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Comments
As far as styling goes, even though I'm the proad owner of a '04 HL now, I still prefer the MDX on looks.
TIA.
- I saw on JD Powers that MDX/Pilot quality is below HL. What are your research result and experience?
- What are the MDX features missing vs. full-loaded HL Ltd AWD Ltd?
Thanks
The Kelly Blue Book site (kbb.com) includes dealer prices for the wind deflector and running boards (not sure if they are color-keyed).
It's been an interesting experience. I went in with very specific things I wanted and didn't want only to find Toyotas build-to-order system practically non-existent. (Not to mention some real scary dealerships!) For example, I really had no desire for a moonroof - try finding a Limited without one! I also set out to get any color other that white, but someone drove up in a white one at the dealership and that sealed the deal for me. It's a very cool looking vehicle and rides beautifully.
TIA.
TIA.
We bought '03 MDX Touring Package back in February and love it! From what I can remember, the base MDX doesn't have: 6 disks in dash CD changer, Acura's Premium Stereo instead on Bose, memory seats, roof rack, mud flaps, and maybe some more that I can't remember. Whereas the HL limited has all these except for the memory seats. 04s MDX increased 5hp to 265hp. My suggestions is to go test drive both and see if you really need the extra Convenience of 6 CDs, memory seats, etc.
I'm planning to purchase an AWD HL limited (mdx is wife's car) in a couple of months so just last week I test drove one from Piercey Toyota (San JOse, CA)...I love it. It's more refined than I expected. A little under powered than the MDX but not big of a deal, both has enough power for freeway passing. MDX has a roomier interior. Transmission shifts seamlessly for both cars but a little more so on the MDX. Price wise, you'll get more bang for the bucks for a HL but I still like the looks of the MDX..and Acura doens't sell MDX below MSRP....
Oh, the fleet mgr. from Piercey quoted $400 over invoice for AWD HL limited with leather, side curtain air bags, and everything else EXCEPT DVD/Nav for 32,165 + 400 before tax and license. I'm also getting running boards for an additional $410 installed at the factory instead of the dealer. This is what the fleet mgr recommended since the dealer will charge me 800 if installed at the dealer. The guy was very cool, gave me the keys to test drive by myself and told me to bring it back whenever without checking my id...
Thanks.
tmagda: I checked Carmax (Laurel) at BBB.org they have a pretty decent record. They seem to be the price leader from my limited research. If you like, check fitzmall.com, they also post their asking prices.
Price before tax and reg $32925
Had to settle for third choice on color though.
Thin supply. Toyota of Newport (Rhode Island)
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2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h)
Review your vehicle
We paid $25,848 less $2000 for a 10 year / 100K mile Merc Villager. The dealer orginally offered only $1500 for the trade-in. After uping the offer to $2K for the trade-in we accepted the deal. Buying on Nov 28 with delivery on Nov 30 helped get a good deal. Financing was 3.39% / 48 months thru the dealer and Chase Manhattan.
After a few hours of ownership I am very happy with the purchase. I would have like a few more bells and whistles like a power antenna and lit vanity mirrors, but I was not willing to spend the extra.
I am hoping for years of trouble free service from our first Toyota. We have been a Nissan family for 10+ years.
My only questions is regading service. With my Altima I change the oil every 4 to 5K miles, replace worn parts (tires, battery, brakes)
and fix items when they break. I do not follow the Nissa maintenace schedule. How important is it to follow the Toyota maintenance schedule which seems a lot more expensive them "if it ain't broke don't fix it" approach?
Also, posts that include trad-ins are a little less black and white. Maybe they sold you a car at invoice but made $1000 on your trade.
Supply and demand I guess. Anyway, I feel like I got a decent deal overall. Not to mention my price includes free pickup of my Highlander for service and a free rental car.
>I'm just saying that a Highlander Limited 4x4 >is very hot up here in the Northeast. Buyer's >don't have much leverage. In fact you can >hardly find a lot that has more than a couple >Limiteds.Supply and demand I guess. Anyway, I >feel like I got a decent deal overall. Not to >mention my price includes free pickup of my >Highlander for service and a free rental car.
Agreed. I paid more for my Limited 4x4 than I had anticipated - South Jersey. But I just absolutely love this vehicle! I've had it two weeks and put 800 miles on it. Having test drove a Pilot and MDX, I know I made the right choice for me.
FE
SR - Sun Roof
TO - Towing Prep Package
AG - Appearance Package
CQ - Convenience Package
DJ - Radio, Premium JBL am/fm stereo w/CD
NE - Steering Wheel Touch Control
HE - Preferred Pkg
CF - Mats
Price $26,338.00 +TTL, I had no trade in and no loan. Shopping advice: keep asking for below invoice price, some hung up on me but it didn't hurt to save some bucks for my xmas shopping. Car needs to be in stock to get low price. Shop end of month.
I bought exact same model and options like you at $26,900 + TTL(on 10/31/03). Questions for you
a) is that 4 pieces of mats? do you get trunk mat also? (Mine is 4 pieces, no trunk mat)
b) For vanity mirror, do you have light in your vanity mirror? (Mine do not have light)
Thanks
She had to have the Limited with the 3rd row seat, sunroof, leather, DVD, and Navigation. Had to be silver. I said it had to be AWD. The dealer where we test drove it and our closest dealer didn't have one the way we wanted it. I'm not about to pay $35,000+ for a color I don't want, or without options I want. So I applied for dealer quotes several places on line. I received one quote $300 over invoice for a different color, and several quotes for $1000+ over invoice.
I wound up paying $400 over invoice through CarsDirect, and picked it up at Longo Toyota in El Monte, CA. It was a little more work than I expected to find exactly what we wanted, but once we found it, the transaction went very smooth. Lucky I live in So Cal.
The MSRP was $39,637 (gulp). Our price:
Cash price with all options: $35,486
Sales Tax: $ 2,931
6 year 100k warranty: $ 1,195
License and doc.: $ 326
-------
TOTAL out the door: $39,938
Financed through my credit union at 4.25% (The dealer wanted 4.99%). 20% down. Don't buy gap insurance if you are putting 20% down.
Very happy to find that my new Highlander has both Navigation AND 6 disc in dash CD changer, WITHOUT the Nav screen that flips up to access the CD player. After it's broken in ... :-)
no light on my vanity, altho it is supposed to be there, toyota is shipping without. I don't plan to pursue this altho you can have them change it out if you want, just ask, you paid for the option and it is under warranty.
its a nice car, altho I would like better mileage, and will take a serious look at the hybrid lexus suv next year.
My biggest complaint with the car is the wind noise when rear windows are open, it is painful and obnoxious until I adjust the windows right.
We were going to get our highlander without the Nav system, but after test driving one with the Nav, she wanted it. Again, I'm happy that the 2004s don't have that stupid flip-up Nav screen any more.
Functionality:
We tried it on the way home from the dealer, and it gave us a logical routing, although it indicated our home (built October 2001) about a block away (earlier phase in our tract). It also does not indicate our street name. Streets built in 2002 or later do not appear on the map at all.
This update problem is probably typical of other car navigation systems. Mapping software you buy in a store might also be out of date, but not as much, depending on the brand.
The Nav system has given good routing here in northern Los Angeles. It calls out each turn you need to take with ample time to get to the correct lane. If you accidentally or purposely deviate from the route mapped out for you, it will re-calculate the best route based on your current location and direction. It even indicated us to make a legal U-turn in the correct spot on a divided street.
It has a memory for 100 points you can pre-program, so you can always get the route to your uncle's house, no matter what part of the state you are in. (If it routes to his house. It probably routes to 95% of the houses in the U.S.)
It has ATMs, restaurants, parks, gas stations, motels, and many other kinds of points of interest in it's database. It even has a calendar function, and a lot of maintenance reminders.
Around town, it's just fine. Cross country, not so good.
I searched for the route to my dad's house in northern Michigan. It said his house number (on a dirt road in the forest) did not exist, but it indicated a destination spot only 400 feet from where his house is. It did show the dirt roads to and around his house.
But the route mapping did not indicate the turns all the way to his house. It stopped about 10 miles away. It also did not route I-94 East out of Gary, Indiana, and did not route I-76 northeast out of Denver, Colorado. This last would add 2-3 hours on the trip, a big loss.
For my wife, It's a must have. She is a real estate agent, and will use it regularly. For me, I'm a gadget lover, so it's cool. I also collect maps, so I will not be led astray.
If you need the route in the city, it's fine. If you need rural routing, not good. It will show the destination point, and all the streets, but the routing won't get you all the way there.
I haven't learned the whole program yet. I wonder if it does tracking like my hand held GPS? So I can find my way back when I go exploring?
BTW, Yes it is easy to put in an address and get a route. And the map is easy to read. Since the directions are spoken, you don't have to read the map while you drive, a critical safety feature. The wife loves it.
Learning all of the Nav functions is a little more complex, but mostly logical, so far. Had a little trouble with certain memory delete functions, but I am learning to use it by trial and error, without the manual (the gadget freak in me, LOL). If I really get stuck, I'll read it. Destination points sit in a temporary memory, and so does the route. But there are permanent memory banks for destinations; none are needed for routes, since it only takes a couple seconds to recalculate (too much info?).
Important bonus:
If you have both the DVD player and the Nav system, you can watch the DVD movie on the Nav screen while the car is parked with the emergency brake on. Now I can chill in the car with kids while the wife shops. :-)
Happy shopping!
Steve, Host
know a decent dealership to go to in North Jersey. I live in Morris County and the dealership in Morristown I don't like. I tried
to purchase a HL in 2001 and all I rec'd was an attitude from the salesperson. All they had on the lot was HL's loaded to hilt and to boot the salesperson wouldn't let me test drive unless I signed a contract to purchase the vehicle. Most
recently I had to negotiate a RAV for my sister in
law at the same dealership (she insisted) and it was a terrible experience.
Listed for $34,477.
Edmunds TMV for my zip code approximately $31,700.
Got it for $30,000 even, including destination charge (but not including $1500 MA tax, $86 plate fee, $5 "title prep" and $135 "dealer administration fee.")
Called them before I bought mine in RI and they told me that the bluestone was the hardest one to get. Hard to believe that you got it below invoice. Did you use a gun? lol
They were anxious to sell a car... The two weekend snow storms had put them behind. My sales guy said the previous Sunday (bad weather) they hadn't sold one.
I've twice now had good luck buying cars in December. I think most dealers will bend over backward to move a car then, unless the car is super hot. (According to IRA's web site inventory, they had over 30 HLs on the lot.)
Also against the Limited, the $30,000 - $31,000 ballpark was our price limit. We couldn't find another make of car at this price that offered our two mandatories of all wheel drive and rear side-curtain airbags. (The Murano is more, and my wife hates the looks.) If Subaru had side-curtain airbags we would have bought an Outback. The HL is replacing a ten year old Legacy wagon that has been absolutely bullet-proof.
I was at a party last weekend and it was brought up that you really should always try to be at least 800 to 1,000 under the posted TMV. I was $1,200 under (at the time)and still paid too much.
I agree with your Limited comments and I also don't like the automatic climate controls. I had that on another car and it was always doing strange things like putting the air conditioning on when it was 30 degrees outside.