Lycos

I may purchase a TL this year and am not sure where to go. I live in the Seattle area and know there are four dealerships I can go to (Lynnwood, Bellevue, Fife and Tukwila).

Anyone on this board from Seattle? Have any advice on which dealership to go to for a great experience and fair price?

egilsrud

I have had two experiences, one bad and one good, at Seattle area Acura dealerships.

I bought a '97 3.2 TL at Acura of Lynnwood in June 2001. I would highly recommend avoiding them. Here's why:
- salesmen standing outside the dealership, waiting to pounce
- high pressure sales tactics: I actually got that dreaded line "what would it take to get you into this car today?"
- worst of all: when I declined the (overpriced) extended warranty, the F&I person's attitude changed noticeably. He subsequently sneered at me, and even made the comment "you must have a lot of money if you can decline the extended warranty!"
- They didn't even give me a remote with my purchase until I badgered them for two weeks.

Bottom line: I would NEVER, ever buy a car from them again.

In contrast, I just bought an '03 TL-S at Acura of Bellevue (two weeks ago.) Talk about a difference!
- NO high pressure sales - they're more than happy to let you peruse the lot unmolested, and won't try to immediately "close the deal" after a test drive
- honest, straightforward negotiating
- low pressure F&I person
- lots of follow-up calls & letters to make sure I am happy with the vehicle

In short: an excellent experience, perhaps the best I've had at an auto dealership.

I also checked out some RLs and TLs at Acura of Tacoma (actually, Fife). They also seemed very good to work with, although they didn't have the vehicle I was interested in (NBP TL-S with parchment interior - couldn't handle the bowling ball trim in the ebony interior).

Good luck with your search! Let me know if I can answer any additional questions.

Lycos

Thanks. I actually live close to Edmonds/Lynnwood and have driven through their lot. Looks like they were trying to chase me down in my car and that is not a good sign!! Thanks, maybe you saved me some aggravation and I'll just jaunt across the bridge to Bellevue.

Any regrets buying the '03 knowing the '04 is close? I'm close to jumping in, but am afraid to commit.

egilsrud

Lycos,

You ask a very interesting question.

I did consider waiting for the '04, but decided against it.

It's possible that the '04 will be amazing vehicle, and that I will immediately fall in love with it and regret my decision to buy an '03.

On the other hand, redesigns aren't always better - for example, while I love the interior of the new ES300 I actually prefer the older body style.

Also, manufacturers typically "freshen" a vehicle at midlife - case in point, '02 TL-s. When the current generation TL first came out, I didn't think much of its looks (no offense to those owning older TL's - they are still awesome vehicles). However, the refresh for the '02 model year really caught my eye. So, in some cases it may actually be to your advantage to buy a vehicle later in its production run.

But ultimately, it's a judgement call. You can wait for the '04s to come out - nothing wrong with that. But keep in mind that the '03 TL-s is a nice-looking car, offers great performance, and can be purchased at a reasonable cost. Nothing wrong with buying it now and enjoying it.

Have fun pondering your decision!

Lycos

egilsrud, I like your points as well. I definitely agree with you on the Lexus, for the new one is aesthetically challanged, or just plain homely. I honestly don't like any of the Lexus cars. Just my simple minded opinion!

And the point about "freshening" the vehicle is a good one too. The newer ('02-'03) TL does have a sleeker, more agressive look. And contrary to what some car mags say I think the TL-s is a very good looking car, esp. when you see the actual car. Pics do it no justice.

If I can get one close to invoice I may just do it. Thanks for the great feedback.

yute

I bought my car at Hinshaw's in Fife. I have nothing bad to say about them. Outside of the standard selling pressure, the buying process went very well. They have since done a little warranty work with no questions asked (Sunroof rattle fixed, and ski-pass through fold-down was replaced). Loaner cars have provided both times. The only thing that does bother me is they won't do any troubleshooting service on weekends and they won't do synthetic oil changes. Other than that, I'm happy with the service I have received.

I was actually there this morning for an oil change (brought my own oil ) and was able to talk with a sales guy for a bit. He said they are all in the dark on what the O4 models will look like. In fact, he mentioned that the customers seemed to be more informed than the dealerships....then I told him to visit this site.

Good luck with the purchase!

BTW, a few of us TL/CL owners are meeting up this Saturday near UW. Check the meets section if you are interested in checking out some of our rides....

Lycos

Thanks for the invite, yutedog.

As for the '04, it seems like salesmen are in the dark about a lot of things. Today I talked to one and asked him about the '04 and he said he hadn't a clue. I also asked about the transmission woes and he said he never heard of such a thing and his dealership has on average one tranny replaced a year.

He did say Acura is just focused on the RL for now and he had no idea on the new TL date.

absent

I bought my 02 TLS at the Tukwila dealership (Acura of Seattel) and have no real complaints. By that time, I knew exactly what I wanted and did the negotiations over the internet. They accepted the price offered (wholesale plus a nice 8% for them). I test drove the car and purchased it the same night. It went very smoothly -- no high pressure sale.

Their service dept appears to be very responsive to customer satifaction. Even on a Saturday when I took my car in for its first oil change. I had a few other items that I wanted them to check and they did it with a smile. Even with other customers waiting.

I also liked the Bellevue dealership. No high pressure sales tactics and they were knowledgable on the technical parts of the car. Only reason I didn't get further on negotiations is that they didn't have the color I wanted. I haven't used their service dept yet, but plan to because they are a lot closer to my house than Tukwila.

egilsrud

Lycos - which dealership did you visit today? Hopefully the salesperson was merely clueless about the tranny failures and wasn't lying!

During one of my test drives (AofBellevue), I asked the salesperson (Ian Seitz) about the tranny failures. He said, "well, I can tell you that mine failed and was replaced under warranty". (He has a '02 TL-S.) He also knew of at least one customer who had a tranny failure.

Ian went on to say that he thought it was due to his aggressive driving habits (which he displayed while driving a demo TL-S )

As a point of reference, I purchased my vehicle ('03 TLS w/ Navi) including wood steering wheel, wood shifter knob, mud guards and all-weather floor mats for $33,147 before tax & tabs. That was a bit higher than I wanted, but they offered more for my trade-in than I figured I would get based on KBB and Edmund's data, so I was satisfied. I think it will be hard to get a TL-S in the Seattle area close to invoice.

bluedemon73

I have brought two acuras in my lifetime, ie 96 integra and now 02 tls. Here is my experiences w/ the local dealerships around here:

1. Seattle(southcenter): It was horrible. This occur back in 96 when I brought my integra. They quoted me one price and when I came up w/ my dad to sign the paperworks, they gave us a diff price and diff car. I will never go to them again.

2. Bellevue: I tested drove the car there and the guy was alright. When it came down to buying the car, he didn't seem like he wanted to sell me the car. He only gave me 8000 for my 96 grand cherokee ltd. and he did not go down in prices for the tls. I think he didn't think I was serious. I must of looked young and was wearing short which should not matter.

3. Fife: this is where I brought my integra. I didn't want to go to them initially for the tls b/c I was living in Kirkland at the time and it would be a long drive. I decided to come down there for a visit and work out the deal in one day. I got 11000 for my Jeep and 31500 for non-navi tls. The only problem I had w/ them is that there was a chip on the passenger side which took them 2 months to fixed it and 3 trips to the dealership. They did give me a loaner for those occassion though but all in all I good experience.

Hope that help

goodluck

Lycos

I went to Acura of Lynnwood yesterday. The salesman chased me down in my car and was pretty aggressive. He did end up showing me the car, but didn't know much about it. Was clueless (or just lying) about the transmission problems with the TL. Said that people will say anything on the internet. I also asked him about the '04 TL and he said they don't ever see a model until it is close to a release date (I do believe that). He did say that Acura is really focused on the RL now and that will come first. He was also blank about the upcoming, new TSX.

I finally got to test drive it and loved it! I wasn't too crazy about the black wood though, but I guess I could get used to it. I’m just starting this process and will check out Acura of Bellevue next.

I do see what everyone is saying about the Lynnwood dealership, but the experience was pretty pressure free and really wasn’t that bad. I just didn’t like being chased down initially!!! Nothing like the Nissan dealerships I’ve gone too. They are the worst!

Closer

Go to Lynnwood. But, go through their internet sales. You'll
have a lot less pressure, probably get a lower price and you'll
have a service loaner from a good service shop. Acura of
Bellevue service deparment is god awful. Also Acura of Bellevue
hates to budge from msrp, where Lynnwood will drop $1000 just
for sneezing.

egilsrud

I have only one thing to add...regardless of where you buy your TL-S, you won't be sorry. I took an extended lunch break today and drove up to Snoqualmie pass and back (exceeded the 600 mile break-in yesterday). What a gas! The car handles and accelerates like a dream, even up steep grades. Sometimes I would drop into 3rd just to hear that sweet engine sing over 5000 rpm.

I hope to make it to the meet tomorrow - I'll just strap my 3 y.o. daughter into the booster seat and drive down for some fun.

SimTypeS

Everyone come to the meet this Saturday and we can discuss this there.