[GCK]

I put down a deposit for an 02 Touring with Navi in June, but now debating if Touring pkg is worth the extra $2600.

We (wife and me) never seem to adjust the seats when we swap cars, Can get the roof racks for $160, and dont'really care for the rest of what comes with the Touring pkg.

Thanks.

 

[FatBoyMDX]

Personally, I don't think its worth it, that's why I got a base.

Roof Rack - will you even use it for $160? Gotta be tall to get stuff up there (or get side steps)

Bose Stereo - Listen to it. Do you like it? You could do a lot of aftermarket upgrades for $2600

Rims - If you like the style, by them aftermarket? However, my base rims work great. some people complain about the base wheels, but then tires are cheaper then $2600.

Tilting mirror. Now that's a cool feature. Seriously, I know its a great feature that my wife definitely likes, but not worth $2600.


That's my 260000 cents worth. .

 

[Dilbert]

I have the same question posted in a recent string. Some interesting replies on that one.
.02 worth IMHO. some pros and cons.
The rack's actually only $130 from Tim but, I too, have to wonder. It will add wind noise for sure with the sunroof open. Easier to wash/wax roof without it. Better utility from a hitch mount accessory.
The Bose is not that great and if you want a changer you can add ones other than the Acura spec. See Crutchfield for ideas, but buy elsewhere. You may end up upgrading either way which would be a waste on the Bose.
The tilt mirror is great if you parallel park, alot.
The power pass seat is good for....don't know.
The Cross Terrain Michelins are better than the Goodyear Integrity's, but those can be had easily enough. Even up a size to 245's for a little more rubber.
The wheels and tires are the same size, with the looks being personal preference. The non-touring wheels actually have a stouter hub which may be stronger overall. Same diff to me.
Memory Seats are nice if you share drivers, alot. We had mem in our Town and Country minivan. Never used it.
Other than that, Touring package adds 60lbs to the weight.
For grins, +$2600. also adds over $50/mo to a 60 mo. loan., but resale is higher.
$2600. pays for about three years of insurance or gas.
If you have $2600. in debt, don't get it.

Sounds like I know what I want yet I still can't decide either...

 

[Dilbert]

Also...

I'm not sold on the Nav either. Many folks here seem to dig it but I'm not sold. It's an evolving technology and the upgrades aren't free. Like someone said, if you've never had it you won't miss it.
Been driving without it now for, what, 22 years. To me it's an expensive toy that you will eat on resale because it will be old technology. It may be worth it if you are a sales rep and can expense the miles.

I'm thinking the Premium(base) with some accessories. Take the $5000. savings and buy a Seadoo!

I'm quickly talking myself into it.

 

[lmeans]

My 2 cents--

I think it's worth it for the little extras you get. I also think the navigation system is the best toy anyone could have and don't want to live without it. When my kids ask me are we there yet, I tell them to look at the navi and it tells them how many miles we have to go and how many hours and minutes. So they don't have to say that every half a mile.

I also like the passenger side power seat. I always wondered why they didn't have this in all cars with power driver side seats. I also think the roof rack makes it look sportier and the Michelin tires are the best in my opinion. Am I leaving anything out?

Lmeans

 

[wmquan]

I doubt if one can justify it by adding the costs of all the items they want in the Touring Package and comparing it to $2,600. It comes down to whether or not you want anything badly enough in the Package that you can't add on your own.

We love the in-dash, magazine-less CD changer. It's one of the best features of the vehicle, especially when you realize that most other vehicles are not so blessed. Sure the sound system attached to it isn't audiophile quality but it's good enough for us.

There's some debate over this, but many folks think the Cross Terrain SUV tires that come with the Touring Package are markedly better than the tires that come with the base (Premium) model. Of course, you can add those as well.

The tilt-down mirror is quite useful for parallel parking. We like the memory seating ourselves, and the fact that the passenger seat also gets power adjustments. Given that our vehicle often has more than one person in it, we felt buying a luxury SUV wasn't congruous with having a manual passenger seat with limited adjustments. But that's just an opinion, and means a lot less if the vehicle is mostly driven with just the driver aboard.

Financially, I don't think it's technically worth $2,600 but we haven't regretted it one iota.

 

[msu79gt82]

Wow I thought I just answered that

Re: Touring Package

The word "Package" is the key. To me the total package makes it a good deal. There are several musts in my opinion for a vehicle in this price range:

Memory seats, CD Changer, and Tilt-down mirrors. Tilt-down mirrors are great and much more useful than I would have imagined.


Rather than think about individual items consider the whole package.

 

[TeamPlayer]

Since I don't have Touring, I can't say if it is or is not worth it.

However, I would have preferred having the tilt-down mirrors.

For me, more important than the 2-memory driver seat would have been a 2-memory rearview mirror ... that's that part that my wife and I constantly change.

 

[msu79gt82]

But the rearview mirror is easy ...

... its the seat and sideview mirrors that are a pain.

I don't see how they could put a motor in the rearview to make it an automatic w/ memory anyway

 

[texrb]

I am going to order Touring for sure & maybe Nav. Reason for touring is my wife is 11 inches shorter than me and mem seats & mirrors are a def plus. We have mem seats on the RX300, but not mem mirrors - so only 1/2 of the problem is solved!

I bought the RX for my wife, but after test driving the MDX a few times I have this baaaaaad feeling she is going to take the MDX ..............

hmmmmmm she hates black interior - maybe I should order one with black interior..........

 

[mdxwannabe]

It is also great to click your button and your seat is in perfect position after someone has move the seat.

 

[wmquan]

Nav Regrets

While we haven't regretted not getting the Nav for our MDX, it is notable that on this system there have been folks who have expressed strong regret at not getting it. And the folks with nav certainly don't seem to regret paying more to get it.

Thus, if you're on the fence, I think you should get it. It can't be added later, and the aftermarket ones won't integrate as well. On this system, some non-nav'ers who want nav have gone as far as trying to sell or trade-in their vehicles, taking a financial hit.

 

[MDX_Omaha]

I like my nav and touring, even though the nav DVD doesn't cover Omaha NE. All it shows are the highways and the airport. It's amazing that they covered many much smaller towns yet not Omaha. I can't wait to get an updated DVD.

The issue I had with the options was not a couple of thousand $ here or there, but was the fact that a decent car costs $40,000!

 

[AtlantaMDX]

Re: But the rearview mirror is easy ...

... its the seat and sideview mirrors that are a pain.

I don't see how they could put a motor in the rearview to make it an automatic w/ memory anyway

I guess the next best thing would be if you and your wife never touched the mirror and just adjust your seats so the view from the rearview mirror works. That may not be a real option.

 

[AtlantaMDX]

I like my nav and touring, even though the nav DVD doesn't cover Omaha NE. All it shows are the highways and the airport. It's amazing that they covered many much smaller towns yet not Omaha. I can't wait to get an updated DVD.

The issue I had with the options was not a couple of thousand $ here or there, but was the fact that a decent car costs $40,000!

I've never regretted buying the Touring/Nav. I know some folks have said the Nav technology may get out-dated very quickly, but I doubt it. Since it's on DVD, I expect that Alpine will support it for some time.

With the 3rd party/non-integrated GPS/Nav's, yeah, they're portable, but not integrated and not usually as large a screen. The one upside I do see for them is that some can download updates. I'm just hoping that in the future we might be able to download updates as well. This of course would require a DVD burner, but they are comming too. I saw blank DVD disc's at CompUSA today. If there are blanks, there are writers....

 

[FatBoyMDX]

NAV?

If you've gone 22 years without the Nav, my vote is don't get it. I got it because my wife is bad with directions and gets carsick reading maps. Its definitely helped her, but I find it makes me dumb because if I use it to get somewhere, I have no idea where I am without it and how to get back. You can get a lot of the same functionality with a Visor or Palm Pilot. Or even yahoo maps.
That being said, it is a fun toy and I don't regret the decision given my wife's needs.

 

[GCK]

If you include all the options which come in the touring pkg, yeah, it's worth the $2600. However, how much of these options are really useful?

However, having said so, if you are in for a luxury automobile, you might as well have the features. I decided to go for the Trouring Navigation one.

-------------------------------------------
Placed Order for 02 Red Rock on July 08, 2001.

 

[msu79gt82]

Frankly, I did not care for the ...

... screen in the MDX w/o the Nav. I do not mean for this to sound hoity-toity or snobby but I found the non-navi screen to be too plain. When my wife and I decided to get the MDX I told her I "had" to have the Navi for asthetic reasons and to consider it a high-priced male toy

However neither of us realized just how useful it would turn out to be. I know consider it a must have and got the TL-S with Nav. I imagine all of our future cars will have features like tilt-down windows, memory seats, Cd-changers, Nav etc.

Yes we really consider the Touring Package worth every dollar!

 

[msu79gt82]

Are you being facetious?

If you've gone 22 years without the Nav, my vote is don't get it.

I went 22 years w/o a cell phone, computer, CD player, etc. before I finally got one! But I certainly would not recommend that others not jump on the technology bandwagon just because something was not available in times past.

 

[wmquan]

Speaking of the non-Nav screen being too plain, I bet that's an area that Honda can easily distinguish their SUV from the MDX -- don't include a trip computer.

I agree that the screen is a tad too much. They could have easily reduced the size of the display and improved the layout of the climate control switches. Of course, they wouldn't have wanted to do it since they share that layout with the Odyssey.