Touring with my 2003 ACURA TLS  

Elton Hammond's 2003 Acura TLS

This is Elton Hammond's page dedicated to great automotive touring with my 2003 Acura TLS purchased in March 2002.  (0-60MPH in about 6.8 seconds according to Consumer Guide web page!!)  This is an exceptionally smooth, attractive automobile with LOTS of power, (260HP), and amazing fuel economy IF you can keep your foot off the bottom of the floor.  It actually gets significantly better gas mileage than my previous 200HP V6 1998 Honda Accord!!  With the exact same fuel tank size I get at least an additional 100+ Kms from a typical tank of fuel.  This car corners like a dream with it's tuned sport car suspension.  Passing on the highway is done with little effort and a lot of speed.  It is truly a very comfortable pleasure on a long trip with the great in-dash 6 CD stereo system.

Anyone considering the serious competitors to this vehicle need to look closely at the Lexus ES300 for a more luxurious ride with less performance and the very attractive new Infiniti G35 with similar performance and horsepower.  Both offer GPS navigation system options that Honda Canada feels their Canadian Acura customers don't need.  If anyone from the Ottawa area wants to test drive this great car, be sure to contact a real professional salesperson, Mary Costa-Greenspon, at Camco Acura 613-728-8888.  She kept me on board until delivery time last March,  through 6 weeks of delays and bad service by the dealer and Honda Canada.  If it had not been for her high level of professionalism I would have backed out thanks to the many unacceptable hassles by Honda Canada and the dealer.

I have no serious complaints about this car, just with the single Ottawa dealer and Honda Canada who have provided below average service and support in so many ways on this vehicle.  It had quite a few small "teething problems" that were eventually all fixed, but with many repeat trips that should have been done on only one trip!!  Honda Canada has exhibited an arrogance** and indifference to a long term loyal customer* like myself that seems to be fuelled by their complacent comfort in the high vehicle quality and reliability that they know their parent firm provides to maintain customer loyalty in spite of their complacency.  While all of Honda's Canadian competitors ensure they offer the GPS Navigation system to those who want it, Honda Canada continues to block access to this readily available feature in the equivalent US models.  Honda Canada has also decided that the side curtain airbags offered to US customers on their fantastic new 2003, 240 HP, V6 Honda Accord are not needed by Canadian customers.  I guess safety for Honda's Canadian customers is not as important to Honda Canada as it is to Honda America's customers.  It is truly troubling when a company decides what it's customers do or do not need.  Let the customers decide for themselves!!

Your comments and feedback will be much appreciated, so send me an e-mail.

* I have owned 7 Honda cars, 1 Honda 5013 4 wheel drive tractor and 4 Honda motorcycles in the past many years due to their great product designs.  All have been very reliable, so I don't have to deal with Honda Canada or the dealers very often, thank goodness!! :-)

** I once wrote a letter to the President of Honda Canada complimenting them on MANY great aspects of a new Accord I had bought and a significant complaint about 1 item.  He responded in writing by thanking me for all the compliments and totally ignored my one complaint.  I was truly shocked!!

Elton K. Hammond P.Eng.   e-mail:  elton.hammond@ekho.com
(613) 822-1926  Fax (613) 822-7132
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada  K4P 1M4