hatchd

I've been lurking over in the TL forums since I bought my 07 TLS last december and it's been an extremely helpful place so I am hoping this is the same.

My wife decided to run her Fit into the back of a Corolla a few weeks ago and we decided to upgrade her car a little bit. We have been looking at 07-10 RDX's but cannot find one that we like with the price/mileage combination we want. We originally were looking at MDX's but the price/mileage combination compared to our budget was obviously even worse. After weeks of looking I decided to take a look at CL tonight and an MDX popped up that looks promising. It's an 08 Sport with 81,500 and is a 1 owner car that has apparently been serviced by a local Acura dealership the entire time. He's asking $15,000 for it, which seems like a pretty legit price.

Obvious question is what should I be looking for? From my research tonight I believe the Sport models have the magnetic suspension which costs a few house payments to replace. Is this correct? Can you replace this suspension with the regular MDX suspension for a much lower price? I guarantee my wife won't notice the difference in the two. It also seems that this year has an issue with the torque converter. Is this an issue that is fixed by a new part or does it continually fail? What is the approximate cost to replace this?

We're taking a look at this tomorrow (monday) and would love to make a purchase before thanksgiving if we like the car, so any feedback before then would be greatly appreciated.

Carpayment4life

It sounds like a good buy (depending on condition).

Here are the dealer auction Blackbook numbers.

Maximum Trade-in:
clean = $ 19,140 avg = $16,790 rough = $12,945

Finance value = $18,875 new msrp = $45,795

Full Retail (used) numbers are:
clean = $22,200 avg = $19,450 rough = $16,250

The one owner part can not be emphasized enough, and the asking price is between the auction value for rough and avg.

Ask to see the carfax and hope it is clean, because any instance of damage diminishes the value. IE...a totaled car can lose 60 -70 %, of its value and a fender bender can lose 10 - 20%.

When you test drive it, listen closely for ANY suspension clunks, knocks, or bangs
These occur mainly at slow speeds, on bumpy roads and over speed bumps
Those point to the magnetic shocks going out.
I said ANY suspension clunks, knocks, or bangs, as it's not your imagination...it's bad magnetic shocks.

Replacing the magnetic shocks with regular ones is very do-able, for about $700 - 750 if you do the work, yourself. Most mechanics don't want to or won't mess with modifications, which differ from exact replacement parts.

The rears only require the shocks (KYB brand) and a couple of resistors plugged in to the hanging magnetic plugs (because the magnetic shocks are gone). Here you re-use the springs and all other hardware.

The fronts need to be replaced with "loaded" shocks. This means that you buy, from Acura, the spring & shock (with all of the needed hardware), for a non-sport version. The resistors are required, as with the rear.

You can search and find the exact size of resistors. It's really easy, like the Integra resistor trick, which tricks the computer in to thinking that it's 20 degrees outside and bumps up your fuel mix. That one is a 4.7k ohm resistor across the intake air temperature (IAT) sensor plug connector.

Back to the money numbers...
The auction value is what a dealer expects to bid, as a maximum bid, at an auction. Those numbers are not what they offer you or me for our trade in. They offer us about $1,000 less and make us negotiate upward towards auction value.
Their reasoning is...if they wanted a car like ours, they could go to the auction, so they offer us a lot less and pretty much make us take what they offer.

One more thing...they will offer you an extended warranty. If you read all warranties, you will see that shocks are considered regular wear and tear items and are NOT covered. The only good warranty is the AcuraCare, but it is not available on anything older than 5 years.

hatchd

Thank you for the quick and detailed reply. I hadn't looked at Blackbook numbers, but judging from the KBB amounts it seems like a decent deal. Since this is on CL it is from an individual, not a dealership. I don't buy extended warranties on anything so it's not a huge deal if I can't get one on here. The suspension scared me for a minute because the thought of spending 1/3 of the purchase price of the car on the suspension just seemed ludicrous. I'm glad to know there is a cheaper option.

Thanks again for the information.

mrgold35

Only AcuraCare will cover the magnetic shocks; but, you have to be under the 4/50,000 basic to purchase.

Going from a Fit to MDX will take some adjustment to the extra size and crappy mpgs (assuming it is going to be a commuter/errand vehicle).

My front magnetic struts went out at 35,000 miles (knocking noise going over bumps/dips). I was covered by the 4/50,000 basic warranty. It might have been around $2500 bill if I was out of warranty. That concerned me enough to get AcuraCare for 5/120,000 at $2390. There is no rhyme or reason for the front or rear magnetic shocks/struts to fail at anytime. There are no aftermarket magnetic struts/shocks to switch to on the market. The only choices are covert to conventional or purchase more magnetic shocks/struts that might/will fail again. The sport suspension would be the biggest cost item if decide to purchase. I would plan on having about $800-$1000 on hand to covert to regular shocks down the road if you decide on the 08 MDX sport.

Carpayment4life

There is one, in Saint Louis, with the same miles, for the same price.
The photos show muddy, all weather, floor mats.

It might be a scam. Link below:

2008 Acura MDX Sport AWD

Carpayment4life

http://www.wcvolvo.com/used/Acura/20...d1089bd597.htm

Here's one with low mileage, on Manchester...West County Volvo used

Used 2008 Acura MDX For Sale | Manchester MO

2008 mdx, 72k miles, under $19,000

Not many photos or details