2013 and earlier-Acura TL Prices Paid and Buying Experience

andy_viet

Just paid $31695 + fee & Tax for an Auto 5-spd w/o Navi. I was considering the G35, but I decided to go for the TL after test driving the G35. The car dealer was Stevens Creek Acura. Hope this help.

bobbyz

The lease on my 2002 3.2 TL is up in June. Looking to lease 2004 TL w/5AT no navi. Any info on leasing plans and dealers in central NJ would be appreciated. Want 36 months with monthly payments around $425. Am I being reaslistic?

fil

Just paid 33,500 from a dealer in Augusta for a Black TL with Parchment Interior w/Navi. He trucked it right to my driverway. No doc fee on top of the 33,500, just tag and taxes.

Shopped all over Atlanta and this was the best deal that I could find.

fil

who let me know what price would be a good price for my Navi.

1violinist

Congratulation! Have fun and drive safely!

tomkat

We just bought a new TL from Pohanka Acura in Chantilly, Virginia and have had a wonderful buying experience despite almost 2 weeks of negotiations! They weren't going to budge on their price of $33750 OTD but after walking out a couple of times we were able to get $32300 OTD ($31010 + 1029 TTL) for a non nav/5 AT -- Desert Mist with Ebony Interior. I strongly suggest that anyone in the Northern VA area go to Pohanka!

achadha

good job that is exactly what i paid back in dec...i think i got such a good deal since it was the last day of the month and year the 31st...experience was excellent at Pohanka...the car i wanted got sold an hour before i reached there...luckily someone backed out of a 6speed anthracite with ebony earlier in the morning

1gianni1

Thanks to everyone info. I was able to get 30950 on White 6mt HPT/non-navi with Quartz from Tustin. That's the best quote I got, but I have to wait till May or later for my car.

I'm planning to lease first then buy it off, here is lease info which I'm not sure if I could get better or no.

Base on $30950
Term: 48 month
Miles/yr: 12000
Residual Value: $15975
Driveoff: $735
Payment per month: $427

pster

I am being offered the new 2004 TL (no nav, no summer tires, etc.) just the basic Auto for $32,200. Is this a reasonable price? A good price? I hear of much loser prices on this board. There are only two dealers here and between tem have 100 TL's, but it seems they collude on price....

1violinist

I don't know about yours, but in most areas one can negotiate a lower price. Acura dealers have too many non-Navi TL's sitting on their lots. You should be able to get it around $31,500. What about contacting other dealers outside your area? Let's say within 150 miles radius. I'll be happy to take a long drive if it saves me several hundred dollars. Timing is also a factor. Spring is the worst time to buy a car because many people buy during that season. If you wait till Summer, sales would be slower and you have a better chance in cutting a good deal. Good luck!

04actlnav

I'm not sure where you are located, but i'm in DE, and I just finalized my deal on a redondo red with camel & Nav. with the trunk tray, wheel locks, and splash guards for 33,500. The non-nav is going for 30,950 here and in Philly. The sales tax % here is 2.75, so that's one of the benefits of living in this tiny state. Good luck!

03oddity

Advice, please from you buying gurus?

I'm getting ready to purchase a 5AT Navi 2004 TL in Southern California. My current lease expires mid-July, but I'll be slightly over mileage--so I wouldn't mind pulling the TL trigger in mid-June.

I'm shooting for a few hundred over invoice; fair to them, fair to me. If the Navi remains ridiculously high, I'll go non-Navi if need be.

When should I start talking turkey with the internet/fleet managers? Should I try to pre-negotiate a price for June delivery and give a deposit, or just wait and see what happens?

hoyahenry

I did well at $30,800 before TTL. I recommend 7pm on Saturday evenings at the end of the month in terms of selecting a good time to buy....

That said, DO NOT close the deal without resolving the OEM tire issue - you will regret it! I don't care what date is on the tire - they are an insult.

So, determine a fair price, take about a $5-600 deduction for new tires, purchase the new tires with this allowance, and get the dealer to install the ones you want for free before taking delivery.

In other words, offer $30,200, provide the tires, dealer installs, take delivery.

Otherwise, I recommend considering other brands of cars. If Honda dealers can only deliver this car with tires made by a certain manufacturer, then "Honda chose poorly".

lglwizard

Anyone know how long it normally takes from the date the car is built to delivery at the dealer? I know it will vary, but I'm looking for round figures (i.e. 2 weeks?) I live in the Nashville, TN area, which I am told is where the railway hub is. Thus, the cars are "trained" to Nashville, then off-loaded to be "trucked" to other areas. I know the build date, but am trying to estimate delivery. Your experiences would be appreciated.

pster

I'll research past posts, but what is the issue here? Are these just really bad/cheap tires?

pster

Found all the chatter on the OEM Bridgstones on another board...flatspotting seems to be the issue. Have owned Bridgestones before and found them "acceptable". I guess this new EL42 tire is flawed..

msf2

My TL had a build date of Feb 26-29 according to my dealer. I made a down payment on Feb. 13th. I took delivery on March 6th- a Saturday. I live in Western NY and the car is made in central Ohio so I'm fairly close to the plant. This may give you some idea but I'm sure distance away from the manufacturer has an impact. I was surprised how much the dealer can find out by tracking the VIN number. My dealer knew if the car was on the assembly line, when it was off, and when it was on the truck to dealer. Enjoy the car....it's a blast!

ronn1010

I am ready to negotiate best price for 04 TL in Bay Area. I live in East Bay but willing to go to any dealer in the area offering best price. Is it realistic to pay 30,950 + T&L here? All help appreciated.

hoyahenry

Add traction and ride comfort. Noise is good, but for a car in this class, traction and ride are so important.

Check the comments on tirerack for the 04 TL on the OEM tires. I hadn't done that - I'd been there looking for replacements, but hadn't bothered to learn what I've figured out in the first 1200 miles. You'll get the idea real quick. The survey results there for the tire are also in the yellow and red ranges.

Some quick quotes:

"These tires could not be a worse match for this car."

"These are probably the worst tires I have ever owned."

"The [OEM] tires are useless in the snow. It is criminal that they are labeled all-season. [emphasis added]

The comments go DOWN hill from there....

The real crime is that Acura obviously spent so much time and effort engineering this car and then completely abdicated on the tires. I can only imagine that they expected the consumer in this market segment to shell out $33K and then replace the OEM tires anyway.

From a PR perspective, Acura would have done better to deliver the car without tires at all - that would have been more honest.

kennyg5

I drive an 03 Maxima GLE with the same Bridgestone EL 42 (17") as OEM tires. I found the tires quite noisy and do not have good traction in the snow. On dry pavement, they are Ok. I believe Bridgestone is giving Nissan and Honda good deals on these inferior tires. Perhaps that is why we see these tires being used on cars that cost around 30k. For cars selling at this price range, the quality of these tires is definitely subpar.

pster

I test drove the TL today. Handled and felt every bit like a Honda Accord to me. I could discern very little difference. Salesman was a piece of work. Refused to give me a price unless I said what I was willing to pay. He actually said, and I quote..."I just can't stand people who negotiate to buy a car based solely on price". Like, that wasn't what he was doing?!?! I was just laughing insanely in my mind. Dealers here refuse to budge on price, so I'm looking at other manufacturers, including the Accord EX which I consider a sleeper steal when compared to the TL. I was just not smitten with the TL...it is a car I can take or leave. $8000 is a lot to pay for 30 extra ponies, bluetooth and DVD audio.

pster

I did notice that the stock Bridgestone EL42's felt incapable of holding this car tight in corners. They seemed "under engineered" for the size and weight and chassis of this car.

hoyahenry

Buyer: Hi, I'm here to buy a car; how much are you asking?

Sales: We don't know, how much would you like to pay for it?

If it weren't for that Honda 'faces' commercial last fall, I might have been able to consider an Accord. No VSA, memory seats, or sequential shift mode in the Accord either.

pster

"Buyer: Hi, I'm here to buy a car; how much are you asking?

Sales: We don't know, how much would you like to pay for it?"

BWAHAHAHAHHA!! You are so right! It's hilarious. The next time a salesman asks me if I am going to buy today, I'm going to look him in the eye and ask him if he is going to sell today. BTW, the Acura salesman said the TL was perfect, that there were no reported problems whatsoever with the car and the tires were perfect, yada, yada, yada. I am amazed that the process of buying a car continues to be one of lying and deceit and shoving a franchise right to sell down the throat of the buyer. Acura's new car buying experience at this dealer sucked. I view new car dealers as geographic monopolies.

ernie

I'm currently negotiating on a new TL. The sales manager actually told me that he has worked with all area dealers to "set" prices at $32,000.

He is right too...I have worked with 5 dealers and all prices have varied only $100...even after weeks of calls, emails, visits, etc.

At what point is this practice illegal? Sounds like price fixing to me.

They act like we are the bad guys for negotiating, when they are the ones that initiate this practice. I wouldn't dare try to negotiate a price on a stereo at Best Buy, nor would Best Buy call wal-mart to set prices.

pster

What you describe is in fact price fixing and restraint of trade. If this happened, you should report it to your state attorney general. I too think it goes on, but it's a wink and nod affair..

ernie

I'm currently negotiating on a new TL. The sales manager actually told me that he has worked with all area dealers to "set" prices at $32,000.

He is right too...I have worked with 5 dealers and all prices have varied only $100...even after weeks of calls, emails, visits, etc.

At what point is this practice illegal? Sounds like price fixing to me.

They act like we are the bad guys for negotiating, when they are the ones that initiate this practice. I wouldn't dare try to negotiate a price on a stereo at Best Buy, nor would Best Buy call wal-mart to set prices.

sarah

I was offered a TL fully loaded non-NAV for 30,500 with 2.9% financing. I asked for $30,000,they said they will check with the higher up and may give me that. It's the end of the month and they're desperately trying to get rid of their inventories.How about the tires people talked about on this board? And the premium gas(91) it requires, with the gas prices going up steadily,is it going to increase the operating cost very much? I'm very close to sign with Lexus,they also gave me an excellent offer but now,with the TL offer,I'm having a problem deciding which one to go with. I like the Lexus comfort and reliability but I like the TL handling and audio system. Any advice will be appreciated.

1violinist

Sound like a pretty good deal!

Tires: negotiate with the Acura dealer to have the EL42 tires replaced (Turanza LS-Z is excellent) and pay the difference. It's worth it.

Gas: All new cars can run fine on Regular Gas 87.

Lexus: I guess you're referring to ES330. It's a good car, smooth and quiet, but when it comes to looks and handling the TL is a lot better. The interior of the TL is much more elegant than the ES, but again it's personal taste! Good luck!

qbrozen

test drove the TL today. Handled and felt every bit like a Honda Accord to me. I could discern very little difference. Salesman was a piece of work. Refused to give me a price unless I said what I was willing to pay. He actually said, and I quote..."I just can't stand people who negotiate to buy a car based solely on price". Like, that wasn't what he was doing?!?! I was just laughing insanely in my mind. Dealers here refuse to budge on price, so I'm looking at other manufacturers, including the Accord EX which I consider a sleeper steal when compared to the TL. I was just not smitten with the TL...it is a car I can take or leave. $8000 is a lot to pay for 30 extra ponies, bluetooth and DVD audio.

I'm really trying to figure this out. You find no value in the car and see no difference between that and an Accord. So why in the world were you even asking for a price??

I can only think of a few possibilities here. 1) you feel it necessary to completely waste someone's time. 2) you really don't think its not worth the money but felt the need to state so because you weren't able to close the deal and are bitter. 3) you really didn't drive it at all and are making this all up.

I think that about covers it. Is there a reason I'm missing?

Also, the Accord EX V6 is $26,890 vs. $33,195 for the TL. That's $6300, not $8K. And, as someone else already pointed out, it involves a lot more than just "30 extra ponies, bluetooth and DVD audio." But, hey, no problem, go buy yourself an Accord.

dtate99

Just to clarify, ALL TLs are "fully loaded" b/c the only option on the TL is: with or without Navi. Period. They all come with all of the bells and whistles after that. That is not the case, however, with Lexus. Make sure you compare the price on all of the same options.

Also, you asked about the cost of operations with the climbing gas prices. I guess it depends all on where you live and how much you drive. But, actually, when all of that boils down, it really only amounts to paying $0.10 to $0.20 cents more per gallon versus regular gas. With a 17 gallon tank, at most you are talking $3.40 extra per fillup, even if the prices climb to $3.00 per gallon. If you average 24 miles/gallon, you would have to drive over 400 miles/week to have to fill up once per week. That would be equivalent to over 21,000 miles/year, which is higher than average. But, even with that number, you're talking spending an EXTRA $13 per month on premium gas. By my thinking, why spend $30,000+ on a car and then skimp on the gas just to save a few extra bucks a month?

mdhauke

Gas prices are going up but premium is staying a constant 20 cents above regular in most areas. I think the difference in using premium in the extra gas mileage and the performance far outweighs the cost. Let me ask you this, if you worried about spending an extra $10 a month paying extra for premium gas in a $30,000 car don't you think you may be getting a car thats a little beyond your budget?

carguy58

Of course the salesman going to tell there is no reported problems with tires or anything else with a particular car a dealer is selling. That is the job of a car salesman to sell the car right? If he told you there was a problem with say the tires on the car he wouldn't be doing his job of selling you the car.

To me its up to the person who is shopping for the particular car they are buying to see if there is any problems with the car. This means doing your homework(I.e. research) before you buy the car.

Commenting on post 1162:

I don't like price fixing either. I think its not a good way of not doing business.

ronn1010

Sarah, what state are you in and what dealer are you working with?

I am negotiating for a new dealer in SF Bay Area CA and the best offer so far is 31600.

Tell me the dealer and the salesman's name.

Additional Help from anybody else would be appreciated.

Thanks, ronn1010@aol.com

supremes

I haven't hear anybody say what kind of deals they have gotten in the Midwest. I am in KC and am willing to go to Chicago, Cleveland, St. Louis, etc., to save some money. Has anybody had any luck in these cities and what dealerships do you suggest?

Thanks

habitat1

I've driven the 2004 TL 6-speed and, when my S2000 was in for an oil change last week, the Accord EX V6 sedan and an Accord coupe 6-speed. Unless I'm missing something, neither compared favorably with the handling of the TL. And it wasn't just a small difference.

I'm favorably enough impressed with the TL to be considering it along with a 330i performance, 545i 6-speed and E320 CDI as my next sedan. I could not do that if it drove / handled like the Accord, regardless of the do-dad feature content.

95gt

Gas: All new cars can run fine on Regular Gas 87.

While in theory this is correct in reality there is a big difference in performance when you use 87 in an auto that requires 91+

Timing is retarded and performance (including gas mileage) is reduced. I know i have tried 89 in my CL and noticed a 10% reduction in gas mileage on the few times i did it.

Rule of thumb : use what the manufacturer recommends, they don't gain anything by having you buy 91+

pster

Stated like a true car salesman! My reasons are actually quite simple - I test drove the TL expecting it to be "noticeably different" than the Accord. It just wasn't, but I was perfectly willing to buy it instead of the Accord if the price was right for its size (back seat larger for family trips). It was $1,000-$1,500 too high in my opinion (and its my opinion, not yours). Why would I waste my own time? I didn't. And I have no problem with wasting car salesmen's time at all since the salesman's interpretation, as yours, is that wasting time is equated to the unwillingness to succomb to his/her price - usually above market. I think only Saturn truly believes this. I am not wedded to any particular car so it is quite easy to walk away when I feel the price isn't right. The only thing a car salesman has going for him is a licensed monopoly on the vehicle and the hope that a buyer has fallen in love with it. Otherwise, they are order takers. Or order losers in this case. Virtually every car salesman I have ever dealt with enters the purchase/sale transaction assuming the buyer is a stupid idiot. The Acura salesman simply did it again. I posted to help others in their buying decision on this car and to relate my experience, not to be accused of being a liar.

qbrozen

I'm still not following. You didn't find it noticeably different but were willing to pay more for it???

OK, let me ask this a different way because maybe I am misunderstanding your story. I was taking it to mean that you felt the car is not worth much more than an Accord so you wanted to buy it at Accord prices and were mad that you could not. I apologize if that is wrong, but that is how it read to me. So, what were you looking to pay for this car?

And, for the record, I didn't accuse you of being a liar. I merely presented that as one of the possibilities that occured to me.

pat

Hey folks, this isn't the place to debate the Accord vs. the TL or to get into some of these other issues that have been coming up. And we don't need to get into the personal comments, no matter what our topic is.

This discussion is a dedicated place for members to share their purchase price and how their purchase experience progressed when they bought their TL.

We have an Accord vs. TL discussion, and we have a general all purpose Acura TL discussion. Other discussions can be located with the excellent search tools on the left side of the page.

Let's take some of this conversation (minus the unpleasantness!) to the appropriate discussions and let this one return to its intended purpose.

Thanks!

dshahs

Just picked up my TL/auto/navi black on black at Clair Acura in Walpole MA. IMO i got a good deal at 35,000 including aero kit and protection kit. Was quoted a price of 33,000 without the 2 kits. And if you tell them that the doc fees are too high and you could go to Inskip Acura in RI(doc fees are only $20) they should lower the fees to $20(save $170)every penny counts right Hope this helps and have fun with the car if you buy one its a great car.
P.S Thanks for all the posts here to which i am grateful for getting this deal done. kudos.

pster

Understood Pat. To keep it simple and make it abundeantly clear, I did not feel the Acura TL value versus price was good. End of "my" story.

jpiatchek

I bought a new TL HPT 6 speed in Springfield, Mo about 2-1/2 weeks ago. List was $33,399 plus protection package( worth about $250.) plus $195 document fees(great funding for the owners pension plan and a real racket!) My total out the door price was $31,688. I could have done a few hundred better if I wanted to play cat a mouse for a while, but frankly it just isn't worth the extra time. They got much more negotiable when they knew I was checking the net. They would have given me a similar deal on Navi or whatever I wanted, but I liked the one they had in the showroom. We struck a deal and I was in and out in 1 hour. They are great to deal with and I can give you an intro if you want.

kcc455

Was TTL included in your out the door price? What was the price of the car itself. I am in the midwest and looking for prices for the TL 6-speed non-navi.
Thank you.

ernie

I am also in the Kansas City area. See my post #1162 about price fixing. I
won't name dealers, but I tried to work with dealers in Wichita, Des
Moines, Springfield, and Omaha, all are VERY close on price. The sales
staff acutally believe they have a product that is so rare, that they can
ask whatever for it.

I tried to post my address for the purpose of exchanging personal information, but the HOST removed it. I guess this is not allowed. I see that your profile lists yours as "private".

Jay Wolfe is getting closer, but is still not at the average price I see posted.

The 31,688 price in Springfield is OK., but still higher than most anywhere else.

pat

Ernie, you should have received an email specifically explaining the issue - if you did not, feel free to email me and we'll "talk".

pulisubs

I bought a blue/camel 6-Spd Non-navi for $31,150 + taxes, title, tags in Orlando, FL. That was about $300 more than what I was ready to pay but they wouldn't go any less and I am a very poor negotiator. Still, I was able to get the salesperson to include window tint within that price.

Having read posts that people have paid less ($30,500 - sarah), I'm wondering if I got a good deal or paid too much.

kyfdx

Isn't that about $850 over invoice? Doesn't sound too bad. Not every person is going to be able to negotiate the very lowest deal you see on these forums. If they have the exact car you want, there is no need to beat yourself up over a couple of hundred bucks. I'm all for getting the lowest price you can, but sometimes you'd rather buy from a certain dealer or you can't travel, etc.. Not every dealer will give you the lowest price.. Get a fair price on a car you really want, and be happy with it. It sounds like you did just that.

regards,
kyfdx

pulisubs

True, that's $850 over invoice. If I did the tint elsewhere, I'd have perhaps got it for about $200. So I guess I can say I got it for $650 over invoice, which isn't that bad as you mentioned.

You couldn't be more right about every dealer not giving the lowest price. I had quoted $31K as my max in my email to all the dealers. One of the dealers responded with a 'Oh we have a certified pre-owned for that price if you are interested'. No reward for guessing if I ever replied to that email.

I qualify for Nissan's discount program and could have got the G35 for about 2% below invoice (perhaps around $29,700 for similarly equipped). But I liked the TL more and went for it. In the end, like you said, I figured spending about $1500 more on the TL was worth it.

Plus, I didn't like the hard shifting G35 gearbox. Not to say its bad. Just that I thought the TL's shifter was smoother... But I guess that's a discussion for the TL vs. G35 board...

sarah

mdhaike, of course I can afford the gas prices but when you're weighing the pros and cons of any 2 very close choices,any factor that will help me decide makes a difference. If I only use that factor to make my choice, then I'm foolish but I did not. BTW,if I have not mentioned,I bought the Lexus despite the big price difference.

ronn1010,I'm sorry that I haven't dropped by earlier since your post. My Acura dealership is in westchester,NY. If you're still interested,they are the Curry Acura in scarsdale,NY. I think they have this big promotion until the end of the month which is tomorrow. Good Luck.