Ack Attack Post 30: Acura Toys

There are not many Acura toys out there. The movie "The Fast and The Furious" brought about the re-creation of a new toy Integra, but other than that, theRSX and NSX are the only toys on the market. These toys range from small hot wheels types to larger remote control numbers. Some are diecast, others can be modded out by the consumer. Many are really nice and are well painted and are very expensive, while others are cheap and oorly made. Different toy makers have been able to make Acuras available to any type of consumer, from the small child to the collector. Children would not care about the specifics of the cars, so their toys are usually smaller and cheaper. A tuner wants the car to look like theirs or like a car they saw in the movies, so they would want a remote control or a car with tuner stickers and modifications waiting to be done. The collector wants the diecast model, made precisely to scale and looking exactly like the real thing. Acura seems to have their consumer bases covered and have left no one without a toy.

Ack Attack Post 29: Stolen Vehicles

Acuras are highly desirable vehicles and are always on the Top 10 Most Stolen Cars list. Integras take 6 out of the top 10 spots, since they are different years. According to Autoblog's "Top ten most stolen vehicles show that small isn't safe," the top 10 most stolen vehicles for 2005 include:

1. 2001 BMW M roadster
   
2. 1998 Acura Integra
3. 2004 Mercury Marauder
4. 1999 Acura Integra
5. 1995 Acura Integra
6. 2002 Audi S4
7. 1996 Acura Integra
8. 1997 Acura Integra
9. 2001 Acura Integra
   
10. 2000 Jaguar XJR.

All of these cars are small and relatively expensive. People know that Acuras are good cars and also realize that there are tons of Integras all over the place. Since they are so common, they are easily accessible. Hopefully the number of Integras stolen will decrease. It is interesting, however, that 2000 Integras are not on this list. Maybe the 2000 just isn't as appealing for some reason, or perhaps the sales in 2000 went down and they are not as common as the others.

Ack Attack Post 28: Car Competitions

Hondas are everywhere in the car market, from showroom floors to high speed races. This interest in speed and aerodynamics has transferred over to Acura. Acura is in numerous car competitions, from drifiting to racing to show cars. The Speed Channel often shows Acuras in races they cover. One was on the other day where and Acura TL was competing with a Chevrolet Corvette and more extreme cars. This shows that Acura does not need the NSX to compete with cars that Americans find to be fast, the NSX is kept for special occasions. Of course this TL in the race was not stock, but it was still a TL.

Formula 1 racing is a special type of racing designed for the most aerodynamic and fastest cars out there. These cars are not daily drivers and very few are made. In fact, the Acura race car won the 2007 American Le Mans Series season opener, showing that Acura is not a brand to brush off.

Ack Attack Post 27: Acura Resale Value

It is common knowledge that Hondas have a decent resale value, so it's assumed that Acura would as well. Acuras have 4 cars in the "Top 10 Cars With the Best Residual Value for 2004" by Edmunds. Of course the NSX has the highest, coming in right after the Porsche 911 and Mercedes-Benz CLK Class.

Kelley Blue Book is the best way to find out how much a used car is really worth because there are so many different categories to help determine the exact value of your car, there is also an option to see what your car would be worth for a trade-in. Be careful when you're on the site though because you're automatically taken to see the value of new cars, and you might be looking for the value of your used car. The site is a little confusing, but it's good to understand because a lot of car dealerships will talk about "Kelley Blue Book Pricing" while they are promoting their vehicles.

Ack Atack Post 26: Vtec vs. VVTi

Acura introduced a new system which alters the timing at which the valves in an engine open and close, called Variable valve Timing and Electronic lift Control. The NSX debut this new system and brought it to the consumer product market. This special system gives an extra boost when the proper ratio of RPMs and speed is aquired. It is designed to active at this time because at that speed with those RPMs, you're usually racing or quickly accelerating. This quick kick allows for the car to speed up very quickly without making the consumer do any added motions or movements. It seems to kick in out of no where and this power can be overwhelming to some if they're not careful. Techinically speaking, the VTEC was made to improve the volumetric efficiency of an 4-stroke internal combustion engine.

Variable Valve Timing with intelligence, also known as VVT-i, was developed by Toyota to compete with Honda's Vtec. This VVT-i was made to replace Toyota's already popular VVT. The VVT-i works by "by adjusting the relationship between the camshaft drive (belt, scissor-gear or chain) and intake camshaft."

In reality, both VTEC and VVT-i work about the same, it's just that they are used in different brands of cars. They give the consumer that extra kick they need when trying to merge onto the interstate without being eaten by a truck driver or that kick the kids want when racing that 1/4 mile.

Ack Attack Post 25: Crash Tests

Acura has a track record for having very good crash tests and very safe cars. The 2007 MDX, TL, TSX, and TL all have 5 star Driver's Side Frontal and Passenger's Side Frontal crash ratings. As with most cars, safety gets better as the company realizes what has been going wrong. The 1996 Integra only have a 4 star Driver's Side and a 3 star Passenger's Side test score. The 1995 Legend is exactly the opposite, with a 3 star Driver's Side and a 4 star Passenger's Side. The 1997 SLX only had 3 stars for each test, so being that it's an older SUV for Acura, it is not as safe as their newer SUV, the MDX which was referenced above. The 1992 Vigor has the worst ratings, with only 2 stars for each test. The 2005 Acura MDX was the only car in the Acura line up to be tested for the Side Impact crash, getting 5 stars in both Front and Rear Occupant.

The newer Acuras are much safer than the older production models. Some of the older models never had publicized crash test results either, showing that they were not as safe as Acura would have liked.

Ack Attack Post 24: Ack Gear

There are all kinds of products which have been branded with the Acura logo or with the word Acura. There are numerous keychains, from a light to a mini steering wheel, all of which come in various colors. There is a car emergency kit, and it even has the logo on it. There are shirts, hats, and cups which have the logos on them as well. The products do cater to males and females, being that the clothing items come in navy, beige, and pink. The cups as well come in matching colors. My pink hat matches my pink cup, and I love every minute of it. The cups are new items, they have regular glasses and coffee mugs. I think this was a smart addition to the product line because many customers can tote them around and technically show off their car.

Acura will most likely introduce new products to their selling list as long as the current products continue to sell. Customizing Acuras is not a common practice and neither is owning Acura apparel, but if they are able to come up with something that the consumer will buy into, they should have it made.

Ack Attack Post 23: An Acura Dealership

Overall, the customer satisfaction at Acura dealerships is horrible. Acura does conduct a survey a few days after customers have had service, so they can see what is going right and wrong for the customer. Last time I was at an Acura dealership, a man called and said that he had a hole in his tire, but he would have to be back on the road in 15mins., even if they could just put air in the tire. He had to give a presentation at some place that was 15mins. away from the dealership. He had to wait over 30mins. to get his tire fixed and ended up being late to his presentation. There was another woman waiting to get her car back because there was a black spot under the paint. It was a new car, so she wanted them to fix the paint. She went out a few times to look at the paint after the guys at the dealership said they fixed it, and she said there were swirl marks in the paint now. The dealership shows no concern for the customers while they are having their cars worked on or fixed.

I went up to Greenville to have my window fixed. A day or two later, part of the lining that the window slides up on was coming off, so I drove back up to the dealership to have the customer service guys look at it. They said they would have to order the part, then I could get it fixed. So this meant that I would have had to drive 45mins. down the road 4 times in order to fix one problem. I did, but on the last time, I picked up the part and took it to the Honda dealership, where the people are much nicer. Overall, the Service Department at the Acura dealership is horrible and the people who work there try to keep the mood light and end up upsetting the customer further. I try not to waste my time there now, unless I have no other way around it.