I am planning to buy an 04 SL soon. Would like to know from current SL owners what other cars they considered and why they bought the Max.

 

I would go for the SE because of the 5spd auto.

 

yeah, the SE is cheaper and it comes with the 18's and everything the SL comes with can be had with the SE.

 

The 4spd auto in the SL has more relaxed gearing if your driving style is more relaxed. Also, the 17" rims should give a slightly better ride vs the 18" rims on the SE.

 

I looked at Camry, Passat, Accord. I realize they don't really compete but I was looking for an upgrade from my 93 Corrola (!) that had both a luxury feel and a sporty look as well as lots of power, and I didn't want to wimp out with standard, boring family cars. I also did not want the hassle of deciding on the options. The SL has only one option (here in Canada) and that's the way overpriced (in my opinion) DVD Nav system. I understand from the dealer however that although the SL has TCS, you cannot disable it. According to everything else I have read, the SL does not have TCS - I don't think the dealer knows. You will want to disable TCS in certain situations e.g. too much traction control when you're stuck in the snow can be annoying since you could be pressing on the gas but the wheels won't move much so you can't get anywhere. Perhaps someone reading this can enlighten us.

I am quite happy with the SL but I must say that I have not test driven the SE. I pretty much knew what I wanted. But let me tell you, this beast can really boot it and it has luxury that both my wife and I enjoy.

 

We have an SL, bought for my wife. I wish I had went for the SE; will spend the next few years turning the SL into and SE!! (grin)

srm

 

Tell me how the tranny swap goes from the 4spd to the 5 spd auto!

 

Yeah, right (grin)...won't go THAT far. Hey, seriously, according to my engineer neighbor, the 5spd will be in the SL probably next model run if not before. The main reason it isn't now is simply due to production limits with the supplier. Only enough to go around for the SE's currently. I'd love to have waited for the 5sp but what the heck...maybe I'll just trade her SL in a few years for an SE.

srm

 

Knowing you, you might just kidding! I dont think the performance difference is that much like .2-.3 sec at most. How is the 02 and 04 doing?

 

You all will have to keep me honest. I'm done trading cars for a while (grin). Both cars are doing fine. Just spent 15 hours in my 02 over the past few days travelling up through southeast Virginia and back. Virginia has some nice twisty roads to enjoy, and it was there that the mods such as FSTB, RSTB, RSB shone through. With the corrections to the paint flaws on the 04, it seems to be holding up just fine. No other early production quirks have surfaced and we've got about 3500 miles on her now. So far, so good!!

srm

 

Cool, our 350 is holding up ok except for a blown HID and a few nicks up front before we got a Nose mask, the 03 Max has been excellent except for a few nicks up front as well.

 

I chose the SL because of many things.

The SL has a slightly more luxurious ride, thanks to springs that are slightly less stiff.

The SL has a slightly softer and quieter ride, thanks to 55 profile tires, as contrasted with 45 profile tires on the SE.

The SL has a great number of features standard that are optional on the SE. That is why the 'driver preferred' package for the SE costs $3,550, while the 'driver preferred' package for the SL costs only $700.

I have driven SEs for years, and if I wished to continue driving very hard and very agressively, I would definitely choose another SE. But I have retired, and plan on many long unhurried trips around the country. For that, the SL is clearly the better choice.

 

Light, I totally agree with you, and that's why I just ordered an SL. It's almost as fast as the SE, and the ride is superb. I'm at a point in life where the ability to drive in rally mode is far less important than the ability to drive the freeways without hearing and feeling every minor flaw in the pavement.