My time to make a decision on the Sport Hybrid approaches.

I like the idea of a rear seat butt warmer for my son, and the additional driver tech of the Advance. Don't care about the Krell audio system, my audiophile days have been over since I transferred my music to iPod/iPhone. OTOH, could save a few bucks by sticking with Tech.

What say you?

Discuss.

 

If you're someone that keeps cars for a long time like say 8+ years, then I would go for the Advance. If you trade cars every 2-3 years, save and go for the Tech.

 

The Krell audio is the biggest chunk of the package so I can see you weighing the value.

But I could not get such a vehicle without the ACC, LKAS and CMBS knowing such features are on a $20K less CRV Touring.

Further, small details like rear sunshades, heated and ventilated seats and parking sensors on not being on a near $60K vehicle is like using mid grade or regular fuel on a luxury vehicle that requires premium.

If you can say you really don't need them to save cost then you should REALLY be asking if you need a $60K+ hybrid.

A SH RLX is a very sophisticated and unique vehicle and there should be no compromises.

 

Exactly my thinking. Were I interested in compromise, I'd have obtained a PAWS RLX long ago. I suppose I could get used to the Krell system.

 

I got the advance mostly bc I just like to have top of the line stuff; otherwise, I feel like I am missing out on something. The only 2 things I really wanted were the ventilated seats and the sunshades. I have grown to appreciate other features like Krell, foot lighting, parking sensors & dimming side mirrors. The self driving safety features I am indifferent to.

If you are going to spend big $$$ on something as special & rare as the hybrid, might as well go all out. Especially if you plan on keeping the car for a while, that way it is not out of date as fast.

 

We've only had our used 2014 RLX Advance for a month and are already saying we need to trade the wife's 2013 RX350 for a newer RX350 with radar cruise. Like George Knighton has previously said a couple of times, radar cruise (CMBS) takes a lot of stress out of highway driving.

My wife says the RLX is way more luxurious than our 2006 RL or her RX350. I agree with her. Again agreeing with George Knighton, the RLX-PAWS is a big rig that handles like a car one size smaller. The hybrid AWD RLX with its ability to alternatively drag one rear wheel while accelerating the other rear wheel has got to be an awesomely sweet handling (and accelerating) luxury car.

The darn European pedestrian hood height regulations is making all sedans feel like one is driving while looking out tank slots. My 2006 RL has a open nearly 360 degree vision feel. The RLX has a slightly more boxed-in vision aspect, but it is not as claustrophobic a boxed-in, tank-slot feel I had when driving loaner last generation TLs.

I vote for you buying the hybrid with the Advance package and having a good time listening to high quality music while showing an occasional BMW driver how to rapidly enter onto a freeway with fast moving traffic approaching.

 

I thought my audio days were over as well, but the Krell system is awesome. I've listened to more music in the past 6 months than I have in the past 5 years.

 

This is a no brainer question, as everyone is stating and I agree if your going to get the best go all the way. I only wished I waited a fews more weeks until the RLX SH AWD came out and I would have purchased it with the Advanced package instead of the 2015 RLX Advance. So I will way a few years and get whatever top of the line then. I only by the top of the line cars because I love the technology and other toys. Good luck on your decision.

 

My two cents: calculate the difference in cost between the two models (either lump sum cost or monthly payment cost) and then ask yourself whether that amount of money will negatively affect your life. If the answer is yes, get the Tech. If the answer is no, get the Advance. If the answer is not clear, then consider the benefits of the additional features in the Advance and how much driving YOU do and how much YOU would use them. If the decision still isn't clear, factor in the "regret factor" if you don't get the Advance trim, factor in the "Wants versus Needs" lesson we learned when we were young and then check on the health of any wealthy relatives and let your gut decide.

How's that for a load of useless crap...sorry it is a tough decision that only you can make.

 

Bob

I feel for you because I having am the same debate in my head.

I agree with Tampa that the Krell is the most costly part of the "extras". While I am no audiophile (listen to NPR and CNBC more than music)' when I do listen to music I think the Krell system will make my ride more enjoyable. I am also thinking that as my hearing gets worse ( I have hearing aids that I use part time) the better sound quality will improve what I hear.

I also alike the ACC and rear sunshade. I park my car outside at work and in Southern CaLifornia. The sun is usually shinning. While freeway driving is only 20% of my driving what I do is usually I the car pool lane where the ACC will be nice. Lastly the ventilated seats will be nice for the wife.

I normally keep my car for the long haul so I rationalize the additional cost of the Advance by looking at it spread over 8 or 10 yrs.

Having said all this the issue is that given the Hybrid's rarity the local dealers told me that they are unlikely going to want to trade with another dealer to acquire the color or trim level. Each dealer has only one hybrid and may not get any more. So another issue is that some dealers seem more willing to make a deal but only on the one they have on their lot. The bottom line to get a color I want or best deal I may have to take a tech or advance they have in stock.

Bottom line is I too am very conflicted between the Tech to Advance. The decision between them is likely going to come down to a price or color and not trim level.

 

2016 Advance-if you can wait-hahaha. In addition to a choice of colors, fresh car, and better discounts, there likely will be several improvements with an early MMC. All of Honda's recent MMC's have been worthwhile enhancements/improvements so for all of these reasons I am waiting (as hard as that will be).

 

The only thing on the advance package that I would want are the parking sensors. $6,000 is a lot to pay for them. I have cooled seats in my 2010 and have never used that option.

 

Love the comments.

I'm trying to wait for a 2016 Advance but it's going to really hard. If I can get a semi-reasonable deal on a 2014 of my choosing, I'm pretty much in. But you regulars already know that.

 

Now stop pacing back and forth, talking to yourself and making gestures in the air with your hands.

Have you noticed that junior has that SAME expression as the wifey? Its and interesting combination of a 'gotcha' smile and a 'wtf' raised eyebrow?

Oh yeah...you are a gone.

 

AHHH, the daunting question of "WHAT IF"... what if they offer a twin turbo version of the 2016 Sport Hybrid RLX or even bigger electric motors with even more torque??? What if they announce a drop in the price to $59,900 for the Advance and juicy lease deals to boot???? What if they have found a new battery technology that is half the size of the current battery making the trunk space 20% bigger than the 2014????

OK none of those is likely, but waiting for the 2016 will at least answer some of the "what if's" before you take the plunge.

 

^^^^^^^ The reason why I bought a used 2014 RLX Advance last August was to take the stress of buying or not buying a RLX Hybrid off my mental docket. The now stress-free plan is to buy a used 2016 or new 2017 RLX hybrid. The move to buy the used 2014 RLX PAWS also provides a plan for trading our 2006 RL sometime (maybe after seeing how the RLX does in winter weather) for a high mileage, say ten year-old Honda S2000. We are having a new carport built at this moment for parking our truck and a future fun car as our two car garage is for my bride's RX and my RLX. You've got to plan these things out! BTW, the carport is being wired with a 240 volt 30 amp circuit should a future car require a charging station.

 

That is a very logical plan. Of course, logic has been known to be overruled by emotion in car buying decisions and the whole right-brain, left-brain, reason versus lust debate ensues.

I am also averse to paying for the ridiculous new model pricing or the hefty new car depreciation BUT the rarity of the Sport Hybrid RLX seems to be making my usual "wait them out and get a great deal" plan of attack somewhat moot. Like Bob, I fear that the emotional need to drive the SH RLX and the sheer wearing down of my patience with this hellishly long wait, will override my usual logical approach to car buying and I may have to bite the bullet and just buy one when I can get one. Fortunately, the extreme rarity of the SH RLX up here in Canada may leave me no choice but to wait for a 2016 when hopefully they'll make more available as well as add a few extra features to make the wait worthwhile.

 

go for the advance i brought a tech last nov and everyday wished i got the advance

 

What makes you think that there will be an early MMC? The MMC will at least be 2018 and by then the market will have changed again.

 

How do you explain to someone that you bought a $50 to $60K luxury car that doesn't have ACC, LKAS and CMBS, great audio system etc. etc.. If you are going to buy a luxury car then it should come with luxury features, therefore Advance is your only option.
The Tech is driving around saying to itself that, "When I grow up I want to be a luxury car".

 

The scuttlebutt on Honda rumor sites like TOV is for an early MMC, and we have precedent in this from Honda in the early Civic MMC of a couple years ago, sped up to address issues. Despite what we say here, I'm pretty sure Acura wants the RLX to succeed and hopefully they will do what it takes to do the job.

 

While I voted for the Advance and it would be my chioice, allow me to provide the arguments against your claims.

- You have to understand that $6000 - the difference between the Tech and Advance - is not an insignificant amount to some people especially in a rapidly depreciating asset such as an automobile.

- Some people don't do a lot of highway driving which renders the ACC and LKAS pretty insignificant as features. Furthermore, a large portion of the general population doesn't know what ACC, LKAS and CMBS even are and would still be genuinely impressed riding around in a Tech RLX Sport Hybrid.

- Finally, an equally large percentage of the population are NOT audiophiles and would find the ELS audio system simply amazing and, as a group, probably think that Krell are those little fish that they make Omega-3 supplements out of.

So, the choice of Tech is the right choice for those not consumed with having the very best or those who aren't really concerned with the latest technology or just those that don't want to piss away another $6000. The Tech trim level SHAWD RLX is still an amazing car.

Just my two cents.

 

ACC has low speed follow feature - not saying it in itself is worth 6K, just saying it does work at low speed

 

Nailed it.

 

And that right there is yet another reason to lease. That $6000 won't make much of a difference if any in your monthly lease payment. At the end of the day, if you can stay cash flow positive month to month with your monthly expenses and the lease payment, then it no longer becomes a question.

Plus with the possibility of improvements to the RLX come 2016, the last thing I'd do is commit to the current model knowing the amount of room for improvement there is in the flagship.


And works quite well.

 

Advance - A flagship Sports Hybrid owned by a car nut such as yourself (and I'm one too) should have all the features the model can offer.

I'm going to wait for a 2016 Advance SH RLX at this point. Partially so I can get my exact color choice as well, as I keep cars a long time so it has to be just right.

 

So if Acura get back on schedule with the annual updates then the 2016 will come out in less than 12 months about October 2015. They won't sell a 2014 until 2015 and there has been very little feedback on the SH SH AWD to warrant an MMC. The PAWS will go away, the SH SH AWD will be the only model and after the first year of sales, they will only sell a few.

The biggest beef with all of the latest Acura's is the telematics and if the TLX is acceptable then the RLX will be too. To invest in an MMC after a few hundred sales is going to contribute to the demise of Honda.

The Civic is not a good example because it is a volume seller and Honda cannot afford for it to fail but if the RLX fails and they pull the whole line up then they would save money. Their eggs are in the TLX market, the RLX is as superfluous to them as the RL was and Acura has long since lost the competitive war on $60K+ automobiles.

 

So I just got off the phone with my salesperson. Lots of Techs out there, very few Advances. That was the reason I posted the question originally.

He has been trying to locate an Advance with my color preferences within reasonable transport distance of the dealer, with no luck, likely because so many are still in transport. He asked whether I'd be willing to settle for a Tech. I said I'd listen if they could find one, but "only with a significant discount". He wasn't hopeful either way, but they would keep trying. I offered a deposit but was told it was not necessary. They did find a white with seacoast, but I don't want that combo, either.

He indicated that people were concerned about the price point of the Advance in particular--a reasonable concern. As we are all aware here, many Acura buyers are price-sensitive and there are compelling luxury cars with more power and more trunk room, among other features, in the same price range.

Based on this salesperson's mood about the RLXs, it seems to drive home the fact that it has been a very poor seller. It's a poor seller, he thinks, not because of features, but because of price--a point echoed by many in this forum.

Looks like I'll be waiting for the 2016s to drop. I'm not in that much of a hurry. I'd much rather not settle, honestly, even to save a few bucks. Maybe Acura will drop the price a little as part of the MMC, so they fly off the shelf like the TLX is? A guy can hope.

 

^^^^

Now will you stop pacing?

I have to agree with your findings. I am back on the 'wait to see what the 2016 offers' mode.

Concerning price point, the current PAWS RLX cannot compete over a loaded TLX as it has nothing unique or special as a flagship other than size and a Krell offering. I have yet to encounter anyone outside of this forum who knows what Krell is. Anything in the PAWS RLX of development cost will be recaptured with the volume sales of the TLX and MDX. Acuralink II (which I argue is not as well performing as the system on my 10 year old RL), PAWS which will be recouped by TLX sales and Earth Dreams / VCM development which will be recouped by the MDX, TLX and even the RDX. Suspension remains double wishbone in the RLX but I am not happy with the suspension issues I notice in my test drives.

So what makes the RLX special? IMHO Sport Hybrid. But we cannot even get one to thoroughly test drive to support the hope and wait of the few here. By the time they sort it out it will be 2016 MY and the body / interior is already lost any new car appeal to me. So hopefully some package shuffling, new features and styling cue updates to freshen and a serious price re-alignment MAY keep me waiting.

When I think of how I felt when I got my RL, any of that lust and keep-me -awake until I get one is just not there. Partly because I still fell like my RL serves up very well and mostly because Acura F'd up this roll out so badly that my desire for this car is all but trampled.

I understand the focus will be on the bread and butter TLX, MDX and the upcoming RDX MMC. They are Acura's volume cars. But if the RLX is supposed to be the flagship and showcase for trickle down features and engineering, then without the Sport Hybrid, it is already obsolete. And it appears to me that Acura has already abandoned the RLX (hopefully to address is the storied sedan rethink and a rushed refresh for 2016).

So what has Acura learned in this latest cycle of flagship sedan? IMHO, N-O-T-H-I-N-G. And I am getting too old to wait for them to try again.

 

It is very disappointing to wait as we all have for the Sport Hybrid to be introduced and even now hardly anyone has been able to test drive one. The excitement has worn off to an extent and in the car business that is never a good thing. Some who have been interested will likely move on. With limited availability finding a 2014 model with the color/trim you want is slim to none. As has also been mentioned salespeople are not high on the RLX either and try to steer customers to the MDX or TLX. I am also afraid that with only one 2014 car to sell-a price premium will be tried by dealers to those looking now.

Waiting for a 2016 is the only rational/sensible thing to do at this point. Emotion plays a big part in the car buying experience and that is lacking right now. We can only hope that Acura does a thoughtful MMC-re examines the price and has an aggressive lease when the car is introduced. If they do not do all of this I believe they will have lost their last chance to have any hope of success with this model.

 

All done pacing.

PensFan, given the way my salesperson was talking, your surmise of a market adjustment is likely not going to happen, unless it is downward. These guys have enough trouble unloading PAWS RLXs, now they have to worry about how price-conscious people are going to consider a $65k hybrid when for the same money they can get a non-hybrid E-series or 5-series, or even an A6, with lots more cachet for similar pricing. An upward "market adjustment" would be the nail in the coffin for the RLX.

Maybe it is almost time for Acura to give up on the mid-luxury space and accept being a Lincoln (a few gussied up Fords) or, worse, a Mercury (dead), or Chrysler (does anyone any longer think of Chrysler as a luxury car company? I don't).

After all, this RLX SH-cockup is now far, far worse than Lincoln's screwup with the MKZ release. I'm amazed we haven't heard about more heads rolling in Acura HQ, or in Honda HQ. All we've heard is Acura being cut loose as a separate division with the same people on board.

Eh, I'm over it now and am moving on. What will be, will be.

 

You know, I suspect the cost of development in Japan is so great that there is no reasonable way for Acura to drop the price of the RLX without literally selling at a loss (also known as dumping).

The Germans can sell on cachet, and make a bucketload of money in the USA, but I suspect that Acura cannot sell Japanese cutting edge cars in this economy.

Then, the reviewers have almost universally panned the SH-AWD as being less "engaging" to drive than the German competition, and even the new Cadillacs. The market for the RLX is therefore going to be people like me, who valued my old Legend for it's reliability and beauty, and will consider paying more for reliability (which I consider the ultimate luxury, by the way)

I drove the TLX's, and the 4 was more fun to drive than the V6's. How does that happen? (I apologize for this tangental comment)

I am enchanted by the technology of the Acuras, and the promised reliability, but I am starting to wonder if they can honestly compete in the US market because of the costs of production in Japan. I KNOW the Japanese have taken a risk on technology that is spectacular, but sometimes a negative cultural tsunami (by the car critics) can sink a model. The enlightened opinion by the people of this board won't save the RLX Hybrid, and the current delay in it's introduction has surprised me and other aficionado's who now worry about the VW Phaeton experience repeating (I had one, and know the pain, but in the defense of any Acura product, I cannot believe it would have the wretched reliability the Phaeton had, nor the profound depreciation).

Acura seems to have dug their heels in too long on the visual design of their vehicles, and therefore are selling what Americans should want instead of what they do want. (luxury cars with beauty and panache, OR luxury with some sports car feel and Panache) So Acuras hope has been the those in the esoteric market. It seems to me that the market is too small. Mercedes seems to have the luxe cruiser market wrapped up, for those wanting panache, elegance and a comfortable ride. The RLX can't deliver the comfortable ride, trying to be Mercedes and BMW. The RLX is being panned for the harsh ride.

Forgive this rambling post. I will NOT buy German again, but Acura has disappointed me with this last effort, and I don't know if they will survive the cultural gap. I suspect I would be happiest buying a new Hyundai Genesis, that has given up on the pretention of being BMW, and has made a comfortable quiet cruiser with understated elegance that could really ding Mercedes, and Lexus. But the front drive Lexus ES 350 really delivers the goods for even less than the RLX, and if it wasn't such a common choice, it really would be mine.

I am waiting a year to see what Acura will do, because I am still loyal to the HONDA company that has taken care of me in the past, but it's not promise I will buy Acura.

 

Welcome to AZ! Many of us here are Honda-loyal but disappointed in Acura.

So are you Tech or a Advance person? Keepin' it positive, chin up.

 

Thanks for the welcome. Been lurking a while.

It's the Advance that intrigues me. I want to want it, but I have not driven the car yet, (and apparently few of us have), but I am afraid to say I will like it based on the reviews. I won't even drive the Tech until the Advance is available at the same place, and there wasn't an advance on the lot when I last visited the dealer 3 weeks ago. I will drive them back to back, and then drive other cars.

By the way, I did drive the TLX and it was the very honest salesman that suggested to me that I might be better off buying the Lexus ES350. He thinks I will find the RLX ride too rough based on what I said about the TLX ride (because I thought it was rough even on the normal setting), and I don't want a sports car all the time, so I would want a car with adjustable shocks. The TLX normal ride was still harsher than I wanted. Yup, I've become an old wimp.

Another sad experience, I got on the Acura website to read about the RLX Hybrid as soon as I read the first reviews, many months ago. The site asked for my info to contact me when the Hybrid became available, and has never contacted me. So Acura America is not on the ball.

 

Welcome sooththetruth.

I also signed up for the Acura updates (Acura Canada version) and have yet to hear anything back. I suspect the only update they could send out would be an apology, so they haven't bothered. The continued silence suggests that they aren't finished "tweaking" and improving the RLX for the expected "relaunch" in mid 2015 as a 2016 model. I'm in limbo with the rest of the people here and just hope they do a better job with the next launch. Building a lot more than 200 would be a good start so dealers can actually have some on the lot for us to do a proper test drive. As good as the reviews of the Sport Hybrid RLX were, I don't think the car has anywhere near the cache to garner sales just by blind order alone.
My two cents.

 

57 Techs and 27 Advances on cars.com at this hour. That is all.....

 

There may be a '14 Silver/Ebony Advance at Jones Acura in PA (717) 394-0711.

 

I see how long that lasted.