1996 Acura RL, did we get more than what we bargained for?
01-06-2016, 10:08 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Thedford, Ontario
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1996 Acura RL, did we get more than what we bargained for?
Good morning everyone. This is my first thread, so take it easy please.
Recently, my brother and I picked up a 1996 Acura RL for around $400 CDN. I knew right away that it would need four tires, a CV joint, and headlamp work to pass our provincial safety.
A little background, the previous owner supplied us with every service record for this car. It was serviced at Acura West in London, Ontario for everything and anything down to trim being replaced that the owner didn't think was right. Long story short, the body and interior are nigh on immaculate. All of the interior options work perfectly. It has a tiny bit of rust on the quarters which has been fixed and some surface rust on the trunk lid.
This car has over 433000 km on it.
I took it to a local mechanic (I am rather limited as I live in the sticks to boot) and found out, parts and labor, we would be looking at around $2300 to safety this beast alone.
It needs:
Front CV joint, right side
Both tie-rod ends
four tires (I have four tires)
Fuel tank, the pump can be salvaged from the car
It has a substantial amount of rust on the frame, to the tune of around $700 parts and labor.
It needs a light module (??) because the head lights are messed up*
Fuel lines
possibly brake lines
*one side the low beam works, the other side only the high beam works. The bulbs have recently been replaced, so this is not the issue.
The good:
Motor and tranny are in good working order, the exterior and interior are great, the brakes are good.
My brother bought this RL to replace his daily driver Nissan Versa. He commutes short distances to work and often bikes or walks in the summer. I am considering buying it from him for the $600 he has into it. Most of the driveline work I can do myself, tie rod ends, CV joint, etc. I can probably utilize this forum or youtube to replace the fuel tank.
I do not have the ability to weld the frame or replace the fuel lines.
I'm wondering, in this forum's opinion, a couple questions:
How much life, given I do all of this work, can I expect to get out of this car?
Should we just cut our losses (with a trench knife) and sell it for scrap to my local junk yard ($200)?
Should we attempt to re-sell it online?
What is the market for parts for this thing, will I be able to find parts for it in the near future, will I be able to find parts for it at all?
My theory. If I were to buy this car, my wife would probably murder me, joking aside. I always respected older, Japanese, luxury cars. Shout outs to the Acura Legend, Vigor, the 1st and second gen RL, etc. I would likely fix this car to drive only in the summer months, it would never see a winter again. I have a beat up old GMC truck that I can easily drive in the winter. This car, this year is old enough to be considered "Classic" by Ontario's standards.
Is this car worth it, to fix, to drive as a summer car perhaps 10k kms per year? What are your experiences RL owners? Is this a car you can love or is this a car that gets you from point a to point b, reliably.
My feelings? I like this old car, I have a soft spot for it. I like it enough to post this thread about it.
Thanks everyone for your time, and I hope I get some positive feed back.
TL,DR: Bought old RL, Needs way more work than I thought, Should I keep it.
May post some pics later.
Recently, my brother and I picked up a 1996 Acura RL for around $400 CDN. I knew right away that it would need four tires, a CV joint, and headlamp work to pass our provincial safety.
A little background, the previous owner supplied us with every service record for this car. It was serviced at Acura West in London, Ontario for everything and anything down to trim being replaced that the owner didn't think was right. Long story short, the body and interior are nigh on immaculate. All of the interior options work perfectly. It has a tiny bit of rust on the quarters which has been fixed and some surface rust on the trunk lid.
This car has over 433000 km on it.
I took it to a local mechanic (I am rather limited as I live in the sticks to boot) and found out, parts and labor, we would be looking at around $2300 to safety this beast alone.
It needs:
Front CV joint, right side
Both tie-rod ends
four tires (I have four tires)
Fuel tank, the pump can be salvaged from the car
It has a substantial amount of rust on the frame, to the tune of around $700 parts and labor.
It needs a light module (??) because the head lights are messed up*
Fuel lines
possibly brake lines
*one side the low beam works, the other side only the high beam works. The bulbs have recently been replaced, so this is not the issue.
The good:
Motor and tranny are in good working order, the exterior and interior are great, the brakes are good.
My brother bought this RL to replace his daily driver Nissan Versa. He commutes short distances to work and often bikes or walks in the summer. I am considering buying it from him for the $600 he has into it. Most of the driveline work I can do myself, tie rod ends, CV joint, etc. I can probably utilize this forum or youtube to replace the fuel tank.
I do not have the ability to weld the frame or replace the fuel lines.
I'm wondering, in this forum's opinion, a couple questions:
How much life, given I do all of this work, can I expect to get out of this car?
Should we just cut our losses (with a trench knife) and sell it for scrap to my local junk yard ($200)?
Should we attempt to re-sell it online?
What is the market for parts for this thing, will I be able to find parts for it in the near future, will I be able to find parts for it at all?
My theory. If I were to buy this car, my wife would probably murder me, joking aside. I always respected older, Japanese, luxury cars. Shout outs to the Acura Legend, Vigor, the 1st and second gen RL, etc. I would likely fix this car to drive only in the summer months, it would never see a winter again. I have a beat up old GMC truck that I can easily drive in the winter. This car, this year is old enough to be considered "Classic" by Ontario's standards.
Is this car worth it, to fix, to drive as a summer car perhaps 10k kms per year? What are your experiences RL owners? Is this a car you can love or is this a car that gets you from point a to point b, reliably.
My feelings? I like this old car, I have a soft spot for it. I like it enough to post this thread about it.
Thanks everyone for your time, and I hope I get some positive feed back.
TL,DR: Bought old RL, Needs way more work than I thought, Should I keep it.
May post some pics later.
01-06-2016, 11:41 AM
#2
Cut your loses and scrap it for 200$, at pushing 270k miles, you will run into a lot of electrical problems and your tranny will probably start to go very soon, you will most likely need engine work on top of safety/suspension work needed. 270k miles is a lot and I could see it lasting another 30-50k miles before needing a rebuild in the tranny or engine. But really not worth the 2-4k your gonna have to put into it, you could buy a lower mile RL for 2-4k and cut your loses.
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