lpe387tt

Can someone, anyone tell me why our car is so underappreciated? I just don't get it. I think the car has eveything one would want, has OK (not great) MPG, and is a sexy looker. Why is it that knowone respects the car? At least that's what Car and Driver magazine states.

I just don't get it. All chime in if you agree, and even if you don't agree. Please chime in!!

Just a little lost and not OK with the negative press

Anyone making the jump to the new TL?

RLuvr08

Beats the hell out of me? One thing I do know, simplicity is the final form of art. People who care less for the RL's styling and say "its too bland" just don't have the eye for it. OTH people like us who see its sleek organic lines, muscular aggressive stance, and every detail behind its whole philosophy respect and love it. Lets just say we're a pretty special crowd

Maybe perhaps if Acura kept the "LEGEND" name it would help boost sales. I remember back in the days people asked what you drove all you had to say was "Legend", and they knew.

What's really bugs me is the re-sale on these cars.

sadlerau

I think from the motoring press' point of view the main considerations for the RL being under-appreciated are -

1. It does not have a performance variant. A V8 would be nice.
2. Until this MMC there have been no real up-grades, which would generate reader interest.
3. A lack of marketing savy from Acura, which did not position the car in the press' "eye" correctly.

This last item is multi faceted. You have a car with sporty pretensions, but it has a relatively soft suspension set-up. Fine, give the base model a soft set-up for those that want it, but have a Type S for the motoring press, that takes full advantage of grippy tyres and that wonderful SH-AWD system. Because of this "soft" focus, you are not appealing to the different demographics accurately. Instead you are targeting everyone with something that will only appeal to a few!

The RL/Legend, with the right suspension tune [basically what we get in Australia, and similar to your A-spec], and an extra 50 horsepower with a sport mode in the drivetrain would have been an absolute "darling" of the motoring press. In this guise, it would be the equal of any sports/luxury sedan this side of an M5. And with a V8 it would a least match the ability of that car.

Pity Acura fucked up

robarsan

I couldn't care less what C&D thinks of my car.

Blazing GT

it is about 20 grand more than the TL

lumpulus

It's simple really.....the RL doesn't get you noticed. Most, if not all of us here bought our RLs because they are great cars, and got them for allot less than MSRP. If there was a BMW or Mercedes emblem on the hood, they would sell many more to the people that only care about status and being seen.

Then there's the Acura management...why they stopped making the Integra\RSX I will never know. If they brought that back with the RDX Turbo engine and SH-AWD they would sell a ton.

Blazing GT

I dont think i could ever go back to the TL......


Maybe a TL-S

db22

Anyone making the jump to the new TL?[/QUOTE]

Nobody who owns an RL would willingly go back to a TL. The TL has most of the basic features of an RL but it misses the mark of "class" and "quality". It's embarrasing to say but the TL feels like it was made in the USA and the RL feels like it was made in Japan. Well Duh! The TLS is a quick sporty sedan but so is a BMW 335 but neither competes with a RL - just a different segment. Acura did not produce two cars to compete with each other.

03bl AC k CL

strange, i always liked the RL... i even looked at a first gen RL, because some were in my price range. i like the dignified class that comes with the rl. i feel like its on par with other flagship lux sedans sans the V8, and hefty price tag. currently, i own a 2nd gen tl-s at the moment but would jump to an RL once my funds allow me to.

most people my age do not even for one second think about the 2nd gen RL, however it's looks combined with amenities caught my eye and i personally think with some aspec wheels and a drop the car looks amazing. granted maybe im one of the few who doesnt look at speed first (at least at my age) , but overall reliability, price tag, looks, and features combined the RL has it all and i blame it completely on the snobbish critics that flock to the german luxury cars, and do not help the false notion that acura is inferior, just because of the suppsoed "pimp" factor that comes with MB/BMW. thats just my though

DoctorTuna

There's no question, the RL does require personal effort to appreciate and respect it. What I mean is that you have to seek it out. I don't think many of us bought the RL because of fancy marketing, status requirement, or a particular hood ornament. We discovered the RL for the vehicle that it is, which for me was only reconfirmed as I test drove the samplings from Audi, MB, BMW. No, I didn't get a V8, but I did get a luxurious, well built, technologically advanced rarity at an extremely good price.

lumpulus

It's embarrasing to say but the TL feels like it was made in the USA and the RL feels like it was made in Japan. [/QUOTE]

That's because they are. I switched to buying Acuras back in the late 80's because the Integra was made in Japan. The RDX is also built in the US.

db22

[/QUOTE]

That's because they are. I switched to buying Acuras back in the late 80's because the Integra was made in Japan. The RDX is also built in the US.[/QUOTE]
I think that was why I put in the Well Duh! comment.

lumpulus

Well, you know it, and I know it, but making sure everybody else did as well.

jhr3uva90

Because most of the drivers out there know BRANDS, not cars. They don't know or care about SH-AWD or any other technological goody that the RL has. All they know is that there is that Acura has the audacity to have a car that is as expensive as a Mercedes, but isn't a Mercedes. Acura isn't the only brand with weak brand perception. I read an article today in the Wall Street Journal about the new Hyundai luxury car. It got a great review, so I told a friend about it. My friend asked, "Why would you want to buy a luxury Hyundai?" The new car could be technically similar to a similar Lexus at a cheaper price, but your general customer doesn't value the brand as much. Acura suffers from the same problem, just at a higher price point. So it will be very hard for Acura to sell any sedan that has a starting base price of $45K or higher.

I like my RL, though.

rlerman

Funny, when I was looking to get a new car, I went to look at the TL, not even thinking for a second about the RL. After I drove the TL, I was impressed, but it was just a little too small in the back seat to hold two car seats. The salesman said why don't you try the RL and when I said the price was too high, he said a used one was almost exactly the same as the new ones (o5 vs. o8), but much cheaper. Only difference was the rear view camera and ipod jack, neither of which I cared about.

I drove the RL on the spot and it was instant luxury, couldn't imagine how advanced it was and I never thought Acura could produce such a car. Guess there's an issue with Acura's marketing if they were able to get me in to look at the TL, but I ultimately chose the RL (albeit a used one).

neuronbob

We certainly get no respect online or otherwise.

In the real world, though, people ask what my car is and comment on its looks. I certainly enjoy the car.

In the real world, Acura has failed to market itself as a luxury brand to the unwashed masses. People actually think Lexus was the first Japanese luxury brand...just read articles on luxury car brands in the press and Acura is no longer mentioned. Enough said.

jhr3uva90

I've had my RL for over 3 years and one of my friends still thinks it is a Lexus.

VOdoc

Uh, you mean a really, really expensive Toyota.

Seriously, the reason we get no respect is Acura's pathetically incompetent marketing. Every 23-year-old secretary in L.A. has "the ultimate driving machine." Their 50-something dads are driving Benzes and Lexi.

I've said this before and it bears repeating. To the public:
Acura = upscale Honda (especially now that they've blurred the line with the new Accord).
Lexus = Lexus.

New TL? Not in a zillion years. It's an Accord struck multiple times with an ugly stick.

Ballinger

Spending my weekend in the office, I just went downstairs to pop out for a bite. A client and co-worker (spread the pain) were below, chatting at the client's BMW 335 convertible that was parked next to my RL. The bimmer driver complimented the RL, saying he'd never seen one before and that it looked like a Mercedes.

I responded that it is, in fact, a Mercedes with better reliability and less prestige. It is a HONDA after all.

Rob L

don't really care what people think and the reason it gets "no respect" is because humans as a whole are pretty dumb. Not trying to trash the species just stating fact.


As for the whole lexus= a really expensive toyota, acura= upscale honda, etc

I am sick of that crap. The LS is as or more luxurious and better built than any mainstream luxury car out there. If a Lexus is "just" a toyota then wtf does that say for MB and BMW and every other luxury line? I guess a MB is a really expensive chrysler and a BMW is well, I don't know what a BMW is but if it is built worse then logically one would say it isn't on par with a "really expensive toyota." Funny you never hear people say Audi is a "really expensive volkswagen" but I guess this shit only goes for Lexus and Acura.

I am so sick of this shit but I guess that "X is just an expensive version of Y" mentality goes with my comments above about humans.

Ballinger

Don't get so upset. It's true AND it's okay that Lexus, Infiniti and Acura are truly just high-zoot Toyota, Datsun and Honda. Are Audi's or Mercedes badged as VW or Chrysler elsewhere in the world? So it's true. Big deal. It's also true that Lexus, Infiniti and Acura are known to be excellent cars.

By the way, it's pretty common for folks to point out the common lineage with VW and Audi and even to Porsche when it gets to those SUVs. Those guys get even more unglued than "we" do.

neuronbob

(Patrick Stewart voiceover) "The Acura RL. The luxury car for successful people who have self-esteem."

Now THAT would be an awesome ad that would point at people like me who can afford BMWs or MBs but decided on more better uses for their money. It's cheeky, and makes a point about the invisibility of the car.

Who cares what other people think.

DoctorTuna

Well said Bob!! Being a Star Trek fan I appreciated it even more.

jhr3uva90

One reason why Acura has never gotten the respect that Lexus has is because Acura never made a vehicle at the level of the Lexus LS. As "legendary" as the Legend was, it was still just a few steps away from a Honda Accord.

I don't think Honda really wanted a true luxury vehicle. I think they just wanted to increase their economies of scale and further utilize their factories by creating more cars based on their pre-existing car and SUV platforms. The problem is that you can only differentiate two cars based on the same platform but so much. That's why VW started making the A6 based on a different platform from the Passat. That's also why the only Nissan car that shares a platform with Infiniti models is the high-performance Z. If Honda wants Acura to have the same respect, a good first move would be to give Acura its own REAL WHEEL DRIVE platform with a smaller front overhang.

Good point about Audi being called Audi around the world, by the way. Acura has no global brand recognition because it isn't a global brand. That being said, bear in mind that the Lexus brand didn't exist in Europe until the early years of this century and didn't exist in Japan until August 2005. However, Lexus in the USA was a top-selling luxury brand in the USA before the brand existed elsewhere.

DoctorTuna

I agree that Acura does need a 'LS' to upscale the brand. It may seem unnecessary to all who currently own and drive the RL but ultimately image is the opiate of the masses. Whether you accept or like the fact, it is what it is. Now with the 09 TL encroaching ever so closely to the RL the 09 RL will become transparent to alot of consumers in the $50k market. The RL needs to be taken to a new level, probably one higher than I would be willing to pay for, but it needs to be done, especially if we want respect. The increases in technology in both the TSX and TL necessitates this in my mind. The RL needs to become more like the LS, S-class, 7 series... a large sedan with a V8/Turbo option, very upscale with some amentities not available on the lesser Acura sedans. The TL has the whereabouts to fill the RL shoes. They are putting the RL engine in it with SH-AWD, then have a lower cost option TL as well with just FWD, in actual fact, it already has. The RL is stuck right now with no place to go, no significant marketing, no brand image, not pleasing to the eye and with few buyers. I hate to say it, but the 09 is ready for an obituary!! Acura has an opportunity to make the 2011 brilliant.....

1HOT NSX

[QUOTE=the reason it gets "no respect" is because humans as a whole are pretty dumb. [/QUOTE]

I pretty much agree with this statement. It's about STATUS, not performance, quality or value. Perceived value through marketing is more important than actual value. People don't know because they are uneducated. Even smart friends of mine (in every other way) still go to a dealer to "look", and not knowing what kind of car they want end up buying whatever the salesman talks them into buying - it's just amazing to me to see this kind of behavior from otherwise smart people! Honda blew it by having the "cheap" Acuras - that ruined the brand as a luxury option and no amount of marketing is going to change that. We RL owners are the exception, we are educated, we know about value, and we don't care so much about the status of the brand.

I like the fact that the car doesn't sell well because I can get a great deal on them. My previous RL and my NSX were heavily discounted when I bought them too. As far as resale, it's not so bad when you consider the price that you actually paid for the car.

jhr3uva90

There are smart people who don't know cars and don't want to know cars. I have some friends who are BMW experts (and won't touch a Japanese car, by the way) and others who have BMWs simply for the image the cars portray. That's just how it is. However, Honda has done a very weak job at educating the public. Again, I don't think making Acura a true luxury brand is a high priority for Honda Motor Company. They'd rather go into the jet plane business than really push into the luxury car business, in my opinion.

jhr3uva90

Also, in my opinion, Acura have NEVER had a flagship. Calling the RL a flagship and then trying to compare it to a 7 series or an A8 the way the media like to do is unfair to the RL. To make matters worse, the upcoming 2009 Acura TL will make the RL redundant in many people's eyes. This is truly a shame.

lpe387tt

Brilliantly put!!!!