This is a very good discussion. I like NeuronBob's comments on Marketing, its what has to happen.

Back in the day....Acura had cache with Rappers and stars and etc...I know a few songs that included rhymes with the words "legend"in it...but over the last decade its lost its appeal.

For now, HMC needs to seriously market the next generation of vehicles or they will become a has-been. If the price goes up and people buy it, no problem here. Its the evolution of the market. If the next generation RL isn't competing with the LS, S or 7 series, I might have to jump ship. That's not that I hate my RL, its just they don't have a flagship car.

 

Rexorg, do you know how long after the 09 TL comes will the new RL be introduced?

 

Very well done!! You are hired.

 

My best guess would be TL in September of '08 and RL in October '08.

 

I almost shot my ice cream out of my nose when I read that just now.

Now THAT is marketing! Someone should do that and put it on YouTube. That would get Acura INSTANT attention.



I was just using rappers and other stars as an example, you know. They helped move Legends and Escalades, why not the RL? What Acura wouldn't give to have Will Smith or Tom Cruise jump out of a new, stretched, ULEV, partial zero emissions, 4-cylinder shutdown, 30 mpg V8 RL at the 2009 Academy Awards? "The Prius of Luxury Cars", they could call it.

 

There are some older LEGEND commercials for Japan on UTube featuring Harrison Ford and Michael Fox! American & Canadian icons for the Japan marketing campaign of the LEGEND. Oy!

 

MDX October 2001 - October 2006
TSX Spring 2003 - Spring 2008
TL October 2003 - October 2008
RL October 2004 - October 2009
RDX August (?) 2006 - October 2011

Acura generally runs in 5 year cycles with a 're-fresh the 3rd year (not the RL on this last one though)...

How do you 'evolve' by 'overcoming' Darwinism? Isn't it the best adapted survive?

 

The 3.5 RL went from 1996 through 2004, lots of improvements in 2000.
Not sure you will see a V-8 IMO.

 

The current Car & Driver ragazine is reporting 2009 for the 3.5 diesel for the Ridgeline, Pilot and Odyssey. I cannot imagine the option will not be made to the RL and MDX. Since new technology and engineering is usually introduced in the premium brand and trickles down to the mass brand, I would hope the 3.5 diesel is also available to Acura in 2009 models. I would expect it to be offered in the RL before the Accord, allowing the RL (and somehow the TL) to leapfrog the newest Accord.

I know I would be a lot more exited for a green(er) diesel power/torque/economy than a V8 option in the RL.

 

I guess we've talked this to death, but the buzz still seems to be that the RL will not wait until until the 2010 model year for its makeover.

Maybe it's more wishful thinking than anything, but I somehow can't see the current RL hanging around for over 2 more years with no restyle. Especially given the slow sales. That would almost seem to be a suicidal move on Acura's part, allowing it to become lost in the shuffle. Hell, few people seem to know about it now, and in 2 years it could be little more than a memory.

No, I see the only "hope" as being a dazzling new model, along with an aggressive ad campaign that would put Acura on the map. Whether Honda will break the mold and do that is another matter entirely, but if they don't, I'm afraid things will look pretty bleak for our beloved RL.

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Remember the prior RL which spanned from 96 to 04. It took Acura almost eight years to undertake a drastic change, AFTER the automotive press and the public had pretty much written off the RL. We hope Acura will be more proactive going forward.

 

If not, we'll have no choice but to look at the Germans, Lexus (shudder...no sportiness in the driving experience), Infiniti, or Cadillac for our next high-end car....if we don't all decide first that the Accord is enough....as Acura will become irrelevant.

 

Accord interior looks beautiful. I think it looks even better than the Camry. But, it certainly won't help '08 TL sales as mentioned before.

Yea, Acura really has to step it up if their cookie cutter car is almost on par with their more expensive offerings. Otherwise, I'm definitely jumping ship when the time comes...most likely to either Lexus or Infiniti.

 

I doubt Acura would bump up an RL re-design a year. The car just went on sale in China and of course the other overseas markets. Chopping that car after 4 years would be too radical.

Off the subject a little but how many people thought of looking at a Toyota Avalon when you looked at the RL?

 

Nope. No offense but Avalon truly looks like a car for 65 and older. Plus, there's ES350, which is comparable to Avalon in terms of drivetrain. Why not get the Lexus instead of a wannabe?

But, it certainly can get by as a Lexus if they replaced the Toyota badge with the 'L' badge.

 

No I know and I agree but the RL doesn't really seem to be grabbing with its core audience.

I like the interior.

 

CL6, I looked at the Avalon, ES 350 and used LS 430 (04/05). The Avalon would be a good choice for someone racking up miles in sales. Big trunk, huge back seat (for supplies and literature, etc.) and great gas mileage with good resale all good points for a salesman. Kind of pedestrian looks, though and having mostly old folks buying it hurts its image (I'm soon to be 55 but think 45). The ES 350 had good fit and finish but the Lexus boards were continually raising cain about transmission problems. On a side note, I was speaking to a friend last week who has a 4 cylinder 2007 Camry. He hates the automatic transmission and how it sometimes shifts at illogical points. He says driving over a bump in the road will knock the transmission down one or two gears and makes for a disconcerting experience. You've got to think Toyota is losing status with the transmission problems across the Camry and ES 350 product lines. The used LS 430 would have been a good choice but, heck, who wants a soft, plush ride? My 2006 RL fits me to a T.
wstr

 

I looked at everything. LOL. But with the Avalon I didn't get any further than the website, since I couldn't get the equipment I considered necessary.

Ditto for the Camry, which I thought might be okay with the Sport Pkg., but I never even drove either one. The ES350 made me seasick with its Buick ride, and that center stack control area looks too squeezed together. Widen it out and make it look like it isn't ashamed of itself!

I realize it would be a break in tradition to re-style the RL after only 4 years, but these are unusual times, and unusual times call for unusual measures. And besides ... we can always hope.

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That is what I was thinking too. I'm guessing the RL will quietly disappear before the new TL comes out until they bring out an all new one in 12 to 18 months.

 

Ewwww.....no.

As far as the RL, I hope that the rumors of an early redo--at least for the US market--are true. Another year of dismal sales and the RL might as well disappear until the next redesign, as it's already pretty inivisible to the car buying public.

 

Withe the RL being made in Japan with several badges with it being sold here, Canada, Europe, and now I hear China, there is probably enough numbers to keep making it. The technology has been paid for, its just a matter of making a limited supply. The assembly line where the RL is made is most likely used to make another model car. Once or twice a year, they change over the line to make the RL's needed for everywhere. My 07 was made in November of 06. In listening to my dealer, he implied that all the ones that they got in were made at about the same time.

While Acura cares about the RL, its not their driving concern. Top of the list will be the new TL. If TL isn't a success they may as well close down the name Acura. once they have a success selling the new TL, they will have the breathing room to make the next gen RL and the hand built NSX. From what I am reading, the first model year possible to see the 3rd gen RL would be 10'.

When the 05 RL came out, the 1st gen RL had almost a 10 year span. At that point, it really needed to be revamped. It wasn't up to date and it wasn't selling.
As I look at the current RL, it really isn't that far from being cutting edge. What do other cars have that the RL doesn't have. As for style, there is not another car on the road that I like more other than prehaps the Lexus ES and the LS body styles. I never liked the 3rd gen TL...thats why I bought the 2nd gen TL for almost 8k less (brand new).

The problem with the RL is that it isn't selling. When I bought it, I was shopping the Lexus ES350...I was 15 minutes away from putting a deposit on an 08 ES350UL....then the dealer called me up and told me they decided to reject my offer.(500 over invoice)

I was actively reading in Club Lexus about transmission failures and buy-backs. Once of our new members "gpension" was on that website and he said that Lexus was buying back his ES350 and he was looking for advise about what to buy...he focused on the RL, and he talked about 3.5k marketing support. That was the first place I had heard about this money, and that was then that I said I need to look at the RL. Acura did a poor job of promoting the marketing support. No real advertising. If Acura made people aware of it, sales would climb. Can I see someone going into an Acura dealership to buy an 08 CMBS RL for 53k...you got to be kidding. But the same car at 44k with people knowing about it, this same car is a bargain.

 

I've been checking out the specs of the '08 Accord on Honda Media. If I were in the market for a new car and put the Accord against the RL, I would have to say the Accord would win by a large margain considering the bottom line will probably (no price info yet) be about $17K less. The Accord has a larger trunk, much larger interior (about 7 cu ft), flat blade wipers (love them on my wife's '07 Civic), RDS, SVC, and better gas mileage. What more could I want? Yes, I would miss the SH-AWD, and the Bose 5.1 Cabin Surround, but are they worth $17K? Don't think so.

 

Waitaminute! Has Larry stumbled upon the problem, or what?


(Just jerkin' you around, Larry. )

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