Redd Velvyt

I am getting ready to purchase a used car; my altima's engine locked and some other transmission issues; the used car i have selected is the Acura 3.5 RL -- walking thru the car lot it immediately caught my eye (between the Audi 8) but i kept going back to the R.L. once i sat down in it i was hooked. I read great reviews on line; Is this car worth me paying 7k for? (6999.00) -- it has new tires and body and interior excellent; one thing..THE ODOMETER does not work....will this be costly to get done; will Insurance still allow me if there is no 'mileage' shown? I am a senior lady and don't know anything about this kind of thing. thanks for anyone's answer.

dallison

It will only get 20-22 mpg for most people and will use premium. Make sure the timing belt service was completed as it's pretty expensive for this car. I would have someone check the ball joints to as this is a heavy car and a weaker point when there's some mileage on it.

These are great and for the most part bulletproof cars. The odometer not working might scare me unless there's a great carfax.

Does the speedo work? i would think not, but i wasn't sure.

007Acura

Since you like the RL it would be a good idea to find others as this one with a bad odometer could be a little shady with not knowing the real mileage. Also it is around a $1000 part plus labor and programing. Check Cars.com and Autotrader.com for 2002 - 2004 Acura RLs.

Moog-Type-S

Non functioning odo......move along to another vehicle. Not worth the hassle.

honda_nut

Walk away, actually run away from it. If you like the RL, then there are plenty of better examples for sale. Who knows what that particular RL has been through.

oo7spy

How did this get moved here? Moog and Dallison have me thinking it started in ramblings.

OP, that is a reasonable price for that year RL, but you can likely do better.

Ken1997TL

Get a 2004 RL.

It is the last year of that body style and offers a LOT more for your money. The 2004 has a much better stereo system, including in-dash CD instead of a trunk unit.

Standard navigation, including voice recognition.

Power lumbar

Numerous interior trim improvements

shahram72

Yeah, the 04 is a beautiful car, but know you are buying an expensive luxury car at a tiny price. You cannot have a $40K car for only $8K. It might need some things. That said, I feel a lot better with a Honda in this situation than other brands. Get an extended warranty for piece of mind, You will very likely at least get your money back. Timing belt is critical for an older car, and expensive to get done. For people like many of us, who can do some work ourselves (I'll be tearing down the exterior of my 05 RL to treat it for salt corrosion), this can be a good choice in cars. If you rely on mechanics for everything, then it might be a poor choice. If you take it to the dealer for everything, it will be cheaper to buy a new Acura. Do you have a good Honda mechanic? They are around in every city.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

I'm confused.

neuronbob

Moved to 1st Gen RL forum as that's what a 2003 is. Lots of good advice in the thread already, though.

OLD_HATCH

if the speedometer still works, but the mileage is not shown probably the lcd screen went bad. Not shady on its own, but not being able to tell the mileage is not a good thing when buying a used car.

I say keep on looking unless you know the owner.

pdbailey

I have spent, after purchase, less than $50/month + gas, on 1999 RL. I have fixed one thing on the car (water in the trunk after rain), probably saved me an additional $10/month. Add in purchase price minus current resale value and you are at $100/month for the car. I'd hate to see the new car that (including oil changes and required maintenance/service) you can get for that price.

Ken1997TL

The RL cost me NOTHING outside of fluid changes, tires and gas.

I had a fault airbag sensor twice. Acura covered it both times.

vas25tl

I had my RL for over 2 years and put over 30K miles on it, I repaired one fog light, a control arm and 2 rear sway bar links. That's all I did other than oil changes.

They're very reliable!

OLD_HATCH

Almost 3 years here and I'm about to work on the first thing to need repair. A sway bar end link.

vas25tl

Yeah, but how much have you actually replaced over the years?

OLD_HATCH

Tires, brakes, struts, but those were upgrades not replacements.

Lefteye

How can you tell when you have a bad sway bar links? What are the symptoms? Are they easy to replace?

OLD_HATCH

You hear a strange clanking sound. Kinda like on old ford or chevy vans ebrake cables bounce around.