Acura Integra Type S - Disappointed Before Driving
There’s nothing more frustrating than having a long build up to something you really want and then having it taken away through no fault of your own.
Auto manufacturers are making efforts to remove the dealership experience from car buying. The pandemic sped some of this process up, as has online shopping, but there is something to be said about building relationships with your local dealer and that seems to be disappearing.
Take Acura’s latest Integra Type S.
I was thrilled in the fall of 2021 when Acura released the all-new Integra. The Integra of the 90’s was one of my favorite dailies…such a fun and usable car. So the prospect of the new Integra was quite exciting.
There was a little disappointment when the new Integra launched as only a five-door hatchback. No two-door option. But the Integra is back!
Then the rumor mill swirled with hushed whispers of a Type S Integra. Now we’re talking!
On April 11th, literally one month ago today, Acura dropped the news of the new Integra Type S. We’re talking wider fenders, four-piston Brembo front brakes, a six-speed manual and, most importantly, a 320-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder with an almost matching 310 lb-ft of torque. Color me interested.
So a couple weeks ago I stopped at my local dealer to discuss the possibility of ordering this new hot Integra. They informed me that there would be an online reservation process through Acura’s website. Oh boy.
That reservation process launched today, May 11th and, put simply, it didn’t work. At least not for me. I spent more than half an hour (see the screenshots) trying and re-trying to place a reservation of the new Integra to no avail. What’s even worse is our local dealer can’t do anything on the Integra Type S until the reservation is in the system.
This must be what all the Swifties felt like with Ticketmaster’s latest debacle.
So what will most likely happen is bigger dealers, or people working on their behalf, will make a slew of reservations, they’ll get most of the allocations and then go ahead and sell them with significant markups. Just like Ticketmaster. No thank you.
If you are as excited about the new Integra Type S as I am (was?), I hope the online reservation system worked for you. As it stands I am incredibly disappointed that I couldn’t at least get in line for what I can only assume will be a joyful ownership experience.
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