Car Shopping - Day 1 - Acura TL it is

Day 1 of our find-a-car-in-a-week adventure
Budget is $20,000 before tax, and choices were

New Cars

• 2009 Honda Civic, or 2008 Honda Civic Coupe - looks nice in and out, but too common, $ insurance
• 2009 Toyota Matrix - sporty, easy to handle, interior feels cheap, $ insurance

Used Cars

• 2006 Audi A4 - nicely done car, 2.0 Turbo, very quiet car except the engine sound and a bit of bump during idling, and small backseat.
• 2007 Volvo S40, S60 - Volvo? really? probably not...
• 2005/2006 Acura TL, TSX
• 2006 BMW 325i - kinda don't want another RWD car

After insurance quotes, and realizing Civic/Matrix is $150/month while luxury cars listed above are $130/month, along with not overly impressed by the new car test drives, the choices are down to the used cars (as I always preferred).

Continued with test drives of a 2007 Audi A4, and 2005 Acura TL, I was surprised that it was a clear choice - you just know. TL felt very smooth and powerful (3.2L V6 engine) with beautiful engine sound like a BMW, except I do not get one thing - TL has never had and still not have a folding down backseat. All you get is a pass-through? What is up with that... that is worse than not Civic's all-down-or-none (not 60/40 split) backseat.

However, when it came to sit down and make an offer, Kitchener Fairview Acura gave us $350 discount off a $22900 2005 Acura TL, wow.... I am so touched and walked out. WOW....low of the day