lithium

Whats wrong with them? OR do they just depreciate a lot? Some Acura CL's are cheaper than ELs!

CLUofI

There is nothing wrong with them, there just isnt a huge market for 2 door semi-luxury cars.

lithium

But the Accord Coupe seems to sell well and its just like an Accord coupe...

matteichenfels

Just think, it's a 5-7 year old car...of course they're not going to be worth alot. Besides, when a body style is replaced with a newer one (the second gen) they usually go down in price. They're going to be real cheap now that they're discontinuing them!

lithium

well the prelude isnt even that cheap and its selling the same price or even cheaper sometimes as the Acura EL

Sarlacc

Preludes are a car with a past and a large following, Im one of those followers.

The CL is a car that never made a splash. And with it being discontinued the value drops more.

Just going to have to deal with it.

RippinRide

The CL sold quite a bit when it first came on to the open market then after about 99 the sales slowly dropped and they once again rose when they came out w/ the sencond gen then they drasticly dropped in the last couple years. If you look at any car in about the same era you will see that the cl is about par or average as far as the market goes. Also, like everyone said that popularity has a lot to do w/ it.

NOMAD

well, I sold my CL around 5 months ago and I had to lower the price from what i initially wanted. The problem i ran into is that I had a 5 speed and 99% of the calls I got were from people who couldn't drive stick.
Unfortunately this car would sell like crazy if it WAS called a Honda accord coup, what i mean by that is that most people can't remember alphanumeric codes but will remember names of cars. If I was going to buy a Lexus or infinity I would have to research the GS, SC, G, I whatever-number names they all have.

Most people who are looking to buy an accord coup would definitly pick up a 1st gen CL. But they don't know what it is sometimes and never really thought of it. I was looking at Accords at the dealer when i spotted the CL I bought, there was no comparison to luxury and style so my mind was changed.

When i was selling it on the net it was a waste of time because people have to type in "acura" and "CL" to find anything. Then what if they only remember seeing a 3.0 CL? Mine was 2.2 5 speed.

Anyhow, because of the difficulty in finding buyers (and the used car market is tanked due to the economy and 0% financing available) the prices have to lower to entice people. After 2-3 months on the market I was just glad to get rid of it for $1,000 over what i owed.

Good luck if you are selling. If you are buying, don't complain, the car is excellent.

CL22

Hey Nomad, I see you have a miata. My dad and uncle was at a car shop the other day and they were telling me about this little mazda that came all the way from cali. The car didn't have an a/c system, so he was there having it put on.

Anyway, they were telling me how quiet the car was. It was also a 94 like yours. So it got me thinkin bout those little cars and now im thinkin of selling my CL for one. Since it's rwd and all. How are those cars reliability wise, and power wise compared to the CLs, etc? Thanks.

dogfight

There's a '97 2.2CL (with 52K miles) on a Subaru dealers lot near here... actually it has been there for at least 2 years. Has everything but leather - price started @ $13,900 and recently they were asking $8,900. I offered and even $8,000 and they accepted - thinking of buying it for my wife to replace a no longer needed van. But after considering the poor autotrans failure record (as frequently mention on this forum), I'm not sure it is a great deal... don't need expensive tranny problems!

decision, decisions etc

NOMAD

CL22, you have mail.

I don't thing the auto tranny in the 2.2 was ever a problem. You are probably thinking about the 3.0 and newer 3.2 CL having tranny problems.
In my years on the site I've not heard of a re-occuring problem with a 2.2 or 2.3 CL tranny.
If you feel questionable about a possible problem just do a full fluid change on the tranny when you buy it. Always a good idea to change every single fluid in any car you buy used.
I doubt you'll ever have a problem with a tranny you care for.
Good luck

dogfight

Nomad... think you are right - the four bangers were OK with auto transmision. Would have my mechanic check over the car B4 purchase - well worth the $40 he charges.

thanks

Light_Speed

the first gen cls still sell for pretty expensive here in canada

lithium

I saw one in autotrader for $13900. Its a 2.2CL '97. I was wondering if there was something wrong with that one since its cheap.

NOMAD

that's expensive for a 97 2.2
Must be a dealer who wants to make a killing or maybe it has some fancy parts on it.
Remember that what they list for is usually not what they sell for.

lithium

Its actually $12900 but the guy never called me back...keep in mind we're talking about Canadian currency