Ok, I'm looking at an RL. I've owned a TL in the past.

Here are my concerns with the RL.

1) Does it get rattles like the TL? That drives me insane.

2) I really like that in Lexus and Infiniti, you can play DVD video while stopped, and listen to DVD video disks while driving. Is there a mod or a hack to do this on the RL?

3) How does the leather wear? It didn't wear well at all in the TL.

Any other positives or negatives I should be aware of?

Lastly, my dealer's first sell offer was $43,630 for an RL without the tech package. I think they can do better, what do you guys think?

 

1. Now I only have 1,500 miles on mine, but I have experienced ZERO rattles.
2. Haven't seen anything on this
3. I've never experienced wear problems, even on my TL, but then again I condition my seats religously. The leather in the RL seems to be much higher quality (read softer). Don't know how that translates to durability.

I paid $43,500 for my non-tech RL, but if you go in the "owner's check in" thread, people have gotten slightly better deals. A lot depends on local availability and demand. Also a high volume dealer might work out better deals due to incentives.

I've had it a month and I love it!

 

1. Yes, many people complain about rattles - I have not experienced any in 35K miles
2. Nope.
3. OK- mine looks great and I've heard no complaints from others re this.

Positives: price is a steal!, great handling, best interior, superb navigation system, lots of toys included in price.
Negatives: turning radius, doors that bang your legs when getting out on an incline, weak torque for HP. $43,630 is fair but there is a 3K incentive so $42,000 is very possible now.

 

1. I don't think I had any.
2. No.
3. Mine was good for the few thousand miles I had it...much better than the leather in my TL held up.

 

1. My '05 RL was a rattle-trap. My '06 is tight as a drum.
2. Not that I'm aware of.
3. My 05's Parchment leather was fine after 7K miles, although the color showed dirt terribly... my 06's is fine after 4K, and the black still looks...black.

 

1. I don't have a single rattle
2. You can buy an add-on from one of our vendors to do this -- http://www.tvandnav2go.com/acura-tv-navigation.html
3. Seems to be wearing great. Mine doesn't show any signs of wear at all actually

Keep in mind that I've owned my car for only 8 months now. I have heard people complain about certain rattles but I haven't heard anyone complain about the leather and actually quite the opposite saying that it doesn't show wear much at all.

 

1. My '05 has no rattle what so ever
2. The add-on is nice...
3. The leather still looks brand new - my car only has 6k miles. My other car is 9 years old with many miles but it still looks new. I think black leather helps to hide wear lines/marks. But it really depends on how well you take care of it. I use good leather care product - keep it clean, away from sun and heat...it should last very long time.

 

Which dealer in Houston are you using? I am looking and I want the best deal possible.

 

I'm going to Sterling McCall on the Southwest Freeway.

 

1. Have a Nasty Rattle that might require the dash to be removed. Its the glove box and something behind it ? Also I have my driver side window is a little loose.
2. Never cared for the DVD playing in the car.
3. The leather is much better than the TL. The TL leather will wear, but I never conditioned my wife's TL. Now I do and its holding up. The RL leather (parchment) is good but dirt does show. I use lexol every month or so.

Mine is a 05 RL (20,000 VIN number). The '06 are much tighter. Also, I am not that discouraged about the rattles. Annoying, yes...but they will get fixed. The dealer is DCH, a sponsor here, so they are going to take the car in soon and keep it until fixed....

Good Luck...the car is awesome. Best bang for the buck...

 

No rattles in my 06 RL but it's only a month old. Had a 99 RL and did not experience any rattles either after 7 years. Great car and a better value than the competition with comparable features.

I paid $42,000 a month ago and the dealer ordered it. Waited about a week for delivery. I shopped btw 2 local dealers while there were 2 other dealers I would have gone to if the price was right.

 

I probably can give the definitive answer on this one with a 2005 Rl with almost 53K miles.

1) In terms of bs breaks... none to be found yet. I've bent the wheels a few times, but no warranty repairs for the first 48K miles.
2) Leather... o.k. but worn; I'm 265 lbs and ride for 4 hours a day.
3) No DVD in the 2005
4) Rattles... I had some in the cold of winter around the wood trim. Since the summer, they have gone away.

$43K and change isn't too bad, but all in all, I don't feel the extra $10K over my wife's 2003 TL. In fact, after about $35K on a car, I'm not good enough to feel the daily difference in any brand in Acura, Merc, BMW, etc.

 

I leased an '06 RL in December from Sterling McCall in Houston. The sales experience was far better than average. Re: the concerns listed above,

I have 5.6K miles on mine and have not one single rattle.

I, too have the parchment leather, but mine do not show any wear/tear. In fact,

I'm not even getting the typical discoloration from where one's belt rubs against the lower seatback.

Although I haven't tried it, I would imagine that the stereo would play audio from a DVD disc, as it's rated to play DVD audio.

Gas mileage is not great in town [13mpg], but pretty amazing [32mpg] on the interstate.

Unless things have changed in the last 5 months, if you want to have a Palm Treo synchronized with the RL bluetooth, Sprint is the only one with compatible software. I still have problems when I get in the car and try to make the first phone call. The car NEVER recognizes the phone. I have to dial the call manually, and then "transfer".

The turning radius is inconceivably bad.

My biggest gripe is with the iPod interface. It is such a nuisance accessing songs. I have clocked it taking over 4 minutes to access a certain song. I wish that they had just put a jack in the armrest, and the iPod could be tuned manually; it would be far less dangerous than the setup now.

 

DVD Audio is a completely different animal from DVD Video. No my knowledge you cannot put a DVD Video into the RL's audio system and get sound from it.

The turning radius on the RL is like an SUV, which isn't a good thing, but not the worst thing in the world, either.

It might be easier to just burn some MP3 files onto CDs and just keep those CDs in the changer.

 

If you haven't already bought the car then read on.


1. No rattles so far (knock on wood!). I had an '05 TL which did have the rear parcel shelf rattle.
2. I'm sure there is a mod to accomplish playing DVD videos, a couple of TL owners have done it.
3. I only have 5600 miles on my car, but I get the sense that the leather will hold up better than the leather in my TL would have. It also feels a lot softer than the leather in the TL.

I am really loving my RL!