My dad is currently looking to get the 2008 RL with the tech package and I convinced him to get the A-spec suspension upgrade as well after reading all the comments here about it (thanks for that btw). He's going to get an extended warranty as well, 6 year 120K. I was just wondering if there is anything we need to look out for, or what kind of pricing we should accept or reject. If I remember correctly, the dealer was quoting us a price of 56k out the door.

 

56K OTD for a car not selling that well is way too high. You should be able to get the A-spec suspension only for $600 plus install ($400). If you were thinking adding the wheels too that would be another $2000 with tires. Just the base Tech pkg should be able to be had for $46K if not less. The warranty will cost in the neighborhood of $1100. That gives a grand total of $48100.

 

I don't buy new, but any RL over low $40s is crazy to me.
Drive a new one off the lot and you just lost what, $5k.
the car is gonna be refreshed in what 6 months too.

with incentives, I know that new 06 Techs at the time were going for low $40s.
Dealer is really gonna like your Dad!

 

Go to Hondacuraworld.com and get the quote on a new car for the 120K warranty. It is about the lowest available when I bought my extended warranty, and hundreds less than the dealer cost even after the dealer cut his price to us.

Unless you live in FL, you have until 6K miles to get that extended warranty, so do not make it a condition of the deal unless you can get a good price.

 

$56k including tax, warranty, and A-Spec suspension?

Look in the RL Owner Sign In thread to get an idea of what people are paying for a Tech package (I'm assuming this isn't Tech + CMBS/PAX). Shouldn't be above the mid-40s unless the dynamics of RL purchase have changed suddenly.

As noted above, buy the A-Spec suspension online for $600 and then expect a $300-600 install, depending on the dealer.

Also as noted above, buy the warranty online.

Save lots of money.

Real simple.

 

Well, I was quoted $250 over invoice (including the $2000 incentive) plus tax and tags in late Dec. for a 2008 Tech.. So, it appears too high...

 

So that should be $1750 below invoice, correct Geronimo?

To the OP: NEVER talk to a dealer about the "out the door price" or the monthly payment. They will have lots of fun cooking the numbers. You want to know the selling price of the car, to which is added tax, title and license (TTL). You can get the invoice price from websites like Edmunds. Then you have a basis for shopping around with different dealers. (I do it by phone.)

In general, you will get better deals on dealer-installed packages if you buy them after the sale. That way you can shop around. Several members here have gotten A-spec components on E-Bay.

Good luck!

 

Yes, the invoice price (before incentives) - $1750.

I don't understand why we shouldn't talk about the out the door price to the dealer? I personally would want to know that. So I know what other miscellaneous fees they will be charging me rather than being surprised by mystery fees...

I'm waiting to see what happens. My wife is still giving me some grief about spending over $40K for a car....

I have a feeling that the incentives are going to be higher due to the refreshing and the economy.

 

Current incentives are $2000 or 2.9% (for well qualified buyers, etc.). When I bought my 2006, there was a $4000 incentive, and more.

 

Yep. The $2000 incentive is supposed to end today. I'm curious to see what they are going to do, ie. extend it, increase it, etc...

One more thing I forgot to say, since the TL is going to be totally new in 09, I think that's going to depress the RL sales even more.. Even though it can't go that much lower....

 

Here in California at least, there aren't any mystery fees. (Unless you count the efforts of the F&I guy to sell you Lojack, extended warranties, super-ultra-mega-wax, pinstripes, etc. Just say no! )

Asking for an out-the-door price reveals that you don't really understand the pricing mechanism. The price of the car out the door is:

selling price + sales tax + title fee + license fee

All of the fees and taxes are based on the selling price, so the calculation is simple. For example in L.A. County:

Selling price = $40,000 + sales tax @ 8.25% = $3300 + title fee = $48 + license fee = about $400 (set by DMV). Thus, out-the-door is $43,748.

But the only number that matters is the selling price. You want to know where that sits in relation to dealer cost. Dealer cost is: invoice price - incentives - holdback. Holdback on Acuras is 2% of MSRP, or around $1000 on an RL. So with the current $2000 incentive, the dealer could actually break even at $3000 under invoice, not counting the contribution to fixed costs.

...So if you want to get their attention, bring your HP 12C calculator and TELL them the out-the-door price as well as the monthly payment based on the selling price you want.

 

thanks everyone for all your information and help... i'll update again after we finally get it and everything.

 

Incentive stays, financing is gone (unless you want a RDX or MDX).

 

Yep, fully aware it's gone, for now.. I'll have to wait and see what happens.....

 

In NJ as in many states, there are the basics, ie. tax but then there's the tire tax, 4 years of registration, doc fee, etc.. The documentation fee varies dealer to dealer so at least in NJ, the OTD price is best.......

 

So the final price we came to was $49,500 OTD.
Black on Black 2008 RL
Tech Package
A-spec Suspension
120K/7YR extended Warranty
Tax/Title/Licence

 

OK, that's more like it. You guys will like the A-Spec suspension. Wheeeeee!

 

$46 for all that seems great. I got mine in July for $41,400 ('07 Pearl Gray Tech- no CMBS/PAX) and then you add tax, title, fees and I only bought the floor mats. In fact I really went into the dealer to drive an 06 they had for sale ($39k asking) and it was sold already. I said that I would like to drive the new one and I was sold on the car, but I told the dealer I wouldn't pay $50k for the car, he said $41,925 without hesitation. I then shopped around and got another $525 off the price.

 

Congrats Storm! Your dad will love the car. It's true it's getting a major refresh in 6 months but that shouldn't really matter if you like the current style and plan on keeping it for at least 4-5 years. Sounds like its a long term purchase since you got teh extended warranty.

Have fun with it. It's a great car.

 

We always keep our cars for a while. I have 2000 Accord Coupe EX-V6. I got it in August of 01 "used" with 53 miles on it... its still running strong and still looks new inside and out. Mom got a 2005 Honda Odyssey Touring Edition when they first came out, and my dad is finally upgrading from his 01 Toyota Camry. We went in to the Acura dealership to look at the TL and he came out loving the RL. I have 4 siblings and since our cars are still running good, they just get passed down when a new car comes into the picture. So in a nut shell... yeah we do keep our cars for a while. Dad's up in Akron, OH and I'm in school in Cincinnati OH, I can't wait to go home and check out my dad's new ride. I'll post pics of it when I can.

 

Where did your dad buy from up here? (NE Ohioan here)

 

Park Acura

 

One of my colleagues bought from there (several times) and really likes the dealership. Hope your dad enjoys the car!

 

If we were to sell the stock suspension from the RL that's being removed to put in the A-spec suspension, who much could I sell it for? Is there much demand for the RL's stocks?

 

I doubt much demand, if any at all. Not too many RL's out there, plus few folks are going to downgrade from an A-Spec to a stock suspension....

Only exception is if someone damaged their suspension and wanted parts, then maybe.....

 

There's no demand for a stock RL suspension outside of scrapyards.

I just let the dealer keep mine for parts when they installed my A-Spec suspension, didn't even consider selling.