Guys.....of course no one is perfect but 1SICKLEX (Mike) is easily one of our top CL members. I would take it easy criticizing him. Like me, he lives, breathes, sleeps, and eats the auto market in his spare time.....and takes the time to look at a LOT of cars and give us his opinions on them.....and is computer skills far exceed mine. His 1SICKReviews are in some ways better then the ones in the auto mags by people who are paid to do it. He also works very closely with the Administrator (Dave) to keep this site running, solve problems, and to plan events like the East Coast Meet ( which I was sorry I couldn't make). If I wanted or needed a second opinion on a car he would be one of the first people I asked. So...if you disagree with him....fine, but please don't attack his character. We also have a PM (private message) system here to deal with private disagreements.

 

LOL, Check this out...just received this email today...If anyone wants the email, pm me and i'll forward to you.


ONE WEEK ONLY ON 2005


We Appreciate the Opportunity to Earn Your Business!



Your Internet Purchase Price for the New Acura RL
is
$39,988.00
(MSRP is $49,670)
There is a lease out that can save you a lot more money please call me
Recognized as Car and Driver's Best Luxury Sedan, the RL includes a Voice Activated Talking Navigational Unit as standard equipment.
Starts September 17, 2005 & Ends September 23, 2005.
Must bring this ad in to get this price.
The above pricing includes destination and handling of $570,
wheel locks and splash guards.
CALL OR E-MAIL US NOW

Must Bring This in With you to get this Price
Daryl Wolters
Internet Sales Manager
Downey Acura
(562) 299-5202
or
(800) 245-7679

 

If this is not some kind of a come-on or a bait-and-switch ad, go grab one .......even if it is a 2005 that may have been sitting on the lot awhile. The RL , IMO, is somewhat overpriced at 50K......but DEFINITELY not at 40K.

Check it out carefully before you sign on the dotted line, though. Like I said above, end-of-model-year cars like this that may have been sitting on the lot for awhile can have weak (or dead)batteries, paint damage from bird droppings or acid rain, flat-spotted tires, sun fading, corrosion on the brake rotors, etc... The engine should be started carefully due to the lack of a thin film of oil on the critical parts...all the oil will have run down into the pan. But you may luck out and get one that is still pretty fesh from the factory...although most auto plants close down in July to retool for the next year's production.

 

I think we both read the post from Ron differently. I think Ron was supporting the quote from Mike.

 

OK....if so, I'll stand corrected and apologize if I misquoted anyone.

 

More power to me is the correct term here, "bub". And telling a super-moderator to act more mature is brave, would u like to join the rest of your buds soon?
Again, its TIRING having you, the guys already banned and the guys to be banned coming into here trying put down Lexus cars in a Lexus forum everytime there is a thread in car chat with a competing car.

Please, just go home to H3.com if this is the best you can do here.

Lets think for 1 second. If the RL was SO GOOD, don't you think consumers would buy it in droves? Instead, its an "also ran", again, even wtih good reviews.

In this CLASS of CAR, you NEED to offer a V-8, PERIOD. The Volvo S80 is another "good" car like the RL, nothing WRONG with it but nothing GREAT either. And "also-ran" with no V-8.

How can you ARGUE against what is the industry STANDARD. Even LEXUS learned their lesson, not offering a V-8 with the 1st gen GS. Instead of being STUBBORN, they got a CLUE, learned from the mistake and offered a V-8 the 2nd time around.

 

Your words are too kind.

 

10k of LIST in less than a year. Think about that. This is GM pricing. I'd be PISSED if I bought this car for 50k only 10 months ago. Resale is going to tank AGAIN.

Its also BIGGER than offering a V-8. YOU CANNOT sell your luxury car fot 10k less when its a BRAND NEW model!! It destroys desirability, resale, prestige, its like GM, an unwanted car UNLESS its cheaper than everything else.

At 39k, you can NOW get a TL for the same or even MORE. A loaded flaghship costs as much as its lesser class stablemate.

Imagine a E500 priced like a C320!

 

trd4me - very nice car except those wheels. I love the rear LED lights on the Acura RL, and I like the front too, but those wheels look like they came out of a discount rack at K-Mart - sorry.

1Sick - I agree a V8 would change the character of this car a lot, but a couple of points on that...

- First off, Acura has tried (maybe unsuccessfully) to use their original Honda 'loaded bundled car' approach with the RL - you'd agree it does include a ton of cool stuff without being nickled and dimed in options packages.

- Question: if it DID offer a V8, especially in combo with the cool SH-AWD, how would you rate the RL then?

And I personally would take the current RL over the current GS300 any day. Although I haven't driven it (I have driven the new GS430) the new GS300 has got to feel slow with that engine and the very conservative programming of the tranny and the RL's handling has been praised.

 

Good questions.
1. The loaded thing seems to work for them on the cheaper cars (TSX/TL) but not the RL. People want Choice at that price. I agree, it makes shopping easy but honestly, if you look at Germans and Lexus, base cars with no or minimal options sell well. Many people don't want NAV, 14 speaker systems, rear cameras etc etc
2. If it had a V-8, it would help but unlike Lexus, Acura does not have the image of a true luxury brand. And if a V-6 RL is 50k, a V-8 one would be what, 55-60k. And well, your not cheaper than the competiton then.

I would get a GS 300, even with "only" 245 hp b/c its only a tick or two slower than the 300hp RL. And to me, the RL styling is unluxrious, the giant front overhang screams economy car, not luxury. It has grown on me seeing it in person the last 10 months but its too bland for me.


Again, clearly, there is nothing wrong with this car, its more car for most people out there. But its missing that character, that charisma of a GS, 5 or E.

 

When did this topic get switched to discussing a V8 for the RL? Don't we already have another V8 Honda thread? Please, stay on topic.

 

40K for RL is very good deal IMHO.

one more car to think about on my shopping list.

 

I get that all the time about the wheels. They were the optional chromes that came w/ the car when I took delivery. I'm looking to swap them out, but there aren't too many choices on the market right now.

Anyhow, someone stated that they were underwhelmed by the appearance of the RL. I felt the same way about the new GS when it was first introduced. Evolutionary, but not revolutionary. The GS3's new rear never appealed to me, as I loved the rear of the previous model with the 4 individual lights. And then reading about how the VDIM couldn't be turned off was a turn off. In addition, I came from a family of Lexus cars (my father has an RX300 and I have an IS300), and I just wanted to try something different. If I were actually buying instead of leasing, my choices would have been quite different. But since I love the latest and greatest (can't wait to see what's out at the end of 3 years, maybe IS350 Hardtop Conv?), leasing seemed to work the best for me. And even though I was leasing, I was still penny pinching all the way. Anyhow, a "luxuriously" equipped V8 was simply out of my range, and I wanted all the bells and whistles, so I opted for vehicles within the V6 range (which I'm kinda glad considering gas prices these days). Too bad Acura doesn't have a V8. But even if they did, it wouldn't have been on MY radar.

 

I have to admit that I can get sucked in to the people that come here and want to hijack threads to promote individual marque/brand/company they own and run down Lexus. But all I can think of to do when you are obviously being misinterpreted is to quit responding. I apologize to anyone I may have offended. But, once again, what started all this was that bloody salesman and the deal he got on his RL which I now know, thanks to those of you who kept posting, that there are even better deals to be had. Sub $40K? You know I may have to go drive one of those things. I worry about interior room but for that price, I may go for that AWD. It might save a chaining up going over to Tahoe/Reno. ANyone know what the real world mileage is on those things?

I can't say strongly enough, as I did when the RL first came out, that no matter how good it was, it was just not competitive at 50K IMO. And I try to not be too out of touch or terminally stupid realizing what is going on. When a car maker discounts a relatively young model like the RL that strongly, they got something wrong either with the car or the pricing. Before you tell me you can't separate the car from the price, I know that but I figured I would put it in the most widely accepted terms I could.

But I have to say, if that thing has any kind of decent interior room, from what I know about it, there are going to be a lot of V6 luxury sedans sitting on lots for a long time. And for those of you who buy used, you are going to be able to get those in very soon at even more attractive prices. But if I bought one of them when they first came out at 50K, I would be pi**ed.

 

Yeah, let's go back to the original situation. I happily agree that this car is not competitive at $50k. But in the low $40k range? It's an excellent consideration. Despite what the manufacturer may want in terms of pricing, the real world market has the final say. And right now, informed buyers are letting Acura dealers know that they are not willing to pay MSRP for these cars, or the majority of cars for that matter. Do such deep discounts hurt the resale value? Definately. So would I recommend buying this vehicle with the intent to sell it down the line? No. It's either a keeper or a lease. The latter being my choice. Anyhow, I would be angry too, if I had initially purchased at the $50K range to find out the car is now selling at the $40K range. But those are the risks we take when we play the buy now or buy later game.

RON430 - I get between 21-23mpg mixed city/hwy driving. In terms of roominess, it's adequate for me, my girl, our luggage, and snowboards when we hit up Tahoe