As I was detailing my RL, I got to thinking how people selected the very RL they took home from the dealer's lot.

I got my RL through a broker, so the car I got was the car that the broker got from the dealer (who remained a secret until I picked up the car).

I got to thinking what criteria I'd use to pick an RL from the dealer's lot, if I'd had the chance. It turned out that the dealer that my car came from had 21 RLs at the time, and several in my color.

I wouldn't have thought of it at the time, but I could see giving preference to the car with latest build date (thinking it would be the newest).

I might have been swayed by something else if I'd been given the chance to test drive different cars. Or inspect the car for scratches. Or fender alignment. Or woodtone on the dash. Or any number of things.

How did you pick the RL that's in your garage?

Rob144

 

My previous 7 cars were white. I did not want another one. I wanted either black of dark grey.

In the end it was between the Carbon Grey Pearl or Lakeshore Silver Metallic. Since I wanted darker, it was CGP and I haven't regretted it one minute.

 

I was able to choose from the dealer's lot. I had three colors in mind and looked through the dealer's stock until I could find one. First choice was meteor silver/ebony, but the car the dealer had on the lot was to be delivered to another. I also wasn't willing to change my deal just to get that color. Second choice was celestial silver/parchment or taupe, which I ended up with and am enjoying tremendously.

I inspected thoroughly before choosing, as well, and haven't had any issues I didn't cause.

 

Mine wasn't on the lot... I looked at a black exterior 2005 RL on the lot... and a new white RL with black interior, in the showroom. Decided I wanted black on black. SO they found one and did a dealer to dealer trade.
Then I added the Wood Steering wheel and shifter knob (sight unseen) because I didn't care for the way the leather had held up on the 2005 I had seen on the lot.

For whatever reason.. I like to look at exteriors 'outside...and I prefer to look at interiors 'inside' the showroom.

 

Last '06 on the lot.

LL

 

I mentioned to my dealer that I would love a white RL with A-Spec if I were looking to trade my 05 TL. About three weeks later a White RL showed up on a transporter, they put A-Spec package on it, spiffed it up and put in on the showroom floor. I got a call from the dealer asking me to come in and there on the floor was the RL, with a bow on it and my name on the windshield. I fell in love with it, they made me an offer I couldn't refuse, so I didn't. A week later I traded in my '05 TL and drove the RL home.

 

I had gotten kinda fond of the gold (Desert Mist?) color, but when I really looked at it closely, I decided it looked sort of washed out. Besides, the only one they had was teamed with a charcoal interior, a combo I didn't like. So I went to my second choice - a Lakeshore Slate.

But by the time I got back over to the dealer to cut the deal the Lakeshore was sold. But there on the lot was a Carbon Grey, and I realized it's the best color for the RL (except for maybe black, which I'll never, ever have again). It was resplendent with its Taupe interior and tinted windows, so I was happy the other cars ended up being unavailable or undesirable.
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Sometimes the best choice is having no choice at all. I think I might have exploded if I'd have tried to pick from, say, 4 identical cars on the lot.

I, too, was partial to the Pearl White and the Gold, which my wife didn't care for. She liked the dark blue (which was too dark), and the Carbon Grey (which would have been our mutual second choice). We ended up with silver/taupe, a combination we both could easily agree on.

 

By the time I got around to buying a 2006 at the end of the year, there wasn't a whole lot of selection around. Black and white were out for me as they are too hard to keep clean. Of all the lighter colors, I was partial to the Meteor Silver or Carbon Grey. I could get both in a couple of interior color choices but thought the ebony interior looked best and would stay cleanest with my two kids. I couldn't justify the extra $4K for the tech package so I ended up with a non-tech in Meteor Silver (really light blue metallic) with ebony interior that I love. Have put less than 2K miles on it in 3 months as I live less than 1 mile from work. I have the spoiler to add to the trunk once the temperatures around here (DC area) warm up into the 50s or higher.

 

I was shopping 2006 closeouts in late November, and my choices were limited to what the dealers had in stock, one had black only, one had celestial silver and redondo red, others had white, silver, and black, etc. I had five dealers to chose from relatively close to each other in the DC metro area with cars under 50 miles on them, but blue, desert mist, lakeshore silver, and carbon grey were never choices.

I ended up with a black on black with 8 miles on the odometer. Never owned a black car before, and I did not want light leather upholstery (the parchment color in my last Acura was very hard to keep clean). I may be cursing later on, especially when it is hot out, but the black on black looks really great when it is clean, and I am lucky enough to have covered parking at work and at home. Love the car.

 

I went through a Broker, too, so got whatever gray unit they picked.

For previous new car purchases, there's never been more than one on the lot with the combination of options & colors that I wanted so it has been a moot point. Part of living in a smaller town, I guess.

 

Same situation as Chas2. Shopping in Nov to get a good deal..got a good deal on the price but not too may colors to choose from. I took a Black/Black... My previous car was also black...so i did not complain..... Looks terrific...Started loving my car again and again. ..Agree on how difficult to keep it clean.....

 

I was coming from two black/black cars, so I wanted something different. It was down to Celestial Silver/Taupe and Lakeshore Silver/Taupe. I went with Lakeshore because it was on the showroom floor with absolutely no accesories on it. I wouldn't change it for anything.

 

Haha, we were probably looking over the same inventory and dealing with the same sales people! I got a black on black tech pack also!

 

My first RL (the '05) was actually the one on the showroom floor. So I drove another RL (a CGP/black one) that was a demo, and based on that test drive, I took home the one on the floor (Lakeshore/taupe).

Big mistake -- as soon as I drove it off the lot, I noticed the problems it had. Eventually, the inability of the dealer to rectify those problems led to me trading it on an '06 -- and I got Lakeshore/black.

So the moral of this story: ALWAYS, ALWAYS, test drive the EXACT car you're planning on purchasing before you finalize the deal.... it's much easier to switch cars before the ink goes on the contract.

 

I got the only RL they had at the time back in Nov 04.

They asked me that since it was the only RL they would have for a month if they could keep it to show people and use for test drives and I said sure as long as they were simple test drives. I think they gave me a little discount for this or they threw in the window tinting. They ended up just slapping it in the show room though as I don't think it had any extra KMs on it after I drove it. I also think it may have been locked while in the showroom. Dunno but it came to me in fine condition and only had mine and probably one other test drive worth of KMs on it.

Oh and it is blue with black interior. Probably the choice I would have gone for even if I had a choice.

 

When I got my RL back in Aug '05, the dealer lot was cluttered with them. Almost all colors were available, but I really wanted a black on black. My prior cars had been silver and silver-gray, so I guess I was migrating down the gray scale. Anyhow, they didn't have a black on black, but they did have a black on parchment with a spoiler, chrome wheels, woodshift nob, and all-season mats. It was the only one on the lot with those accessories, so I sacrificed my preferred interior color for the extra goodies.

 

Got the last one at the dealer in December 2006, it's a NBP/ebony with tech package. I had almost pulled the trigger on a non-tech 2006 CGP/ebony at a different dealer the month before, but the trade was a sticking point.

Very glad I got CMBS/PAX. Great ride, avoids rear-ending the bozo in front of you. Ambivalent about black vs. CGP or some kind of silver. Elegant, yes, but so high-maintenance!

(Sort of like some women I have known. Of course I married the hot, low-maintenance one. Cars you can trade if they turn out to be a pain...wives no, especially in a community-property state. )

 

Dad had made up his mind he wanted the run-flat tires and the CMBS. They had only two '07s at the time with those options (this was in December of '06), one was white with parchment and the other was black on ebony. T'was a no-brainer.

 

I wanted a parchment interior, so that limited my to exterior color choices. Out of the 3 colors available I liked the white the best .

 

I never buy sight unseen. I also insist on a test drive and thorough inspection before taking delivery, including an ordered vehicle delivered straight from the factory.

With my RL, I got a similarly great deal on an 06 as several other members here capitalized on. But that limited me to what was on the lot. My TL was RRP / Parch and as much as I love RRP, I wanted another color. Similarly I wanted a change from the Parch interior but did not want Ebony. So that made me work from the inside out. I knew I loved the taupe. That brought me down to a Meteor Silver (my 1st choice) or Opulent Blue Pearl. The Meteor had 100+ miles likely from test drives. It was clean from scratches or nicks, but the Opulent Blue was still on the back lot 'shrink wrapped'. I checked the manufacturer sticker in the door jam and estimated it was on the lot 6-7 weeks. But since it was covered, I expected there would be minimal fallout contamination to the paint. It detailed up perfectly with not so much as a water spot etch in the paint. The dealer replaced the rotors and tires before delivery to correct a test drive vibration, and off I went.

So even a 'new' car is subject to flaws. How tolerant of them may weigh on how you determine what you drive home from the lot.