So I'm a long-time VW owner (2 Jettas, a Passat W8, and a V8 Touareg (the current wife's car) ) who is seriously considering replacing my 03 Jetta GLS 1.8T with an RDX...

I'm primarily interested in leasing, and I have a couple questions:

#1 I found the current money factors and depreciation rates, but the current RDX specials talk about "Suggested Dealer Contribution". Sounds like Acura --> dealer cash, but does anyone know the exact amount? Nothing comes up at Edmunds. This would factor into my plan to get the vehicle for at or under invoice.

#2 I've PMed a couple posters, but I wanted to invite others to PM me on preferred Chicagoland dealers. Speaking of which, what is this forum's rules on talking about dealers? Seems like taboo, which is odd to me since over on vwvortex.com, we openly praise and criticize dealers all the time.

#3 How are Acura dealers when it comes to test-drives? With my local VW dealer, I can get just about any car I want overnight, so the idea of having a sales dude/dudette along with me for a test drive feels a bit...icky.

I live 40 miles NW of Chicago in the Chain of Lakes area...so you have a pretty good idea of which dealers I'd be physically close to.

Rik

 

I'm not sure the exact rule on dealer talk here, but it seems that it is OK to mention other dealers and share your experiences with them. I'm pretty sure it is very strict about actually dealers coming here and trolling for customers. I know on the acurazine homepage there is a directory of dealers which covers most all of them. I've never noticed anyone's posts getting chopped up or deleted....

 

Suggested dealer contribution is the amount that the dealer will lease the car to you under the MSRP. It is not Acura to dealer cash. Its just like purchasing a car, the dealer can sell it to you for whatever they want and the price isn't set in stone. Acura's lease offer is $379/month, but the dealer can "contribute" to the deal to make your payments lower.

 

When I bought my TL in Feb. 2004, I had a good experience doing some initial negotiations with Continental Acura in Naperville - their internet sales manager was very honest, upfront and responsive. In the end, I chose a dealer (Cincy) which was a tad bit closer to me than Chicago/Naperville.

As for test drives, I think it's a dealer by dealer decision. Our local BMW dealership has their salesman drive the car for most of the test drive and then you're able to take the wheel for the last 5 minutes or so. One reason why I refuse to buy a BMW from them. Our local Acura dealership let me drive the RDX as long as I wanted and the salesman sat in the backseat and answered questions or provided insight. Our local Saab dealer flipped me the keys to a new 9-3 SE Vert and told me to keep it for the weekend.

I'm sure your experience will differ between dealers.

As for negotiating, I'm a big fan of contacting as many dealers as possible within a reasonable mileage radius and having them give me their best number for the exact vehicle I'm looking for. I do this via email or online web request. Then I start playing them off on one another until I finally am comfortable with the dealer and the final number.