Hi Everyone --- I've lurked for a while, but finally got around to creating an account.

I am considering the 2017 Acura RDX AWD in the Mid Atlantic Region. Including the destination fee, the MRSP on this car is $37,810.

What would you all say constitutes a good deal on this vehicle? About how much should I hope to shave off from the price? When purchasing a new vehicle, I usually ask for an OTD price upfront and try to take it down from there.

Thanks.

 

Welcome to Acurazine. You have come at the right place for this question. Do you have a trim level in mind? Base, tech or advanced? Also the addition of Acura watch will affect the pricing on many trims. Please go through the Acura website for various models available (if you haven't done so already) and let us know what model are you interested in. You will get plenty of accurate information pertaining to your car from this forum. There are many helpful and very knowledgable dudes and gals here (along with some trolls). Good luck.

 

Thanks for the warm welcome!
Yes -- sorry for not specifying. I am looking at the 2017 Acura RDX AWD (Base) without AcuraWatch.

 

You are slightly off on the MSRP- for a base '17 AWD the MSRP is $38,010.(your price was for a '16) Carsdirect.com will give you a general idea of discounts along with truecar.com. In the Atlanta area, where I am, Carsdirect shows a target price of $36,823. You can likely get it for less though if you look around. I would also suggest you look for a leftover '16 as they are identical to the '17 and you should be able to get a better deal.

 

Just a clarification -- does the target price of $36,823 include taxes, titles, and fees?

 

Nope- those are never included on a site like I posted as taxes/fees differ from state to state. That is just the price of the car. Of course you could tell the dealer you want to pay that price drive out with all fees included. In GA that likely won't happen as you must pay 7% taxes to the state on the price of the car.

 

The base model is a great value buy but in my opinion it's worth it to go for the advanced (elite) model w/acurawatch. For 4 thousand dollars extra or so, you get features that you would have to pay $10-20,000 extra for on other luxury brands like Lexus, BMW, Mercedes, or Porsche. Features that I use a lot and found extremely useful:

-Heated and cooled/ventilated front seats. You'll thank yourself on cold or hot days
-Lane Keep Assist--makes it extra safe to drive especially on highways
-Adaptive cruise control--makes road trips a breeze (try this with Lane Keep Assist on!)
--Blind spot detection: saves you from crashing from lane changes. Acura engineers are awesome--they put the warning light on the pillar instead of on the sideview mirror so it's always visible; it also gives sound warnings/beeps
--Collision Mitigation breaking system: saved me from rear ending someone on the highway
--parking sensors with pedestrian detection: saved me from reversing into another car that suddenly drove by
--ELS sound system: set it up properly and you have the best sound system in its class. Period. Symphony/Phantom of the Opera quality sound
--Dual screens makes controls very convenient with many options

Extra $4000 or so = WORTH IT!

 

If you're in the VA area, I just inquired on a RDX AWD Tech - Price was $38129 + Tax/Title/Licensing - They don't seem too eager to get rid of these ATM, especially since they are still selling pretty well.

 

Considering only the "List Price" = MSRP + destination fee, my usual goal is to get to at least 8% off list price. Many folks target 10% off or better, but that really depends on market conditions when/where you go shopping. My last purchase was a 2016 RDX Advance at 7% off - the best I found last October from dealers within 100 miles. I was surprised at how quickly I got down to that number, but also surprised at the hard stop response I got, because the dealers would rather lose the sale than discount more.

Check out the extensive thread "2016 RDX price (to be) paid" on this forum for reports and suggestions by several of us on buying experience and strategy. The numbers are out of date of course, but the basic approach is the same thing I have been doing for 25+ years. Over 9 new car purchases, the best deal I got was over 11% off. The worst was only 3% off on a 2002 TL S-type that I absolutely had to have right after it hit the showroom.

Your local taxes and fees are in addition to the basic list price deal. Happy shopping!

 

What we can do in Canada is go on Carcostcanada.com (I'm sure there are similar sites in the US) and find the invoice price plus all incentives including hidden factory incentives that the dealer gets. So we find this base price, add about 3% profit for the dealer, and arrive at the price to be paid. Got huge savings that way.

 

I purchased a 2017 white diamond RDX base AWD in May in upstate NY and paid $35,700 before taxes. It was Memorial Day weekend so it could have been a sale due to the timing. I think I got a good deal.

 

Hi Everyone -- thanks for your responses. I've requested a few quotes, and this is what I've gotten.

For each, assume MSRP of $36,780 + $940 (Destination Fee) = $37,810

Quote 1:
Sales Price: $34,700
Drive Out: $37,700

Quote 2:
Sales Price: $35,000
Drive Out: $38,000

Quote 3:
Sales Price: $34,100
Drive Out: $36,700

Do you all have any tips/advice for how I should approach this moving forward? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Assuming everything to be same, I will take the third option as it is cheapest. But my question is, are you really sure you want the base version... absolutely positive???
If there is any possibility that in future you would want some options that the higher trim model carries, then do it now. It's all too common that people ask pretty soon after buying a car, how to retrofit those options etc. it's a hell lot cheaper and less trouble to buy a car with those options built in. As someone said before, you are buying a car for possibly the next ten years. So buy something that you won't regret for that time period. Almost all the commuter car brands will have more options than a base RDX at a cheaper price pretty soon. So the old adage still rings true "Keep your eyes wide open before marriage and half shut afterwards".

 

I agree with this. If it's at all possible to swing it, get the Advance. The additional features are truly well worth it, IMHO. I won't list them since you seem to be the researcher type (like me). The additional few $$$ sounds like a lot (and it is) upfront but not bad if you consider how long you'll be driving your new Acura. I cut and pasted below what I posted elsewhere on the forum but it'll give you some idea about cost of the Advance. Keep in mind I was eligible for a military discount, Maryland's sales tax of 6%, and a cap here of $300 for dealer processing, and promotions available at the time in August. I also transferred my tags so I saved some MVA fees compared to if I had to get totally brand-new plates and pay for 2-year registration.

"Well, I got her (yesterday). Ended up getting the Advance in Fathom Blue Pearl with Graystone Leather. I waited a bit because she was coming from Ohio on a trailer (6 miles on the odometer). Believe I got a great deal - $351 for 60 months (after trade, downpayment, $750 military discount, and $500 rebate). Basically the walk-out-the-door price was $41,709 (before dealer processing and sales tax). I was pre-approved by a credit union at 1.99%, but with their incentives I didn't mind going with Acura financing, even at 2.9%. Plus they threw in all-weather mats for free and let me buy the cargo tray and net both for only $150 (Acura.com's MSRP is $135 just for the tray and $50 for the net)."

 

Way to go "thumbsup".
For the OP....a couple thousand more may seem like a lot more now but when you are trying to retrofit or trade in your car for a higher spec model, they will look like a real bargain. Go for at least the tech / Acura watch now and save you some heartache later on. It if you are absolutely positive about the base model and don't care about anything else then go for it.

 

@Comfy and @birdonamission

I really appreciate your answers, and I think you both raise important points. That being said, I think some of the more upgraded models are a little bit out of my price range, and I don't think I really need some of these extra features -- I had spent some time looking into them before deciding on the base model. Nevertheless, I appreciate your responses.

I guess, my question is: does Quote 3 (Sales Price: $34,100 and Drive Out: $36,700) look like a "good deal"? I'm kind of tempted to play a little hardball and see if I can lower it a little more.

 

Hi, I'm sorry - would try to correlate my purchase with yours but it'll be kinda hard because we have different baselines for the car pricing. I will say that what I paid ($41,709) is about 7% of off MSRP+freight ($44,660). I think that the consensus was that a 7% savings was a very good to great deal. What also made this work for me was my trade-in value (NOT taxable in Maryland) and cash down payment.

Hope this is helpful.

 

ALWAYS try and get a better deal. Play one off the other and see if you can get an even lower price. Eventually they will say they can't go lower but you are at the end of the month and they need to move cars. I would do it tonight!