Acura RL

sburke7

I do drive one,,,,had a 2000,,,traded for 2002,,,both great driving,,,2002 has more punch(mojo), and the suspension is tighter,,,quiet ride indeed,,,

hoolick

i've owned 4 acura's since 1990 so you may guess that i'm sold on them, quality wise they can't be beat and the dollar value is excellent. my wife is still driving her 1990 legend coupe that has 28k miles and i'm thinking of getting her the new rl. what do you think my asking price should be on the 1990,it's still has the new car smell. also when do you think the price will get soft on the new rl

prophet2

Owned Acuras since they opened the dealership in 1986. Four Legends, three Integras. Still have a Legend ('87 coupe, 171K), Integra ('93 Special Edition coupe, 114K),and RL ('96, 47K). The RL prices aren't as depressed here (no competition as there's only one dealer), but I bought mine "pre-owned" for $20K eight months ago, about Edmund's trade-in value, $3K under retail. I have no complaints about it - I'm no street racer. The RL gets me where I want to go in comfort, style, and the power is there when I need it. They are price-to-value leaders without being "cheap" cars.

l943973

I own a 99 non-nav RL and have put 60k miles on it in roughly 2.5 years. I enjoy driving the car a lot and its very comfortable on long distances. I can go several hours without readjusting the seat. I bought when I was 28 and was made fun of a few times by my younger friends for driving an "old person" car. They just can't appreciate all the technology that goes into this car.

I really like the sound of the engine. Its very smooth when accelerating. I can't comment on the Bose system. I rarely listen to the radio and when I do listen its for traffic and weather or background music that low enough so I can still hear the engine.

I bought it over the boy racer looks of the Lexus GS and the LS400 didn't look that nice. Test drove the BMW 3-Series and wasn't impress with the car. I guess all the hype is just hype, or I didn't drive it hard like was suppose to be driven. My second choice as the Audi A6 Quattro and third choice the Volvo S80.

Acceleration is ok thanks to the low end torque. You really don't need to rev the engine past 3k to get decent speed. Coming from an Integra 5-sp, it was a good improvement.

I average 20.2 mpg in 70% suburb/ 30% highway driving.

I got a flat on the road and tried the Acura TLC just to see how they responded. They seemed nice enough to talk to, but since I already past my 50k warranty service, they would bill me for the tire change. I declined the service and just changed it myself.

Outside any recalls, I has an oxygen sensor go bad at 30k. Replace under warranty. Also around 48k, my front passenger door lock was sticking and by chance the dealer manager was able to reproduce it (otherwise, they won't fix it). They changed something called an actuator. Thats about it in terms of problems. (Oh, back trunk hinge sqeaked and regreased at the dealership). No major problems.

The back seats are extremly comfortable. Sometimes I just sit in the RL back seat in the garage. My wife looks at me funny, but she doesn't understand. :-) The front seats are stiffer much like seats in a Mercedes.

Gripes about the car. The stock tires are noisy. Replaced them with Yokohama AVS db. Tire noise gone. The armrest can't close when using the ac adaptor. 00 model fixed this problem. The fuel light comes on too early. I usually go about 310 miles before fill ups. The fuel light goes on even before you use up 15 gallons in an 18 gallon tank. I would have preferred gas-assisted shocks over hinges for the trunk.

rdharams

I bought my RL in Nov '00 and I truly love my car. It has the power I want, good sound system (except the FM reception) and the elegance.

As far as rides in dry / wet weather, I can actually feel the car tighten up in rainy weather. In Houston we get a lot of heavy rains and the RL holds on to the road pretty tightly.

Gripes about the car :

1. The stock tires are noisy. I will probably change them soon. (How much do the Yokohama cost?)

2. FM reception on some stations is bad. Our Nissan van has better reception. The dealership has no suggestions other than the FM station is weak!

3. Sometimes the transmission does not shift smoothly between 1st and 2nd. I will probably talk to the dealer ship.

4. Fuel economy is bad. I get about 15 to 16 miles a gallon. 80 % suburbs / 20 % hwy.

l943973

I ordered my AVS db from tire rack (I believe something like $92/tire). It took 3 days for the UPS to drop them off and had them installed at a local tire shop recommended by them.

mkbrown87

I am glad to see that others are experiencing relatively poor fuel economy. We are getting about 15-17 mpg on 100% city driving, but only about 20 mpg on 100% highway driving. It isn't what we expected (which would have been about 17-18 around town, and about 24-25 on pure highway driving). It has improved some from when we took delivery, and 2000 RL now has about 7K on it. Maybe it will continue to improve some as the break-in continues. Only other gripes we have are about the fuel tank and low fuel light (wish the tank could have been a gallon or two bigger) and the trunk--in addition to the button on the driver's door and the one on the remote, why couldn't the trunk itself have had a push button to release the trunk (like the M-B E320, for example).

jwilson1

I'm awfully glad I waited and I just can't say how pleased I am with my '02.

I'd boiled my choices down, like the post above, to the A6 and to the S80 (tho that was eliminated by virtue of its poor reliability). The A6 was a wonderful car and I enjoyed the quattro. At the time, it was about a month until the '02 RL was to be released and, while I liked the Acura just fine, I wanted more steering feedback, more responsive braking, and flatter cornering ... if I could get it. But I was ready to go on the A6 if the '02 didn't satisfy me.

When they came in I drove one and got excited about the car! But the rates were high at the time, and no local dealer had one in the Vermont Green, non-nav. So I waited and, for a change, got lucky. The interest rates came down, way down, and when the green one arrived at the local dealer, I took the plunge -- what a car!

It has all the power I want or need. (The Audi had a V8 and so had a lot more grunt.) The cornering makes the car as much of a pleasure to drive as it is to sit in with its perfect ergonomics. I have the basic OnStar and don't know if I'll ever use it, but it's nice to know it's there and gives me a good reduction on theft insurance.

So far the only glitch has been that the service dept dropped a fastener into the frame and can't retrieve it while they were installing a cargo net -- another is on order (would you believe the fastener is so unusual!). For the inconvenience, they're not charging me for the install.

For those who don't like the tires, I can tell you that the new Michelins on the XL are very quiet.

So far -- with the new hp rating on the engine -- I'm getting 19 mpg, combined city/hwy (about 50%). I hope it goes up a bit as the engine gets seasoned.

A couple of my friends have some more 'exotic' machinery and like mine enough to comment -- they both paid over $60k. Now I feel real good!

Take care.
Joe W.

tomdoggie43

Dont look for it. its not there. dealer told me it was a misprint but acura is still listing it as standard equipment. I feel cheated. love the car otherwise.

malikjb

Who are those lucky people who are getting 20 plus mpg. I have a 2001 RL with 2000 miles on it. I have never got more than 17 mpg(combined city and highway0. I live in Houston which is very flat, the weather this summer has been good, so have not used much AC, don't ride on the breaks. So what else can I do. The published values are 18 and 24 mpg. Other than that, it is a nice car. It is fun to ride it to work everyday.

phild_mason

I am getting low to mid 20's depending on the trip. My wife drives our 2000RL on a short commute, 7 miles, between small towns and running around town. We usually get low 20's with that. On the highway, we get around 25. We are heading out on vacation soon and I will be interested to see what I get. We have just over 9k on the car and I am on my second change of synth oil.

My 93 Legend did a little better, sometimes getting 27 or so on the highway. I have a 1999 Accord Coupe and get between 25 and 28 with it.

l943973

My average mpg has always been around 20 1/2 mostly suburb driving. I use Yoko AVS db tires at 32 psi when cold. I assume that affects my MPG.

hoolick

BOARDMEMBERS, I'M SELLING MY WIFE'S 1990 LEGEND L,IT HAS 28,342 MILES, STILL SMELLS NEW, ABSOLUTELY PERFECT CONDITION. WHAT IS A GOOD ASKING PRICE? THANKS FOR ANY RESPONSES.

jwilson1

Hang on for awhile, malikjb, as 2000 miles is just well into the break in for the engine. You may find that the mileage goes up a couple after around 6 to 8K, or so it has been with other cars I've owned. As I indicated, above, I'm averaging about 20 with only 1500 or so miles.

Take care.
Joe W.

phild_mason

That is a tough one. The miles are great, but hey the car is 11 years old. Where do you live? That will make some difference. I can't imagine anyone paying more than $15 or 16k for it unless they just have to have it.

I base that on what one can get a newer Legend for and the fact that even older RL are getting into the teens although they will have higher miles.

goral

Check out the "Real-world trade in values" topic.
I know you are not trading it in, but you will get an idea what it's wholesale numbers are.

rdharams

Boy, I wish I could get anything above 20. However, my car has only 2300+ miles on it. I'll wait for sometime.

Is anyone else noticing bad FM reception on some stations? In Houston the following stations I listen to are below average : 88.7, 90.1 and 96.5. Southwest Acura says they cannot do anything about it. That kind of bothers me -- considering the fact that it is an luxury car.

goral

On our '96 w/ 84K miles, we are getting around 20 mpg, 80/20 highway/city. Pretty crappy, if you ask me. Nowadays, some V8s are getting better mileage than that

phil4vers4

I have 10.5K miles on '00 RL and average 17 mpg in city while on 100% highway I usually avg. 24mpg
I definitely notice that using the A/C in city has an effect.

As far as the radio reception is concerned an aftermarket installer told me that the antenna on the RL is an amplified antenna which increases volume on both good sound and radio noise. Combined with the higher quality Bose speakers we are likely hearing some noise that isn't detected on lesser quality systems. Other than changing out to an aftermarket tuner, it was recommended installing an outsided antenna (similar to a cell phone antenna) to the rear window and see if that improves reception. I didn't want to add an outside one, but if anyone does, let us know how it works out.

tomdoggie43

Has anyone tried it yet or is it just mine that doesn't work. how about it burke or wilson. ty.

tgif888

In my TL Type S, you need to put the mirror switch in the middle before the tilt feature will work.

sburke7

This feature does not exist on the 3.5 rl,,,,I was told by dealer this is a mistake in the catalogue,,,see page 22 for listed safety feature,,,I told Acura about this on their follow-up call to me after purchase,,,,still no response from corp people,,,someone dropped the ball on this one,,,

tomdoggie43

Thanks for responding. Acura is still listing this feature on their website as standard equipment, as of sunday 7/1. My dealer offered me a free oil change but i still feel cheated.

l943973

I attended the Mercedes PowerTrip yesterday and test drove the E320 as a comparison against the RL (similar MSRP so I had to try it). There was no line for this car. No one had an interest in it. After hearing everyone rave about this car in magazines, I figure I would take this car out on the course they provided. Well, the first thing I noticed is that the power switch gear was first rate. More convenient than the RL. In terms of seating, the front seats are much softer than the RL but with excellent support. (side note: Test drove the S430 there too and seats are identical to the RL seats in terms of stiffness). Anyways, the E320 steering was as smooth as the RL and the ride felt just a good. I was impressed for a car with shorter wheelbase. The acceleration was not good as the 210 hp RL. I floored it until my foot was completely against the metal and there is no downshift that occurs. It just accelerates and doesn't really build up. It accelerated exactly like the Lexus GS300. Handling was better than the RL but thats expected because the car is much smaller. (S-Class handling felt more like the RL). I felt like driving miss daisy in the E320.

After driving the E320, I really missed the RL's low end torque and faster pickup. In terms of power, the E320 and Lexus GS300 feel much slower than the RL and one test drive will show this. Both are nice cars. If I had to chose again, regardless of price I would still go with the RL.

I'll have the admit the CL500, AMG E55 and CLK55 are just muscle cars. OMG, are they fast! :-)

jwilson1

Different comparo, Mr. 973, but you reached the same conclusion I did. But I'm kind of glad more people don't have an "open mind" as prices would certainly be higher!

Used my first tank of all town/city/suburb driving and am pleasantly surprised; at 1800 miles got almost 21 mpg. Next week we're taking a 1600 mile trip and I'll keep close track.

I found something I don't like about the car, at last ... the small gas tank. The empty light goes on almost exactly at 300 miles, an aggravation. But I really am glad the right mirror doesn't do that tilt thing ... I recall testing an older model (or perhaps it was a TL) that had it and it was a little disconcerting; in the driving I do I'm less likely to parallel park and more likely to back up for 50 or 100 feet, so it's more convenient to see where you're going rather than watch the curbing. This is obviously a matter of taste and driving circumstances.

Interesting: my dealer doesn't think that the expected '03 release of the V8 will bring an end to the RL as we know it. His reasoning: Acura has a strong, competitive offering at $20k (Integra; RSX); at $30k (T series); and there is no way they can offer a full-featured V8, especially with AWD (as rumored) for the same as the RL, thus bumping it up considerably, to say $50-55k. That leaves them empty from $30 -- $50k, missing a big chunk of market. His guess, therefore, is that they keep the RL and move upscale with the new one. It makes good common sense, but he also let me know that he has nothing from the factory to confirm this.

Take care.
Joe W.

l943973

My last mpg average was about 20.9 mpg. Mostly suburb driving. I went 320 mi and used up 15.3 gallons. Having roughly a 3 gallon reserve before the low fuel light comes on seems like a lot, but I guess that give you roughly 50-60 miles to find a gas station.

bucket195

I have just broken 1000 miles on my 2000 RL and the low fuel light is coming on at about 220 miles! I had heard that mileage was not too good, but I was really hoping to average about 20 in mixed driving. I am getting closer to 16 and I am babying the car. Does anyone have any tips on how or when this may improve? I can live with the bad mileage, but the short range is really a bother.

mkbrown87

That is exactly what we are facing. We are only getting about 16 mpg, and because the fuel tank is 18 gal, and the low fuel light comes on with 3 gals remaining, that is why the range seems so short. You could drive for another 40 or 50 miles, but... If there is one annoyance with the vehicle that we have, this is it.

jwilson1

if you're only getting 220 miles on 15 gals. (you don't say) then you're only getting about 14.5/gallon, and that suggests a problem to me, not just low mileage. If I've understood you correctly, I'd make a complaint!

One hint, from the owner's manual, is to use the A/C on the econ mode. So I leave it on full auto until I hear the fan speed diminish, then move it to the economy setting. I don't know if this is a real help or more psychological.

But if you don't start moving toward that 20 mpg. avg pretty soon, I'd ask for some help from the dealer. Given the sophistication of the design of these cars, no one short of the dealer would figure it out, and you certainly shouldn't have to "baby" the car to get 14.5 mpg!

Take care.
Joe W.

nvo

Hi hoolick, is that a coupe or sedan ? What state do you live ? I might be interested in the car. Please email me at ninhvo@pica.army.mil so we can discuss more. Thanks.