Eleven lucky Acura owners got the chance to test drive the 2012 TL.

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Two Positive Reviews on DealerRater  -

• peter pazmino is the best car salesman i have ever dealt with. His knowledge, integrity, professionalism and pleasing personality are extraordinary. i would recommend him and his company to all my professional and family contacts. i cannot say enough good things about him. - jmicale

 

• This was the best car buying experience! From the way we were treated on our initial call, to the service we received at the dealership - these folks are professionals and want to earn your business. Murat, Alex and Brian worked to get us the car we wanted for the best price (we shopped multiple dealers) and gave us a fair deal on our trade. They bent over backwards to make us happy and to make sure we were in and out as fast as possible. Wendy walked through every detail of how the car works to make sure we were comfortable with everything before we left. Plus Paragon has called us a few times to make sure we are happy with and know how to operate our vehicle.
  I am a "car person" and have had a lot of different brands of cars, but after doing business with Paragon, I'm pretty sure I'll be a customer of theirs for life! - FastmamaNJ

For more reviews like these, click here.

Acura TSX delivers luxury feel for less

Stylish sedan comfortable on the road

When Acura introduced the TSX sedan several years ago, I used to think of it as an entry-level car into the Acura lineup. Now, the new 2011 TSX has me thinking much differently. Although it is still one of the lower-priced cars in Acura's lineup, the TSX can also be seen as a "destination" vehicle - one that fills the needs and desires of many drivers who won't be seeking anything else.

Acura's TSX is what some might call an "entry luxury" vehicle. While the base TSX, priced at $31,890 would certainly fit that description, you can add options to outfit the TSX into a well-equipped luxury vehicle. The Premium package increases the price to $33,680 and includes a great sounding 415watt ELS Surround audio system with DVD audio, XM radio and 10 speakers. Other included features are a memory driver's seat, automatic headlights, USB device connection, fog lights, HID low-beam headlamps and a perforated leather interior. The Premium package is also available with a six-speed manual transmission or the optional five-speed automatic.

We tested the TSX with the Technology package. Pricing starts at $37,990. The Technology package includes the automatic transmission as standard equipment as well as a 60 GB hard drive navigation system with voice recognition, rear-view camera and illuminated steering wheel controls. When I first looked at the dash, there appeared to be a maze of controls, but they are laid out well, easy to reach and logical to use. Many of the controls are redundant, meaning you could change the radio settings with either the dash buttons, steering wheel controls or through voice recognition. Depending on driving conditions, I found myself using all three at various times and all were convenient.

While the above models are all equipped with Acura's 2.4-litre fourcylinder engine, the TSX is also available with a 3.5-litre V-6 engine, if you desire more power. This model only comes fully equipped with the Technology package, so it adds a few more dollars to the sticker price, too. The four-cylinder engine in our test vehicle provided excellent performance. Several internal engine changes have also improved fuel efficiency, which, with today's gas prices, make the four-cylinder an attractive feature. Having the fully loaded TSX available with the smaller engine is good marketing and good for drivers.

Part of the TSX's appeal is its compact exterior size but large interior. With a 4,715 mm overall length, the car feels easy to manoeuvre around town and parking is a breeze with good visibility outside the car and easy-to-define corners. The backup camera display in the navigation screen also helps with parking. Inside, the car feels roomy up front and back seat access is good, although leg room is snug if there's a tall driver up front. I was impressed by the quiet, comfortable ride that still had a nice sporty feel to it when cruising on a twisty road. Throttle response is excellent, and although it only has a five-speed automatic when many others are switching to six speeds or more, the gear ratios were well matched to the vehicle. Paddle shifters on the steering column provide quick control of shift points even when the console lever is in Drive. After several seconds, it will return to normal automatic operation. Move the shift lever to S and the transmission will hold the gears for a sportier driving feel.

I found the TSX very comfortable to drive. Large side bolsters on the front bucket seats hold you in position even when cornering fast, and the upper bolsters are wider to allow for those with wide shoulders. The seats fit me extremely well and I would love to have one for an office chair. I could sit in it all day long. The perforated leather looks and feels attractive and the two-stage heated seats warmed up quickly on our cool mornings. Cargo space is also good, with a trunk opening that allows bigger objects to fit in and a 60/40 split rear seat that folds almost flat for carrying longer articles.

Acura's TSX is a pleasant car to drive, both around town and on the highway. It cruises effortlessly, gets good fuel economy and has all the features you could want. Why spend more when cars like the TSX can deliver it for less?

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/cars/Acura+delivers+luxury+feel+less/5446105/story.html#ixzz1YooZZ0ki

Acura Owner Stories: My "first" car, a dream to own

• By Matthew K.
• Natick, MA
• Best Car Ever
• 2011 TSX
• Mileage: 1700

 

The 2011 Acura TSX is my second car, but the first I purchased as an original owner. Having seen the TSX and TL from friends and family I knew I wanted it. What I didn't know was just how much I could love a car!

Merely getting in the car each day is exhilarating. I find myself wanting to drive everywhere and for anything. Whether its a day long car trip or a run to the supermarket. When I look back on the last month of ownership, all I can think is this can't get any better.. but it always seems to. I love the fact I find new features or abilities even a month later with no end in sight.

Another side of the TSX is the import and customization aspect. This of course is not for everyone but I like to think I'm "making the TSX mine".

I can't speak on long term reliability, but I have heard good things from other Acura owners.

Thanks for reading.

How Paragon Honda and Acura Became #1

How Paragon got the Triple Crown for selling more Hondas, Acuras, and Certified Pre-Owned vehicles than any other dealer in the world

 

It is extremely difficult to increase market share ranking among the top 20 Honda and Acura dealers in the country. Paragon, however, has managed to move up in market share for both brands, from #17 to #1 in Honda New and Used and #36 to #1 for Acura New and Used, and became the #1 Certified Pre-Owned Dealer of the Year in 2010 by selling over 4,000 Certified Pre-Owned. Paragon continues to break records, selling 338 in CPO last month—an all-time Honda CPO record. How did they do it?

 

Paragon was spending a lot of money on mass marketing and was attracting a lot of customers, but not always the right customers. By casting a broad net with mass advertising they were attracting customers that were not profitable and had a low probability of returning for service and repeat sales. These customers cost more to attract, but generated less revenue, so in the end Paragon was spending too much money per sale, trying to reach the 15 plus million people across the New York City area. An unhealthy gross and a slim chance of customers returning for service or buying another car from them, meant ultimately the lifetime value of these customers was negative.

 

“We used to pride ourselves on selling customers from across the entire city and state, but after analyzing our numbers we learned those customers are usually not profitable and not loyal, because it’s difficult to retain them for service and repeat sales,” says Brian Benstock, VP and general manager of Paragon Honda and Acura.

 

Another problem that Paragon faced was working with multiple vendors that had different messages and often competing strategies that were not integrated and confused not only the customers, but also the employees.

 

Paragon’s goal was to create one strategy, work with one company, and develop an integrated marketing platform across multiple mediums that included research, targeted marketing, traditional, digital, public relations, social, niche marketing, and merchandising, so the message that the customer receives is the same whether it’s seen on television, heard on the radio, viewed online, or on the showroom floor.

 

While there is no one answer to how Paragon has achieved great success, there is one key approach—they aggressively seize opportunities to implement integrated marketing strategies to attract in-market consumers to buy and service their vehicles with their dealership and they deliver a world-class customer experience that not only ensures customer satisfaction, but also customer loyalty.

 

In 2009 Paragon seized a big opportunity with the Cash for Clunkers program. When most dealerships were trying to figure out what to do, Paragon quickly seized the opportunity by creating a comprehensive strategy that included a dedicated clunker website, targeted marketing to people who qualified for the program and a publicity strategy that landed Benstock on Fox, CNN, ABC, NBC, and on the home page of MSN.com two days in a row for selling the first clunker customer in the country. Paragon became #1 selling Honda dealer in country for Cash for Clunkers.

 

More recently, Paragon Honda aggressively capitalized on the ninth generation release of the Honda Civic. The launch of the 2012 Civic is the biggest new vehicle launch in American Honda history and is projected to pull a record number of consumers into the market. The manufacturer is spending a substantial amount of money to drive Civic customers into the market, and the most successful dealerships, like Paragon, are leveraging this launch to attract those consumers into their showroom.

 

Paragon has implemented an aggressive strategy to attract as many Civic customers into their showroom as possible. Their Honda Civic campaign, like all their marketing strategies, is a comprehensive integrated campaign across multiple tiers including targeted mail, search engine marketing, digital, social media, publicity, and merchandising.

 

First, Paragon performed in-depth market research to identify perfect prospects for the Honda Civic campaign: current Civic owners and consumers driving models that have a high statistical probability of crossing over into a civic, like the Toyota Corolla.

 

Next, Paragon sought to contact these consumers to notify them about the Honda Civic Upgrade Program via direct mail, email, and text. The campaign message offered buyers additional trade value for their current vehicle and the same or lower monthly payment to upgrade to a brand new 2012 Honda Civic. The campaign drove customers to a campaign website that provided an upgrade calculator that compared their current car to the new Civic, and displayed all the upgrades and improvements of the new Civic compared to their current vehicle, as well as, how much money they would save in gas with the new Civic monthly, annually, and over a five year period. A typical consumer can trade-up from a 2007 to a 2012 with over a hundred new vehicle feature enhancements while saving thousands of dollars in gas—a fact based value proposition that is hard to resist and as a result Paragon got more than its fair share of customers with this hard-hitting campaign.

 

Paragon also implemented a social media component that was centered around a viral video, the 2012 Honda Civic “Heritage” Video, the centerpiece of the Tell Your Story campaign that is aimed to create a visual experience that best represents the theme: “One Car. A Million Stories.” The video provides Paragon with a custom viral video to inspire traffic and consumer engagement, both on and offline.

 

The video brings a human element that promotes a generational feel, and connects the Civic with its far-reaching fan-base. “Capturing the Civic’s evolution in correlation with the various people featured in the video was key in attaining the correct tone,” says Sean Wolfington, owner of www.Tier10Marketing.com, the agency that Paragon uses for all its marketing campaigns. Over 50,000 people have viewed the video.

 

Consumer engagement is paramount to any social strategy, and to further the social media element of their campaign, Paragon launched the Tell Your Story contest that has been implemented to drive user interaction. To enter, contestants visit www.facebook.com/NewCivicand enter their Civic-story as a comment on the “wall.” The story with the greatest number of “likes” wins an iPod Touch at the end of every month during the promotion. This interactive incentive incorporates a viral component to the contest. Organic campaign promotion and positive word-of-mouth branding are just two by-products to benefit Paragon Honda.

 

While Paragon has executed the basics better than their competitors by targeting and marketing consumers with integrated campaigns that are consistent and credible they have also blazed trails and innovated in ways other dealerships have not, including an aggressive Latino marketing strategy, over half the customers in Queens are Latino, and a concerted effort to sell cars to customers in their service department that has resulted in an additional 75-100 vehicles sold every month out of their service lanes.

 

Paragon has also delved into the future with digital signage that reveals what the dealership of the future will look like with video walls showcasing new products, plasma presentations that emphasize the unique advantages of doing business with Paragon in both sales and service, and even broadcasting a closed-circuit television station that customers watch while waiting for their vehicles to be serviced. These televised broadcasts feature positive programming and videos about Paragon’s vehicles, like their Certified Pre-Owned Program, as well as, educational videos on how to better maintain your vehicle, as opposed to what many dealerships offer: traditional television featuring Jerry Springer, interrupted by ads from their local competitors. Paragon’s digital signage is also complimented by Apple computers on every desk and iPads for all sales staff to engage and help educate the customer on the value of doing business with Paragon and the products and services they offer.

 

Paragon is successful, because of their unique and aggressive style to capture the moment and seize opportunity. They perform diligent research of in-market consumers, they reach out to consumers with integrated campaigns, and they innovate where other dealerships do not, like through Latin marketing or selling cars out of their service lanes, as well as, leveraging technology throughout all of their departments to create a better customer experience and increase their profitability. Paragon has one strategy and one message integrated throughout multiple tiers. They identify opportunities in the market place where the demand has increased and they are better than their competitors in bringing that new demand to their dealership like they did with Cash for Clunkers and the 2012 Honda Civic—and they will continue to do so.

Aggression in it's most elegant form!

Could this Superhero Car Have Been the Next Acura NSX?

Scarlett Johansson won’t be the only scene-stealer once “The Avengers” is released in theaters. A mystery Acura convertible that also has amazingly good looks was recently spotted on the movie’s New York set, and may just be the one to steal the show.

Superheroes come together in the latest Marvel movie, and Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr., gets to have all the fun in a never-before seen Acura convertible, as photos published on Superherohype.com suggest.

Stark goes from Audi to Acura, ditching his R8 that he drove in the first Iron Man movie, and the R8 V-10 that he drove in the second movie, for something that looks like it could have been (or could be) the next-gen NSX. The photos, provided by WENN, reveals the car resembles the sports car concept that debuted at the Detroit show in 2007.

When pinged about the awesome Acura, spokesman Gary Robinson said, “The open-top sports car you are referring to is a one-off fictional car that was created just for the film and is not intended for production.”

“The only thing that we can confirm is information that our CEO has already publicly stated, that we are studying the development of a new sports model.”

Whether it could be the future NSX or not, the sleek-looking car could very well be a future representation of what Acura has lined up for its upcoming products, in which Robinson says, “there are some great things coming from Acura.”

While not much information was revealed, we do know one thing: We like what we see, and can’t wait to see more when the movie comes out next summer.

Source: Superherohype.com

Read more: http://wot.motortrend.com/could-this-superhero-car-have-been-the-next-acura-nsx-115053.html#ixzz1XmG01Ljq

Keep up the great work, Kevin!

5 Star Review on DealerRater -

• "Kevin Cunningham was just awesome!! He was so personable and did everything that was supposed to be done to the car for me, and worked around my schedule. He was a great person to talk to and deal with when I had service done on my car which I LOVE. I am in sales myself and it was such a pleasure to work with someone so nice and easy to deal with! Thank you Kevin!! = )" - jenniferr1107

 

For more reviews like this, click here.

Ironman Ditches the Audi R8 Spyder for Acura Concept

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Tony Stark a.k.a. Ironman has found a new toy! Photos from the set of the Ironman movie being shot in Central Park have leaked on the internet. At first, many thought that everyone’s favorite superhero was driving a roadster called the Audi R8 Spyder. This is why they were shocked when sources confirmed that it was indeed a new model known as the Acura Concept. In fact, the two vehicles looked a lot alike which is why many got them confused.

According to Acura CEO Gary Robinson, this vehicle has been in several Marvel Comics Universe films simply because it was the official car of the fictional law enforcement agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D. “The open-top sports car that was photographed yesterday is a one-off, fictional car that was made just for the movie and will not be produced,” he confirms.

Instead, the CEO has publicly announced that they are studying the development of a new sports car. However, details cannot be released at such an early stage. For now, fans will just have to make do with Tony Stark’s new ride.

Head over to our friends at Carscoop to see more videos of the new Acura Concept that will be seen in the next Ironman movie.

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