So, its been a while since I've posted here; I have a 2006 RL, with 81K on it and its been a great car. Change oil, add gas, change brakes- thats it other than one minor repair for the AC clutch at 72K.
I decided that I would replace my STS with a new RLX (never liked the STS but my other car is a Vette, and after my wife got pregnant we needed a second car- so in 2011 I bought an 09 STS with 5K for 32K and boy did that depreciate by the time I traded it in today).
I bought the RLX Advance.
Black/Black.
All goes well until we're done with the paperwork, then we go to the car for inspection and review.
First: the center armrest immediately was noticed by my salesman just as I was going to see it.
It appears that all the leather was scuffed or marred by something as they were PDI'ing the car.
Second: as I check the exterior- hairline scratches all over the car. WTF, did the porter use an SOS pad to wax the car? Several scratches were enough for my fingernail to catch deeply.
Didnt need to go further as I was already going to decline this car and demand another.
My salesman agrees to get a different car and they have the same color and trim in stock.
However out comes the manager and tells me that the center armrest can be treated, there is a TSB on this, and that its already being fixed.
I tell him straight up- Please deliver a different car for me, this vehicle isnt acceptable for me.
They agree, but its late already so I get a loaner to take home since I've already completed the title for my tradein and I've already moved everything out of my old car.
I get the loaner, (its already snowed here today for us) and the loaner is ice encrusted, cold and I have to warm it up.
Mirrors are frozen in place, I cant adjust and the tires are flat spotted from sitting.
Then, as I am driving off- low tire pressure from rear tires, (24 in rear- 29 in front)
So, after the tires warmed up, tires became round as well, mirrors unfroze, front windshield became visible all as I continued to drive, the loaner RLX (non advance just Tech) came alive.
What a car!
Quiet, responsive (and having a Vet, I am used to acceleration, the RLX on the highway delivers nicely for a sedan).
Why all the negative press for the interior? After 5 minutes its intuitive, comforting and functional!
Radio, climate control, nav all intuitive to me. I had the Caddy nav for 2 years and I never could get it nailed down!
The only thing what wasnt intuitive was the cruise- no set button, but I figured it out after a minute.
Well, we'll see tomorrow if the dealer keeps its word and delivers a different car.
I have the vin of this car, and I said that if you try to deliver this car to me, we'll have a problem.
I certainly hope that the porters that PDI and wax the cars dont screw this one up now.
Its a shame, Acura delivers a car without blemishes, and a dealership cant keep it looking new just for deliver!
I will update tomorrow what happens.
Looking forward to learning a new Acura all over again. We're keeping the RL until it drops dead which looks like it will go for at least 100K more.
The way we use that car, its another 10 years or more.

 

if you don't want the dealer "detail" guys handle the car and it's paint....tell them to give you a car with all the plastic on it and you'll take care of the rest.

i like my dealer...i still won't let them wash the car, EVER. i barely tolerate them driving the car and servicing them. however they know if ANYTHING optional comes back on the car, they're gonna get an earful from me!

 

I agree with you on the NAV in the Cadillacs. I have had Acuras, Toyotas, Mazdas and Cadillac and I still say Acura has the best and most intuitive navigation systems.

 

Some dealers hire day laborers to wash cars. I have no idea if yours does or not. The BMW dealer I bought a previous car from had some guy washing cars with a dried out chamois and used a circular pattern and scratched the heck out of every car he washed that day. Mine was only 2 weeks old and never been washed. It had massive spider webs all over it.

I agree with TLGirl, never have the dealer wash your car. Although sometimes they do it anyway.

On a new car, if possible never sign the paperwork until you have inspected the car you are going to buy. Once the VIN is put on the paperwork and you sign, it could be hard to get the dealer to give you another car.

 

I would say the RLX is better than an STS all day long, and I say that as a now two-time Cadi owner. I don't bother with the Cadillac navi interface and despite what the press says about Honda/Acura's navi interfacing looking "dated", it is simply more intuitive.

Sorry you are having a tough time with the delivery experience. Hopefully they give you a different car. I feel for the (probably less selective) person who's going to get a scratched up car.

 

The way the entire situation was handle is totally unacceptable!

You're buying a 60k+ car Acura's flagship, the entire experience needs to match that, half of the reason people are willing to spend extra on products is for the overall experience. That dealers GM needs to educate his staff better how to treat a customer and issue resolution. - The Equus is a overpriced car but their customer experience from test drive to service is something many luxury brands can learn from.

If you don't mine me asking what dealer was it?

 

I NEVER allow ANY dealership to WASH my vehicles new or used! Never! In fact I had my 2007 MDX handed to me with all the plastic from the factory.....

 

Ok- followup to my bad delivery experience yesterday.
my sales person communicates to me early today to know when I am coming.
I advise him, and when I arrive the new car isnt quiet ready yet, however its only a few minutes to get it finished.
Yes- they changed the car. No games no questions and no scratches or defects.
I do the inspection and this car passes without any issues (read on later- I think with this car you need to inspect something specific that I found as I was arriving home)
After wrapping up the paperwork, and it all went smoothly I was finally able to play with the advance RLX.
This car CAN just about drive itself.
It takes a little getting used to (especially the steering that adjusts as its driving!) but its really a fine car.
QUIET. QUICK. AGILE.
Yes of course this is a better car that the STS, even an accord is but the real car to compare against caddy is XTS.
Now that I've driven both (test drive) clearly the RLX in my mind is a better driving experience.
However, getting an XTS in AWD at the price point the RLX is and RLX is on FD, puts the RLX at a disadvantage when you just do side by side comps at the MSRP.
I think Acura knows this thats why they are offering 5500 cash back and dealers really are selling them at invoice just to move metal.
I paid 49878 for a car that MSPR'ed at 61K. Now at that price, the RLX advance is a better $$$ value against a loaded XTS.
But that said- for many even if you put the RLX at a slight $$$ advantage its a better buy as you really shouldnt go wrong with Honda/Acura engineering.
Which leads me to my first technical problem.
Krell.
Just as I am getting home I'm really jamming on the music. I get to enjoy my ipod collection and I've got it CRANKED.
And for the record, I am very familiar with KRELL.
I have 4 Krell FPB 450 Mcx amps driving a very inefficient set of speakers (down at 2ohm's) and I've never had a problem other than racking up an electric bill when I leave them on for a few days to warm up.

The Krell system in my car cuts out just as I am getting home.
dead- no sound nada.switch sources, lower volume turn off audio turn on- nothing.
So, I pull over, park it and shut down the car and restart.
Music returns, and as its at the levels i turned the car off- after 5 seconds, cuts out again.
Repeat steps, and audio comes on again. lower the volume (below 28) and sound remains on, but when I crank it past 30- you got it it cuts out again.
The music wasnt distorting- it just sounds like an electronic switch is flipped and suddenly mute except that I can hear a tiny electronic squeal just as its going to mute.
So I guess Krell doesnt quite have the mobile audio down yet- but I am going to test this out for a few days before I bring it back to the dealer.
I want to be able to reproduce, and quite frankly if there is a failing component I want to stress it now so that it fails completely and can be identified easier.
I cant blame the dealer for that, and frankly neither Acura. Its limited to the audio amplifiers at this time.
Thats it for now, I will advise as more is known.
I havent identified the dealer because I wanted to give them a chance to do right before I slammed them- only fair as they said they would do something, and they did what they said they would. So, I will neither slam them nor single them out for anything other than my dealer is in the greater northern Illinois chicagoland area.
They made it easy and they kept their integrity.

 

Wowwwww

 

As Yogi Berra said, "déjà vu all over again" (read: 2nd gen RL). Great for Acura customers who are getting tremendous deals, but proves that the market doesn't think the RLX is worthy of the same prices that the Germans and Lexus command.

Then you have the Cadillac forums where there is all this whining about the price of the new CTS. Cadillac has been trying to remake their image for a decade and now they think they can compete with the new CTS and many are aup in arms over the price increase.

I'm a little "meh" on the looks, but it has gotten absolute rave reviews. The prices have gone up noticeably and people are lamenting that the CTS no longer offers value luxury.

Seems like you can't win either way.

We'll see if the CTS can fare any better at commanding the big bucks than the RLX did.

 

It wouldn't surprise me if the amplifiers have some form of thermal protection built into them. I can only imagine that you somehow managed to engage it with hard usage. I haven't heard of anybody "managing" to do so yet so you might consider wearing this as a "ass backwards" badge of honor.

How long were you driving when it happened? Just how loud was it playing? Way back in the day I used to be in the car audio business. This was when it was just getting revved up so to speak. We would run into situations where an amplifier could "thermal" under heavy usage. This makes me wonder where the primary amplifiers for the Krell audio system are located? I would imagine under a seat or in the trunk someplace.

 

I would say that the system was playing for about 15 minutes before it happened. I had just raised the levels to 28-30, prior to that it was at 22-25. Within a minute of raising it above 28 it cut out.
Thats hardly enough time for it to overheat, and frankly in 30 years of driving I've NEVER had that happen. I'm not deaf, I wasnt playing really complex music, its something I've played (cranked) in all my cars, 2006 RL, 2009 STS, 2009 Corvette, and now 2014 RLX.
It would be fair to say that in all the other cars, playing it at the cranked levels would play the music with less clarity than I was hearing in the RLX. Never the less, I highly doubt that it was an overheating issue- and we were 34 degrees in Chicago which should have helped the thermals.

 

Sounds like you went to the same dealership as me. I had an even worse experience there, just bought the RLX Advance 3 weeks ago. Won't be returning.

 

check your box; I pm'ed you.

 

Sounds like things worked out in the end, but a bit of a hectic experience. That's disappointing about the issues with the Krell audio system. Keep us posted on how things develop there. Congrats on your purchase tho. Post pics!

 

Pics after I get my Valentine situated in the new car.
Am going to use their SAVVY OBD connector and run a discreet wire install.
Some interesting similarities in the setup of this car as my 2014 Vet that I'm getting later in Dec. Not in the powertrain but in the interior and electronics of the car. I can see where there is a shared tech platform.

 

Good luck with the C7 'vette. Those are dream worthy cars. Having an RLX and a Corvette in the same garage is definitely envy-worthy.

Hopefully you get the stereo situation worked out.

 

The C7 is gorgeous. And employee of mine just took delivery of one with the Z51 package.

 

Actually I have an 06RL, and an RLX and in 4 weeks a 2014 convertible Vet. What got me to consider keeping in the Acura family was the RL. My wife drove that car mainly after I had the 09 Vet and the STS but she pinstripped the RL on the garage door. So recently I had it fixed and I drove it back from the shop. I was just so surprised how well and tight it was at 81K miles, that I decided right there to get rid of the STS and go back to Acura. It was just amazing how tight the RL felt compared to STS, and as I aid before, at the discounts today, its a better deal than XTS.
I will also update here on the RLX... AND the Vet. Now thats going to be a fun toy!

 

Well that's not right!? I see no way for it to thermal that quickly unless there were some other problem.

 

I think one should expect it to behave erratically - its bipolar

"The system's most important main amplifier channels feature the same robust, high quality bipolar power transistors used in flagship Krell home amplifiers. The result is an amplifier that has 1/3 less distortion than a leading competitor's flagship luxury car amplifier and power and headroom to meet the obstacles that the road will throw in its way. "

 

Well done (no pun intended)

 

So you think there are no discounts with Lexus and others at this price range.

 

I just tested the Krell in my RLX Adv at volume of 32 for 10 minutes - no shutdown.

 

Yes, everyone offers discounts, but you shouldn't have to offer such deep ones so soon after launch. A colleague was just in the market for a new car. Choices for him were the Lexus GS, Audi A6 and BMW 5 series.

He really liked the Lexus GS F-Sport. In the end they couldn't find one for him that he wanted and he said they weren't budging much on the prices. They were selling as soon as they came in the dealership.

He ended up getting an Audi A6 Quattro with the S package. He considered the RLX briefly (he was coming out of an MDX), but he wanted AWD and the RLX wasn't sporty enough for him.

For the GS, eventually sales will cool down and deeper discounts will be offered.

For the RLX they have never really heated up.

That was my point.

 

I havent been able to reproduce the same shutdown since it happened on the delivery day.

 

RLX price was announced when yen was at 79 to dollar. it quickly moved to 99 to a dollar in six months. so RLX price was reflecting that reality at the time. if some one is leasing RLX Honda is not likely to lose that much value on that as it will have decent resale value relative to purchase price.


Lexus GS is complete collapse of resale value. not good for lease returns.

 

So a car that has strong sales and is in demand is a "complete collapse in resale value"?