I'm by no means an expert, but I'll give you my opinion. For what it's
worth, I have an 04 TSX with Nav that I bought in December 2003.

My 04 was $29K with Nav, and I had three dealers competing. The Edmund's
number is probably a good one.

Lighter colors will reflect light more, and absorb less heat. That said, I
love the arctic blue pearl. It's pretty distinctive, and gets away from the
silver/black/white colors that seem to make up about 80% of the cars on the
road.

I've been very pleased with Acura's trunk tray. I've carried a lot of dirty,
muddy, wet things in there, and it's protected the carpeting flawlessly. It
pulls right out and cleans up pretty well. I've also been really impressed
with the rubber floor mats. I didn't order them, but when the car was
delivered (it was a trade from another dealer), it had them, and they left
them in.

That's a good price for detailing. I'd check to see what's included and
what's not. A lot of detailers will use leather conditioners/protectors,
which wouldn't be a bad idea, especially given that it'll be in the sun a
lot.

Good luck with your purchase. After two years and 37K miles, I'm still
thrilled with mine. By the way: the nav is worth the money. I use mine all
the time.

John.

I test drove a 2006 TSX (no Nav system) yesterday and was pretty
impressed with it.  Although the dealer appraised my 2001 Forester as a
possible trade-in (which he hasn't given me the numbers on yet), we
didn't discuss price of the TSX at all, because I explained that I'm
still considering other cars.

Assuming that I want to purchase the 2006 TSX (non-NAV system) - a good
assumption from what I've seen --, I have a few questions.

1.  The car lists at $28,505.  What's a reasonable price to settle on
(assuming that I DON'T trade in the Forester?  (Edmund's TMV is
approximately $27,500 for my area.)  Note: This dealer is the only one
within a 50-75 mile radius.

2.  I don't have a garage (Townhouse with assigned parking spaces only),
so the car would sit in the hot sun for much of the day.  In Central
Virginia, it can get pretty hot in spring and summer...) so:

a) Are there any exterior/interior colors to avoid because of the hot
sun?  (I like the Carbon Gray Pearl; Glacier Blue Metallic and Royal
Blue Pearl with either Ebony or Quartz interior.
b)  Would a car cover be advisable?  If so, should I get the one from
Acura or is there a 3rd party one available that's better and/or less
expensive?
c)  I play a lot of golf and the clubs will be in the trunk a lot of the
time.  Sometimes that means, grass, etc so I want to get a trunk tray.
Same questions as b) - Get acura's trunk tray, or is there a 3rd party
trunk tray that's better/less expensive?

3.  A friend of mine who also has no garage and bought an Acura at this
dealer a few years ago says the dealer offers a package for 6 detailings
of the car for about $400.  (Individual detailings cost about $150).
Obviously I want to keep the car looking in tip-top shape, so are these
detailings a good idea?

Any thoughts on these questions would be appreciated.