phile

I think Acura works on the premise that the stuff that's standard on the RL that would be optional on other cars would be what most owners opt to pay for, anyways. Like did you know that xenon headlamps are optional on the Audi A6?

IMO only the standard AWD system could be argued against.

Zapata

majority of those cars i see and sold are all v6 and SLOW. Sorry.....

bl^5

I'd definitely dissagree with that statement in a couple of ways.

The RL will be a turnoff for older buyers (ie 50 and above and for those that don't like gadgets. With the nav system standard and so many of the controls being centered around it this car is really aimed at the middle aged crowd more than anything. I am sure that older buyers would not elect to get all of the bells and whistles.

Crazy88

RL

PROS:nice tech gadgets, awd, japanese reliability

CONS:v6, 300hp, plain styling, overpriced, looks like an accord, not sporty, sorry excuse for a flagship.

Zapata

not sporty? lol i bet it out handle the boat you drive.

cob3683

I think he meant it as compared to a 530i or the new GS....it might drive that way but it doesnt look like sporty.

LessisBestmakingendsmeet

I agree, after the inital sales surge of a new model, the RL is going to sell under 1k a month by the end of the year, unless they start offering rebates like the last RL. And imagine the sales after 3 years on the market. They better lower the price.

BTW, I just heard, Benz and BMW will have new V-6s and the 545 will be replaced by the 550 from the 360hp 750.....

heyitsme

Think it will be hard to compare sales or say the rl is selling poorly(unless it goes down to where the old rl was) because Acura has limited their market compared to most other companies. They have one 50k model and thats it to make up their total. Other companies have 2 to 4 models ranging from 37k all the way beyond 70k to account for their sales.

Stevens24

Well We have taken in 3 e classes for RLs And the E class has dealer cash on it al;ready for 05' Not a good sign. It is outselling the A6 by a decent margin. Having just taken in an 05 E500 4-matic I don't see why anyone would pay 65-68k for that car????

heyitsme

Prestige is one reason.

cob3683

I don't like where MB is heading with their pricing. I built an SLK55 yesterday and it was just under $68,000. I understand its a new model but how do you justify a $10,000 bump in price over the SLK32???

I think the strangest thing I have ever seen MB do is with the SL55 in 2003-2004. The MSRP went up $7,000 in 2004 from 2003. Same car, nothing new. My dad's friend who sold him his still cannot figure out why MB upped the price.

DownUnder

MB's prices are going up faster then real estate property.

LessisBestmakingendsmeet

Yeah, their prices are ridiculous. I don't think they realize, you no longer get a superior vehicle..

Jerky

so is the RL priced right?

GreenMonster

I think so. Acuras come with alot of features standard that you have to pay for in other vehicles.

I won't pay MSRP for any car, but once the hoopla dies down, I'm sure the RL price will get closer and closer to invoice. It's a great car for $50K, and would be an excellant car at $45K

F23A4

Caveat: It's all relative.

Given the prices I've seen for the 530i ($53k) and E320 ($59k), I'd say that the RL is A LOT more car for the money than those two. It remains to be seen what the M35 and new GS 6 cylinder will go for.

Minch00

Well, all I can say is, if I had an extra $50k in my pocket, and I was going to be spending it on a luxury sedan, I'm sad to say the RL probably wouldn't even be on my list of things to try

Now, the M45 on the other hand........

biker

The prices are out for those two - both are in the same 50K range. The on paper price is almost meaningless since the prices being paid will depend on how the other two are optioned on the lot. You can't get a "base" GS, so the cheapest GS300AWD will be at least 48K, while you might be able to get a base M35AWD for about 43K.

jdone

It tells us that it's a lot more popular than a car that was wanted by hardly anyone.

F23A4

10 characters.

mrsteve

iTrader: (1)

Last time I checked (a month ago) my dealership couldn't keep the RL in stock. Long wait list. Although Acuras in general sell amazingly well in the DC metro area. I have 7-8 dealerships within 30 miles of me.

GreenMonster

If you check the new member sign in thread on the RL forum (we have one of those, you know ), it looks like people are paying $45K for 'em now... Supply and Demand always effects pricing...

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25&page=2

M TYPE X

The RL demand spiked when the car was first introduced. It's returned to a more natural level but it's still better than the first-gen car ever was, I believe.

I'd think of the RL as a better deal towards $45K anyway. The real market outcome (i.e. reality) hears me out obviously. But the statements about the other guys are correct: Base prices on the German cars as well as Lexus and Infiniti are pretty meaningless. Cross-shopping an Audi versus an Acura isn't easy... but now that SH-AWD is here, it's now simpler.

F23A4

Exactly.

LessisBestmakingendsmeet

I'm with Peter Griffith here........It would be low on the radar.

phile

TLer

I have not seen even one of the new RL's on the roads in Toronto. When the TL was released, I saw them on the roads within the first week. It has been now close to what 4+ months since the RL's release and not one freaking car on the road and you see all types out here. Perhaps this car has the price tag but it sure does not have the recognition the other marks (Audi, BMW, M-B, Lexus especially) have. I think Acura needs to get off there butts and market this car more if not better. But then again with a price tag touching the $70K mark for the base model, it may be over priced for the Canadian markets.

phile

I've seen 2 RLs now. Only saw one A6 so far. No GS sightings yet.

emperuman

I have seen about half a dozen RLs in the Bay Area till now... I am usually good at spotting Acura cars (from the time I bought my TSX ) but the RLs are so undistinguishable.

sipark

I have not seen a single RL on the roads. And I live in D.C. area.

dabuda

i've seen 1/2 dozen RLs by now... there's one in my parking lot at work

goldmemberer

I saw 2.718 RLs 7 hectaseconds ago.

MSZ

Are you kidding me? I have seen 3 RLs at highway 7, 1 at McCowan and 1 at Keele already.

NSX-Tuner

You must be talking to the wrong folks. The '05 RL is breaking all previous sales records. Some dealers are selling them as quickly as they arrive at the dealers. Some dealers have waiting lists.

M TYPE X

Open your eyes maybe.

GreenMonster

Yeah, the RL does tend to blend into traffic pretty well.... I saw a blue RL the other day, but I've been thinking that my next car is gonna be blue....

F23A4

While that's technically true, think about that statement in the context of the prevoius RL (whose pretty weak sales record should be easily broken).

phile

This was brought up before, but IMO it shouldn't matter. Acura isn't claiming that it's the best selling car in its segment, and in fact one of the execs was on record saying that the outgoing RL was pretty much a lame duck.

I think when someone points out the context in which that statement about breaking all previous sales record is used, it's implied that some form of deceit or exaggeration is going on. But the fact is, the new RL is indeed selling way better than the old RL. And furthermore it was acknowledged by an Acura figure that the old RL wasn't that much of a stellar product, as evidenced by its poor sales number. It's not a false statement, and it's not stretching the truth. So why do we have to view it any differently than what is being said?

Crazy Bimmer

Does anyone have the sales figures for the RL back in 96?

Crazy Bimmer

I dont think thats a good sign at all. Dealers already taking 3-5k off?!

Thats whats great about the benz e320, they hold their value extremely well.