After driving my Honda Odyssey for 10 years and 145,000 miles, I decided it was time for a new car. When you live many years with a car, you’re not aware of the gradual change as it ages — it still seems about like it did when it was new. But it’s not the car it was when you bought it. I was going to make a comment about spouses, but won’t. (Wait — I just did…) I still love my Odyssey, but…
I just bought a brand new 2010 Acura MDX Crossover SUV. Except for the entertainment package (DVD screen for rear seat passengers), I got all the bells and whistles. It’s the coolest car I’ve ever owned, or seen for that matter.
Some of the neat techy features include:
– Adaptive Cruise Control, where it uses radar to keep a safe distance from the car in front
– Collision Mitigation Braking System, where the same radar will warn you of an imminent collision and if necessary put on the brakes and tighten your seat belt.
– Blind Spot Information system, where it detects cars in the blind spot on either side.
– CDs are copied to a Hard Disk Drive, so you don’t need a disk changer.
– Ventilated seats in the front — air blows through tiny holes in the leather to keep you cool.
Plus all the “usual” stuff like Navigation, Bluetooth phone connection, back-up camera, etc.
It’s going to take me a while to figure everything out, but it will be lots of fun doing so.
The 2011’s will be out in a couple of months, but nothing has changed, and dealers were very ready to bargain to start clearing out the 2010 stock. So I probably shouldn’t have splurged, but if I keep it for 10 years I hope I will feel that I got my money’s worth.
10 responses so far ↓
1 Richard // Aug 20, 2010 at 4:21 am
Sounds like a fun vehicle. It is amazing how much gadgetry there is in cars now. Some of it is certainly safety related but some is just eye candy. Fun eye candy though. You are certainly entitled to a new car every 10 years whether or not it is needed. Sometimes we just need a change.
2 Daryl // Aug 20, 2010 at 11:43 am
There is safety related, there’s eye candy, and then there’s convenience, like navigation (GPS), bluetooth phone. Some of this stuff can actually be a safety negative, as it can distract you from driving.
3 Donna // Aug 20, 2010 at 11:59 am
You forgot to mention the most important thing … COLOR! What color is it? I guess I’ll have to call Brian from now on to pick up any big furniture I buy.
Cool! We both have new 2010’s.
4 Daryl // Aug 20, 2010 at 12:57 pm
Color? That’s just an afterthought.
It’s “Grigio Metalic”. You can sort of see it here: http://www.acura.com/tools/bap/build.aspx?ProductLineName=MDX#_i1_-colors.
It’s the one on the far right. It’s darker than I would prefer, but I didn’t like any of the lighter colors — white and silver, basically.
The seats are Taupe, a very light tan, I would call it.
But Donna, yours is an old 2010, with more than 20 miles on it, right?
5 Dale // Aug 20, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Sounds cool! Can’t wait to see it. Have you been looking and shopping for some time now or was it a spur of the moment buy?
6 Donna // Aug 20, 2010 at 1:33 pm
Hey, that looks like the same color as mine! Mine is called Polished Metal Metallic, but it’s just dark gray.
I was wondering the same thing as Dale. Was this a impulse buy? The last time we talked you said Gisele wanted a new car, but you were still satisfied with your van.
Check back with me in a year and we’ll see who has more miles. My 2000 only had 117,000 when I sold it.
7 Mom // Aug 20, 2010 at 3:01 pm
Have you forgotten to tell us what is happening with the water damage? Maybe you are thinking that since the house is in turmoil, you will live in your car.
8 Daryl // Aug 20, 2010 at 3:58 pm
I’ve been thinking about a new car for about a month. Up until then I was happy with my Odyssey, but perhaps the realization that it needs motor mounts and a timing belt for around $2000 had something to do with the change of heart.
I thought about another Odyssey, but it seemed too boring — I wanted something different, yet I didn’t want to give up completely the carrying ability of a van. A good SUV, though no mini-van, has quite a bit of room in the back with the seats folded down (so Donna I can still help you with your medium-sized furniture).
The Honda Pilot was the starting point, but it’s customer ratings at Consumer Reports aren’t quite as good, and it got dinged for road noise and cheap finish.
Trying to stay in the Honda line, where Gisele and I have both been so happy for many years, the next step up was an Acura. The MDX seemed perfect — quite a bit of room in the back, 7 passengers (officially, though 2 have to be children to go any distance), great customer satisfaction, and it is certainly finished nicely. All the neat gadgets and technology made it irresistible. Plus it’s one of the few all-wheel-drive vehicles that actually can do well off-road. The system monitors slippage and directs more power to the wheels that have better grip. Not that I’m going to head off down a river bed any time soon with it, but Les and I do go down some unmaintained roads sometimes in our quest for plants.
And it drives more like a sedan than most SUVs. Gisele hates to drive my van, but she was quite comfortable behind the wheel of the Acura last night.
Donna, Polished Metal Metallic was perhaps my first choice, but they didn’t have it in stock and Grigio is very close. Just a little green or brown or something — I can’t describe it.
Mom — I’ll reply on the water situation in my “Water water everywhere” post.
9 Don // Aug 20, 2010 at 8:43 pm
Nice…. You certainly deserved it.
10 Donna // Aug 21, 2010 at 5:11 pm
I saw it. Purty!! I drove it. Wowzie! Very, very nice.