drivetofive

Odometer:  508,058

Since I’ve been on a mission to get all my friends Acura-fied, it was time again yesterday to check out a local car for a friend who’s looking to upgrade from his Honda Accord.  It seems that DrivetoFive lately has rather turned into a venue for test-drive reports of local Acuras for sale!  On a related note, does anyone else think it’s kind of clever that a road that’s home to an entire row of car dealerships in Mesa, Arizona is called “Test Drive”?  It doesn’t beat the name Legend Trail but it’s still kind of cool.

My buddy Brock and I scouted out a pretty clean 1995 Legend LS coupe in Cayman White Pearl yesterday afternoon in central Phoenix, Arizona.  This example has “just” 219,000 miles on it and appears to have been taken care of for most of its life, though it definitely at this time stands in need of a nice detailing.

Cayman White Pearl was a 1995-only color, and 1995 was the last year of the Legend name in the U.S.  This TYPE II coupe is an automatic and runs well but has its share of mechanical needs.  The check engine light came on, the tires are old/loud, and there is no record of a timing belt & water pump replacement – something these old Legends require every 90,000 miles or 8 years.  My Legend is coming up on its 6th timing belt replacement in the next few months, and this one should have had the service performed at least twice by now.

Some behind-the-wheel time for Brock.  The car ran nice but (in form true to most Legends that were equipped with the 4-speed automatic transmission) does have a “kick” with the first-to-second-gear shift.

Parting shot with the old and (soon to be?) new Legend owners.  Brock did end up making an offer on the car so we’ll cross our fingers.

My 1994 LS continues its effortless drive “PAST” five daily.  When I checked into my hotel in Los Angeles last Sunday night for my two-day stay, the guy standing out front doing valet complimented me on the paint job.  When I told him how many miles the car had on it, he requested a closer look and a glance at the odometer as proof.  It’s times like those that make my Acura ownership experience so rewarding.

Now for the exciting stuff about what’s NEW at Acura:  Over the coming months, I’ll be involved in some exclusive behind-the-scenes looks at the all-new 2013 Acura ILX.  Acura released the following in an email newsletter to its customers this week:

As you’ll remember, I had the privilege of flying as Acura’s guest to the Detroit Auto Show last month where I witnessed firsthand the unveil of the new model Acura ILX, the next generation NSX supercar, and the new bodystyle of the RDX crossover SUV.  I spoke with Jon Ikeda who is Acura’s chief designer and the man responsible for the look of the ILX.  Some of our dialogue is captured here:

Stay tuned in the next couple of months as I continue to share my experiences in learning about the ILX itself as well as the people who are responsible for bringing it to life!

If there’s anything you can count on from me, it’s always a nice Arizona sunset picture.  I happened to capture this one on Thursday afternoon when I was heading home from work on Arizona Highway 87.  Views like this never seem to get old around here.

Safe travels!

This entry was posted on February 19, 2012 at 5:03 pm and is filed under Legend. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.