A friend of mine had a 2012 Acura TL with that same interior. It actually felt more premium than the interiors in my cousin’s Civic and Accord from around the same time. But one thing people always complained about that generation was the number of buttons, which are now coming back in cars like Hyundais.
@Reeve
I’ve had my TL for 6 and a half years and there are several buttons I’ve never used.
The 2013 Accord was a new design, and the 2012 TL was already on its fifth year. I test-drove a fully-loaded 2012 Accord and noticed the materials in it weren’t as good as the ones in the TL.
Maximilian said:
The 2013 Accord was a new design, and the 2012 TL was already on its fifth year. I test-drove a fully-loaded 2012 Accord and noticed the materials in it weren’t as good as the ones in the TL.
The 2012 Civic had awful quality. The interior color was listed as light grey but was actually more of a tan. At that time, car magazines said the first post-recession models for many brands were lower in quality.
@Kirby
They actually redesigned the Civic the following year because the 2012 model wasn’t well-received.
Maximilian said:
The 2013 Accord was a new design, and the 2012 TL was already on its fifth year. I test-drove a fully-loaded 2012 Accord and noticed the materials in it weren’t as good as the ones in the TL.
The 4th-gen TLs and 2nd-gen TSXs are based on the 8th-gen Accord. The 2013 to 2017 Accords are part of the 9th-gen. The 2015 TLX is a better comparison.
Maximilian said:
The 2013 Accord was a new design, and the 2012 TL was already on its fifth year. I test-drove a fully-loaded 2012 Accord and noticed the materials in it weren’t as good as the ones in the TL.
It’s not just the materials, though. Usability is an issue too. The TLX is supposed to replace the TL but it keeps the same setup. Many basic functions, like resetting the oil maintenance, are unnecessarily complicated in these older Acuras, whereas in Honda models, it’s the same simple process across all their models.
Luxury is often associated with maturity, and maturity means there’s nothing too flashy or exciting. The interiors of the 2010s seem to follow that idea.
Acura materials are generally better than Honda’s, but in the 2010s, they fell behind Honda when it came to redesigns. Take my ILX for example, its interior feels outdated even though it’s a 2021 model, while the Civic had a much newer look. But my ILX has better materials and seats, and it has the K24 engine and a DCT, which are unique to the ILX. Now, though, Acura’s interiors have improved a lot compared to Honda’s.
Hondas are global, so they have more trims that meet the needs of markets outside North America, while Acura is exclusive to North America. Honda sells way more cars in North America, so Acura might not get as many resources as it needs.
@Dorian
If Hondas are better, why does anyone buy Acura? Being a global brand doesn’t mean much, a lot of regular-priced cars from Japan and Europe have poor interiors.
Shiloh said:
@Dorian
If Hondas are better, why does anyone buy Acura? Being a global brand doesn’t mean much, a lot of regular-priced cars from Japan and Europe have poor interiors.
If Hondas are better, why does anyone buy Acura? Well, the truth is Acura isn’t doing too well these days.
@Braeden
Acura sales are up 9% from last year, and their SUVs are doing well. The Integra and TLX aren’t performing as well, but overall, they’re still doing fine given how little investment they get.
Shiloh said:
@Braeden
Acura sales are up 9% from last year, and their SUVs are doing well. The Integra and TLX aren’t performing as well, but overall, they’re still doing fine given how little investment they get.
They’re not doing terribly, but they’ve been slowly declining over the past decade. Honda’s success is cutting into Acura’s market. Modern Hondas are luxurious enough that many don’t feel the need to upgrade to an Acura, which explains why the MDX stands out in their lineup.
@Dorian
That’s a great point, thanks for the insight!
The materials and feel of the 2012+ TL were far superior to those of Hondas and even some German cars.
This list feels cherry-picked, as it compares the final year of the TL and RDX to the first year of Honda’s redesigns. If you go a year further, you’ll see that the Acuras are better. The 2014 Civic, for example, had a new interior after the disaster that was the 2013 model.
@Shiloh
The TLX, which replaced the TL, has basically the same setup as the old TL. The CRV got a refresh with its new generation in 2017, but the RDX remained the same until 2019.
Indigo said:
@Shiloh
The TLX, which replaced the TL, has basically the same setup as the old TL. The CRV got a refresh with its new generation in 2017, but the RDX remained the same until 2019.
You’re right, the RDX replacement came in 2019. I should have remembered that. My point was that these models span across Honda’s new platform with new interiors, while Acura stuck with older platforms. I’m not sure what you meant by the TLX keeping the same setup, though—it switched to a two-screen setup like the Accord’s.