Acura does not build many cars like the Acura TL: a 4-door sedan with 2.0 L Honda G engine#G20A, built from 1995 to 2014 when airbags, anti-lock brakes and Japanese build quality became the world standard. Its designer of record is Young Choi, Michael P. May (1996).
The background
The Acura TL is an entry-level luxury sedan that was manufactured by Acura, the luxury division of Honda. It was introduced in 1995 for the 1996 model year, to replace the Acura Vigor and was badged for the Japanese market from 1996 to 2000 as the Honda Inspire and from 1996 to 2004 as the Honda Saber.
The TL was Acura's best-selling model until it was outsold by the MDX in 2007. In 2005, it ranked as the second best-selling luxury sedan in the United States behind the BMW 3 Series, but sales decreased after the 2008 model year. Four generations of the Acura TL were produced, with the final generation premiering in 2008 for the 2009 model year, and ending production in 2014, when it was replaced together with the TSX by the TLX.
The engineering
Under the skin sits 2.0 L Honda G engine#G20A; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. Kerb weight is 3500 lb. The gearbox is a 4-speed automatic. The layout matters: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. The wheelbase is 111.8 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Where it sits
Where it sits in Acura's history is not in doubt: the Acura Vigor came before it; the Acura TLX followed it; it was built at Sayama Plant, Sayama, Saitama, Japan. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the BMW Z3, the Toyota Tacoma, the Honda CR-V. Its Acura stablemates include the Acura ADX and the Acura ARX-06.
The money
On the used market today a Acura TL typically changes hands for $13,300–$24,500, and running it — fuel and maintenance at its age — costs about $4,717–$6,929 a year. Insurance sits around $1,490–$2,380 a year. The figures are class-level estimates from the federal record, with the formula on the methodology page; the model-year pages carry complaints, recalls and repair costs year by year.