bronx1480

Well i went to the dealership to get my car serviced and once i dropped my car off. i got a call from the sales manager asking if i wanted to trade my 09 RL in and upgrade to the newer model.I'm currently paying 615 a month on a 72 month loan with 6% interest rate. I currently owe about 30k left on my loan with 60 mos left.

I was thinking about trading my car in and leasing a 2014 tech or krell package depending on what kind of deal they offer me. The lease would be 36 mos with 12k miles annually. The two dealerships i went to were acura of westchester and curry acura. Curry Acura offered me the krell model with a monthly payment of 850 a month with no downpayment. Acura of Westchester offered me the tech pkg for for 829.00 monthly. I know it's not the best solution but as long as i can keep my payments including insurance at about 1000.00 i can live with it. i figure i would be saving money and also getting rid of the negative equity in the process.

Any suggestions would help this is my first lease....

Is the krell sound system that great to spend a extra 30 dollars in payment for ?

ostrich

IF the difference is only 21 dollars per month, I would for sure go with the Krell one!!! Apart from the excellent Krell system, you will get many other goodies too, like the LKAS etc...... they are all worth much more than an additional $21 per month!

holografique

LKAS, ACC, and CMBS only comes in the Advanced package, not the Tech or Krell package.

ostrich

Oh I see. Here in Canada, we only get the base, Tech or Elite packages, so I assumed that the "Krell" one was the Elite model here...... in any case, IMHO it's worth $21 more per month to get the Krell audio!

TSX69

I would go for the Krell just for the sun-shades, especially if you get the black interior.

islandbeef

Those window shades in the backseat are a nice touch for the Krell. I'd take the Krell package, more pimp.

a35tl

Please don't think I'm criticizing you but those kinds of staggering car payments would make me cringe. I have such a disdain for debt. I've owned 15 cars and have never had a car payment over $270/month. I've always owned decent reliable cars, with the exception of my very first car at age 16.

I decided that I would rather practice a little discipline and be able to enjoy things without debt versus having them "right now" and having huge car payments. My strategy kind of evolved as I pondered how to get what I wanted without huge payments. I'm not going to lie and say it didn't take time and sacrifice but I'm finally reaping the rewards and it has been well worth it.

Being a huge car nut, I would search tirelessly for the perfect deal. I would buy used cars with very low mileage that were priced below market value. I would get the car paid off as quickly as possible and then find the next one. I would sell my existing "paid for" car and roll all of the money into a newer, better car with low mileage that I'd found for a lower than average price.

Again, I would pay the loans off as quickly as possible. I always bought Honda products that retained their value. I kept building equity in my cars and was able to sell my cars outright pretty simply. Before I knew it I had worked my way up to a 2005 TL, which at the time was one of my dream cars. I paid the loans down faster than the rate of depreciation.

I sold the car and was able to find a 2007 TL with extremely low mileage and price. Had to fly to NY to get it but what a car and deal it turned out to be! By this time, I only had to borrow $4500 to finish paying for the car. Once again, got it paid off quicker than it was depreciating.

Sold the '07 and was able to pick up a '10 TSX Tech V6 that only had 1,700 miles on it. Ended up using the proceeds from the sale of my '07 TL and the rest from savings and purchased my first car without having to make a loan!! Was thrilled.

Kept it 19 months and sold it through Craigslist in 3 days. It had depreciated very little. Took all that money and added the rest from savings and bought my current car, which is a '12 TL Advance, once again with no loan.

Bought the TL with low miles and an excellent price. It was 3 hours from where I live but well worth it. Now I have a 2 year old, nice car that's completely paid for. I will continue working my strategy and don't ever anticipate having another car payment. Yet I will continue to drive late model nice cars that are paid for.

To the OP, I apologize if I've hi-jacked your thread here but seeing your dilemma with the payments just prompted me to reply. I wish you the best in whatever you choose. If I were in your shoes and were going to go through with one deal or the other, I would choose the Krell. I mean, what's $21 when you're talking $850?

As much as I love my '12 TL, I already know I won't be keeping it too long. As soon as the depreciation starts accelerating at a rate higher than my savings' stashing, it will be time to replace. I'm guessing that will be late summer or early fall of '14. I'm more than willing to drive a 2 year old car with no payment than having to take the huge depreciation hit on a brand new car. That would kill my whole strategy.

Again, good luck to you and I hope you enjoy your new RLX. Who knows? Maybe I'll have a '14 RLX Advance in a couple of years with, oh say about 8k-10k miles on it and be able to pick it up for ~ $35k and no payment.

06RL/NBP

Great strategy a32tl.

neuronbob

Not to contribute to the hijack, but I have worked my way up in my auto purchases in much the same way as a32tl. For my V wagon, I traded my V sedan, which had kept its value...and my loan was low enough that the wagon will be paid off this month, after less than a year of ownership.

bronx1480

i'm still on the fence as to what way i want to go. The sales managers are suppose to give me a call tomorrow and i guess i will take it from there. I emailed a dealership in pa and they quoted me 46k for RL with krell. I thought it was some sort of typo so i might go check them out tomorrow if thats the case. i will keep you guys updated

holografique

sure, if you want to waste time and hassle going through all that just to fork out huge sums of cash up-front. noooo thank you.

some of us need the immediate convenience of getting the car we want, while maintaing cash flow and not having to fork out huge sums of money at any given time and just enjoy it. no hassles, no work. that's where leasing becomes the better choice.

plus, with the way cars are today, instant/immediate depreciation, IMO (and many of my friends) it's frankly stupid to "buy" any luxury car. as long as you can afford the payments, it's a helluva lot easier and you're never "stuck" to any one vehicle, with a much easier option to get the latest and greatest model when it's time to turn it in.

a35tl

Different strokes for different folks. It was neither a waste of my time nor a hassle for me in the least. I kept most of my cars between 1 and 3 years. If you prefer to lease, that's certainly your prerogative. It just wasn't the strategy I preferred. My goal was to not have payments of any kind. I achieved that goal.

If you'd rather have payments and can afford them, by all means lease, lease, lease. I would rather own outright. Every time I've gone to sell my cars, I've had very little problem selling them. I keep them in top notch shape and they're immaculate. Typically, the first person that comes to look at my car ends up buying it. I usually get top dollar for my cars when selling them.

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I've owned 15 cars. Never traded any of them. 1 was totaled from being rear ended by an SUV that knocked me into the car in front of me. Sold all the rest. No need to knock my method. It did exactly what I intended it to do. Keep leasing if you'd prefer.

bronx1480

Well i got approved through honda super preffered tier. I ended up getting the tech package after listening to both sound systems i couldn't really tell the difference btw the two. It just didnt seem that necessary to fork over an additional 50.00 dollars a month just for system and a rear shade especially when i will be putting tints on in the next day or so. Overall im happy with the car it's a lot more refined than my 09.
The only thing i keep thinking about is thr decision i made i ended up choosing the silver moon. The car looks great in that color but for some reason that pearl white keeps calling me.I'm really debating should i switch out and get the white. Idk i guess i will figure it out within the next day or so.

a35tl

Congrats on the new car!! You're going to love it, I'm sure. Silver Moon and the pearl white would have been my top 2 picks also. What color interior?

miner

Congrats on stepping up to the RLX, although for $50 more you would not only get the Krell system, but also LKAS and CMB (amazing what this car will do on the hwy with cruise on) along with the side shades, which do help in hot climates. As far as color choices, I am not a white fan but the Pearl White is beautiful. Enjoy your new RLX.

neuronbob

Congrats!

islandbeef

The shades are must for me, IMHO. With passengers in the back trying to get some sleep during long daytime drives, the tint doesn't do enough to darken the interior. You don't want to wake up with your face half sun-burnt.

bronx1480

Thanks everybody for the well wishes i absolutely love the car. The ELS premium system is amazing the color will take some getting use too. i plan on doing a few modifications like spoiler car mats little things to make the car stand out. This is my first new car so i'm enjoying the whole experience. I pissed off a few dealerships in the process i left small deposits at two the three dealerships i went too. One of the dealerships acura of westchester are trying to give me a hard time with my refund. i will go up there tomorrow or all hell will break loose. Anyway i plan on taking a few pics this weekend i will definitely keep you posted.

bronx1480

The tints should do the job i never really used the shades that much

bronx1480

black interior

George Knighton

Some people do not listen to satellite radio at all. I do.

I've been in a Krell RLX recently and played around with it, and the satellite radio sounds better than I've heard on any other system. The only thing I can think is that it uses some of the processor power to decompress the satellite signal.

If you tend to listen mostly to iPod or other media, then the Krell won't be standing head and shoulders above the ELS, IMHO. The Krell will offer you a lot of powerful, clean sound in relation to the ELS but the ELS is no small shakes.

The ELS in my TL is still sounding very, very good after 83,000 miles and I think it's great.

However, in my case, I *do* listen to a lot of satellite radio and I would probably go for the Krell.

George Knighton

Pretty damned scary when the Advance Package car can steer itself around a curve with no input from you. The car doesn't like it and warns you about it, but the fact is that the car does it by itself.

Not really completely prepared for that kind of technology. :-)

I mean, if you don't want to drive yourself, take the bloody train!

bronx1480

i"m good with what i have right now the car i really want is the rlx awd hybrid . i will get that in a few years once the lease is up

Oswald Vater

Congrats on your purchase! If buying an RLX today I'd also opt for the Tech package with black interior although I'd stick with a White exterior like my current TL. Looking forward to you sharing your ownership experience with us!

bronx1480

I want to sell my oem rubber mats, trunk trey and oem wheels and tires. How much do you guys think I would get for them they are all in good condition ?