I was on my way to work this morning on the 91 Freeway, I spotted this odd looking black Honda Civic with different taillights. In my mind I was thinking they must have done an update on the exterior. From far away it looks like your ordinary later model Black Civic EX w/the standard issue California plates. As I got closer, I noticed the taillights were really different...and with closer inspection, it had Acura badges and emblem. I looked at the driver, and it sure was a Canadian guy. He has this particular caucasian Canadian look. I can't really point it out but you could definitely tell he wasn't an American (No offense to our neighbors in the North). It's evident the guy brought his car down from Canada and moved down here to SoCal to live hence he has California plates on the car. That car would be considered a Gray Market vehicle if it were to be repaired or sold here in the states despite it's Civic roots.

I would have thought the 1.6 EL wouldn't last. But when I saw that newer looked like an 04 1.7 EL, I was like wow it lasted. The styling actually looks better than the standard Civic. I remember when the car first came out for 97. I went to visit relatives in Surrey, BC and saw all these 1.6EL billboards everywhere. At first I didn't really pay attention, but the more I realized that it was never available in the States and it was an overpriced Honda Civic w/leather. I'm not sure about the Canadian market, but I feel that car would never sell here in America. What do you guys think?

http://www.honda.ca/AcuraEng/Models/EL/InfoNav.htm

1st Gen 1.6 EL



2nd Gen 1.7 EL

 

Ummmm.... Okay? LOL

The 1.7 has been doing really well in Ontario. There are tons of them on the road.

 

That is the classiest civic I have ever seen!!!

 

Maybe that's why they don't offer it in the States
I never thought it's a good idea, but some other Canadians may think otherwise. It's a more affordable car with a luxury plate, & Canadians are on average more budget-concious than Americans.

 

You're right. It's the American ideal of being greedy. Bigger is better, more is greater kind of mentality.

 

This is something that Lexus, interestingly has never done. Infiniti did a modified Sentra...the G20 (twice), and Acura did a modified Civic...the EL you pointed out here. Lexus COULD have done a modified Corolla that would have sold maybe in the low 20's like the G20, but, oddly, never did....they waited for the Altezza ( IS300 ) which starts around 30K or so. I myself pointed this out to Lexus reps several times over the years, ( the fact that Lexus did not have a low-20's alternative to the Infiniti G20 and could easily do a modified Corolla to compete ) but apparantly Lexus marketers and management never took it seriously.

I don't agree with the oft-quoted idea that you cannot have lower-priced ( 25K or lower ) " entry-level " cars with premium nameplates on them.....the huge success of the Acura Integra, RSX, and Chrysler PT Cruiser over the years proves that.

 

What did that prove ? Sales success is one thing, they could sell just as many & make just as much money if they make it just another Honda model. That also maybe one of the reasons why Acura is not as highly regarded as a brand name as Lexus, because you can get an Acura for cheap & it diluted the brand name, not a good strategy in the long run if one is serious about building a true premium name brand. You need more product diffferentiation between Toyota & Lexus, not less. Honda may not care about that since they don't even care to offer a V8, but I hope Toyota does.

 

It is in some areas.....not all. They are both considered upmarket brands.
Acura's problem has not been so much the lack of a V8 but simply poor marketing. The latest RL 300 HP V6 has the power of many competing V8's. Lousy marketing is what has messed the company up, not its products. The lineup got even more confusing several years ago when the company dumped the word-names on all of its products for alphabet combos like " TL ", " RL ", " RSX " , etc.........

 

. . . as with MB & BMW too, there are different tiers of upmarket brands though, I won't go there just in case fanboys may jump in(like 1Sick had said)
The RL is still not a V8, it does not have the low-ehd torque of a V8, the new IS350 has even more power for a V6, but totally different performance characteristics of a V8.

 

Fanboys? I'm sorry...I am not familiar with that term.

 

haha then might as well stay away from it. it means people who praise something blindly. everything about it is good, everything else is bad. you get the idea

 

I dont consider any of those cars luxury or upmarket...

 

well, that might be the main idea of this thread! just kidding

i have seen one Acura EL when i had my car service. looks pretty good and the interior has some woodtrim in it.

i wonder if the still make EL since they have TSX now. do you guys get TSX in canada?

 

We have both TSX & EL, you can look at the Canadian Website for details

 

I have never seen an EL in my entire life man...I never knew such things existed.