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>>Has anyone bought the extended warranty? I personally think it is a must, with all the electronics and the SH-AWD. I can only imagine the cost to repair these in 4 years when the original warranty expires. IMO!!!
I did not buy the extended warranty but can understand more and more how that may be something to reconsider. I have not had a hint of any problems with this RL and it may be another month or 2 before I get the first oil change. But as I rethink all of the sophistication added to the refinement of this great car as well as being the first model year of a new design, something tells me to consider buying the extended warranty. (I have never done that on ANY product in the past.) Additional thoughts welcome.
There is generally a "dealer holdback" on all cars. The dealer holdback on the 2005 RL was $978.00 US. This isn't money they are going to advertise and it's certainly not something they are going to let you eat into unless they desperately need to sell cars. Always make you deal as close to the end of the month (or quarter or year) as possible to ensure the BEST DEAL.
I've done considerable research into my upcoming RL purchase. I really want to try to squeeze every last penny out of the deal. I plan on offering the dealer the following:
2005 RL - List $43,714.00
Celestial Silver
Ebony Leather
Trunk Tray - $0 (I want it included)
Splash Guards - $109
18" Alloy Wheels - $1928
Backup Sensors - $399
Wheel Locks - $0 (I want them included)
Deck Lid Spoiler - $382
Wood Shift Knob - $0 (I want it included)
Updated Navigation DVD - $0 (I want it included)
Destination - $570
Taxes - $2500 (Approx.)
Total price comes to $49,602. I plan on offering $50,000 total. Sign and Drive. $10,000 deposit for purchase.
This will essentially give them the dealer holdback of $978 + some options + any other money they don't tell anyone about.
They can take it or leave it. The 2005 is nearly a year old and certainly not a 2006 (as many other's are now starting to sell). Not to mention there have been plenty of issues with the RL to date. They also need to consider selling close to invoice now that the M35/M45 and GS are new to market.
I'll be sure to let everyone know how well I do when I make my purchase in May.
I like the way you think. My lease on my 2002 RL is up in May and I'm thinking along the same lines. My current lease payments are $480 and I'm not interested in having them double.
In my state (New Hampshire) we are lucky enough to have no sales tax. In terms of a base for leasing, I'm considering an offer of $1,000 over invoice. In other words, $44,700. I know they sell the cars for $46,100, without any haggling and they admit they're still willing to talk. I'd appreciate any comments you or anyone else has about other ways to deal with leases and also dealers who might be more receptive than others. I don't need to stay in somewhat-parochial New England. The car's the same and the service isn't an issue.
I also have to wonder if there aren't other incentives that aren't advertised. Any comments would be appreciated.
Thanks
MIKEJ
$46,000 incl. Destination ChargeConveyance Fee
$279 Conveyance Fee
Total: $46,279 plus sales tax and DMV registration fees.
Method: Sent email at 1:30 PM 3/30 to all dealers within 75 miles (12) with offer to purchase and terms (specific color; no options; cash; no trade-in) with intent to close by end of business 3/31 (end of month and quarter helps). Within 2 hours had four offers; lowest was $46,200 from 2nd closest dealer. Then phoned salesman at the (closest)dealer where I had test driven car who had heard from Sales Manager about my email and told him that another dealer had beaten their email price ($47,000 plus $279)and told him how much. Within 15 minutes had called back to drop price to $46k. Drove over after work and signed paper and gave $3k deposit (max he would allow) on credit card. Car not on lot but says will have in by weekend. Just calls around until finds another dealer with color/leather and then drives different one over and trades for mines which he drives back. Says furthest he ever had to go was Syracuse (4 hour drive).
Later in evening, two far away dealers offered to meet original $46k offer too.
I had picked $46k based on recent discussions on this board plus info from Consumers Reports new car report ($12) which gave wholesale price including some give backs and then offered 6% over that. CR suggested offering 4 to 6% above its wholesale price and then working up. With offer of 6% profit (maybe more if holdbacks CR doesn't know about) and use of email with never a phone call or visit to haggle, got 8 of 12 dealers to bid and got my price. Maybe could have started and gotten lower but am very happy with ease of process and feeling in control. Winning salesman told me $46 k was lowest they had ever gone; usually go to $48k only. May be BS.
I may have my car by late today or tomorrow, and winning dealer was very friendly with no bad vibes when I went in to give deposit last evening.
In my experience, end of month and especially end of quarter is optimal time to deal - they want to get cars off their books (if not off their lot).
Happy hunting and driving.
DIB
Hartford, CT area
RE: the extended warantee, i decided i wanted the extended warantee due to the electronics and AWD, all elementst that can "go" in a few years of driving. I had an interesting experience. I learned before hand that you can purchase an extended warantee anytime before your original is completely done. The cost of the extended warantee was quoted at 1800.00 i believe. I had already plunked down a good chunk of change on the down payment, wanted to keep monthly to a minimum. To the manager i would wait on the extended warantee. We continued on with the transaction then what do you know, he said "well let me take another look at that warantee, what is my cost" he showed me he cost was 1100.00 (which again I new was BS) but looks good on a 8x10 "glossy". He offered the warantee for 1200.00. I took out my check book, wrote a separate check for a grand 1,100.00 and handed it over. To my suprise, he took it. added the warantee, 7 years 100k miles and that was that. I went from 1800.00 to 1,100 in 5 minutes and added the warantee. is there room to deal, when you don't give a darn, well yes. As I said, I wanted the warantee for above stated reasons.
Getch
When I was talking to one of the Acura reps at the show, I started to comment on the price, and he literally finished the sentence for me by agreeing that the car is expensive. Then he proceeded to attempt to justify the price by saying something like the RL is a "lifestyle" car. I had no idea where he was going with that. But he seemed like a sincere enough guy. I enjoyed talking to him, and I just think he, and all the other sales reps, are facing a tough job selling the RL.
It;s not what you "drive" for you are working hard (as you shared) and that is all anyone can expect of him (of her)self. Enjoy the ride (life!) and don't get caught up with what someone else has. ,
MikeV
I think that the comment about cars in this class being "lifestyle" cars is pretty apt. You have to really value a car to buy something in the RL's class. There are tons of great cars out there for about half the price if you just want transportation.
On the other hand, as someone who ( I believe ) is smart with money, I'd prefer to have the same lifestyle and save some money. The RL is overpriced at 49K. It's a reasonable buy at 44 to 45 K. There's no reason why we should have to lease these cars at $700 to $900 per month when, they should be in the range of $500 to $600.
It's my life style I care about. Not my dealer's.
Just my two cents. Hang in there. I believe that prices are on the way down.
MikeJ.
kirstie_h
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BTW, why is the Edmunds "True Market" trade in value so much higher than anything posted by Kelly Blue Book, Black Book, and every other source that dealers use? Is "True Market" trade-in value realistic? Every source I could find on my A4 trade value showed $19.5K, but Edmunds "True Market" figure come in at $22K (in fact, $23K if I marked "outstanding" condition). Something doesn't look right with the Edmunds figure. Of course, Edmunds is also saying "True Market" for RL is MSRP, which is about $4500+ off the mark...
Have you had any problems with yours? On the problems board, lots of electronic glitches. I wonder if the car's electronics were thoroughly testd before introduction.
The remote keyfob is critically important. You can't leave it in the car (or within 2 feet) for an extended time, since if you do, the car "knows" it's there and it will continue to remain "on." I think this explains some of the issues pertaining to the battery going dead.
The RL also "remembers" details for the last occupant, and if multiple passengers approach the car with their own remotes, it will set audio/climate control/seats, etc. based on which person/remote touches the car first. This explains some of the cases where someone gets back into their car and somehow their XM and other settings have inexplicably disappeared. They haven't disappeared---they've just been set for a different occupant. Also, each remote is unique to a driver, so if I get in with my wife's remote, it will set everything based on her settings. I can see why this can confuse people when they are not accustomed to it.
Finally, many of the diagnostics in this car are tied to the satellite and XM links. When those links go bad for whatever reason, it can impact the computer codes in the car. There obviously have been some minor glitches and service bulletins to reset some of the computer codes or satellite settings. This car is so full of high tech wizardry that it feels like you're driving a mainframe computer on wheels! But it is a nice ride---and there's nothing else quite like it on the road. It's not fair to compare the RL to V8 cars, since the VTEC V6 does not have as much low end torque. You have to wind it a bit to find the powerband, but it's very smooth all the way to the 6800rpm redline. That is not what most sport sedan owners expect....they want instant power when they hit the gas.
This is a great car and I'm looking forward to getting to know it better. The problem is, it's my wife's car, so I only get to drive it about 20% of the time. :-(
Backseat and trunk also felt a bit tighter in the GS, although the RL doesn't blow you away in those areas, either.
I do like the touch screen approach in the Lexus, and no joy stick. And the interior is extremely classy and comfortable. But the controls in the Acura are also relatively simple. You can't go wrong with either car!! Good luck.
Thanks!
Several weeks ago, I emailed 7 or 8 different Acura dealers in the Chicago region and received 5 or 6 replies with quotes ranging from a low of $45,700 + destination ($570) to $47,940 including destination. I told each dealer the color combination I was interested in and that my purchase time frame was in the next 30 days or so I advised that I had already driven the car and to please advise their best price via email. Several dealers immediated wanted my telephone number but I advised that I had no intention of negotiating price on the phone. Those dealers neglected to answer subsequent emails and I dropped them from consideration. This narrowed down my choice to 3 different dealers.
The best deal I had so far was $45,700 without destination, (from dealer 1) so I asked one dealer (dealer 2) if he could meet that price, and he said he would, and I asked the other dealer (dealer 3) if he would accept invoice + $1000 + destination for a total of $45,284. I provided my phone number to this dealer if he wished to contact me for further talks. After several days of phone calls in which messages were left on voice mail and unanswered emails from dealer 3, I dropped him from consideration. Then on late friday afternoon, I emailed dealer 1, and said that since the invoice price was $43,714, their price quote was too high. I offered him the same deal I offered dealer 3, invoice + $1000 + destination, $45,284 and that if he accepted, I would be over the next day with a deposit check for $2000 and I wouldn't be required to visit the other dealers I had been conversing with. After about 30 minutes, said dealer emailed back and accepted my offer. On saturday, I traveled to dealer 1 and began negotiations for my trade in. After an hour and a half of negotiating back and forth, we came to a price for my trade in and since it was a bit lower than I was looking for, I asked them to throw in the splash guards free. They countered the spash guards at cost, installed. I accepted. They quoted the splash guards at $159, so I paid a total of $45,443. This price included the destination charge and as mentioned splash guards, plus tax, title, license and doc fees. Now during this negotiation, dealer 2 called my cellphone and offered a price of $500 less than his initial offer of $47,940 for a new price of $47,440. I requested he forward a formal offer to my email address, but since dealer 1 was still offering the best price, I decided to complete the deal there.
However!! During the document signing phase, my salesman handed over the purchase agreement and as I was looking over the numbers, saw something that quickly caught my eye. In the column reporting vehicle purchase price, instead of showing $45,443, they were showing $48,443!!! Someone added $3000 to my purchase price! To put it mildly, I politely pointed out that discrepancy and the salesman quickly grabbed the purchase agreement and disappeared into the back room, only to emerge a few minutes later with a correctly quoted purchase agreement, all the while apologizing profusely. Had dealer 2 offered invoice + $1000 + destination on the phone call, I would have walked out. Be very careful with these dealers, especially McGrath Acura of Westmont!
Later than evening, as I was driving my new car home. Dealer 2 left a message on my cell phone accepting my offer of invoice + 1000 + destination! Dealer 1 has no idea how close they were to losing this deal.
If anyone is interested in purchasing a new RL and is just beginning their purchase research, I would suggest offering invoice + destination and maybe a few hundred over that and working your way up. I think if I had been a little more patient and been more active in contacting dealer 2, I would have made out better in either the new car price or my trade in.
I apologize for the length of my post, but I hope it helps other people not get ripped off by these dealers. During the purchase phase, the manager of dealer 1 said they sell 20 or so RL's per month and mostly at $2500 - $3000 over invoice. I countered that these people need to do better research on their cars.
Good luck everyone and thanks also to the previous posters. Their information and experiences were invaluable.
My question to him, or anyone else with recent experience is this: I want to lease. Ultimately, the purchase price governs the amount of lease payments or cap reduction. It does, however, complicate the negotiation process. Any suggestions of ways of dealing with this extra level of problems?
Thanks
MIKEJ
Do the calculations before you go.. Figure out what the payment should be using your target price and the base rates... On a 36 month lease, you can figure $3 per month higher for every $100 you pay over your target price.
This is easy to do on an RL, because there is only one model and one MSRP.
regards,
kyfdx
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Also, a few weeks ago, I found a lease calculation web site, where you plugged in the price, money factor, number of months, etc. and they gave you the monthly payments. Kind of like what the dealers do. I can't seem to find it now. Anyone know where it is?
Thanks
MIKEJ
Great car, I have a White one. I got a recall for 3 items. I experienced a intermittent problem with the lighting system (AFS) which stop working 3 times so far. The front bumper chips easily. The chrome rear exhaust pipes are not extended correctly and a lot of soot backs up and collects on the bumper (they are do a re-design so I am told). Received an updated GPS disc in the mail this week.
Great ride!!!
Sorry, I have no info concerning lease information for the '05 RL. I wasen't even considering leasing over buying. I expect to keep this car for much more than 4 or 5 years.
bartalk3,
Overall, besides their "mistake", I think they were fine to deal with. I think what really helped my situation was the fact that I was at first dealing almost exclusively via email and refused to accept phone calls until I was in the final stages of my purchase. This prevented them from giving me the "what do you need to complete this deal today?" line of BS. This kept the negotiations within my own control and timeframe, and never felt rushed into making a poor decision. My salesman seem genuinely surprised to see the "mistake", but maybe he was just a good actor. He didn't press the issue at all, maybe because I had all of our email conversations printed out and sitting in a manila envelope with me that never left my side. In fact, I had printouts of my trade in value from autotrader and the NADA guide as well as info from the Kelly Blue Book. So they knew I was prepared. If someone tried to pull a fast one, it was a poor effort and they picked the wrong person.
mp2,
Dealer 1 was McGrath Acura of Westmont. Sorry, I mixed up the names of dealer 2 and dealer 3. The other dealer that accepted my offer of invoice + $1000 + destination was Ed Napleton Acura of Elmhurst. The last dealer I was conversing with was Continental Acura of Naperville. The best offer from them was $45,700 plus destination of $570.
Thanks again
mp2
Good luck and let us know how it turns out
Acura RL Owners: Problems & Solutions
Acura RL
That, in my opinion, is why they are having trouble selling these cars. The M doesn't feel or look like anything Nissan makes, the GS, although somewhat similar to the Avalon, is still also without direct comparison within Toyota. Plus people buy into the Lexus reliability theme. But not the RL. To me, it's just an Accord in AWD clothing.
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I couldn't disagree with you more. I've had my RL since October and have a good friend with an Accord, in which I've ridden numerous times. There is no comparison between the two cars, other than they look like siblings. First of all, most people don't "need" AWD; however, after driving my RL for six months, I wouldn't dream of going back to a FWD and I've never liked RWD. Second, my RL is much quieter, has far superior interior materials, the seats are more comfortable, and yes, it has better gadgets than the Accord. Whether all that is worth the $15,000 premium, you'll have to decide. But for me, I love my RL and wouldn't dream of buying an Accord instead.
Honda Accord vs Acura TSX and the RL is compared here:
Acura RL vs. Audi A6 vs. BMW 5-Series vs. Jaguar S-Type vs. Lexus GS
on our Comparisons - Sedans vs. Sedans board. Please take this conversation to that board - you are welcome to start a new discussion there. But let's reserve this one for conversation specifically related to purchasing an Acura RL.
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Rear view camera is not available on the 2005 RL.
Given what I have read on this Board recently, starting a discussion at MSRP seems unrealistic as does having to put almost $4,000 down up front for this car.
What does everyone think? Is this dealer trying to take me for a ride? Where do I realistically wanna be on good lease deal for the RL? Would appreciate your knowledgeable feedback. Thanks.