Well, at last my car hunting adventure has ended.

This all started 2 months ago when we decided to get rid of my 95 Civic Coupe Si. Reason being my wife doesn't drive manual and we wanted to stick with 1 car. Initially, I looked at the TSX and as some of you may know, the deal didn't go through as we were $1,500 apart and the dealer wouldn't budge.

I did some research into purchasing from US and bringing it back to Canada, but there seemed to be too many hurdles to jump through.

I have always wanted the TL in the back of my mind, but it was a bit out of the range we wanted to spend. I then thought, I'll just buy something cheap and drive that for a while and trade up later. We actually looked at a used Mazda 6, but when I asked my mechanic if he could come with me to test drive and kick the tires, he told me to forget about Mazda. He told me if you want something cheap, go get a Toyota.

So I went and test drove the Corolla Sport Sedan. Nice car, but no power at all. My wife was happy cuz she didn't want to spend too much on a car. So I started negotiations with them only to find out that Toyota doesn't negotiate. They use this fair market Access Toyota (fixed pricing) strategy. Sticker price only thanks to collusion amongst all the dealership.

At this point, I was getting pretty sick and tired of all the research, the hours on the phone, the hours at the dealerships. Then a light at the end of the tunnel.

TRK9 turned me towards the idea of getting an 04 TL and mentioned that he got a pretty good deal on his. So today, I called around and only talked to fleet managers. Managed to find four 04 TLs in the city. 2 were Desert Mist, 1 was SSM but demo model with 10K, and finally a WDP.

So I have decided to go with the last 04 WDP/Auto/Nav in the city. The fleet manager was Jacky Lee at Lougheed Acura in Coquitlam (Greater Vancouver area, BC, Canada). Price was $39,730 (free PDI, no documentation fee), $100 A/C fee, $20 tire levy, plus taxes. MSRP is $44,000.

Now here's the kicker. I thought this Jacky guy sounds familiar. Turns out he sold me my 95 Civic over 9 years ago when he worked at Vancouver Honda!

Anyways, pick up is tomorrow. Thanks to TRK9 and other members out there!
Now I gotta explain to the wife how we went from a $21K Corolla to the TL!

 

Good story and good luck with the TL. I cannot believe the Toyota story. Here, they go for invoiceish every day!

 

wait....wtf....isn't $44k high????....how much are you actually paying for it....i thought new 05/auto/nav were like $36 or $37k??

 

He's from Vancouver. That oughta explain it.

 

I'm pretty sure he meant canadian dollars....

 

Thats an excellent deal in Canadian dollars.

Magoomba: Good job!

 

Funny you said that. I also almost bought a Mazda 6. Actually, I was very very close to making a deal on a 6s (V6, 5 speed) with sports package, luxury package, and Bose audio. I even had from a friend of mine who works for Ford a number for an S-discount (buying at invoice without hassles). I went on to test drive the TL just to convince myself that it was not worth paying almost $9k more. I left the Acura dealership absolutely convinced that not only was the additional $9k worth, but the TL was a bargain at this price

I still like the new 6 though. I like the styling and especially the _handling_. I would say it is even better handlingwise than the TSX. But the quality is poor, unfortunately. There was this famous "rust issue" that bubbled up in early Fall 2003. New cars in showrooms had rust under the weatherstripping on the door!!! Mazda announced a crappy TSB to fix "stains caused by a lubricant". To this day, the rust thread on the Mazda forum is the longest thread there (75 pages!). Mazda fixed this problem on the 04 models. Since you were looking into a used one, it would most likely have the rusty doors.

 

hey magoomba maybe we can meet up someday unless your in the suburbs of vancouver

 

Magoomba,

That's an excellent deal for a 04 TL! Back in Aug 04, I was quoted $39936 for a O4 TL (without Navi) from a car broker. Curious what the broker/fleet prices are for a 05 TL.

 

Richmond quoted me $43712 (free PDI) on an 05/auto/nav.
Lougheed might be able to beat that.

 

hey now..i have a 6...and its not a piece of trash either. I love it with all my heart ..its quite reliable and the V6 isn't trash just cause its a Ford block or whatever, as a lot of people automatically assume. The only real problem i have right now is that i have a slight squealing when i make really low speed turns. Other than that..even with 23000+ miles on it..teh car is a BLAST to drive (carves up canyons very good) True..the auto tranny's programming is a bit wack, but the updates should fix that somewhat. Yeah i do have that "staining" issue, but its no biggie. Its fixed in the later build cars anyways. The V6 roars like a lion above 3000RPM, but purrs like a kitten driving cassually around town. But..our family will soon include both a TSX and a TL, so i will be able to enjoy all 3 cars...

 

Magoomba,

Can you just call an Acura dealer and ask the fleet manager for a quote over the phone? Is there any criteria required to be able to deal directly with the fleet manager (i.e. like owning a business)?

 

so how much is that in US dollars?

 

hippo

I would say do not contact the fleet manager until you are ready to buy and you know exactly what model/colour/options you want. The other stipulation seems to be that they may not want to deal with you if you have already been to their dealership and have worked with one of their sales reps. They do not want the sales guys to get mad at them if they've put in all the work in helping you out (test drives, quotes, etc.) Also know what price you want to pay.

I basically called around to find out what colour was still available at each dealership. When I found the dealership with my colour, I called them and asked for the fleet manager. Told him I wanted to buy a car... today and I didn't want to negotiate. Told him I'll make an offer on the car and we managed to arrive at a price that we could both live with.

caball88: exchange rate is .85, so I paid $33,770.50
I know people have gotten it for $32,xxx in US, but in Canada everything's more expensive because our market is way smaller.

 

That is an incredible price. Wow. I paid $46000 on the nose for my 2005 6MT/Navi in October in Montreal... Good job!

 

Its funny I was also going to buy a Mazda 6 but ended up getting the TL. BUT!!!!!!! 2005/2006 the Mazdaspeed 6 is going to be bad as shit. 273 h/p all wheel drive turbocharged. Now that is going to be well worth it.