I have owned a 2006 RL for 4 years now and have really enjoyed it. I am not a car expert by any means but I do enjoy a fast powerful car and my Acura RL has not let me down. It has been really fun to drive.

Things have changed for me and I pick up a woodworking hobby. So I want to sell my RL and get a truck since trying to put a sheet of ply in the RL would be more difficult.

Here is my problem. My air conditioning is broken and the dealer says that I need to get a new compressor. I also have one other flaw and it is that the center armrest console leather is peeling. I know I can get a replacement covering off of Ebay for the armrest and the compressor replacement estimate was around $1200.

So if you were looking for a used Acura would you buy one at a reduced price knowing these issues existed but that you were getting a good deal? Or would you want to see them fixed first and buy at market price?

Also do people buy Acura's with 96000 mile on them?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

First of all, yes people do buy acura's with that many miles. I just sold my CL which had 150k miles on it.

You could take the arm rest to an upholstery shop and have them re-wrap it with real leather for less than buying a new one on ebay. As a potential buyer (with no RL experience) I would be less likely to buy with the arm rest problem than I would with AC issues.

Considering the car is 8 years old, A/C issues would seem like reasonable issues to have and wouldn't deter me as much as interior wear and tear.

My advise would be to have the center console re-wrapped and sell it with the compressor needing to be replaced.

 

^what!?

a 50-100 dollar fix compared to a 1000-1200 dollar fix!?
I'd buy a 96k mile RL with a little interior rash than trying to fix the A/C!

despite what Nersh said; i think the A/C is more important than a wear item like an armrest.....because it'll wear out again due to its intended use...resting arms.

 

Is your compressor seized? If not, you likely do not need a new compressor and the fix is nowhere near 1200. the RL is notorious for having bad field coils/stator, particularly in the earlier 05 and 06s. Ask the dealer about this or take it to a shop that specializes in ac repair. You'd probably be looking at closer to 300-400, or less. Do a search here, it's well documented. My ac failed under warranty and dealer replaced the compressor, I didn't argue.

 

There you go! Both issues fixed for under $800.

 

For the most part, I agree with justnspace in that if I was a buyer, I'd take one with minor cosmetic issues over an A/C issue. However, I think it also depends on where you are in the country. Up here in Seattle, if you were selling in winter time, I don't think having a non-functioning A/C would matter much in the overall scheme of things. But down in muggy hot Texas and Florida in the summer and A/C is a priority above everything else.

 

Except A/C is critical for proper windscreen defog. I would not buy a car without working A/C. Or I would if I knew it would be cheap to fix.

 

Guys thanks for all the advice. I am going to search the forum for the issue mentioned and see if it really is the compressor. I am no expert so I will need to get a mechanic to confirm it. Thanks again!

 

Heres a good thread on replacement of the coil. The part is $100. A competent mechanic should be able to replace it in two hours or less.

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-problems-fixes-114/c-field-coil-replacement-guide-772614/

 

Here is my professional advice since I am in the car business. Get the a/c fixed before you try selling it. If you can, have someone remove the compressor and try to get it rebuilt. If you can't try to find a used one that is known to be good. If you can't find that look for a reman. When it comes to trying to figure out what is wrong with an a/c system it can be so many things that you have to estimate very high on the repair because it can get very expensive. Compressor, condenser, evaporator, solenoids, etc. So if I was looking at buying a car that the a/c wasn't working I would devalue the car by @1,500 to be on the safe side. One thing I know for sure is it is almost never only that the refrigerant is low. It shouldn't leak out so if it is low there is a reason why. OEM compressors are very expensive. Trying to find a rebuilt or reman is the best option.

The armrest is not a big deal. Most upholstery shops can do it for @80-100. Taking the armrest apart is not difficult. If you have the time take it apart and find a local shop to recover it. Or send it to the guy on ebay to do it. I recommend doing this if you plan on selling it privately. If your going to trade it in I doubt the dealer will deduct much for it because they should know it isn't that much to get it repaired.

Just my two cents...

 

96k miles isn't even close to half-life of an Acura. Get a second opinion on the A/C. The arm-rest is a toss-up. I bought my wife's CR-V @ 60k miles with bubbles in the door arm rest, and I bought my Tundra @ 140k miles with a tear in the driver's seat. It's a used car; minimal interior damage is almost expected.

 

I sold my 2006 RL about a year back with 90K miles on it. I made sure it was as perfect as can be and had the a/c failure ( stator coil ) fixed under Acuracare extended warranty that same summer. I guess I was lucky not to have any armrest issues. Whenever I look at a used car with known issues, I would calculate a worst case scenario as my max downside.

In my case, I sold my one owner 90k miles 06RL to a Honda salesperson from 3 states away in a private party sale. This guy knew what he was buying and gave me a touch above KBB "excellent" for a private party sale, which was slightly above my asking price. Cold cash and he drove 3 hours to get this car from me. He said it was the best one he had seen in 3 different states.

Having known issues just makes lowballers pick on you more and makes people who might be regular buyers potentially become lowballers. Save yourself the aggravation of dealing with more lowballers than you need to. I would really get the car to as good a condition as possible (within reason from a $ and time perspective) so your perceived weakness as a seller is reduced as much as possible.