SGAcura

Hey my friend is willing to sell me a RL he took in trade at his dealership. He just got it in and its black on black. The car has 175k miles and he is willing to give it to me for $7,900. Do you think this is a good buy? Car is in the best mechanical condition and cosmetically has a couple of scratches here and there and a dent. Would this be a good commuter car? Any reason why you guys would stay away from this car? Thanks and PS: I'm new to this forum so bare with me!

redbarton

Listen very carefully if there is a whir or high pitched noise coming from the drive train around 30-40 or 70-80 MPH, especially when cold. If so, I would pass. This is common to 2005's and very expensive to fix. I wish I had known better prior to buying my 2005. I would have passed on my car, but didn't know what to look for. I would definitely see if you can borrow it on an extended test drive of a day or two. That's twice the mileage my car has and mine exhibits a lot of the typical 2005 problems. (Example: Center shaft bearing whir, occasional sensor malfunctions, broken disc changer, etc.) Don't trust a dealership inspection to find any of this. Mine didn't. Note to self: Do not waste another $100 at Mike Hale Acura of Salt Lake City.

getakey

On the flip side, that seems like a great price.
You didn't mention where you live, but that car is solid in weather.

SGAcura

Hey I live in Powell,Ohio and my friend lives in Cleveland,Ohio its about 2 hour drive there. Do you have a checklist I should give the dealer to ask him to test things for the car? He said sold as is but is a very honest guy and will not try to lie thanks!

getakey

Is he an Acura Dealer?

In any case, previous advice about the drive train whir and/or whine is right on. I have a 2005 with 145K miles. I have the whir (actually have had it for more than 2 years), but out of warranty. As far as I can tell, no one has reported what actually fails if not repaired. I may be the one to report that. The whir is very apparent at low temp and on my car occurs at very narrow speed range (30 to 32 mph). After car warms up, whir goes away.

Most other issues are wear and tear:
Center arm rest
Door arm rest
Headlight lens hazing up

SGAcura

nope hes a private dealer just sells a couple of cars. Alright is there anything you would say to not to buy the car? I don't know much about cars. I drive a Lexus ES330 we bought brand new 5 years ago. But don't want to put too much miles on it. So I would like to use this one!

drolds72

Check all the VIN stickers on each body piece to see if they match or have been painted over. The AC compressor is an expensive common problem in 05's as well...

getakey

I'm not sure I would be looking at any car with 175K miles to add a LOT more miles on it.

SGAcura

Hey getakey, We have 2 cars. 2010 Honda Accord, 2005 Lexus ES330 and now considering buying the Acura RL. So would be our 3rd car and the es330 would be driven half of the time so like maximum 10k miles! and thanks for all the replies guys. And are any of these problems serious enough to stop the car from driving? I just don't want to buy a car if it won't be able to drive. If the car will be driving for a couple of years like 4 years as a 3rd leg. I would be happy!

getakey

OK, got it
Other than the drive train issues reported, I have not seen any other major drivability issues reported. I believe one board member drove his to 400K miles before giving it away.
Must make sure that the timing belt (plus plugs and other incidentals) was changed. It should have been done at 105K miles. Then you will be due another change around 200K. That's about a $1000 service at Dealer.

neuronbob

I think we may have another FN P90 on our hands. He gave his 390k mile 2005 RL to a relative, who is still driving it. I say go for it at that price. Good advice in this thread already so I won't add to it.

oo7spy

None of the '05 issues will stop the car from running. They are just annoyances and are well documented here. In the 2G RL forum, click "search this forum" and type "05 problem".

What's the point of buying another car to save the ES? Buying another car will never save you money no matter how you slice it. If it's simply to keep miles on the ES low, I say get it b/c you will like the RL better and will probably stop driving the ES all together.

erdoc48

^^ I have to completely agree here. Unless the ES was a limited production/rare car, it'll never be worth more than it is right now. I would drive it as much as you want/ need and get your money out of it. More (in terms of number of cars) is not necessarily better, and your potentially buying into a car that can develop a lot of issues because it's a first model year for that generation of RL, as well as the mileage on the car. Also, you need to register and insure it, along with the 2 other cars. Plus, if doing long distance commuting, the RL, as nice of a car as it may be, has a larger V6. So mileage may not be the best. The price isn't bad, but it's just admission to the club.

db22

175K is a lot by anybodys standards but would you be having this conversation if it was a Chevy with 175K?

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

Not if that chevy had push rods... 175 is not a lot of miles any more... its about 1/2 life... at 250k I would rebuild the engine and get another 100 out of it.

For the price, the miles are a non issue.

nralpmet

My '05 just rolled over 150k km and I intend to keep it a few more years as it's the best ride for our trips from Ontario to Florida.

However, keep in mind the the RL has a lot of specialty features and if you had to fix or replace any of these out of warranty, it will be expensive.