Acura RL
Welcome to the continuation of the Acura 3.5 RL
topic. Those of you joining us from that topic are
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Thanks,
L8_Apex
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topic. Those of you joining us from that topic are
welcome to continue your discussion.
If you're new to this topic, you may want to
follow the above link for additional archived
posts.
Thanks,
L8_Apex
Sedans Host
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My '96 rl just turned 40k miles today. It is still a wonderful car and I'm happy to be its owner.
Also, just replaced the michelin oem's mxv4 energy tires with dunlop sp5000's. The difference in handling is noticeably better and road noise is the same as when the oem tires were new. Got the dunlops for $41 less per tire. Not sure if they will be better in the snow, but in Houston, I'll not need to worry about that.
In order to compete/play with the others, they just need:
- Dual automatic climate control.
- Auto dimming mirrors.
- All wheel drive (this will make them unique/an alternative to Audi).
- V8 with around/at least 300 hp.
- Etc. See what Lexus has to offer = as others have noted previously (long time ago).
I even had an experience that one of dealers was cheating me. They were trying to sell me used RL at higher price than published price at yahoo classified telling me that was wrong when
I visited the dealership after searched on the classified. Acura / Honda should know about these.
Lexus showroom. I arrived in my F-250 4x4
truck in jeans/t-shirt/work boots. Stood
outside in the parking lot for 15 mins then
finally walked in the showroom and remained
ignored. This the same dealership I purchased
a new 92 LS400 at. (Of course none of the
original sales staff was there any longer).
Lexus does have a great product, and they know it!
but I just can't get past the "L" attitude. Maybe
its me but most people, not all, buy Lexus to
be seen in a Lexus, period. Thank goodness for Acura. Great cars, can be bought at reasonable prices and last a long time. I also like the fact
you don't see one on every street corner.
Thanks,
Aaron
aaron - if you bought your rl thru a dealer, it should come with a one year, 12,500 mile, bumper-to-bumper warranty. you should use that warranty until you get close to the end and decide then if you want to purchase an extended warranty. the dealer may want to pressure you to buy it now, but the terms are the same no matter when you get it. also, only get an extended warranty thru acura and not a 3rd party. these extended warranties are highly marked up - negotiate lower prices for it.
Bob
I believe the warranty was through a third party, which is partially why I am hesitant.
Thanks.
Take care.
Joe W>
Does anyone know when the 2001 will be released and what it will look like?
The reason is, dealers in the snow country don't want the next RL to be RWD.
To me, this is a long wait. Why don't they offer 4WD like Audi. This will solve the dilemma, and won't make me defect to Lexus.
However, who knows, I am still hoping that maybe they will show the next RL at the Paris show the end of September. Honda is always full of surprises.
Also, anyone have a heather mist colr RL ? What color is Heather mist that normal guy would recognize? I talked to the dealer and he was not much of a help.
This car drives like a dream. Just a tad less power than my 98 vette(ha ha). Lot easier on my back.
I used to have a 96' Heather mist 3.5RL - heather mist is a really light "champagne" color which you might have seen on the streets. It is easily to maintain due to the light color. As far as the car was concern - other than regular oil change / recommended services, I had a tranny problem with the car during the 2nd year but got fixed under warranty. I just traded in the RL for a new 00' BMW 528i a month ago - not because I have problems with the RL; it is just because I'd like to drive a bimmer after 13 years of Honda/Acura ownership. My RL was still in excellent condition when I traded it in.
Have had nothing but good experiences with the car and the dealers so far.
The manual for my '96 rl states minimum of 91 octane. Since I have never seen 91, only 87, 89, 93 & 94 - I've been using 93. Totally believe it's a waste of money to put in higher octane grades than what the ownwer's manual calls for but also want to do what's best for the car in the long term.
The problem is that if the car is designed to use 93 and you run it on 87, the retarded timing gives you less power and worse gas mileage. My car mileage jumped from 19-21 mpg to 24-26 by switching to premium.
By doing the math, you can see that the % of mpg increase is greater than the % of cost increase, so your cost per mile can actually be less with premium.
After 4 service visits to the dealer, they can't pinpoint the problem and want to convince me that all RLs have a "faint knock" like this. The dealer doesnt think the engine or transmission mounts could go bad on a low-mileage RL.
automophile - Thanks, that makes sense. I do a lot of high speed highway driving, averaging between 75 & 85 mph and a bit of around town driving in traffic. Lately have been getting just north of 21 mpg with 93 octane. Sounds about right to me.
This car does not even pretend to compete against
LS400. The RL may even be "sluggish" but I would
not call it slow. There is not one car in todays
market that can compete against the RL for the money. According to Acura, RL stands for
"road luxury". Anyone who has driven/owned an
RL would agree that Acura has hit its mark with
this car. I only wish this car got more respect.
Take care.
Joe W>
your local Audi service department well...you
will be spending alot of time there! Then maybe
we can refresh your memory on the superiority
of the RL. Don't get me wrong, German cars
are great, but reliability is not a strong point
with most of there cars.
Are you sure Fall of 2002? Is it already decided whether to offer RWD or FWD or AWD?
70k is a bit steep, but if Acura sticks to their philosophy of bringing value priced cars, I can't wait to see what a car for that price offers.
According to the Automotive News, issue from 2 - 3
weeks ago, Acura IS STILL DECIDING this year
whether or not to offer the next RL with a front or
rear wheel drive, and the next RL won't come up
until 2003/2004 model year.
The reason is, dealers in the snow country don't
want the next RL to be RWD.
To me, this is a long wait. Why don't they offer
4WD like Audi. This will solve the dilemma, and
won't make me defect to Lexus.
However, who knows, I am still hoping that maybe
they will show the next RL at the Paris show the
end of September. Honda is always full of
surprises.
=====
Well..., Paris show is over, and no new RL from Honda. Note: In the U.S., it will continually be called RL, not Legend. I based this info from some magazines I read, plus the new Integra that will be shown next January will change name to alphanumeric.