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Acura MDX (pre-2007)
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I've held off on the color-keyed body side moldings, I haven't been motivated enough to get them. I think they'll help some dings, but not all dings (given different door shapes and sizes). They look decent enough, though, and seem to be professional finished (e.g. the edges look professional, not just someone taking an knife and cutting off a raw piece of rubber strip).
http://www.acuramdx.org/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1217
Net-net, they're painting the fender flares, lower trim, and tailgate deflector for a fee.
Purely personal preference, but I really dislike the non-painted fender flares when they're applied on certain MDX colors. Painting them is a good option, assuming it's a good paint job (and there's no reason to doubt them, given past positive experiences with them).
I must say that Tim has been really great in being proactive and responding to owners' desires. He's been consistently doing this since he began with MDX owners months ago.
Your dealer's full of ..... baloney!! Acura warrantees all genuine Acura parts - no matter where you buy them from. The only one that you'll absolutley definately want to have dealer installed is the steering wheel.
BTW I've bought all my accessories from Tim at HondaAcuraWorld,com and had them installed by my dealer -- and saved a fortune.
Rail
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'01 Mahogany w/Navi, 18" wheels
I am wondering if anyone else out there had to wait like 2 weeks and pay $ 750 over MSRP like I did?
The salesman was great and the dealership service personal have also been great when they added my side steps and fender flares.
Great Car ! I am amazed that Domestic manufactuers cant do the same ?
Take care...
I know they want to show potential buyers all the options, but a $47,000+ MDX? Oh, they were scheduling delivery in October.
Glad I went with my dealer who told me we're on track for a late April delivery.
Scott
4,358 MDX's were sold, compared to 6,621 RX's, and 3,911 M-classes, and 3,651 X5's.
RX sales are down from the same period a year ago, 7,644 to 6,621. M-class sales down from 4,556 to 3,911.
http://www.jdpower.com/auto/hot_sellers/FindHotSellers.jsp
thanks for any and all responses.
SUVs are exempt only if the GVWR (look on the driver's side door jamb) is 6000+ lbs.
If I remember correctly, the MDX is a few hundred pounds below this.
I have seen bike attachements at hondaacura web site. I would like one that attaches at the back of the vehicle.( not on top )Does anybody know who sells these ? Thanks in advance.
Glad your MDX is working out great for you, we're enjoying ours quite much.
According to the IRS:
"The tax on sales of luxury passenger vehicles (IRS No. 92) during 2001 is reduced to 4% of the sales price in excess of $38,000."
http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/prod/bus_info/excise/excise-chg.html
Because the MDX is technically classified as a passenger vehicle through its GVWR, as Ken pointed out, it is subject to luxury tax. The M-class, by the way, is technically not classified as a passenger vehicle and is thus exempt.
The selling price of the MDX shouldn't exceed $38,000 by much, since the MSRP of the vehicle is under $40k. If the dealership is trying to charge you a premium, some work in calling around, and some patience, can yield a purchase at MSRP.
If the price is being boosted by accessories, there are two things that can be done:
1) Buy the accessories from a reputable place that provides good discounts, like www.hondacuraworld.com. Even if you get the dealer to eventually install them, you still end up ahead and won't have to pay luxury tax (though of course you can't finance that part of the purchase).
2) Have the dealership put the accessories as a separate purchase. Again, you won't be able to finance that piece, but it'll avoid luxury tax.
Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous dealers who will resort to misapplying tax rates and/or using calculation errors in their favor to boost their profit. And also unfortunately, there are some bad Acura and MB dealerships out there. But I bet the corporate office will take a very, very dim view of that practice, which is illegal.
Good luck!
I have read somewhere that a customer had a dealer install just the tow hitch, on the customer's insistence because they just wanted to add a bike rack.
An alternative is to get a third-party hitch. I'm not familiar with those options, however.
I wouldn't characterize the towing package as mega bucks, though it isn't cheap either. As with many accessories, the prices vary wildly because the dealers can set the part prices and labor costs. I've seen both reasonable prices for the installed package, and unreasonable prices. Hondacuraworld sells the parts for US$502.99 (including shipping, I believe). For bikes-only, an auto shop could probably install the hitch-only pretty easily and not too much money. Hondacuraworld has the installation instructions for the hitch and the coolers on their web site (www.hondacuraworld.com) so getting estimates should be pretty easy.
INKY
I do agree with inky on the production volume why Honda/Acura can't keep up with the demand on some models(Odyssey, MDX). Other companies don't seem to have this problem.
High demand for first year MDX = more discounted MLs and RXs?
The RX's are already heavily discounted as William has pointed out (they have a lot of dealer margin).
The MLs have 1/3-1/2 less dealer margin so you can't get as steep a discount unless you want to wait until late summer because of the significant MY2002 changes.
No doubt that M-class sales might slow down in anticipation of the 2002 "refresh" (not a model replacement, though), so I'd take its numbers with a grain of salt.
And from the numbers, despite declining luxury SUV sales, no one can tell me that some of the MDX units aren't coming out of the hides of its competitors.
If the MDX were a poor vehicle, its demand probably wouldn't be exceeding its supply level. So the number is just further proof for that last person here who needs some convincing. We strive to be thorough ;-)
As far as limited supply of MDX's and Odysseys, this topic has been discussed so thoroughly in the past and present that I don't really have anything more to add to it but my sympathies for would-be owners. I must admit, though, the selfish and guilty (albeit short-lived) pleasure that I enjoy where there's relatively less MDX's on the road with me. Around my parts I see several RX300's each morning, it's no longer a very unique vehicle.
In my own case, I'm happy, but our situation was somewhat forced. We had a baby on the way, and really, really needed a bigger vehicle -- not too convenient or safe to shove an infant seat into the back seat of an Integra 2-door! So we ended up with the choice of a 2000 RX300 at "year end discount," the 2001 MDX, and the year-end 2000 ML320. While they're all fine vehicles, we went for the MDX and have no regrets.
The RX was a fairly distant third choice for us, and, while the current 2001 is a really great vehicle, I'm glad it worked out the way it did. We either would have purchased the year-end 2000 RX300 and then been really ticked about the new features in the 2001 and the lower prices, or we might have broken down and bought the 2001 model at the new-model-year-premium (little discount) that existed in this area for about a month or two, before the discounts became sharp.
Timing has as much to do with any vehicle purchase than the vehicle itself. I daresay that, based on still-not-fully-substantiated-info, and an unknown pricing structure, that had we had our baby a year later, the 2002 ML320 would be a much stronger contender, what with all the expected improvements.
Though of course the day will come when prospective MDX buyers will enjoy some level of discount, and the inevitable new features to be added in later model years.
I'm still debating about whether or not to get our tailgate deflector painted ... I guess procrastinating in installing it may have paid off if we do decide to get it painted.
It's probably also useful at this time to echo the cautions that Ken has provided here. We're not sure how the dealer attaches the flares, and whether there's any gap between the flares and the original body panels. There could be a nasty potential for abrasive dirt to get in there and do some serious damage.
There have been gripes about somewhat limited coverage (less than what Alpine provides), though the arguments get pretty convoluted and I don't know what to think anymore (e.g. Alpine tends to itemize individual suburbs more, inflating their navigation point count, while Acura doesn't; but Acura seems to still provide less coverage).
You should check with your dealership and verify that your area has good coverage.
E.g., ML owners are griping that the Nav software doesn't put them on the right street and gives them bogus directions to "correct" their course. Last year, it reported some folks at a 164' altitude all the time.
MDX owners have complained that the map maker has lots more coverage, but Acura trimmed most of it off.
Yes you should confirm that your area is covered if you plan on using it in your area. Only major areas are included to date. Navtech, the supplier of the database, promises to cover all us roads within two years. That should be a simple upgrade to the Acura DVD when they do. You might also consider how the Navi would be used when you travel. For example I don't live in So Cal but when I travel there the Navi is indispensable.
Chris
Ask the dealer why and press the sales manager for the 'real' reason. Reduced production is HIGHLY unlikely because
* Am. Honda is selling every single Odyssey and MDX produced at the Canada plant
* Honda does not have plant shutdowns that are traditional in the auto industry for re-tooling between model years.
* Even if they did, that would be July/August, not March/May
* Parts shortages should not exist with all the extra capacity suppliers now have
Originally, allotments for the MDX were based from the sales of the slow moving Integra. Maybe Acura is still doing that, or added in the now slowing CL to the mix. Acura was using the MDX as bait to get the dealers to focus on selling slow movers instead of just always pilling on the TL and MDX.
Where those 6 are no longer in the plans at the Boston dealer - some other dealer is going to get 6 extra IMO.
DC
Really appreciate your input. Thanks in advance.
Unfortunately, the flares are not the gasketed type you find on the Land Cruiser which would probably hold up better.
The ML has similiar flares (though w/o the double sided tape in the first two years). People found that after a year, dirt got inside and sanded the paint down and rust started forming. In the cases I know of, the MB dealer repainted the area. I would hope that Acura would do the same thing. The question is: would you risk having this happen?
Really appreciate your input. Thanks in advance.
options to the car to bring up the price.
There may be others here who can give you more substantive input, but this will at least be a start. Good luck with your purchases!
There's a gentleman on www.acuramdx.org who claims to work at the Odyssey/MDX plant in Ontario, and he says "only time we shut down is one week in July and one week in December." He's thoroughly refuted any slowdown/shutdown claims.
He also confirmed the rumors about diamond white pearl as a new color in the 2002 MDX.
INKY
I posted this earlier but it appears the Edmunds software has blown a fuse...
Check out my previous post #1823 on this board for a good L.A. Acura dealer for your MDX.
Good luck.
Jeff
Thank you for your patience,
Drew
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That's what happened to us with the Gillman Acura dealer in Houston. Here are some details:
- around 3/20/2001, ordered an emerald green base MDX at MSRP from Gillman Acura by putting down $500 deposit; was told it would come in around 4/15
- 4/10: got call from salesman telling us the MDX has arrived; said window was tinted by mistake but will not charge us for it;
- 4/11: salesman called in the morning offered trade-in price for our old car and said that they won't be able to throw in a wind visor for free; received the sales order by fax; told him that we will get back to him in the evening; called him in the evening and told him we would buy the MDX at MSRP but not to trade-in old car; but he said they wanted to charge me for some already installed accessories, including the window tint; of course we disagree; the salesman said he would talk with his manager and get back to us the next morning.
4/12: never got a call from the saleman and called back in the evening; the saleman was not available and talked with another salesman and was told the MDX was still on the lot and we can come in to pick it up any time;
4/13: called the salesman in the morning to schedule the pick up date but was told the MDX HAD ALREADY BEEN SOLD AND DELIVERED TO SOMEONE ELSE; it's hard to describe the feeling we felt, anger, disbelief, disappointment, felt being cheated...
My husband and I have been searching for a new SUV for several months and finally decided on MDX. This experience totally ruined our expectation on Acura dealer's customer service...
Is there anything we can do at this point? We are really upset about this...
If not, then you let yourself be led around by the dealer. Don't take this personal, it's typical car dealer games.
The more and more I read the stories, it's obvious Acura dealers aren't up to a high standard when it comes to customer experience and service.
That is too much of a generalization, and this has been addressed in this forum a number of times. Some Acura dealerships are more ethical and up to a high standard. You can find individual Acura dealerships that are superior to individual Lexus, BMW, or MB dealerships.
I would, however, agree that when stating overall (sum of all the dealerships) customer service quality as a percentage, that percentage would be lower than that of Lexus and MB.
I do recall that when the RX300 was hot, there were quite a number of complaints in the RX300 forums about the practices of some dealerships. High-demand and short-supply usually encourages the shadier practices and increases the amount of complaints, for any vehicle. Though MB limiting above-MSRP deals was a great touch that Acura-corporate should think about.
But I just don't get it... folks are paying top dollar for these vehicles. And they are getting treated to bait-and-switch tactics? Dealer "enforced" aftermarket accessories to increase profits even further? No loaner cars on what is suppose to be a "luxury" brand.
And I'm just not relating to stories here from actual owners, I experienced some of this stuff first hand when I was shopping the MDX. It left me with a bad taste in my mouth for Acura.
In the end, you are in fact paying a premium when you buy Acura, MB, Lexus, Infiniti, etc., and the customer experience should be first rate and consistent. Just my opinion, YMMV.
If you go back far enough in the RX300 discussions, you'll also find similar complaints when the RX300 was relatively new and commanding top dollar. Lexus dealerships routinely tacked on "regional" packages and forced options on people. E.g. in my area, you can't buy X without being forced to buy Y. E.g. you're forced to get the tow hitch even if you don't tow.
On a similar vein, I have two friends who were treated shabbily by two different Lexus dealerships because (they think) the salesperson thought they looked like "hicks." People can have bad experiences at any dealership.
"No loaner cars on what is suppose to be a 'luxury' brand" is of course another generalization since some (many?) Acura dealerships do provide loaners. I don't think that every Lexus dealership provides loaners as well. Infiniti used to be very good at this, I think it used to be a corporate-wide policy.
Yes, you've well-documented your opinions of the Acura dealerships in your area, and their service and physical facilities. My condolences.
On that vein, though, and as far as one's mileage varying -- my local Lexus dealership has a horribly crowded, cramped facility that they've been talking about moving out of for the last several years (but haven't done). There are virtually no parking spaces on most weekends, you have to stick your car in front of some new cars and hope for the best. Not to mention that you have to drive around the lot gingerly to make sure you don't hit anything.
Inside, it's a bit better, basically they made an investment in a big marine fish tank, and they have some work booths.
Heck, I remember a few years ago a guy marching up and down in front of that Lexus dealership, carrying a protest sign and handing out flyers about how the dealer had mistreated him and ripped him off. Again, everyone's mileage will vary!