Acura RL Prices Paid and Buying Experience

mevande · December 2005

Pappy, Thanks for the information. I agree (you did the research!) re: real dealer cost is closer to 41,000 and if they sell one for 43,500 they are making 2500.00 (plus or minus other incentives). Did you trade you car in and did they give you Kelly Blue book trade in value?

Thanks again and Happy New Year to all.

Mike

pappy164 · December 2005

Yes I did trade my car in and yes they did give me KBB for it. They were a little low at first then we went over to the computer and plugged in my vehicle info into kbb, the price came up on the screen and I said thats what I want. The salesman said we had a deal. I got fair value for my vehicle, it had some dents plus staining in the carpet and a cigarette burn in the back seat. Maybe I could have pushed for a few hundered more towards the good value, but at that point I felt I was on at the deal I wanted and stayed.

Also only negotiate your trade in after you settle on a price for the vehicle your purchasing. Don't let the salesman mix the two. If they ask how much do you want for your trade, tell them you want what its worth but don't give a $$$ amount.

Yeah also if the salesman sells a vehicle and makes a net $2,500 profit for the company he is at least getting 20 percent if not 30. 20 percent of that is $500 and 30 percent is $750, not to shabby for a single car sale. Just think of what they would make selling it for $46,000 or closer to sticker. If they sold this car for $48,917 which is supposedly the KBB for it new, that would be a $8,000 gross profit for dealer, 30 percent is $2,400 for the salesman. Good commission for a couple of hours of paperwork.

mevande · December 2005

Pappy, you are correct re: consumer reports pricing.. other pricing service as well. I have a subscription (3 month), however it shows the new invoice' of $42,411 and that price includes Dealer Holdback of $1,457. The dealer incentive is shown to be to 0.00. Where did you get the data re: dealer incentives driving their (dealers) cost to approx 40,500?

Thanks again

Mike

mevande · December 2005

I have a 1998 BMW 740i in perfect condition with 61,500 miles. Kelly blue book states a trade in for excellent' condition is going to be $11,950. The retail value is 19,100! That is a huge gap. I know retail is the price a dealer would get when sold on his lot, however my car looks new, no dings, dents ect. I agree re: making a deal on the new car 1st and then deal with the trade in. So many people get caught in the trap of letting the dealer link' the two cars (great advice Pappy!). With an estimated target acquisition price of 43,000 and change, I think I will have to sell the car myself to come out whole on the deal. Any thoughts?

Thanks again.

Mike

ajhun9 · December 2005

Get it appraised at Carmax if you have one in the area. I've sold two cars there in the past year and several of my friends have also been able to top the dealer trade value by several thousand dollars. I got $3k more for a Chevy Tahoe than my Acura dealer's best price. They won't pay as much as retail, but they'll blow away trade value if the car's in good shape.

pappy164 · December 2005

I have to disagree with the generalized statement about Carmax. They offered me $2,000 less than kbb or what the dealer would offer. If the dealer is straight he will give KBB it may just take some negotiating. Carmax could be better in some situations, but remember you don't pay taxes if you trade it in so if its not a big difference it just might be better to trade it.

Mevande, I seriously doubt anybody will give you excellent condition value on your trade or non trade sale. It just hardly ever happens. That car better look like it was just off loaded from the dealer truck in 98 with new tires, new brakes ect. ect...to get excellent is just wishfull thinking. If it is in really really great shape then it may be beneficial to go with a private sale, because a dealer just won't give you KBB for excellent. You can try though!

The hidden dealer incentives you will not see in consumer reports. They are things like monthly/yearly area quotas ect.. and change often so reporting agencies can't keep track. Probably the reason the guy in MN can't get a good deal was because there were no competeing dealerships in the area. Generally that consumer reports invoice is still high by a couple thousand. You will never know the true invoice unless you work at the dealership in sales.

mevande · January 2006

I need to sell the car myself (1998 BMW 740i). The car does look like it was off the truck new from a dealer and has new tired (700.00 for 4 and that is 200.00 off my 1st offer:)). I actually need (and want) the RL for practical reasons. I accepted a new position that requires a little more travel, ie 4 hours round trip to one client once a week. With the RLs 4wd (superhandling) it is a great snow car and mine is not. I did try my local CarMax and their offer was below KBB by 3k. The local paper had one similar to mine 3 weeks ago and it was gone in 3 days (called the ad owner and he sold it for 17k and not near as clean as mine). The big lesson here is that dealers (my 2 cents) will take you for a ride re: trade in. I can and have sold vehicles privately, just a hassle w/ time I need to sell the car myself (1998 BMW 740i). The car does look like it was off the truck new from a dealer and has new tired (700.00 for 4 and that is 200.00 off my 1st offer:)). I actually need (and want) the RL for practical reasons. I accepted a new position that requires a little more travel, ie 4 hours round trip to one client once a week. With the RLs 4wd (superhandling) it is a great snow car and mine is not. I did try my local CarMax and their offer was below KBB by 3k. The local paper had one similar to mine 3 weeks ago and it was gone in 3 days (called the ad owner and he sold it for 17k and not near as clean as mine). The big lesson here is that dealers (my 2 cents) will take you for a ride re: trade in. I can and have sold vehicles privately, just a hassle w/ time.

Anyone who lives in a small market with only 1 Acura dealer is going to have to buy out of town (my 2 cents again=)) for they likely will not offer much of a discount unless cars are not moving. Carsdirect.com is a good place to look, however its best deal had been 46,100 for a 2006.

rroyce10 · January 2006

.. **The hidden dealer incentives you will not see in consumer reports....**

So what your saying is .. that Consumers, Edmunds and all of the other reputable info sources are incorrect and there's a secret hidden double-wink alien handshake going on ...?

I think ya been a little too close to the eggnog lately ..l.o.l.....

Terry.

mevande · January 2006

Hello,
I am saying Consumer reports is a great way to start re: getting the base price on a car and it is always 1000's below invoice. Pappy shared a great deal on a car he purchased, however he had to negotiate hard (we all do!). Consumer reports show the dealer cost for a 2006 (base model, not tech. package) as $43,043. However there has to be more money out there for dealers for one poster bought a 2006 for 43,500. I suspect that there are incentives for end of month/quarter type deals and this is when I will 'strike':). Any comments re: performace in the snow? Thanks everyone. Mike

pappy164 · January 2006

Hey Terry shouldn't you be out bird-doggin those Acura customers?

For anyone who is interested, check the Edmunds invoice then check the consumer reports. They are both different. Yes Terry, there are local are dealer incentives in every area. Which sometimes these reporting agencies don't catch because either they come and go within a month, are retained for returning customers, or are used for certain hard selling color combinations.

Now Terry, you can take that invoice for face value, but if you do, you'll pay alot more than you should. I can assure you I got my 06 under the "invoice", this is common in the car buying world. The Edmunds invoice does minus the holdback the Consumer reports invoice does.

For an example, Brandon Ford here in Tampa sells some of their Eddie Bauer Expiditions for $27,000. MSRP being around $40,000 for most. That $27,000 goes way past the holdback provided by Consumer Reports. Now why would a dealer lose money on a car? The won't! They are still making money on every sale, through those hidden incentives.

BTW pick up a sunday edition of the Tampa Tribune if you don't believe me, you'll see the advertisements for the 06 Eddie Bauer for $27,000. My buddy bought one about 6 months ago.

rroyce10 · January 2006

.... I'm very familiar with Brandon Ford and I do read their Ad's in great length, being one of their competitors I find it a good business practice ....

But comparing a Ford store with an Acura store kinda leaves readers down the wrong path as far as your information is concerned ....

The average Ford store sells 250 units a month, the average Acura store sells 80 units a month, that's a huge difference my friend .. the Ford store can pick up a phone or hit a keystroke and have 400 units shipped and delivered to their store in 7 days or less, Acura dealers can't do that ... the Acura dealers work on future allotments and it's also based on current and future floorplan, and most Acura stores (like most import stores) have to rely on current status, because they can't make a phone call and have a duplicate there in 30 minutes, maybe 15 or 30 days depending on the store .. that's why holdback is not a profit center - and never has been.

As far as what your friend purchased 6 months ago, we don't know what he purchased because the Ad's aren't reflective of any of your stated prices ... we don't know if it was an 06, an 05, was it purchased at the auction.? what was his trade worth.? etc, etc .. so you have a huge vacuum in your information .. but if you give me his Vin# I could find it.

On your purchase, you had a trade and you received KBB .. so not knowing the particulars on that vehicle, it could have been worth more than their stated trade, it could have been worth less .. who knows.? .. thats we have "Real World Trade-in Values" over at the Smart Shopper board.

I admire your zeal, but again .. there isn't any secret "come to Jesus" incentives or secret double wink handshakes and no 30% mark-ups .. that's usually left-up to the boating industry .. speaking of - the Miami show is coming up in another month .... the only figures that are misconstrued sometimes is the freight, the current dealer cost of advertising (which they admit openly) and the "current" incentive that Edmunds sometimes misses by a day or two ...

Terry.

satire · January 2006

Does anyone know how much advance notice the Honda & Acura dealers have of upcoming incentives offered by Honda Finance for purchases and leases? Hours? Days? Weeks?

Thanks in advance.

rroyce10 · January 2006

.... As a rule .. dealers find out a day or so after the current incentives end .. sometimes they get the information on the same day ....

Terry.

pappy164 · January 2006

So you are in sales at a dealership? Just what I thought, see my post above. You talk a great walk my friend, thats because you are a car salesman, your supposed to. If everyone believed what a car salesman says for face value, they would be paying msrp on every vehicle. GOOOOO TERRY! You probably make alot of money in the car buisness. Ever tell a customer that they are asking for a vehicle below what one of the dealers buddies bought it for?

kyfdx · January 2006

Ummm.. rroyce10 is a dealership owner, not a salesperson..

And.. he gives a lot of good advice in the forums... and a different perspective from the average consumer..

If you don't listen to all viewpoints, you miss out on a lot... sometimes, people know things that we don't...

regards,
kyfdx
Host-Prices Paid Forums

lance10 · January 2006

rroyce may be an owner but I think not an Acura dealership owner. I'm fairly certain that there are no "hidden" incentives in the Acura world. Right Pappy?

mldj98 · January 2006

Don't know how long you have been on these boards.....but one thing that I can say for sure is that Terry knows his stuff! Not only does he know his stuff.....he shares it with many people on this website. Take a look over at the "Real World Trade In Values" boards and see the hundreds upon hundreds of satisfied people. Terry provides great help to people and does it not because he has to but it seems he does it because he likes to help out people. I speak from direct experience with Terry, he hit the nail right on the head with accurate trade in values on two vehicles that I had traded in. Provide him a VIN # and I bet he can tell you everything you want to know about a particular vehicle......even the last golf course this vehicle was at! (okay...maybe not....but you get the picture!)
Rock on Terry!!!!!!!!

mevande · January 2006

rroyce10/Terry,
Thanks for your insights on this forum. Trying to catch up. Are you stating that an Acura RL can not be purchased under MSRP? I am in the NYC area (lots of dealers in the tri-state area) and I know for a fact, via consumer reports that the net price to a dealer on an 2006 RL (without tech package) is ""Bottom Line Price.What the dealer paid for this car is 43,043. That # is dealer cost minus holdback which is 1,479. I just closed a deal for a 2006 RL for 43,600 net.I bet the dealer has incentives, hence making more than 600.00 on the sale. No trade for I sold my car. They even offered to sell my car to the person I sold it to through the dealership for a 75.00 doc. fee (which is 100% legal, I looked it up), hence saving on sales tax.

I gave them a 1000.00 deposit for my color is coming in tomorrow. Are you saying we are not getting these deals?

Mike

ldbrod · January 2006

Which NY area dealer,if I might ask?

pappy164 · January 2006

Hey Terry, as I stated before I got mine for $43,500 with 7 miles on it. If you want my VIN to check to see what I got mine for, all ya gotta do is ask! That would mean the dealer only made $450. If you truly believe that there are no "hidden" incentives that is.

To those prospective car buyers out there, if you truly believe what Terry is stating then your being baited right into that dealers trap. No dealer is gonna come on a car buying forum in an attempt to get consumers the best possible deal for their vehicle. That would be counter-productive for their buisiness. Sure there are alot of plp taking Terry's side including one of the "hosts" of this board.

A dealers goal is never to minimize their profits, its to maximize.

atomarchio · February 2006

What are the chances I could get the same deal here in the Cleveland area?

How did you get that price? Can you give us some insight?

Would appreciate the help. Thanks.

pappy164 · February 2006

If you read back a few pages I explain. I had to send quotes out, get them in writing them send the best one out to all the dealers, they should send you out a better quote then take the better quote and bargin with it. Keep doing this until you hit a dead end where dealers tell you they cannot lower the price anymore.

This kinda sums it up, but read back a lil further and I explain it in more detail!

jbm160 · February 2006

To Pappy and Mevande:
Do the prices you two negotiated ($43,500 and $43,600) include destination charge? I'm in the early stages of negotiating in Atlanta and the 2 dealers I've spoken with so far seem pretty firm about staying in the high 45s. How did you convince dealers further away from home that you were serious about purchasing from them, and not just fishing for low quotes to strongarm your local dealers?

Thanks and congrats on your deals!

golfnut5 · February 2006

The average gross profit on a new car sale is 15 percent. This gross profit is not based on MSRP, but what the car is actually sold for. If the average RL goes out the door at $43,500 the dealers true cost is in the neighborhood of $37,800. The 15 percent is a target for most dealers. Do you really think if a dealer sells 80 cars per month at a $600 profit that $48,000 will pay all the bills. If you check out the financial statements of any of the publicly owned car dealerships you will see their gross profit is approximately 15 percent. Drive a hard bargain.

nrwayne · February 2006

My local Acura deal quoted me $44,500, which she says in the invoice price for an RL with Navi. She claims no knowledge of holdbacks or other incentives. Offered me a 3-year lease with 18,000 miles (including 6% tax and zero down) at $743/month. Also said I should contact her if I can get a better deal. How good is this deal and how much lower should I reasonably expect to go on this car. Thanks.

atomarchio · February 2006

How is $43,500 or $43,600 when edmunds shows the invoice at $43,907 which does not include $615 destination charge?

Selling at invoice is one thing but your numbers are clearly less than invoice?

Am I missing something here?

pappy164 · February 2006

yes you are, thats because the Edmunds invoice is not the real invoice, its the invoice the dealers give them. It includes holdback and other money.

birdbird · February 2006

It believe that is about what is being offered at the Acura website for the RL when you figure everything in, including sales tax, except that you are getting more miles than offered there which is good.

Does anyone think that any dealer will lease for less than the website offer? If so, how much?

acme510 · February 2006

Anyone recently purchased a RL in the St. Louis area? What did you pay?

acctprof · February 2006

I'm in the early stages of negotiating in Atlanta and the 2 dealers I've spoken with so far seem pretty firm about staying in the high 45s.

jbm, did you ever deal on an RL? I'm south of you, but would drive to ATL to get a good deal. The Edmunds TMV price for my zip is $47.9K.

Have you checked Sutton Acura in Macon?

Len

tayl0rd · February 2006

Thank you for one more forum I probably will post in this in a year's time.

ksso

Well, ksoman, it's been a year and a half. Did you buy?

tayl0rd · February 2006

Just skimmed through from the beginning to now. Best price I saw on a new one was $41,785. At the beginning, some poor soul was ecstatic to have paid $51,000 OTD. :surprise:

bobink · March 2006

Thanks very much to all who posted here for great information. Now it's my turn to help the next buyer.

Price 42750
Included wheel locks, mud guards, all weather floor mat.
Drive off was first months lease pmt., registration, license, etc.

Leased at for 36 months, 15k per year. 600 lease initiation fee. Money factor .00207. Depreciation to 52% of msrp. With my local sales tax rate the monthly pmt comes to $675.

In the finance dept. the rep said the dealership gets $2000 back on the current lease offer. Since they were willing to sell it at this price, I wonder if I could have done even better.

atomarchio · March 2006

Bobink,

Excellent deal. Thank you for the insight!

Question for you since you have been running the numbers recently. What would your payment have been at 10K miles per year? And what is your sales tax there?

Please let me know. Thank you.

bobink · March 2006

The depreciation would have been to 55% of msrp. I don't recall the monthly, but about $50 less. Sales tax here is close to 8%.

kssod1 · March 2006

Has anyone leased the RL with the current offer on the Acura website?
Has anyone used the lease offer cap cost to purchase for less than 44k?

cribnob · March 2006

Hi - I am trying....I'll keep you posted.

I'm tying to negotiate a sales price of 44k then use the 2k dealer cash as a cap cost reduction putting 42k into the lease special. With 10k miles (55% 36 month residual) this makes the payment $547.84 a month plus tax.

I'll post results......

munnabhai1 · March 2006

Just bought Acura RL2006, in colorado with Technology Package. Paid $49250 on a silver & Taupe interior. Sticker was around $54000K. Its close to invoice , saw the invoice 48534.

I drove Infiniti M35x to compare but was sold on RL's drive feel . I just loved the cornering because of SH-AWD.

Love it so far.

cohenfive · March 2006

wow, that tech package is expensive!!! is the sticker really around $54 million with the package...i would pass on it for that....:)

munnabhai1 · March 2006

Thanks for catching that up. Yeah 54 Mill will make a very Very cool car.

johnhayd · April 2006

I purchased my car at Acura Of Pleasanton this weekend. The fleet salesman was very nice. I know I can't name names. Anyone who wants details, PM me.

'06 RL with tech package
Country/State/City of purchase: USA. CA, Pleasanton
Color Ext/Int: Lakeshore Silver Metallic/Ebony
Month/Yr of purchase: April 2006
Price paid before tax/lic: $49,518
includes back up camera, mud guards, wheel locks

2.9% financing $0 down!

ajohn · April 2006

where is Marin? Tell me more about the lease benefits. I'm just starting to search. That's a great price...does it include many options?
Thanx, bobink

ajohn · April 2006

Where was that price on the TL? I'm just starting to look.
Thanx, tayl0rd

tayl0rd · April 2006

You mean RL? It was somewhere in California.

johnhayd · April 2006

Country/State/City of purchase: USA. CA, Pleasanton
Color Ext/Int: Lakeshore Silver Metallic/Ebony
Month/Yr of purchase: April 2006
Price paid before tax/lic: $49,518
includes back up camera, mud guards, wheel locks

price obtained using carbargains.org.

tonymag · April 2006

Paid $43,500 for my fully equipped 2006 RL sfter contacting four Acura dealers. When I was shopping, I also looked at the Infiniti M35x and Audi A6 3.2. Price for both with options I wanted ran from $52,000 to $53,000. Neither Infiniti nor Audi would come anywhere close to the Acura price. Best they would offer was $2,000 off of the MSRP. Neither could deliver a car with the color and options I wanted.

Bottom line. I get a car with everything included at $7,500 below the other guys.

Now tell me again why the Acura price is too high.

I guess I'll hear that Acura's price is so low because of poor sales. That could be but I live in a large metropolitan area and I see as many RLs on the road as M35x and Audi A6.

ajohn · April 2006

Hey great price on the RL. Where did u purchase it? Maybe I can get my dealer to come down.....Pls let me know
thanx,
A>

tonymag · April 2006

ajohn,

Bought the car between Christmas and New Year. Guess the dealer needed to get sales up for 2005. Dealer is Piazza Acura located in Ardmore, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia.

gcook · April 2006

Is that with or without the tech package? You said it was fully equipped so that is a little unclear.

thanks for the clarification.

m44148 · April 2006

Was that before or after taxes?.Thanks MK

Acura RL Prices Paid and Buying Experience

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