ndrobles

interested in purchasing this 06 rl from carmax cincinnati. thoughts, opinions, comments, suggestions?

any advice on how to negotiate the carmas no haggle price scheme?

thank you for your time.

http://www.carmax.com/enus/view-car/...ave%20car:page

Benush

First I have to say that I have never done business with CarMax but what I have heard is theirs is a take it or leave it attitude.
The next portion, is that I've heard they are usually way over KBB - NADA, however, this car seems to be right in line with those numbers. Question then becomes, how much are you trying to get them to take off their price?

My only advise is if you have a trade in, see if you can get more in trade than you could by taking the time to sell it yourself. i seriously doubt that that will work, but it might be worth a shot.

Maybe someone with experience with CarMax has more valid advise.

Regarding the car, I presume the CBMS is why you are looking at this specific car. If not, there are multitudes of RLs. Just do a search on Auto Trader, Craigslist, etal and you will find many.

Sorry i wasn't of more help

oo7spy

The car looks to be in good shape. The price is fair for the CMBS. Lightly tinted and A-Spec deck spoiler installed. It's worth a test drive I think. There are a bunch of threads on what to look for when testing to out, so do a search.

The timing belt service will be due soon. Can't remember if it is 90k or 110k mi, but it is a major maintenance event. Some have got Honda dealers to do it for $700-800 while the Acura dealer will be more like $1200.

lland

I have an '06 CMBS. No issues at all. The CMBS is really nice to have (you'll forget about it until it kicks in), the ACC is great.

A few things:

1. It has a backup camera. That's good. It was a dealer installed option in '06. Also has the trunk tray.
2. Check the tires and make sure there's a LOT of treadlife left. Check them for even wear. A new set of PAX tires will run between $1,700 and $2,000 installed. Just the tires. Any you have to find a PAX dealer to do it (most Acura and Honda dealers).
3. Check wheels for curb rash you can't live with. Replacing one of those will not be cheap either.
4. As noted above, the timing belt change will be due at 105,000. Another $1,000. Keep that in mind.
5. Make sure you're getting two key fobs (picture shows one). Not inexpensive to replace.
6. The driver's door arm rest looks a little worn. Just sayin'
7. Check the nav version. Updating that will cost $150. The current version is 4.A2. The '06 shipped with 4.31 (I think). There have been 4 or 5 updates since. Missing one or two is OK, but there have been a lot of changes over 5 updates.

Other that that, a great car, at what looks to be a fair price (better if you can negotiate lower).

Good luck and let us know.

LL

FredS

I have several friends that bought from CarMax and have told me as mentioned above they are not negotiable. The drivers side armrest does need to be replaced. I have 163,000 miles on my 2007 and recently replaced both armrest and the top of the center console. This is a common problem with the RL. The armrest cost me $57 each from an Acura OEM site. The center console was $257. Other than that I have had no problems with the car. The car is a dream to drive. Sold my car this weekend and buying a white 09 RL. I thought about a Lexus since my wife has a SC430. ES just does not do it for me. GS has a tiny trunk and nice crazy about the exterior and the LS drives like your sitting on your couch. Quiet but very heavy feel and not responsive.

oo7spy

It should be noted that numerous people here have had local upholsters refinish their arm rests and center consoles for $75-80 for all three.

phishfood

Car not available ... must be sold.

RLStuck

I've had very good luck with CarMax. The first car I bought was priced a bit high, but they gave me much more for my trade than I would have expected. When the 6 disc cd changer was found to be faulty they replaced it free. They sell some new cars in some markets and I bought 2 Toyotas from them. Buying new from them is a very good experience, but only if you are near one of their few dealerships. I enjoy showing other dealers the CarMax pricing on my smartphone when they begin their stall and evasive tactics.

As far as negotiating goes I would not waste my time. If you like their car buy it. There is some value to doing business with them. I found a Murano in the summer of '03 that was as nice as a Murano could be. Their manager had been driving it and they priced it high. It was on the lot for a long time. In September I noticed it was still there and emailed them politely noting that this seemed to be an exception to thier normally very competitive pricing and asking if they might reconsider. I did not expect a reply, and did not get a reply, but they did lower the price almost to my target so I bought it then. Again they fixed a minor cosmetic problem that I missed when I picked it up for no charge.

I and family have bought 2 new cars, 2 used, and sold them several as well. My first Acura dealer picked me up at CarMax because they could not come even close to the trade in deal, even though I was leasing a brand new CL.

In recent years they seem to have lost a bit of their competitive edge. It used to be no one would come close to their trade in offers, but last year my Honda dealer actually beat them. Over the years I've had good luck.

ndrobles

Thanks all for your advice, very appreciated. Unfortunately, the car was sold. Will keep on looking for same type of RL (int/ext color, options, etc.). If you know of someone selling one (around same price, let me know).

Thanks again!

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

I assume you've checked out the black market here already, right?

ndrobles

I ended up buying this 06' RL through Carmax...good experience so far. Seems like the driver's side touch lock/unlock is not working, passenger side works well. Before taking the car from carmax they made note of it and said they will fix. Overall, good experience and solid car (so far!).

ndrobles

...the car came back on the market a couple days later....

plastikman

Wait, same car, or a different RL ?

ndrobles

same car

rlx015

well congrats... while looking I wanted to make sure it has no PAX tires due to expensive replacement price tag... just IMHO ... welcome to the club - enjoy!

ez12a

just a heads up, if someone schedules a test drive in advance sometimes they actually pull it from online, or if the car is moved to a different carmax.

i will say carmax is a great place to test drive several models of cars.

but grats on the purchase.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

good deal