Well, it's a good problem to have. A company car will be replaceing the RL. Bad news is, I sure hate selling it...I really do enjoy this car.
I am also affraid I will take a bath in terms of sale price. I looked online and they say trade-in is $42k; retail is $46k.
Here's the skinny:
-7,500 miles
-Celestial Silver
-18" A-Spec wheels with Toyo T1-R tires (less than 2,000 miles)
-Factory mud gaurds
-Factory winter mats
-Park Distance Control (have the parts, just have not gone to dealer to have installed)
-Factory trunk tray
-Factory wheel locks
-17" Factory wheels with All-season tires (5,000 miles)
(click here for detail)
So if this was your car, what would you sell it for?

 

DCD, my opinion is that you should try to convince the company that you work for to buy your RL from you for you to then use as your company car (was that confusing enough). I'd tell them that the value of the car is $44,000. This seems like the perfect solution that would allow you to have the benefits of a company car, have some cash in your pocket AND get to drive your beloved RL. If that doesn't work, quit your job and keep the RL (just kidding).

 

While I am not sure exactly what the value would be, but my question is - where did you get the trade-in values? Just curious

I agree with hondamore's idea - have the company buy your car and give that to you.

 

I'd take it to Acura of Columbus (or Lindsay) and see what they will give you for it in order to get a true pic of trade in value...I don't think the on-line guides are accurate, at least in cases I'm familiar with. People on this site are quoting $43-$45K for new....Wish I was closer to a decision on what kind of car I want to buy...depending on price, I might take it off your hands I live close to you...

 

Well...it doesn't seem that you're putting up a fight--what are they providing you with (everyone is dying to know)?

 

Real world hard number on that car is probably $35 to 37K

Someone who has access to auction results can show you what dealers
are paying for the cars....you are going to take a huge hit anytime you try to dump a new car especially when Acura is subsidizing the leases and/or now the '05's are close to or at invoice before any rebates. End of
model year is here.....

Negotiate with your company on keeping your RL!

 

Mondo...I have a buddy that is the used car manager at AOC. I will see what he would offer me for it. We will be making a decision by the end of August. If I don't sell it to a dealer...I will let you know.
Pricing that I found on the net was from Edmunds. They seem to be right around average on costs.
In regards to what my new company will be offering. At this point I am not for sure. But I have been told it will be a Chrysler 300 and a choice of some 4WD vehicle. Using my RL would not be a smart option. I will be doing around 30,000 miles a year and I really don't want the wear and tear on my personal car. Plus, gas and insurance are included... and with the price of gas these days, that's tough to pass up on.

 

That's really sad if the car has depreciated from 50K to $35 in less than a year.

 

DCD, I'd certainly rather drive 30,000 miles a year in an RL than a Chrysler 300!!!! If your company buys your car from you, you wouldn't be putting the wear and tear on your personal car and you would have the benefit of AWD at the same time. Your company is probably going to spend around 40k for the Chrysler so their cost is about the same to buy your RL and let you drive the car you want to be driving. Use the increased safety of the RL's AWD as the reason that you want to keep your RL (throw in a tearful comment about having to be away from your family so much that you at least want to make sure that you get home to them safely). In that vein, you could compare the crash test results of the two cars and tell your company that if they care about their top software salesman, they should put him in the safest car around. Either way, good luck in your negotiations.

 

Thanks HM.

 

Sounds good DCD. I have an '03 Mustang Cobra I am selling...let's talk if you get closer to selling outright. BTW, I thought Chrysler was offering AWD on the 300? Two birds with one stone there, possibly...Am I reading right that you get 2 vehicles? A 300 and a 4wd vehicle? If so, you must be the schitnitz, my man! I need you to negotiate my next raise!

 

:lol: No...one car, either or...I wish I was that good.

 

schitnitz

 

I suspect that trade-ins may be in the $35K range because new ones are going for $42-43. However retail on a mint conditon RL w/ 7500 miles ought to be in the upper $30s. If you can convince your company to buy you out make sure its at the dealer retail level and not trade-in.

 

Worst case scenario:

Edmund's TMV on a reasonably equipped AWD Chrysler 300 is $37,556. So if You sell your company the RL for that price (or the local price of the car they'd put you in) you'll be getting something close to the low figure you'd realize by selling the RL to a dealer. The price sucks, of course, but you already know you'll take a big hit selling a nearly new used car.

Still, you'd be driving the RL, with the company picking up your insurance and gas. The milage would then be on their car, not yours. You'd pay off your loan on the RL and bank whatever's left over. Or you'd invest what you'd be spending on car payments.

Try to get your company to buy your RL.

 

Any chance you would want to sell the A-spec 18 inch wheels and tires?

 

I have to ask the same thing. Although I strongly suggest you try to keep the RL - if you are going to get rid of it - sell the wheels to somebody here. I would be interested (if of course WhitePearl_RL doesn't take them)

 

DCD - You've got PM.

Thanks,
Travis

 

Saw an ad in today's local paper...white pearl '05 RL $41,995. Lexus dealer. My guess is this dude/lady is now driving a new GS. Did not say how many miles on the clock....my guess is the dealer has $6K or so to play with...so a 36K trade in is prob. in the neighborhood.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone. I am still on the fence as to how much to let it go for.
Those interested in the wheels, I will let you know if I plan on selling seperate from the car.

 

If the winter mats are black and you wanna sell them - shoot me PM.

 

Well the car was sold and the deal fell through. If any of you know of someone looking for this type of car...I will be letting it go for $41,000...with all the accessories. My E-mail is eunos1992@hotmail.com
I still really hate to have to sell this car....we love it. But I have no choice.

 

There is NO REASON why that caar should go less than 43K. Shame on teh Acura dealers for DEEP DISCOUNTING. It screws all of the other RL owners.

 

I agree with you 100%. I'm swallowing a big $$$ pill selling...but alas such as life. The local dealers were offering me between $39-$40 for it. When I asked what they would sell for, they told me probably list for $43,900 and take $42,500. If it were not for the accessories, the value would be even worse.

 

Don't mean to get you down but I'm in the market now and have had offers for a new 05 purchase for $41,500 with several accessories. Why would someone buy a Used Car with 7000 miles for 41K?

As you can see there are widespread reports of people getting this car easily between 42-43K.

 

In my opinion Acura will be losing customers if they continue to sell cars at such a deep discount. I paid MSRP for mine and if this is how Acura works theie brand then back to BMW I go.

 

This is not what Acura had in mind The RL, for whatever reason, is NOT selling the way Acura had hoped. They began lowering prices in March to move the car. Closer they get to the '06 release the more they will discount it - again this is not by design or choice, but by necessity.

When the MDX debuted in late '00 as an '01 it sold for MSRP+. There are widespread reports of Premiums ABOVE MSPR as well as forced options. I know I bought an '01 in March '01. The MDX stayed at MSRP (or very close) thru 2003 into the '03 model year - its third year of release! There is a similar story for the 3rd Gen TL redesign (but not as dramatic as the MDX).

Acura did not want or intend to discount the RL. Market forces and customer demand dictated it.

 

Is this a buy or a lease? What state are you in?

 

buy price in Central NJ

 

If you can get the exact same car as mine, new, for $41,500, then I would jump on it.

 

In it now just pulled out of the lot and posting this on my pocket PC.

 

Congrats. Just out of curiousity, what tires did you get on the 18" wheels?

 

Just traded in 4 days ago for a BMW 545 LOADED and recieved 41k from BMW OF AUSTIN for my RL 10K MILES...Hope that helps???

Acura offered me 37k

BMW for life!

 

The BMW dealership was able to offer full retail value for your RL because they were making a very tidy profit selling the 545. The difference represents the profit that the Acura dealer was looking for.

 

I agree with this comment to some extent. Yes they are profiting, but when it comes time for him to sell, the resale should be pretty darn good. Had Acura put a mandate on it's dealer to keep the discounting to a minimum, the RL would be holding the value better.
And before anyone argues this claim, my 2004 Lexus GX470 which stickered for 53k and was purchased for slightly less than this number could be traded in, almost 2 years after it was sold, for around 43k. Why such great resale? They refused to sell near invoice at time of sale.
Another fact of life here...the RL is just not selling. Which really bums me out. People just do not know what a truely great car it really is. The local dealers have a ton of them on the lot (and I drove by one dealers spill over lot...and they had 14!). I don't really understand why it's not selling, but it really has not been a hit people thought it would be.

 

Acura seems to play in this league slightly under the big names...I agree the car seems very nice but the BMW, Lexus and Merc folks most likely don't even look at it...it needs to be a bit bigger, more distinct styling (too much Accord in the genes) 340 HP/330 tq minimum, trade ventilated/cooled seats for the radar gimmicky cruise which is not practical on any freeway I've driven on except maybe at 2:00 a.m. and you can have them selling at 53K list or more all day long.

 

I believe that you are ALL correct in this thread. There is more to it, though.

Resale value is also influenced by demand for used cars. When it comes to Mercedes and BMW, there is a tradition of "lease new, buy used." The legion of customers willing to buy those cars used helps to keep their resale value high, which keeps lease payments low on new models, which continues the "lease new, buy used" cycle.

The 2005 Acura RL is a new car in more ways than one. Its predecessor was not a strong seller (selling about 1/3 as well as the current car), to the point where few people even know what an RL is. Therefore the RL does not have that traditional legion of used-car buyers. In fact, the RL doesn't have any tradition at all. The 2005 RL reminds me of the 1999 Acura TL, which had to make a name for itself in this world. Eventually, the TL succeeded, and that generation helped to turn around Acura's fortunes. I believe that, to a lesser extent, the new RL will have a similar fate, and future RL's will hold their value well.

 

Kind of hard to force dealers to minimize their discounting when the cars are stacked up on the lot. I visited the dealership today during lunch and they had 38 RLs on the front lot. There was also one on the showroom floor (I'm not sure about their backlot??).

 

Well said!

 

So. The lesson is - wait a year for the new model of "x" - let the opinion leaders take the "hit" on first depreciation.
Dont mean to sound callous.