws for me.
I don't expect everyone to have the same complaints or priorities as I do, so I am not expecting everyone to agree - and I respect that. But debating such issues is part of my enjoyment of these forums. Thanks for the great give and take debate.
How often do you see balanced, polite, informed responses like this one on an internet forum?
Re: Bluetooth. I hope this will make some of you feel better
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjsC6
I won't take issue with you on your list of differences - and my hats off to you for your knowledge. But let me say this - I owned a TL for just over two years and I'll tell you that the differnces in equipment are pretty minor, and the TL was a great car. In fact, the only differences in equipment that I consider to be an issue are the lack of cooled seats (I live in Houston).
After re-reading my post I must say I'm sorry as it came across a bit rude. I was not meaning to say the TL is a bad car. We've owned many of them over the last 10 years at the company I own. Actually, it's the prefered car for those that get company cars.
The problem I have with it is it's a bit numbing to the road and the performance is rather lack luster... but other than that, I don't think you can find a better car. If it makes any difference, I feel the Lexus is very numbing to the road also.
As for the differences, they are black and white. You can say that you feel they are the same car, but when you look at the differences, you see pretty quickly they are not. The main differences
AWD option
HDD intergration
IPOD intergraion
Heated/Cooled seats
Remote start
One touch entry
Back up monitor system
Better perforamce and handling
Better styling (I guess this is a subjective one)
Better uniqueness
If these are not options you are interesting in, then they are about the same car. And to further my point on the CTS you don't have to buy those options.
Those are pretty big items for me. The one thing the Acura has the CTS didn't was bluetooth, but for me when put in light of the other features I wanted it was a no brainer. I do respect your love for the TL and can understand it; however, for me it just doesn't get the warm fuzzy the CTS does... but by no means is it a bad car.
Re: Bluetooth. I hope this will make some of you feel better
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bathel
After re-reading my post I must say I'm sorry as it came across a bit rude. I was not meaning to say the TL is a bad car. We've owned many of them over the last 10 years at the company I own. Actually, it's the prefered car for those that get company cars.
The problem I have with it is it's a bit numbing to the road and the performance is rather lack luster... but other than that, I don't think you can find a better car. If it makes any difference, I feel the Lexus is very numbing to the road also.
As for the differences, they are black and white. You can say that you feel they are the same car, but when you look at the differences, you see pretty quickly they are not. The main differences
AWD option
HDD intergration
IPOD intergraion
Heated/Cooled seats
Remote start
One touch entry
Back up monitor system
Better perforamce and handling
Better styling (I guess this is a subjective one)
Better uniqueness
If these are not options you are interesting in, then they are about the same car. And to further my point on the CTS you don't have to buy those options.
Those are pretty big items for me. The one thing the Acura has the CTS didn't was bluetooth, but for me when put in light of the other features I wanted it was a no brainer. I do respect your love for the TL and can understand it; however, for me it just doesn't get the warm fuzzy the CTS does... but by no means is it a bad car.
First of all, I didn't take you earlier post as rude.
Second, I'm not sure how much time you have driven a TL, but don't forget that I owned one for two years and drove it nearly every day. Let me address your points one-by-one...
AWD option...I could care less. I don't have it in my CTS either
HDD intergration...wasn't available on any car in 2004 when I bought my TL
IPOD intergraion....ditto above - and I don't even own an IPOD
Heated/Cooled seats...Agreed - but few cars had it in 04
Remote start...Could care less. By the time I'm close enough to use it, it's too late
One touch entry...I have it in all three of my cars now - not a big deal to me
Back up monitor system....the beeping systems don't do much for me
Better perforamce and handling....Not really - compare and "S" to a DI with FE3. I do agree RWD is better though - so I will give you this one - by a "tad".
Better styling (I guess this is a subjective one)....I agree - but in 04 I loved the looks of the TL
Better uniqueness...hard to qualify this one - but I'm inclined to agree by another slim margin.
Most of your points above are more a matter of the CTS being four years newer. Before we get carried away too much with this debate, lets not forget that I actually do have a CTS now - so it's not like I all about the TL.
Re: Bluetooth. I hope this will make some of you feel better
If the bluetooth is that important to anyone (as it was to me), the aftermarket options are not as bad as you might think. I waffled on having it installed before delivery because I didn't want to blemish the beautiful dash with some ugly doo-dad. I have a Verizon account and thought about simply adding the number, but it seemed more expensive in the long run--Not to mention the hassle of forwarding calls etc. I gave in and had a Motorola IHF1000 installed. Others on the forum have opted for the T605.http://direct.motorola.com/ens/carki...A&language=ENS The IHF 1000 does not go through the speakers (separate speaker is hidden under driver side dash), but I can use the button on the wheel to mute the radio when I want to make/receive a call. I have no trouble hearing unless I have the radio up too loud when getting a call. The best thing is that it looks great installed in the lower portion below the gear shift. The control has a sleek, brushed metal finish and fits exactly into that black blank spot. It is totall unobtrusive and is extremely handy there.
I don't know if this is just what someone at my dealership dreamed up (so far as where to mount the buttons), but I thought I would share. It is a very simple solution and I have had no problems with the voice controls. It works great. Transfer between phone and car are totally automatic. Once I forgot and just turned off the car. My call was NOT dropped, even though I had to dig through my purse to find the handset.
Also, I have heard that the standard bluetooth is a little annoying because you have to actually say, "bluetooth" after pushing the steering wheel button to differentiate between it and the OnStar. On the Motooloa unit I have, there are voice prompts that can be turned off. In that case, you simply push the button and say "call so-in-so" or "number" and then give the number. So far, the only voice error I have is that it can't tell the difference between "home" and "Mom", so I call Mom using her first name. No big deal. I don't know if I would change what I have for the new bluetooth even if I could...
