scrim67

after the feedback I got from another thread I am still looking..

I have another offer on table that I would like this forum to evaluate:

2007 RL with the cmbs package
110k miles (owner just did the 105k maintenance replacing timing belt)
price $15,000 (down from 16k)

only downside for me vehicle is about 400 miles away so I would also appreciate any feedback regarding the best way for an independent mechanic to do a thorough inspection for me if the price is right.

I spoke to owner on phone and my gut instinct is to trust him but still do my due diligence.

thanks in advance for any feedback.

mike

Megatron

Your only other issue about this one is the tires. Is he on his second set? The CMBS RLs have the PAX system, so replacing tires will cost you over $2K. If you depax with regular wheels/tires, it will also cost you $2K or more to do it (depending on what wheels/tires you get). You save on subsequent new tires after that.

scrim67

he had already told me he already put "regular" tires and wheels on the vehicle a couple of years ago. He mentioned if the computer on the car says I have a flat tire to get it fixed and don't drive on it since it's not the run flat tires or whatever it's called

He did say he front tires need replacement before winter.

He said he's let me have the car as/is for $14,500 coming down another $500 because it will need two new tires by winter.

Fair price?

ichi d

That's a really fair price considering he did the 105k service.

neuronbob

Yes. 105k service done is a MAJOR plus.

Do it!

Megatron

And that he already DEPax'd makes it even a better price!

scrim67

forgive me for being naive but what are the pros and cons of the DEPAX?

mike

oo7spy

Pros: No $2k tire replacements.
Cons: You have to pull over when you have a flat.

This is a much better deal. The 07's are nearly immune to the quirks of the '05. If it is an early '07 model it may be subject to the brake recall, so check on that.

Otherwise, DO IT! The CMBS package is all I would change about my car ('07 Tech) if I could.


As for the distance, many of us have gone very far to get our RLs. I personally went over 800 miles to AL. Where is the car? AZine has regional forums where you could ask for mechanic referrals.

scrim67

i checked carfax and showing no recalls.

this vehicle is about 450 miles from me. I guess I'll make a weekend out of it when I pick up the vehicle if the deal is consummated

mike

oo7spy

Where is the car?

Also, my '07 was not affected by the brake recall. Mine hit the lot in May '07. I believe it was only '05 to early '07 MYs.

lland

When he de-paxed did he get a spare? If not, that'll be in the neighborhood of $500. But, the CMBS is worth the price of admission. Add to that the adaptive cruise control and you'll be very happy.

LL

tla11384

Yes you will love the ACC. Have it on my 06 and I love it. With the timing belt done it should be a solid car for you. The high miles probably means that it was mostly highway miles which is easier on the car. I would have him bring it the a acura dealership to do a preinspection on it tell them to run the codes to make sure that there is nothing wrong with the CMBS. It costed me about $60... cheap for peace of mind.

Matt W

See if he has all the service records, much better than the other offer and like oo7spy said:

neuronbob

Once again:

Do it. This is a good deal.

06RL/NBP

Right before I purchased my car the original owner put new stock RL rims and new tires so I got a great deal. The only thing wrong was the master cylinder was about to fail, but since Acura stands behind their products they totally covered the cost of replacement. Also my RL had 83,000 all highway miles on it and it runs as good as the day it left the factory.

scrim67

I have in my hands the acura accelerated vehicle inspection list:

It says that all belts, lights, hoses and filters are good.

The vehicle needs 2 front tires, brake pads front and rear, machine front and rear rotors

"Car overall in good condition" is the final evaluation.

The Acura Service station gave me a price of $450 for the front brakes and $305 for the rear brakes.

My thinking was not to have the dealership do the work but take it somewhere local and perhaps pay around half of what the dealership would charge.

Your thoughts?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

mike

oo7spy

My thoughts:

Buy aftermarket pads and rotors. This has been discussed to ad nauseum here and there are many good options. Then, let an independent mechanic install them.

The reason I say this is two fold. 1) The OEM pads are OK, but there are much better options out there for cheaper or same price. 2 and more importantly) Acura/Honda rotors are notorious for warping after machining. By a good set of aftermarket rotors and you will likely never touch them again. A lot of mechanics refuse to machine a Honda rotor because of the warping risk.

SSjTrunks112O

I might be too late but I also purchased my RL out of state. As for an independent inspection, I just used the same independent company that ebay uses (although I did not purchase it off ebay)..

scrim67

ok, 2 new tires are on and I just ordered new brake pads and rotors that are being shipped today

I just did some more research and it appears from one website that of 400 second generation RL's listed for sale less than 1% of them have the cmbs/pax package.

That surprised me.

Why so few? Was the option just too expensive?

mike

scrim67

fyi, the new brake pads and rotors with shipping were a shade over $300. Mechanic is going to charge me $100 so I saved about half what the dealership quoted me

I pick up the car a week from today.

mike

scrim67

ok here is my itinerary to get my new ride:

• drive to the park and ride
• take bus to atlantic city casino
• taxi from casino to ACY
• fly from ACY to DTW
• driven from DTW to hotel
• meet owner to do the deal at his CU

if i can find John Candy and Steve Martin I can make a movie

mike

steve807

Watch out for the 52 wheelers (not 18 wheelers) running around the Detroit area. They must be carrying some Heavy Loads.

Well, maybe they are all gone now, all the new factories are down the road towards Toledo. I was there about 7 or 8 years ago when the Dearborn Ford plant was celebrating their 100 millionth car to roll out of that plant.

scrim67

boy they are really making me jump thru hoops to get insurance on this vehicle by friday so I can drive it back to NJ.

since there is a lien on the vehicle the seller has informed me when we meet at his banking institution they will only mail me the title as the checks need to clear to issue the title to me. Thereofore I cannot get temporary transit plates/tags. As long as I have supporting documents I'm ok with driving without this.

However insurance is another story. My agent told me I need the title to issue an insurance card. When I told her I won't have the title she said let's try and submit to the underwriters your truth and lending disclosure which I should have tomorrow with the check.

If this doesn't work then I'm back to square one and probably would just have the vehicle shipped to me.

mike

neuronbob

^^^^^
Crazy. Would this go faster with a cashier's check? What a pain.

Megatron

What kind of insurance do you have? All insurance I've ever had will temporarily cover ANY vehicle I borrow or buy automatically without the need to contact them or anything. If I so happen to get in a wreck, then I just have to show them that I either borrowed with permission or I recently bought it. If I get pulled over, I show them my current valid insurance card and the paperwork that I just bought the car. So I would think insurance is no issue at all...

scrim67

i'm confident I'll figure this all out tomorrow. my insurance agent said something about in my home state of NJ there are certain laws about needing to have the title transfered before insurance can be issued..blah blah blah.etc etc etc..

she says in her 20 years she's never run into this situation of someone going out of state to buy a vehicle from a private seller which I found rather proposterous.

the seller told me in his home state they cannot issue me the title until my cashier's check clear.

bottom line is that where there's a will there's a way and I'll figure this all out in th next 36-48 hours but the one thing I will not do is drive the vehicle 600 miles home w/o insurance.

mike

oo7spy

Good call on not driving without it.

However, I have to agree with Megatron. What if you rent a car? Do you need the title to be covered?

scrim67

it's a moot point now as in the past few minutes I went to a major insurance company's website (think gekko) and now have coverage as of 12:01 AM June 1st for my new ride.

this was similar to last week where the finanical institution where I'm employed wanted two years tax returns before they could loan me half the price of the Acura. I simply went to AAA and had a loan within a few minutes.

I hate drama!!

onto DTW!!!

mike

GoHawks

Good luck! There is truth in the fact that you can't get a clean title until the checks clear.

I just sold my boat that still had a lean on it. Met the buyer at the bank. He pain IN CASH, and the bank immediately released the lien on the title. I signed it over to him and he was on his merry way.

Good luck. Whereabouts in Detroit Metro will you be?

scrim67

Seller is picking me up in less than an hour to consummate deal at the bank. I saw and drive my new vehicle last night and it's sweet. Seller was nice enough to set my handsfree up with my phone.

I did decide to bring my plate from my old vehicle to throw on this one temporarily. I Erroll also have bill of sale, copy of title and insurance card in case I get pulled over. I'll just set my adaptive cruise at 75 so I shouldn't get stopped.

Tigers Yankees game tonight weather permitting

Mike

scrim67

I am now the proud owner of a 2007 Acura RL w/CMBS

Thanks to all for their input during this process.

Now if I can just find the owner's manual as I am certain it's in that secret compartment in the glovebox

Mike

scrim67

I've had the car a week and am very pleased. Since I'm in NJ I had the front window tint removed. The only issue is trying to figure if the road noise I hear is normal or perhaps a different tire might be appropriate.

I even sold my Lexus gs 300 with 325k miles the day after it appeared on cars.com. I got $1,800 which amazed my friends and family

tla11384

Congrats on the purchase!

scrim67

Btw on my ride home last weekend I did get pulled over between Detroit and Cleveland. I had my ACC set at 79 in a 70 zone. It was around 1am and after showing all ppwk he let me go without as much as a warning. He may have seen I didn't have a front plate and then noticed my old plate on rear didn't match the type of vehicle.

TampaRLX-SH

If you have not located the manuals, or they were not supplied with the purchase, go to MyAcura.com There you may register the vehicle, get online feature instructions and demos as well as the online manuals (owners and NAVI). You can also download them as pdf files.

scrim67

update:

it's over 3 years later and I still have the RL

she has about 165k miles on her now.

It's been a very good purchase for me with no regrets

I still think she's worth around $8k

schen72

Apparently, the CMBS versions were quite rare, as I have never actually seen another one of them driving around in the SF bay area. They are easy to spot as the front badge is replaced with a radar emitter.

scrim67

Coincidentally I just accidentally today found a feature on my vehicle that is useful

When holding down the CH button for a full second you can move up (or down) your satellite radio channels by one instead of the presets.

Better late than never!!!!

I really should read my manual

stevieray

I also have an '07 with CMBS/ACC, sure don't see many of them. PAX has been long gone. Scarf up a set of the A-Spec 18" wheels if you can, entirely changes the look of the car. Had ALL of the maintenance done right after I got it with 73K and she is rock solid @ 98K. Great road trip car. Did have to replace the windshield, mine was terminally pitted and scratched. Almost $1K after installation but worth it.

I still say that for the money, the '06 thru '08 RL is the best value going. I don't know of another car of its type that can be had for as little.

scrim67

I sure could have used PAX last week<br/><br/>Damn pothole