Am considering an '04 V6 AWD. Haven't seen the Red Line yet, nor have I seen any test drives/reviews of it on the web, which is surprising because I thought they were hitting dealer lots soon. By the looks of it I think there is a 50/50 chance that I may prefer that one--so I have not yet purchased. Improved handling would be nice, but if it's too much of a tradeoff in terms of ride quality then maybe not worth it. I like the look, but over the long term I wonder if that configuration will be more prone to damage (or typical life-of-the-car dings might be more noticeable--planning to hang onto whatever I purchase for a while, perhaps ~10 years, hooray Honda drivetrain).
My questions:
Has anyone seen any independent reviews of the Red Line version?
How well do the regular plastic panels fare against run-of-the-mill door dings?
How about the lower body/corner gray/black lower panels protect from garden variety dings?
I see the no-haggle policy but also as of yesterday there were some heavy dealer incentives--what should I expect to see in terms of incentives for this month?
I thought the brakes were sufficient, but I'd prefer more response from them--are there upgrades available for the Vue, perhaps even rear discs?
(If I missed the best of the incentives, so be it, I wasn't ready to buy yesterday, and in that case I can keep on shopping around--I'm looking to buy in the next few weeks.) Thank you.