The Lincoln Town Car is HUGE!

 

I agree that the Town Car is HUGE. Do you know that the Lincoln LS (V8 and very nicely equipped) is now on sale for only $33k, which is about $14k discount from its MSRP. If anyone thinks he is now getting a good discount on the RL, think again. Or if anyone thinks he has taken a blood bath because he overpaid for the RL, think again.

 

How about everyone just enjoy his or her RL and call it a day? People treat cars like they are stocks and bonds. If you are buying the car, then re-sale value isn't "real" until you actually re-sell it. If you are leasing, then maybe a BMW might be a better deal.

 

Let's not compare GM resale to an Acura please!

 

Exterior dimensions, yeah, but it's not as big as you'd think on the inside. And that's on top of the humongous tunnel hump (!!!) that runs through for the rear passengers. Anybody sitting in the middle back there will no doubt feel very uncomfortable...your options are to tuck your knees to your chest, or sit with your legs splayed apart. That's one reason why I'm fond of the new Avalon...flat rear floor like a Civic sedan, but much more roomier.

 

Not true. Per kbb.com here is the trade in value. I owned a CL-S as well, when I traded it in after a year owning it, I got what I owed on it which per when I bought it was only about 3k less than what the price was new. This was before they were discontinued.

06 RL non-tech 500 miles.


More Photos Condition Value


Excellent
$40,025
(Selected)

Good
$37,960

Fair
$34,350

 

I can tell you, 'real world' those RLs are soft and going for THOUSANDS back of book making the KBB worthless.

If you can buy a NEW RL for 40 who's gonna pay anywhere close to that for a USED one?

Trust me, I do this for a living.

People aren't paying MSRP for RLs and people aren't paying KBB for them, either. You have to see what these cars are selling for at auction and it ain't KBB.

 

P.S. No used car is ever 'Excellent' condition. Usually Fair to Good. Excellent is what's at the dealership.

 

LOL a car with 500 miles is excellent. And a car will not loose that much value down to 31k-33k like you said unless its a GM.

 

Go to a dealer my friend, I'm telling you, this is what you will hear. If a NEW RL sells for 40k how can a used one go for 'excellent' at 40.5?

 

I have friends that work at 3 dealers that I have known for over 10 years.

A RL that is sold for 40k for only a SHORT time will not kill the resale on the car. If the price stayed low then yea we might have a problem but the 07s are gonna be in the high 40s.

The BlueBook and BlackBook does NOT LIE. Blackbook shows 38k for the RL in Excellent condition. That is normally what the dealer will give you.

 

Here's how it works:

You want to trade in an 06 RL. You can buy a new one for 40k. The dealer has to turn a profit on the car so all the admin costs will eat up at least 1k. So let's start at your KBB 'good' price of essentially 39k. The 1k admin costs make the car 40. So now you need to go back further... let's go to 'fair' and you're at 34,300... Add the 1k you're at 35,300. Now add some profit (say 2k) and you're at 37,300. People will just buy new for only a little more. So you have to go down further on the RL... more like 31 or 32 to be 'safe.'

It's not as easy as you think.

You see it now?

And the RL has been soft since it's 2nd or 3rd month. That's why there's all that money back on it. Acura doesn't put trunk money on their cars unless they're very soft because it kills resale. You get it? The RL's only going to get softer.

The 07s aren't going to set the world on fire and KBB is only a guide. Until you sell cars for a living you wouldn't know that. You need to know what the cars go for at auction to know their real value. That is why the term 'back of book' is used in the car business. Ask your car sales buddies about 'back of book' if you don't believe me.

I do this for a living so I know what I am saying.

 

Dealers make their money on Certified Used Car Warranty. So the price sometimes is higher than a new car.

I don't need to sell cars for a living when I have friends that sell cars for a living. I see what the worth is now, and that is what I believe. Not some guy on the internet.

 

I love your logic and the fact that you haven't refuted one point I've made. Who would pay more for a used car than a new car exactly like it? Would you? Dealers don't make money on the Certified warranty... they bill it to the cost of the car. If somebody buys an EXTENDED warranty that's different but that's not what you said.

Your grasp of the reality of the situation is tenuos at best (perhaps because you don't do this for a living) but that's fine buddy - just don't trade in your RL any time soon (If you do you'll be one of those guys who screams: "But I paid $XXXX for this car XXX ago!").

Good luck to you.

 

Sorry, but I'm going to have to agree with CL6 with this one. Every car I have traded in has been immaculate. Now I know most people think this of their cars, but mine have been and I've had people and dealers comment on that. With that said, trade-in offers have ranged between the upper FAIR range to Upper GOOD condition and I have always negotiated towards the upper GOOD. I have never been offered EXCELLENT and as CL6 has said, that is usually the retail sale price of that car. It's understandable since there is a trade-off in me trading in a car (less hassles and sales tax benefit), and the dealer isn't going to be able to sell a car above the retail amount anyway, especially if the buyer is going to finance the car. Banks typically aren't high on financing a purchase price higher than the car is realistically worth.

With brand new RLs going for ~$41K, I can't realistically see a dealer offering you $39K on a trade. They would have to turn around and sell it for $42K-$43K which is more than a brand new car.

 

I'm also going to have to go with CL6 on this one, also based on my own personal experience in trading in cars over the years. Most cars I at least take the time to clean out and detail before trading in, and I'm usually (with the exception of my trade for the RL, in which I was offered a phenomenal deal and I'm POSITIVE they're going to get good money for my A-Spec'd TL anyway....) offered "Fair-Good" pricing on the trade. It's a cost I'm willing to pay because I simply don't have time to sell cars on my own with 12-hour workdays.

When I've had a car with low residual value (e.g. 1999 Dodge Intrepid.....lost 55% in two years!!!) I've had to accept being soaked because I got a car I liked at the time. With that said, I don't think the RL is going to depreciate 55% in 2-3 years, I just wanted to use an example from my personal life.

I believe CL6 simply because he sells cars for a living, I think he knows what he's talking about.

 

I won't argue anymore. I have had 18 cars since 1992. I have a lot of experience in this area as well but I am done with the argueing.

For joy, a list of my cars.

1987 Nissan 200SX
1992 Isuzu Pickup
1994 Mazda Protege
1996 Grand Am
1996 Maxima
1998 Maxima
1999 TransAm
2000 Maxima
2001 Sentra
1991 Sentra se-r autox dedicated
2001 Maxima
2002 Acura CL-S
2003 Audi A4 1.8t Quattro
2003 Pathfinder LE
2004 G35
2004 Titan
2005 G35
2006 Acura TL

 

Ahhh, this was not on the Acura site before. In the specifications for the RL that is now with the package, it says "Genuine, curly maple dashboard trim" so it looks like the wood on the doors are fake, as Acura has conveniently implied without actually saying it.

 

If the wood on the doors IS fake, it's damn good fake wood ... it matches the real wood on the dash to a "T".
.
.

 

It's good fake wood but if you carefully look around the memory settings position you will see the resin line and molding line. Also, if you tap on it with a ring the sound will be different from what's on the dash because it's... fake!

Oh and maybe his RL is worth 33k instead of the 32k I said.

 

You know ... it doesn't lessen my appreciation of the car one whit (whatever a whit is). It's just trim, and it adds nothing but a little eye candy. The car would still drive and ride and handle just as well if it didn't have any trim on the doors at all!
.
.

 

LOL I should try that. I'm so obsessed with these things that I bring a small refrigerator magnet with me to the car shows, just to see if the metal used in certain cars were real. Usually I can tell by looking at it (too dull to be real) or touching it (real is usually cold to the touch), but I always want to be reassured that I'm right. With fake wood it's more difficult, cause some of them are really good, even mimicking the graining of real wood.

 

I like to know how people know when 2007s haven't hit the dealer lot yet. lol. Sorry if some people are so upset because they own a car that lost so much value because it was discontinued they think the whole line will do the same.

 

I only began this thread because I wondered exactly how much money Acura 'saved' by using 'plood' (this is a funny term) instead of wood. In the end it doesn't matter and wood is a lousy substance to put in a car but it just seemed petty to me anyway.

Anybody who owns an RL has a great car with some terrific engineering in it.

And I won't be drawn back into the discussion about RL resale value, but I did notice your bitterness anyway and it's not about what I think.

 

It's a good thread, and I am also curious as to how much Acura could've saved (my guess: a lot of money, there's a hefty amount even on just the dash). If you ever find the answer, please share.

I love wood in cars, but not the matte finish type like in the Infinitis.