Got a call from a dealer, his last shipment of 05's coming in late June/ early July.
Now the dilemma...pull the trigger on an 05 or wait for 06?
It is so late in the year, I wont pull the trigger on an 05 unless I get a deal better than I currently am getting! (45.3k in NY).
To me, paying 45.3 this late in the game for an 05 would be bad if I could score an 06 for 47.5k or so.

I would imagine 06's will be here sometime in August if not sooner!
I know there will be a time when both 05's & 06's will be on dealers lots together for a short while, until the last of the 05's are blown out the door.

I hope they offer a few changes/additions to the color combo.

Steve C.

 

Yeah I say wait.

 

Clearly UNLESS there are changes in the '06 then one should NOT wait. No way early '06 pricing can beat year end '05 - so the $64K question is what if any changes will be on the '06.

I can not imagine Acura shipping a new model year as early as August - to my knowledge that would be unprecidented. IF it ships that early THEN I suspect that some very real changes will be included. One thing I do know is that if there are no changes then there better be a price decrease or then we'll see deja vu all over again.

 

There were strong rumours that Acura was adding the radar cruise control to the '06 RL. Other rumoured goodies included lane departure warning system and heated/cooled seats (the latter may be more appropriately included on a wish-list rather than rumoured addition). The final carrot being dangled for the '06 RL is IMA, although that may be more likely in the '07 model as part of a mid model change.
The benefits of waiting are that you will get all of the extra goodies (if any) they choose to add to the RL BUT if Honda decides to curtail the production levels of the RL (to say 15,000 units), then the outstanding discounts that are currently available may disappear and good old MSRP may become the norm again. I wouldn't expect a large (if any) increase to the MSRP of the '06's, it is just how willing the dealers are to move off of MSRP that will be determined by supply and demand.

 

Interesting; what is the source of these rumors?

I have ICC (laser, Intelligent Cruise Control) on my FX35 and do not have to have it. It is a nice feature, however if anyone pulls in front of you it becomes a pain in the rear. I consider ICC a pure open road feature, where regualr cruise works just as well. Laser ICC = nice feature but not a must have. Over on the various Infiniti Forums I hang out the LDWS (advanced Lane Departure Warning System) is NOT well liked at all. From what I read almost everyone turns it off and does not use it at all; most conside at a waste of money. My one test drive with LDWS was not at all impressive. Unlike ICC where I see a somewhat limited value add, I'd consider LDWS a waste of money.

What is IMA?

In my opinion if the new and improved RL does not have ventilated cooled seats and a back-up camera then it STILL misses the boat.

 

Well the way I see it is that when the 06 models start to come in the price of the 05s on the lot would logically go down in price even more...makes sense (IMO) to wait the few months and save even more on a 05 or get a 06 if they add some nice junk to it.

Chances are if he went and got a 05 tomorrow he would be paying a couple grand more than he would if he waits a few months....

 

I hated the ICC on my fx35 only because it set off my laser alert on the valentine one all the time. I ended up putting duct tape over it to cover it up. Ahh. If radar cruise is included in the RL, I am happy I am getting the 05' so I can still use my radar detector (I jus tmake the assumption what they use for the cruise control is the same frequency that is used by radar detectors.)

IMA = Integrated Motor Assist (Hybrid) I believe. I do not think it will be in the 06', I do, however, see it in 07'.

I think cooled seats and a backup camera would be awesome.

 

these are not rumors. The 06 will have CMS system, which is the one that will assist you or apply your brakes in case of a possible front crash accident, the CMS (collision Mitation system) also includes e-petisioners that retracts your seatbelt in a possible event of an accident.

The rumor on LKAS and ICC is that ICC might use the same system that CMS used, so why not added. LKAS uses a CMOS camera so it is not as likely.

I know acura for doing stupid stuff like no fully auto headlights when you already have a sun-light sensor for the AC unit jsut an auto shut-off in case you leave the headlights on with a stupid reminder ????? The RL does have a full auto.

I don't see why, well actually don;t understand why they don't add the rearview camera......specially when the RL comes standard with a NAVI system....don't ask me, but can acura have a clue.

Talk about tires, you would think they learn from the 04 TL, apperantly not.....why is acura so clueless about tires??????????? who knows. They need to pick better tires for their entire line up.

One thing I was almost sure the RL was going to have was the PAX system. The PAX system uses a new rim design that has many advantages including TMPS and Run-flat all integrated. Honda is a major investor on the PAX system so you would have enough comom sense to think that the RL would be the first one to have, so don't be suprise if the 06 comes out with it.

that is all I have to say.