ccheung

Dealerships everywhere are having the problem of getting 04 NAVI TLs. Inventory is extremely slim. My dealership has an at least 3 months wait on navigation model. Allocation of Navigation model is limited to 18%. It is going to be very difficult time for both customers and dealers. Any comment, anyone?

ssm_tsx

I was just at Karen Radley, and they have atleast 3 Navi Tl's. They even had some 6spds in.

TColl03

The dealer I purchased from was smart enough to order 50% navis. Pretty smart in hindsight.

ccheung

You can order all NAVI TL you want. But order is contrainted to 18%. That's the way how the national allocation is set up. We have customers calling all up and down east coast for a Navi TL especially for Anthracite.

ccheung

BTW ssm_tsx, Karen Radley only has one Desert Mist NAVI A/T and their demo display unit and that's it. Please don't lie! Remember there's a tool called AiN for Acura dealership.

TColl03

I'm talking about the dealer *initially* ordering 50% TL/navis. He received and sold them.

ssm_tsx

uhh, have you actually been out on their lot? While I was there I saw three Navi Tl's. Which dealership do you work for, Crown?


Who are you to say I'm liying?

ccheung

yeah yeah yeah, whatever! I only believe in data shown on Acura national database. hmmm.. I think I will DEFINITELY trust Acura's system.

Again, you can order all you want. Will Acura give it to the dealership? That's another story. Again, TL NAVI allocation is constrainted to 18%. It is official data from Acura factory. You don't have to believe it. I'm just quoting fact here.

justinjsw

Relax dude! There can be a number of reasons why a car doesn't show up on AIN. This is just a car forum...to voice opinions...so leave it at that. No need to call anybody a liar.

ssm_tsx

Please call the dealership and ask. They have atleast two other Tl's with Navi in. They have a green/camel "demo" with a spoiler and a bunch of other added accessories. The other navi Tl is out on the lot.

Do you work for Crown Acura, or not?

Booyah

No Kidding, You believe eveything you read..I hope not. The guy was there and SAW them with his own 2 eyes and calling him lier, WOW

BradW

The IN does not always show every car available. Most of the time a rare car like a navi TL will be put in "demo" status to hide them from other dealers. There is a limit to the number of TLs you can have in demo, I believe its 3 or 4. Sometimes cars in transit or between build stages will not show up on the IN either.

btw, I work at Crown Acura in Greensboro, NC...I assume your talking about the Richmond store though.

legendguy

The inventory issue just confirms what many said early on that Acura should just have made Nav standard on the TL. Probably wouldn't have to charge $2000 for it either if it helped make inventory simpler by having it standard.

If some folks really didn't want the Nav maybe Acura could have a dealer-installed non-nav climate control for this rare occurence.

I just think for a company that seems to pride itself in making a laudable simple "few-options" approach, Acura shoots itself in the foot by making the Nav a choice then not being able to have enough available. Hopefully, Acura will wise up and get the Navs rolling out in bigger numbers soon.

While were on the subject of inventory, has anyone calculated how many color combinations are available? For the TL I count 20! I bet Honda has far fewer on their Accord. Too many combos makes the customer have to hunt and wait for their choice.

Just my ranting .02

neuronbob

Navi wasn't popular with the 2G TL and as a result, Acura figured (as it turns out, incorrectly) that it would be the same with the 3G TL. I think Acura will be rethinking their allocation.

I'm so glad that I got mine early, this was exactly why I ordered mine early and backed it up with a deposit. This same thing happened with the Accord last year and the MDX was so popular that there were waiting lists for quite some time.

BradW

That is exactly right, but it is a problem that can be fixed. Acura says in 90 days availability of the Navi TLs will be about equal to demand.

In the mean time I get about 15 inquiries a day about buying a Navi TL from all the neighboring states. We do not have one available for sale (read: not presold) until the end of January.

fuque

All I can say is I LA!!!

There are so many car dealers here in SoCal, all ruthlessly competing against each other to earn my business, that it's got to be in the top three car buyers' markets. You really appreciate this when you have lived in Armpit, Arizona or Resume Speed, Iowa which has maybe 1 dealer within a 150 mile radius - these dealers can get pretty arrogant, because they are the only game in town and they know it. OTOH, SoCal has so many dealers fighting tooth and nail to earn my business I had no trouble finding a TL with Nav in the color combination I wanted, and with a reasonable discount off of MSRP.

The icing on the cake is that cars don't rust here, unless you park it right on the beach in that salt sea air.

If I lived anywhere else in the country, I would take a little fly-drive vacation to SoCal every time I wanted to buy a car.