Msnowdon

Steve,

I am not sure where you are, but my boss was quoted $42,900 with destination charges.

Michael

DCRL

If I may ask, where was your boss quoted that price? For $ 42,900 I'd like to get a second RL (for my folks).

rondog

iTrader: (1)

jeez, what a classy well spoken thread, the RL crowd is def more mature. Anyway, I would be sad to hear that the RL is doing bad, but what is worse is that Acura does everything right, high horsepower, clean conservative style, host of technology and decent price, yet the RL isn't doiugn that good. Look at the CL, highest HP in 2001, clean style, and awesome technology, even by today's standards, but discontinued due to poor slae. go figure. Maybe RWD is the savior? Acura execs must be scratching their heads, and they should invest more in Advertising that is down to earth, they are stuck in the 90's state of mind.

Msnowdon

All cars are discounted at this time in Southern California, and let me say that the RL is the best in the price range.


DCRL,

If you are in Southern California let me know, and I can hook you up with that dealer.

Michael

msu79gt82

Here in Houston I'm seeing high $44's. But if this $42,900 is legit that is indeed the lowest price I've heard about - that is below Invoice by the way.

Msnowdon

I just bought a TL for $32,458 with Navi, this inlcuded Wheel Locks, Mud Gaurds, Trunk Tray and All Season floor mats. There are some great deals to be had in So Cal at this time.

Michael

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Which dealer? My parents are looking at a new TL or RL this coming weekend and I would love to negotiate a good deal for them ahead of time.

MrJumbo

Things I gathered from my Acura and Honda Finance Reps. I think this will clarify things.

The dealers have been allocated the last of the "2005" Model Year RLs.

2006 RL Production begins in August.

There has been no production line stoppage.

American Honda Finance adjusted the residuals of the 2005 RL to be more competitive with its competition as well as to it's ecpected market value. Since over 50% of this class of buyer leases, the RL Lease was not competitive until now.

By the way, I've got 8000 miles on my 2005 RL and I LOVE IT!

Jeff NY

Anyone have any information on a Smart Buy or balloon type of purchase through American Honda Finance? Most banks don't offer leases in NY anymore and I prefer to buy- the balloon type of loan seems to be catching on and the dealers in NY are advertising it fairly often. Just haven't seen any fine print yet- any ideas or experience? Thanks.

Steve C

43.5 is a steal, and although I am aggressively working on a deal, I do not see this type of discount here in NY & CN (Westchester County & Southern CN.)

I would imagine North East climates & AWD might make the Acura a more saleable car here then in southern CA. That may be one reason I can't find a dealer up this way to part with an RL for 43.5!

I am at the 45k mark (45 to 45.3k).

One call back from a dealer wanting to do better, I will see on saturday!
Steve C.

Jeff NY

Steve I live in Westchester County. What dealers are you working with and who, if you don't mind, gave you the quote in between $45 - 45.3k?

At that number, and if they don't gouge on accex, I may pull the trigger. We bought our 2004 MDX w/Nav & Res from Acura of Westchester and I don't mind going back to them, but in the end it comes down to price. Not sure if they will go that low. Working on them now, haven't started with Curry or Acura of Greenwich.

Good luck and please keep us posted.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

Running changes are made all the time, and that means halting the production line for a while to perform the necessary changes/upgrades.

At Honda/Acura factories, if a worker notices a problem, he/she can halt the entire production line. That's how they dedicated they are. American car companies? "Oh, well, it ain't my car."

This is to Msnowdon --

"My friend's brother's sister's half-brother's cousin told me this and that" statement isn't exactly reliable. Your friend's sister needs to learn how to attain more reliable information and the costs and opportunity costs of shutting down a production line. They will slow down production if the model is not selling well, but they are not going to shut it down. They can't -- they have to keep building, because otherwise they have to reroute all the work force elsewhere, and the billion-dollar factory sits there doing nothing. The opportunity costs is greater than the costs/losses. That's why GM kept building the F-body until they reached a point where they said "that's it, we just can't do it anymore." That's why Honda kept buidling the NSX even though throughout its production time, it cost Honda 800 million dollars in losses.

I don't know what she does for American Honda, but I'm guessing it's definitely not an important position. Total BS, and total hearsay.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

I just requested a couple of RL quotes yesterday. Lowest one is $44,250 from South Coast Acura in Costa Mesa. Since my parents are looking for a new car, this may be a good choice for them. Anyone know of lower prices in LA county? I can pretty much get my dealer to match any price since we've worked with them on 5 of the 6 Acuras my family has owned.

Steve C

Jeff,
Let's get together & share notes. I am ready to buy, sounds like you are also.
Perhaps we could do better together.

Please E-mail me at flhx@webtv.net

I would like to exchange phone #'s & get together with you. Perhaps we could meet one Saturday morning at a diner, discuss issues, then hit a dealer or two.
I'll give you all the details as to where I am with a few dealers whether we do this together or not.
If you are interested, we could start with Curry, we can meet at the diner that is across the street from them, (give or take a few blocks if my memory serves me correctly). Let's talk!
Steve C.

Jeff NY

E-mailing you on Thursday AM.

acurafox

FYI, I got my RL at Power Acura South Bay (Torrance) this past Sunday (5/29)-they were selling for the carsdirect quote ($45,109) for a new model, and they had a couple of demos (one of which I bought) that they were selling for less than that.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

You should have gotten a quote from Santa Monica Acura. The quote I got from them was far less than yours.

acurafox

It's pretty interesting how much the difference is in price between SoCal and other parts of the US. I got a quote for Central Ohio, where I am originally from, that was about $2k more than the quote for my zip in SoCal (but still less than MSRP). That's probably enough difference in price to justify buying the car in SoCal and having it shipped to another part of the country. BTW, the Torrance dealer also offered very attractive Acura financing deals-I got a 3.9%, 5 year, zero down loan in addition to the great price, so you should explore that option as well. They had better rates for shorter loans, but I didn't want a car payment bigger than my mortgage payment!

acurafox

I'm sure I could have done better-SM Acura is one of the Costco dealers for Southern California, and they almost always have the best prices. I liked the idea of buying the car at a local dealer, although it really doesn't matter where the car is purchased relative to getting the car serviced. Oh, well-I guess I will be happy that I waited until the hubbub died down and didn't have to pay MSRP.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Do you live in Torrance?

msu79gt82

May 2005 Sales:

5 = 3,611
E = 3,569
STS = 3,346
GS = 3,141
M = 2,170
RL = 1,404
A6 = 1,313

Bill Mackey

I just bought the 2005 Acura RL for $43,268, this past weekend, with splash guards and wheel locks. The weekend before they wanted $45,700 for the same car. One of the salesmen said in passing that "the factory is offering support to help clear the 2005 RLs". I hope this cheers some of you out there. I couldn't wait any longer. I chose the Lakeshore Silver with the taupe interior

hondamore

Welcome aboard Bill, you bought yourself one heck of a car for one heck of a good deal.

RLSteve

Hi everyone,

Thanks to this great forum & all the useful info available here, I bought my new Opulent Blue Pearl RL last night from Tustin Acura for $43,000, + $601 for the wood steering wheel and +151 for wheel locks & trunk tray. I was able to get a VIN number > 20000 with only 4 miles on it, it had just arrived this week.

BTW, I am in SoCal and had three dealers at this price (Tustin Acura, Cerritos Acura, and Power Acura of South Bay). Gosh, it's good to live in an area with so many competing dealers!

msu79gt82

Congrats

RLSteve

I just heard that Acura is offering $2500 incentive to dealers on the RL on top of the $1473 dealer holdback...anyone else hear this?

snp

Man, I should of waited.
I paid $46k few months ago.

snp

Any one from Washington State?

hondamore

Waiting would have deprived you of the joy you get from driving your RL each and every day. No matter how much you paid, someone, somewhere is always going to get a better deal. It is not worth getting an ulcer over. Also, every market within the U.S. and Canada is different which can result in very different price points and discounts. For example, the RL's SH-AWD is a bigger selling point in Washington State than it is in California which can affect the pricing. My

scottj

I can't agree more. I paid about $47K six months ago and it was about the best deal available at the time. The fact that I've been enjoying the car for six months more than offsets the fact I could get one for $43-44K now. The ear-to-ear grin I get every time I get in the car is a big reward.

msu79gt82

I am glad that folks who paid MSRP as late as February and near MSRP in March are content with their purchases. I must confess however that I would be pissed if I "overpaid" by as much as $6000 (MSRP = $49K and recent sales have been ~$43K- ) for a brand new car.

To put my feelings in perspective I paid MSRP for an '01 MDX in March '01 and have never regretted it - however (and its a big however), MDX sales stayed very hot for years and near MSRP sales continued into the '03 model year. Not so the RL; the price literally plungeg thousands in just a few months. I would not have been pleased if I could have save ~$4000 by just waiting 2-3 months.

hondamore

I'm sure every person who paid MSRP for an RL did so knowing that discounts would be available down the road. The big question at the time was if the discounts would come 3 months, 6 months or 9 months later and what level of discount would be available. Who wanted to deprive themselves of the joy of driving the wonderful new RL for 9 months just to save a couple of thousand dollars. If money was the only factor in purchasing a car, we'd all be driving Civics or Hyundais. If buyers where due for a new vehicle because a previous lease was expiring, or they had been looking forward to the RL for a very long time and decided not to wait, or if they just plain decided that they wanted to be the first on the block to drive this amazing car regardless of the cost, any number of factors influenced their decision to buy an RL at that time and it was their personal decision to make. Everyone buying a new RL knows that they could have waited a couple of years and bought a used RL and saved a lot of money, but they decided that they wanted to drive a new car and they chose to spend their money the way they wanted to. If a few thousand dollars means that much to a car buyer, they shouldn't be shopping in the luxury car segment. That said, it is human nature to want to get the best deal, but as I said before, it just isn't worth getting an ulcer over.

AcuraGT-3

Easy to say but it hurts a couple things.
1. Prestige factor. Many people in this segment don't want to buy something that has basically "rebates" already. The first thing to mind is "Wha tis wrong with the car".
2. It kills resale value. Any luxury car that had tons off list, has horrible resale, like the previous RL, the Q45 and the previous M45, the Lincoln LS to name a few.

Think about it. If the car was at the middle or END of its life cycle, these deals are understandable. The RL is NOT CLOSE to being a year old yet!! Prices will only go down and further down.

The new E350, the new I-6 530 (and possible 535 TT) and GS 350 are either just out or coming in the future.

gbriank

Don't forget competition.... Most dealers clean-up their lots this time of the year and GM is doing an excellent job helping its dealers by at "discounting" their entire line-up. This is putting extra pressure on Honda/Acura to discount even further.

SoCalCarDude

When I was car shopping last Oct/Nov, I was looking at the RL and the E320, and at the time, MB was going to give me $9,000 off of sticker. Yes, it was "old in tooth", and a new model was right around the corner, but look at the discounts on Carsdirect for a similarly equipped E350 (which just came out):

Mercedes E350

$56,895
$52,468 (carsdirect price)

$4,427 discount


Mercedes E350 AWD
$61,554
$56,801 (carsdirect price)

$4,753 discount

I don't think that this initial deep discounting will hurt MBs "prestige" factor, or has it hurt it in the past. That being said, it's true that deep discounts can hurt a car's reputation.

IMHO, even though the RL is a GREAT car, it will need to earn the reputation of being a "true" luxury vehicle that is able to compete in the ranks of BMW, Lexus and Mercedes (from a perception standpoint). I believe that this will probably take several product cycles. Infiniti is going through this process, as Acura must do also.

Acura has finally woken up after several years in hibernation and has started in the right direction with the (awesome) TL, TSX, MDX and now the RL. I'm sure that this trend will continue.

In the interim, I'm hoping that the RL can maintain a price point around $44K.

With the 2006 RL model right around the corner, the initial glitches fixed, more whiz bang features, more RLs on the road (free advertising), and hopefully more word-of-mouth from owners and car mags, the RL can slowly rise up the ranks and take it's place amongst the leaders of the pack.

Howard911s

dude, with that price, get a Lexus GS.