Tom2

How many of you recent purchasers paid invoice or near invoice/ under invoice for your car?

I was under the impression that finding this car at invoice cost would not be a problem. I got an online "quote" from Ramsey Acura for a 6 speed Navi for $30,969 (wasn't clear if that included the $500 destination charge).

I had planned on actually test driving the car today, but the snowstorm here in New York killed that idea, so tomorrow I'm definitely going to go and drive one. If I like it, I'll probably look to make the deal. So what do you guys think I should shoot for?

BTW, for those that don't know me, I was one of the first owners of an '01 CL-S (purchased in March of 2000) and loved everything about the car, except the fact that it wasn't manual trans...... So I know I'll like the car, but I NEED to see how much I like the tranny

Zapata

Shit, we sales as bad as they are..........take the report in from Acuranews.com and tell'em you'll give them 30flat.

gavriil

Tom what the heck happened to the M3. I know the engine blew but then what? Did they not fix it?

bullaculla

Hey tom, I'm leasing so I can't really help. Acura did get me out of my previous lease on the PDG two years early and with too many miles on the car. I got the six out the door with nothing down and the same exact lease as the PDG. 4 years same monthly payment and the buy off is the same. The only difference is that I put down like $6,000 for the PDG. hope this helps!

...and I love the tranny!

GOOSE

Welcome back to the Acura family Tom.

mattg

m3 = sold

scalbert

And what was your name again.

I got mine at about invoice. They also took my PDG '01 off my hands for $21.5k although that is immaterial here. I went from a lease to a purchase with $500 down and payment went up just marginally.

Slimey

I got mine right about invoice too, but bought mine last April (and I know, not necessarily the person you wanted to hear from). Edmunds didn't have a listing at the time; CarsDirect had a 'market value' listing at invoice.

Hopefully things have improved and you can get it somewhat under invoice.

Another thing, I know that many of us had to have the dealers do a trade (or whatever they want to call it) to get our specific color combo/Navi setup onto their lot. When I was looking in the Philly area, no one had 6 speeders with Navi on the lot. My specific color combo/navi 6 speeder had to be carried from somewhere in Northern NJ. I know that you know, but a message to some others: Make sure they use a car carrier to do the transfer so you don't purchase a high-mileage new car. Insist on this during the deal.

I have heard (but am not sure if it is true) that each dealer is only allocated 2 or 3 6 speeders at a time -- this is the reason for the frequent reports of the ol' dealer trade.

pluto_1969

You should be able to get it below invoice with the dealers getting the $1,000 incentive from Acura on each unit sold.

Check around at different dealerships, try using the internet to get quotes. Then email the other dealerships with the best quote and see if they can beat it. That's what I did and I got a CL-S6 for under invoice jsut a week ago.

Good luck.

stejus

Tom2,

Purchased (no navi) back on Dec 27, 2002 and paid $150.00 over invoice. They of course added the $500 delivery charge after we finally agreed on the final price. Something tells me I should have waited but I got a great finance rate with the deal.

Go to edmunds.com. See what others are paying in your area. I got an e-mail about 3 weeks ago from a Boston dealer and he sent me a quote for $27800 including destination. That's about $1000 less the invoice, including destination. Some dealers are passing the $1000 manf rebate to the consumer. Acura CL sales were way down in Jan so they're willing to move these cars!

Good luck.

allmotor_2000

Yup... got mine about $500 below invoice, along the tunes of $30-even with Navi (destination included).

They want to move those cars, although I don't understand why they would drop the price so much on the 6-speeder... but hey, who's to complain?

zamo

2003 CL-S 6-speed

I got it at invoice.

Go to the dealer at the end of the month, preferable just before the '04 model kicks in.

Always deal with the incoice price or less; use this sample excel scenario file to calculate your monthly payments.

Name your price; if the dealer doesn't accept just walk away.

Tom2

Well, I went down to Park Ave Acura today to drive a 6 speed. They had 3 of them (one white- no navi and 2 black- one with navi and one without) and I ended up driving the black navi.

The salesmen was totally cool.....he drove the car around to the side door and let me take the car alone. But the traffic in that area on a Saturday afternoon totally blows. I felt like I was driving in midtown Manhattan. I spent most of the time looking for a road where I could get some decent speed up to get a better feel for the car. This particular CL-S had 7 miles on it when I drove off.

Anyway, I had a couple of disappointments right away--

1) The seats don't seem to have the same adjustment range as my '01 CL had. I'm tall, with long legs, so I like to adjust the seat cushion down in the back and up in the front, for more thigh support. Even at the furthest adjustment, it was just barely supportive.

I remember reading somewhere that Acura changed the height of the seats in order to make some more headroom. Maybe this is the reason?? I dunno....

2) The clutch pedal is very light (which I prefer), but the engagement point is also very high. I read someone's review who also felt the engagement point was high, but most of you 6 speed owners seem to feel that your clutch engages on the low side. Maybe this varies from car to car, but this car didn't fully engage until almost the top of the pedal travel. I prefer a lower pedal engagement.

3) This one totally took me by surprise- The shifter was CLUNKY while shifting into EVERY gear! I know it's a cable shifter, but damn, I thought it would feel better than it did.

Maybe I'm spoiled or something, but the shifter feel does not compare at all to the shifters in either of my E36 M3s.

I was very disappointed with the shifter feel..... I found myself gently working the shifter into each gear to make it feel nicer. But I could get used to the shifter in time.....

4) The shift knob is wimpy. No big deal at all, as it would be very easy to replace. But if felt tiny in my hand.

5) When I first left on my test drive, I noticed that the engine seemed to be idling a bit rough. The engine was still cold, so I figured it would smooth out after it reached temperature- and it did. After fully warming up, it was purring like a kitten.

But still I wondered why it seemed to idle rough when cold. My '01 was never like that

Okay, done with my bitching- Here's what I liked:

The gear ratios are excellent and perfectly spaced.

Steering felt nicely weighted and had just the right amount of assist.

Brakes grabbed hard, which I found out as some jackass pulled out right in front of me.

The exhaust note seemed a bit louder than what I had remembered. But it sounded great- the car made all the right noises.

The overall ride quality is very nice- seems a nice compromise between handling and ride harshness.

Anyway, I didn't really want to turn this into a total review of the car (in my opinion), but I left the dealership unsure about whether or not I want to own a 6 speed CL-S.

I told the salesman that I'm still shopping, so he offered me good luck and told me to call him with any questions I might have.

Park Ave Acura is definitely a great dealership. I've had really good experiences there.

Tom2

Yeah, they replaced the engine. But I still wasn't happy with the M3.

I could kick myself in the ass for selling my E36 M3 and getting an E46. My silver E36 was in absolutely mint condition and I really loved that car. If I could go back and do it again, I would have never sold the E36.

There are so many little annoying things about the E46. First, they BURN a lot of oil. This was true of BOTH engines- the blown up one AND the new one.

Secondly, both engines also acted strangely when cold. They would both buck and nearly stall until the temp started to rise. Never actually stalled on me, but came damn close more than a few times. This is unacceptable in a $50K vehicle.

Third, I had quite a few electrical gremlins, such as a power window that would work only when it felt like it. How fucking stupid do you look at the Wendy's drive-thru with a window that won't go down?

I don't want to turn this post into a bitchfest either, so let's just say I'm looking forward to the reliability of a Japanese car again......

BigPimp

When I drove the 6spd, I was just looking to see whether it would be worth it to trade into it as I have a CLS. Different situation for you. I dont remember how high or low the contact point was, so no comment there. I left the dealership feeling that it would not be worth it for me to trade into it.

Think about the g35 coupe, its a great ride, although at higher cost.

Slimey

Just my 2¢ about the seat Tom -

It took me a while to get the seat in the perfect position for myself. I'm not that tall, 5'10", but I do like the seat closer to the floor. Ultimately, to get it right, I had to drop the butt and (barely) raise the knee . I find it quite comfy now.
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I'm not sure what's happening with these recent 6 speed clutch reviews either. The clutch is self-adjusting, so hopefully should be the same car to car. Mine engages quite close to the floor and the shift movements are without any clunkiness. In fact, this afternoon I was noticing how smooth the car was when I had to downshift to pass someone that decided 30 MPH is good for freeway speed.

No rough engine idling either, and it's been pretty cold lately. So far, the coldest I've been in is the teens and I've been impressed as to how smooth start up and warm up is.

I hope something wasn't changed with the drivetrain mid-year. I wonder why the last couple clutch reviews were so different from those of use that got the car almost 1 year ago.

Tom2

Hmmm..... I think I might go test drive another 6 speed at a different dealership.

Maybe that particular car was built on Friday

Shawn S

Was it COLD out Tom and how far did you drive ?
Remember I said the shifter can be “clunky” when cold, but it’s fine after a few miles.

As for the clutch pickup, mine is LOW LOW LOW compared to other manuals I have driven.
I haven’t driven a BMW in years so I can’t compare it to one of those.

Shawn S

Shawn S

I agree, that's why I got my MOMO.

Shawn S

synth19

Tom- werent you looking at a g35c ?

bullaculla

But my clutch doesn't do shit till halfway back up.

stejus

Same here. After years of driving a Toyota MR2 (clutch engaged right off the floor) to a CL-S (clutch engages 1/2 way back up), it took a few stop and goes to get familiar with the clutch. Maybe there has been a mid year change to the clutch seeing others are saying their clutches grab low. My production date is 10/2002.