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I feel for you and would probably be bummed as well if I were in your shoes. Clearly sales are not what Acura had hoped they would be; the interest for the RL is not nearly as high as Acura had hoped for. Motor Trend magazine ran a poll in conjunction with a 6-sedan comparison. They asked readers "Which luxury sedan would you buy?" The RL finished dead last with 1% of the vote (171,368 votes to date)
Infiniti M35 - 64%
Audi A6 3.2 - 24%
Jaguar S-Type - 3%
BMW 530i - 2%
Cadillac STS V6 - 2%
Acura RL - 1%
However, since the RL lists for $49K, you could also argue that only a moron would vote to spend $55K since that is $6K over its list price.
When 2 models capture 88% of the total vote, and cars as diverse as the S-Type, 5-series, STS, and RL collectively garner only 8%, there is something wrong. It's so far off real world sales that you have to wonder about the validitiy of such a poll.
bartalk, FWIW, the Q45 is amazingly still around. I'm pretty sure Infiniti still wants to do another one. I seriously dont see the RL going away. Part of its problem is the platform just doesnt allow for enough size, which cant be fixed with a midcycle refresh. The styling part can though. I think if Acura makes some changes and makes the car more agressive like the TSX and TL, it may get more interest.
The M has no key. It's a push button starter. Key fob in your pocket. Or your cupholder/ashtray/keyfob slot.
I can't comment on the navigation or voice command of the 5 series, as I found the interior to be so ugly (imo) that I didn't bother to explore it much further than a basic test drive. Also, if you drive both, 525i vs M35, you will find that the M35 blows the 525i away....if that sort of thing is important to you.
The Smart Shopper board I linked for you is also a good resource, as I ~correctly~ noted in that post.
Key fob in your pocket, touch the door handle to unlock, press the start button wth foot on the brake to turn over the engine.
It will be available in the new 3 series starting sometime in September.
The main difference between the Lexus version and the BMW version is that the Lexus version will work.
I did read on the e60.net forums that there are rumors that comfort access will be an option for the 5 series later in the year, but I think the price point would probably be around $1000.
Any further comments will be appreciated.
I know this will not make you feel any better but the brand new GS 300 is currently experiencing a big price drop off MSRP right now. Based on the previous pricing history with the GS it will only get worse - or better if you want to buy one.
Thanks.
That's why they call you Dr. Travel and me Mr. Travel.
That's why they call you Dr. Travel and me Mr. Travel.
Actually for this forum I should be called Dr. Driver - Dr. Travel refers to my yearly overseas vacations. Anyhow I wanted a more sporty sedan - that's why I already bought an M. I had been a loyal Lexus owner since 1992 - before that Porsche.
Happy M(emorial) Day.
The only reason that I mentioned the slalom test was that "Road & Track" felt compelled to mention it in their review. It seemed as if they made the comment to suggest that they did not achieve the results expected in the test.
Comments have been made regarding this particular comparison test that the M won merely because of the subjective factors. That is true but I think if one takes that approach it also fair to say that the reason the 545 finished as close as it did was because of subjective factors. While they lost big points in styling type issues they also won big points in the performance/driving area. Would this seem logical considering that the only fact based part of the test, actual performance figures, give the tiniest of edges to the M?
The remaining primary quantifiable numbers available to compare are price, residuals, safety and reliability. We know for a fact that the M easily wins the price battle and has an edge in residuals. Safety certainly is a strong point of any BMW and I think the M would be doing well to achieve the same results. Tests of recent model Infiniti's have shown that they have done quite well in this arena as well. As far as reliability goes, the M is new but I would have no reservations in betting anyone that it will be far more reliable than any BMW product at 1, 3 or 5 year reporting periods.
So after all that rambling the conclusion that one can safely reach is that everybody should buy the car they most enjoy. Reviews can be helpful in the sense that they may point someone to a car they may have not otherwise considered. Past that they are mainly a source of entertainment and debate.
Amen, brother!
Martin
Strangely, No. Except for BMW the car manufacturers in this class do not seem to have grasped the fact that so many of us now have all our music on iPods. (Virtually all of my stuff is recorded in Apple Lossless format, so it really is CD quality, and doesn't have all the "air" compressed out of it.)
An input jack is standard on the new BMW's. To get the input jack on the M you have to order the full bore $7K Journey + Technology package. Neither the RL or GS offer one at any price.
The question then becomes: "can I have someone add a jack after I buy the car?" The answer is "it depends" (and, it will probably void the warrantee on the audio system).
I had a jack added to my 2005 Subaru Legacy GT Limited by Phantom Electronics in Thousand Oaks, CA. Since this was the first one the guy had done, he charged me $350. It is not perfect (between tracks with the volume turned up you can hear a little cross-talk from the radio). But it is vastly better than any other alternative.
The service manager at the Inifinity dealer I have been talking to is pretty convinced that it would be easy to add a jack to the Journey package cars -- and probably to the base audio system as well. The Acura dealer in Albuquerque tells me that a dealer-installable add-on kit for the RL is coming. (He says that Acura goofed by not making it standard.) The Lexus dealer in Thousand Oaks, CA told me to go to Phantom. But they (Phantom) do not know if it is possible to hack the ML audio system. The Lexus dealer in Albuquerque just gave me a dumb look.
At least the RL's system will play MP3s. Since I've already ripped my entire music collection to MP3 format on my computer hard drive, burning an MP3 disc or 3 for car playback would take only a few minutes. It's unfortunate that the GS apparently doesn't allow that.
FYI, my neighbor just got a new 2006 GS300 with the standard audio system and it HAS a cassette deck, in addition to the 6 CD-changer.
Martin
The new IS will play mp3 CD's, and it will have an input (iPOD) jack as well.
YTD through May, RL sales now stand at 6,867. Acura still has to hustle to reach its stated target of 20,000 annual sales. Sales tend to pick up in the warmer months, and although it's too early to say, appears they'll end the year somewhere in the ballpark of 18,000 unit sales.
Anybody have figures for Infiniti, Audi, BMW, and Mercedes?
Overall sales: 17,811, down 1.8% over May-04
E-class sales: 3,569 down 29% over May-04 and down 29% YTD over last year.
Part of the reason may be the CLS is cannibalizing E-class sales. CLS sales were 1,550 for the May-05.
Audi Sales figures:
OVerall sales: 6,455 for May-05, down 6.1%
Audi A6 sales: 1,313 down 4.7% over May-04.
It seems like the A6 is getting lost in the marketplace. Even the A4 isn't as strong a seller as it used to be in it's previous generation.
BMW sales figures:
OVerall BMW sales dropped 5.7% to 23,048. This is probably largely due to the new 3-series production.
The 5-series sold 3,611 in May-05 vs. 4,336 in May-04.
5 = 3,611
E = 3,569
STS = 3,346
GS = 3,141
M = 2,170
RL = 1,404
A6 = 1,313
Total = 18,554
April 2005 Sales:
5 = 4,571
E = 3,731
STS = 3,541
GS = 3,198
M = 2,288
A6 = 1,635
RL = 1,304
Total = 20,268
What's faster?: The E55 or the CLS 55?
Yeah, as I said, not good for Audi. Their cars constantly get good ratings but it seems their sales, overall, are going down. The previous generation Audi A4 used to sell around 4K units a month, now they are down to about 2K/month. The A6 was pretty competitive with the Lexus GS in sales numbers around 1998 to 1999. Now that has fallen off also. They need that Q7 SUV ASAP.