Long story short, we have a 5month old and my wife’s 03 Accord V6 coupe is not very practical getting a baby seat in and out, so I was on the hunt for a good 4 door replacement, under $15k (don’t want a car payment).

I have a TSX myself as a DD, and in general we've been pretty happy with Honda products, and I think you get pretty good bang for your buck with Acura.

I determined on paper an RL is almost the perfect family starter car, so I’ve been on the lookout for an 07/08 model, preferably white (I think white looks the best on the RL, more luxurious color), would like the factory rear spoiler, and mileage @100k or less ideally.

RL features that make it a best contender IMO

AWD – extra safety piece of mind in wet/slippery conditions (polar vortex coming to ATL again?...lol)
V6 – for some passing power
Built in rear/side window shades – perfect for shading baby in car seat
Rear Camera – wife's only requirement
Navigation – won’t have to hang the garmin off the windshield anymore (she keeps losing the mount anyway)
Rear doors - have nice large openings and doors can open 90deg
Touch unlock – wont have to try to dig around in pockets trying to find keys when carrying car seat

I found an 07 white, 1 owner, 112k miles at a Chevy dealership. Previous owner had all routine services done at the dealership he bought it from (I called dealership with VIN to verify). The timing belt, water pump, spark plugs, etc were also recently done, but independent shop, not the dealership (had them dig up receipt for the work to prove ). Overall the car was really clean inside and out, mechanically well taken care of, so we made a deal!















Couldn't resist getting a couple parts for it. I don't really plan on doing any more than this, just maintain it.





It's a TL knob and it does sit about 1/4" higher, I think it looks/works fine as is, don't feel like modding it to lower. It matches the interior wood color better than the steering wheel that came with the car.

 

You'll love the car. I miss mine since I wrecked it month ago. It's in the shop so not much longer now. Such an awesome car and you get so much for the price. Good purchase and nice color.

 

Congrats on the purchase...looks clean. You've made a smart move.


I would lower the knob if you can, it does look high in pix. Or look out for an OEM knob, which is pretty difficult to find and expensive...lol.


coopcoop, didn't know you were in a wreck. It must have been a lot of damage if it's been in the shop for over a month already. Hope everything is alright.

 

Great car; suits all of your needs. The RL is great especially since your particular car was a 1-owner, and had all its maintenance done. The RL should last a long time, problem free. Enjoy

 

Very Nice

 

White gets the popular vote for favorite RL color.

Do it.

https://acurazine.com/forums/second-...rl-diy-872433/

 

Installed the pulley this morning. I've done these before so not much difficulty, the hardest part was just getting the serpentine belt back on.














Thanks for the write up. Looks like my knob is shorter than what you have. Supposedly mine is from an 05-08 TL. I did drill it out a little, but didn't take any before and after measurements, but it definitely looks more normal now. Since it is a shorter knob, there will be more visible shaft, which might give an appearance of it being taller. Overall it's a little less than 4" tall now.

 

Nice

 

Nice clean white rl. I like

 

Also, FYI, my cheap food scale in kitchen measured the ralco pulley at 1lb 4oz and stock as 7lb 14oz