[C.Z.]

I can honestly say that this car was never driven hard. Yes, I gunned it a few times, just to see what it could do, but very rarely did I even use the autostick. I would say though I was in 4th gear more often than overdrive. As a matter of fact, 3 months into owning it, I actually took the "S Type" emblem off the trunk lid to avoid the onslaught of teenage idiots in Mustang Gt's who wanted to race me light to light.

But c'mon this car never even came close to seeing the redline. I didn't buy this car for the horsepower, I bought it for the level of refinement. That plus I didn't want to pay 43K for a BMW 3-series will all the ad-ons... The interior, the sound system, the fit and finish, etc. All are way above average, plus every conceiveable option on it is standard. Above all else, I fell for Acura's reliability reputation.

This transmission fell apart on me after I deliberately "babied" the car for 9 mos. I had a '79 Dodge Aspen in high school that I bought for $700 used I drove into the ground after 200K, I never so much even checked the tranny fluid, let alone change it...

I'll wait for the new "Z" in July and take the hit on the CLS when I dump it. Thanks for the feedback GOD. I will be contacting the NTSB soon!