srhewes

My daughter, who lives in Bethesda, is going to buy an 04 or 05 TSX (maybe this month). Are there any dealers to avoid? I have not heard good things on some threads about Chevy Chase Acura (especially their service department and car wash). How about some of the others? As I recall, there was a not of good things to say about Radley Acura in VA, either.

Who had a good purchase experience and good service experiences? Also -- do you think it matters where she would take the car in to service -- do you get better service from the dealer at which you bought or not?

Plus -- one more thing: she's looking at a Red exterior, but can choose from Camel interior (which she won't because she does not like the wood grain look) or Ebony. A know a lot of you have Ebony interiors. And they look sharp when clean. How are they to keep clean, though?

Thanks for your feedback.

1995hoo

My father and I both bought our Acuras from Radley (I got the TL and he got a TSX three months earlier). He has been very satisfied in all aspects. I've only been in for service once (the first oil change) so I don't have much basis to comment on service, but they seemed fine. I was happy with the salesman with whom I dealt; his name is Lincoln Tucker and he was very good to deal with, no problems negotiating, this might also be because my father had just bought from him and so introduced me.

My only gripe was with the post-sale detailing work. I had to bring the car back in the following week to have it finished because they didn't have the body-side molding in stock when I bought it. They took two days to do the detailing work for a whole host of reasons, including one of the detailers having the day off when I dropped off the car, as well as the sales department thought I was bringing it the day after I actually did. I was extremely pissed and told them so--why the fuck would you take the car to do the work when you knew you weren't going to do the work that day because the guy wasn't there? A loaner car is NOT an adequate substitute, especially when it's a previous-generation TL with an automatic (my 2004 TL has the 6MT).

It all got done and done correctly, and the car looked very good. I sent in their customer satisfaction survey and said I was satisfied with sales but that the way the post-sale detailing was handled was "half-assed." I've gotten quite a few calls and letters of apology and promises that they will make it up to me, but we'll see.

So would I buy from them again? Yes, the sale went fine, and also Pohanka is too far away out in Chantilly (I live off Van Dorn and work downtown). Radley is the only really practical location for me. Back in the late 1990s I lived in Fairfax and had a 1986 Legend. When I was in Virginia (I was in law school at the time) I took it to Pohanka for service and was always satisfied with them. This was over five years ago now, though, so take it for what it's worth.

The one other thing I need to suggest to Radley is a later Metro shuttle in the afternoon. They have a shuttle to the Ballston Metro and the last pickup is at 5:30. This is really a bit of a joke for a luxury car dealer--you figure they probably have a lot of customers who work later than that (attorneys, management types, etc.), and given that service is open until 2:00 AM, a 5:30 last pickup is really early. At the least they should add a 6:30. Fairfax Honda has that and it makes a lot more sense--I basically have to leave the office no later than 5:00 to make the 5:30 shuttle pickup, and I normally work until around 7:00!

ThePianoMan

My wife and I were pretty happy with Norris Acura West in Ellicott City off of route 40. We just purchased our TL through them about a month ago. They don't really negotiate on price though. We got our 05TL 6SP w/o Nav for $32,500 before taxes and tags. As for the service, however, we were very pleased and would do business with them again.

Hope this helps! Good luck to you and your daughter!

dippyduck

Recently purchased a TL at Rosenthal in Gaithersburg, MD. I visited all the dealers in the DC area. Rosenthal has a huge inventory of TL's, but like any dealer they what top dollar. On the other hand Chevy Chase only had 3 TL's with Navi- and it appeared that they would not deal.

I suggest that you check the forums and find the lowest price people have paid in the MD, DC, VA and especially PA areas. In my case, after visiting the dealer and getting no where with the salesperson, I waited a few days and called the General Manager and told him what I wanted to pay. I stated that I would buy the car today, but I would drive two hours to PA to get a better deal. A few minutes later they called back and we had a deal.

Wait until the end of the month if possible. You should be able to get a great deal.

Also if you want to buy accessories (mats, wheel locks, etc) you should check the mail order and ebay prices. The dealer will match those prices to close the deal.

Rosenthal's service is very good (I had a 2nd generation TL). As far as the car wash goes, if you are picky, wash it yourself or get your car professionally detailed.

Bluenote

1995hoo, Dude, you work too much!

You've hit three hot buttons in one reply:

1)Taking a vehicle in when it can't be worked on. We've all done it, it happens to the best of us. Sometimes our hearts are in the right place, but in our zeal to help, we step on our ding-a-lings

2)Shuttle buses. We have one, and it gets stuck in traffic sometimes. Sometimes the driver is late leaving. It seems the only people we leave stranded at Metro are ones who have the problem time & again. Ironically, we only have this problem once in a while, but it seems it's always the same customer. It's not intentional, but it sure seems like it to the customer, huh?

3)Loaners. Everyone wants one, but even if it's the eaxct same model, there's usually something that makes the customer feel like "This isn't my car. I don't like it." Sometimes it's a smokey smell, dirty carpets, body damage, etc. It's not like we want our expensive loaners in this condition, but stuff happens, and we need them in near constant use.


The ceiling is so high when it comes to satisfying customers, it's MUCH easier to fail than it is to meet or exceed expectations. Especially when the service volume is high.



If you find someone who makes you happy, stick with them. That's all I can say.

Legend2TL

A colleague has purchased his first two Integra's from Norris Acura (Ellicott City, MD) and recent RSX from Frankel (Towson, MD). He was pleased with both.

boosteddsm

Just bought mine from Norris 2 days ago. Got my 05 TL w/NAV for $33,270. All over email w/them. Quoted me that, walked in an hour later and ended up driving a new car home.

Legend2TL

I also worked out a deal for a non-Nav TL 6 spd with Norris over email. They were easy to work with.

I backed out the deal because it had the summer tires and I became more concerned after I learned that someone I know with a 2004 has had tire/vibration/rattle issues. Basically waiting to read if the 2005's have worked through the intial problems.

1995hoo

Oh, sure, absolutely. I didn't really mean it to come across that I thought the 2d-gen was a POS (well, I did think that, but I also understand why they would not give me a brand-new 3d-gen as a loaner). What I really meant was that I had just bought a new car four days earlier and then instead of doing the detailing, they stuck me with a loaner. You don't buy a new car with the intent that it will sit there waiting for service! That's what I was getting at--I DIDN'T want a loaner--I wanted my NEW CAR that I had just bought and driven for a few days!!!

In fairness to Radley they have been fine apart from that problem, but understandably I viewed it as a whopper on their part.

Bluenote

Of course.

A little bit of forethought on their part would've helped. I have a faulty outside temperature guage on my week old TL, and I'm not going to take it in for a while because I just want to drive the thing.

DanL

iTrader: (2)

I came very close to purchasing my '04 w/ Nav from Norris since they're only about 4 miles away, but ended up driving the extra 10 miles to Tischer in Laurel. Both had the car I wanted on the showroom floor, but Tischer was a few hundred less, gave me what Carmax offered for my trade, and we did the whole deal during lunch one afternoon. Picked it up after work that day. They spent more time showing me all the in's and out's of the car than it took to make the actual purchase.

wstevens

I had a good experience at Pohanka Acura in Chantilly, VA. They beat everyone else's price, the gave me a very acurate estimate of when my car would arrive from the factory, and they have done a good job servcing the car.

Novice

Any places but Chevy Chase.

ManOfTheHour

When did you get your car? Our family had previously purchased 2 Acura's from Pohanka without a problem. We went back there to get my TL and my brother's TSX and they were completely unwilling to deal.

wstevens

I made the deal last Feb and took delivery of the car in June. I forget exactly what I paid for it, but it was a 6MT/Navi/Athracite/Quartz. They beat Radley and Chevy Chase by $500.

TLGen3

Radley is an UBS dealer. United Buying Service, the only on in VA/MD/DC... I'll have to deal with them unless Tischer Acura in Laruel can do better on price.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Although I have not bought from Radley, I have gone there twice to test drive and once for service and my experiences have been good so far.

1995hoo

I used UBS because I am a DC Bar member. UBS claim that the UBS price is the price you pay--so for an '04 TL with Navi, their price was $34,193 and they say that is the price, no negotiation. Radley still negotiated on the price.

Bluenote

I'm confused. Who quoted you the price of $34,193?