Well, I turned my 06 RL into the dealer today, lease is up. Car's $10K upside-down on the lease, so no point in buying it. 42,000 miles in 36 months, which was 3K under the cap.

For a large variety of reasons, I did not return to the Acura family. Maybe once they make some cars that don't look horrible, I might buy one.

While I did have a wistful moment when I turned it in, the truth is the car had started to severely irritate me over the past several months.

It's horrific thirst for premium fuel was bleeding me dry last summer... I never did manage to average more than about 18 MPG in that car.

It was starting to show wear on the leather of both seats, which is unacceptable to me after only 3 years.

And there were electronics gremlins galore creeping in -- seat/steering wheel not returning to the same place every time (despite about 5 dealer attempts to fix it), the iPod interface *never* working, from day one, despite 3 dealer attempts to fix it... constantly being bugged to set up a new Bluetooth phone twice a day, for the past 3 phones I've owned....

None of it major, but all of it stuff that I just don't think I should have had to put up with in a $50,000 car.

It had a great ride, was very comfortable, and handled well. But if I had to buy a $50,000 car in 2006 all over again, I'd go German.

For now, though, having been recently married, and anticipating buying a second car shortly for my wife, I picked up a CPO 2006 Saab 9-5. It was such a deal, I couldn't say no... Yeah, they're weird, but I've owned 2 other Saabs over the years, and love them to pieces.

Anyway... this forum has rocked. Bob, kudos on running a tight ship. Thanks to everyone I've chatted with over the years I've been here.

I might still pop in now and again.

Best,

JT

 

You sure do go for rare almost obscure cars.

 

Sorry to see you go, but I certainly understand you position. Saabs are not all that weird any more now that they share GM Epsilon platform and some components. But they do have that weird key in the console going

 

My only concern about your buying a Saab is that they just declared bankruptcy last week in Sweden.

Link: https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...&postcount=519

Luckily, even if the dealer network goes away in this country, at least you can get service at any GM dealer. The Epsilon parts make that pretty easy.

Good luck with the new car, and I too hope that Acura's styling direction for the next gen of their cars changes. Hopefully we'll see you back! Until then,

 

 

Yes, that's true, but by all appearances, the Swedish government is going to take them over and keep making cars. Bankruptcy in SE is different than here, they're not allowed to file unless there's the intent and ability to continue in business -- it's a reorganization, not a liquidation.

And, as you say, GM has to honor the warranty, and is required by law to provide parts for 10 years should they pull out. There's enough of a global Saab base that I'm not too worried about parts availability, and apart from that I know an unbelievably good Saab mechanic.

And yeah, I guess I do go for oddball cars -- I've owned Alfa 164 sedans, and a 1974 AMC Matador... and an Acura RL, too.

Cheers!

 

Three chinese companies are bidding on them, no swedes.

 

Sounds like my wright up except the only problem I had was with the driver door handle. I loved the RL. I opted for the new 09 Maxima. When and if there is a new designed RL I will come back for a look. I test drove a Saab, and I like the handling and the seats, but I would never own one. Can they spell bluetooth over there? Who knows maybe we will both be coming home at the same time. Enjoy the Saab.

 

Funny that you should say that:
The word "Bluetooth" is an Anglicized version of the name of a tenth-century king, Harald Blaatand, king of Denmark and Norway, who united dissonant Scandinavian tribes into a single kingdom. The implication being that Bluetooth does the same with communications protocols, uniting them into one universal standard.

 

Beat me to it... any Scandinavian knows who Harold Bluetooth is.

And my Saab is an '06, with no Onstar, so the Saab factory BT can be fitted, which I plan to do in a few months. Until then, my earpiece works just fine.

Much of my bitch with the RL involved things like Bluetooth and the electronics, which never really worked. Sometimes, simpler is better.

 

Consumer Reports just came out with the reliabilty issue and Honda/Acura is #1 again for 3 years running. I average 20 intown and 27 mpg in my 07 Rl. I have 88,000 miles (not a misprint) and have had zero problems. My wife has a 04 Tl with 90,000 miles and zero problems. Prior to my RL I had a TL with 122,000 miles and zero problems. I have owned several German makes before and would never ever own another one. Should have brought a tow truck along with them.