Hello! New to this forum here.

Will be heading to IL for college and getting my first car in August. I've been looking at the RLs for a while, especially interested in 2nd Gen RL (specifically 07 or 08).

Should I get one of those for my first car? If not, why and what do you recommend me getting instead?

 

They are very reliable and nearly bulletproof. My '07 is still on the road with my daughter. If they are taken care of they are good. Check the service records carefully.

 

Just be careful getting the 3.7 liter version. Parts are limited and if you need a replacement, they are near impossible to find. The 3.5 liter OTOH is everywhere and you can find re-manufactured engines.

 

Second generation RL's are built like tanks. Way better than the TL. Plus, they are built in Japan.

 

I’ve driven my 05 for the last 3.5 years. I bought it with a burnt valve. Replaced the engine and it’s been solid other than some electrical stuff like the dashboard display flickering off and on, but it pops out easily and you just re-flow the solder on the bad joints. Haven’t had a problem with that in 3 years. The door handle lock/unlock doesn’t work well when it rains or washing the car. Don’t know when that was addressed. Stay on top of your maintenance and it will treat you well. Right now the clocks are inaccurate and there’s no way to fix it. Honda says it will correct itself in August due to some coding with the GPS.

 

I live next door in WI. One thing the RL has going for it is the relatively low level of rust. My 2015 Ford explorer has *way* more rust than the RL. This is on the outside and the inside of the cabin. The other problem is the amount of electronics in this beast. Now, being an electronics guy, electronics that lasts 15+ years is pretty good for automotive.

I bought my 2005 (built in late 2004) in 2010 drove it till about 2021 and then gave it to my daughter. She is still driving it in Minnesota. Still drives like a dream.I fear she will be spoiled and have to buy another luxury car when this one is no more.

As mentioned by others, the problem is that some parts are getting harder to buy new, but I've had relatively good luck buying stuff on ebay and salvage yards.


I thought about this question myself. If I could find a 2007 or 2008 with under 120K miles and in good shape, would I buy it again? I'm torn. This luxury car is wonderful, reliable and fun to drive. But they won't last forever at some point it will become too expensive to maintain. May be I won't be so lucky next time and wind up with one that has problems.

Being a luxury car, the parts tend to be more expensive. They made relatively few of these cars, so even junkyard/ebay finds will get harder. Most of the parts i find are 2005 and 2006 models.

I don't know what others think, but I may look into the TLs instead. But I still absolutely love the car. When my daughter comes home I usually drive everywhere in the RL.

 

The 2G RL's internals are pretty bulletproof The repairs can get expensive because the parts are not that common, and the electronics can get funky because the electronics were relatively new for the time.

The new to the 2G Acura RL SH-AWD is really good in bad weather. The electronic stability controls and new for the time safety features are good for a first time driver in winter weather
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I absolutely recommend it if you can find a good solid 07 or 08. Miles may not be important if it was serviced right - you will mostly be able to feel if its solid on your test drive.
AWD and overall safety rating of the car is really good... for used parts I would recommend LKQonline whenever you need something to replace

 

You could do worse. Cautionary notes, in addition to the wise ones above:

•Read this forum. There are standard problems with these cars, as with most models. The basic running gear is nigh on bulletproof, but there are several things to check for in other parts of the car.

•The gas mileage is really bad, especially if not on the highway, AND it requires premium. You know how important this is or isn't to you, but you should know it going in.

•I wouldn't look at 2002-2006 TL's much. The early years had failure-prone automatic transmissions (the RL's is much better), the whole car simply isn't built as carefullly or expensively as the costlier, Japanese-built luxury RL, and a lot of them have been beat on. The next-gen RL with the ugly beak grille is a much more solid car, but of course it's also costlier. The RL's anonymity does give you more value for money here.

•And as mentioned above, safety is a real strength of this car. Both the ahead-of-its-time AWD handling in all conditions, and the structural crash safety.

 

Do it! Those are the golden area for RL.

 

What’s the common problems with 05-06 RLs? I’m really curious about that since I just bought an 05!

Everything i I found says the 05+ RLs are about the best rated cars for reliability of their time and they are pretty much under the radar. I was looking at Lexus IS and Infinity G35-37 when I first noticed the RL. The fact that it blends into the crowd of Accords and such is a big plus to me. I love understated quality and that seems to describe the RL perfectly.

 

The RL is a basically sound car, but it has some characteristic trouble areas and as a luxury car its parts can be costly (although usually not German-costly). Search this forum for details.

 

Get the RL only if you wanna be a baller.

If ballin Taint your game, look elseHwhere.

 

Might be selling mine this weekend.... 8000$ 270km
someone talk me out of it.....

 

It's easy to sell... .but what is the next car you will get? If you have that resolved, and you do not need RL, perhaps it's time... I was in your shoes, and pulled a plug on selling RL and getting (see my sig)