So, last Sunday I spotted a really beautiful '98 3.2 TL at a dealership in the L.A. area. Black, only 35,757 miles on it.

They can't find the keys. Is it "Certified"? Nobody knows. Call me tomorrow.

They call to tell me, "Good news", we found the keys and yes, it is
certified."

I return on Monday after work to drive the car. Seems to be fine.
Drove it on the freeway, etc. Salesman is a total zero. No
personality, and I know more about the car than he does. In fact, he doesn't really know that much about "Certified" cars.

They show me a copy of a certified workup of the car. It shows
everything they've checked. It was dated May 30, 2002. Almost exactly 4 months ago. The mileage was 34, 941. Approximately 800 miles less than is currently on the car. Kind of weird. Why is, what looks like a really pristine car, sitting on the lot for 4 months?

How come if it's been there 4 months nobody knows if it was certified or not. The salesman who still has not really tried to sell me the car, because he has hardly spoken and seems really uncomfortable, tells me that a Certified car has a 7 year/ 70,000 warranty. I tell him that Acura's documentation says 7 year/ 100,000 warranty. He looks at me like I'm a lunatic and tells me I'm mistaken. I backs up my contention and he says nothing.

They have a price of $17,999 on the windshield, that has no certified sticker. Seems to be a pretty good price for a car with only 35,000 miles. Auto Trader shows the same car listed at $19,999.

So I make an offer $1000 under the price on the windshield. You've got to deal a little bit, don't you? I would have settled for $500.00 under the sticker price. He told me he could only sell the car for the sticker price. I told him to present the offer to the sales manager, who sits behind a tinted window in an office.

He never appears or ever comes out of his office. The salesman is back in about 15 seconds to tell me the price of the car is what's on the windshield. I say thanks and I walk.

The salesman has done absolutely nothing to sell this car. He hardly spoken other than to tell me "no" when I ask him if they are going to detail the interior when they wax the car before sale.


A different salesman called me 3 times today to leave messages that since the car is certified they can't sell it any cheaper.

How come you think they haven't sold the car in 4 months?
How did the car get 800 miles on it sitting on the lot? Las Vegas?
How come nobody knew if it was certified if the car was there for 4 months?

I have never had such an experience at a dealership. By the way I ran a Car Fax and it came up nothing mysterious.

The weirdest thing of all is that on the very pristine, black 3.2 TL the only defect is the red emergency flasher button which looks like it has been used 10,00 times. The red imprint on the button is almost toally worn off.

Your opinions are appreciated.

Cheers
mrjazz

 

Take this advice, please.

The only way they can sell a Pristine looking car, at that price is that it has been thru a wreck.

Do you know how you can tell if it has a new coat of paint? Check under the hood, check bolts without paint.

If you see majority of the engine components, looking new, it has been thru a wreck.

Not that it is not a good thing, if they worked on it by the book, it can be as good as new.

It is the fcat that, you know what you bought and not be mis-led, because, it will eat you alive when you start seeing things on the car.

Take it from me, I lived through it.

Still love my 98 3.2 and have bought the extended warranty on it. Still bugs me that I did not catch it.

Carfax is not going to show a wreck.

The only way I found out was, the Acura Dealer that serviced my car, did the bodywork on it. Because i ended up making a warranty claim that turned out to be caused by a wrong installation by the body shop people, which was the actual dealer. So they did the warranty without charge.

Still love the car!

I still feel stupid not knowing it has been thru a wreck.

 

Wow that is a crazy expeience. They always usually will go $1000-2000 of sticker price, if they wannna sell, or you tell them your walkin. If they don't deal, something is wrong. Sounds like something funny is going on. When I bought my TL they didn't wanna deal either, I was like wtf. But I threatened to leave, and they finally said ok. But they should fill gas tank, detail car and interior, and lower the price. Sounds like the sales guys are driving it around putting miles on it. But I'd be careful and maybe go somewhere else. But damn, it sounds nice and has low miles.

 

Same here. My car was selling for $18,500 and I only got $500 off. Full tank of gas and full exterior/interior detail included though. I tried to threaten and leave but it didn't help. It was in perfect shape too. This was back in March 2000. 96 3.2 with 40K. I think book value back then was like $19,000 or something. I was so happy when I first got it. Too bad that feeling goes away after a while.

 

dont forget that the price value would be higher on our cars if acura didnt drop the price on the 2nd gen TL

my car new was about $30'000. i think i still might have the slip .

 

hmm i got my 98 3.2TL on august of 2001... it had 57,500 miles on it and the dealer wanted 17,500$... so my dad offered him 15,800$... but the guy wouldn't budge at 16,500$.. so it went on about 2 weeks and then the guys comes back to call and tell me 16,100$... my dad said okay as long as he fixed the CV boot since it was leaking oil... the day the car came we looked and the boot was covered with oil.. he said he fixed it but we took it to our mechanic and he said that its not a new one... so the guy knocked off 300$ to 15,800.. the original price my dad offered.. hehehe that was funny and ironic... after i got the car i went to my mechanic and asked how bad the boot was, well it hasn't leaked again which still puzzles me and is in fine shape now.. so i guess i lucked out... knock on wood that there was no warranty on the car and it wasn't certified but the car hasn't given me a problem yet to this day knoick on wood again... the trans owns..

 

Somebody died in it. They won't detail the interior cuz they got all the visible blood out, but if they spray any more cleaner on the carpet more blood will come to the surface....

the paint looks new cuz they had to fill in all the bullet holes and repaint the car....

They won't budge on the price cuz that's what the funeral cost....

bwa ha ha haaaaaa.....