I brought home a new RLX Sports Hybrid - Advance [Silver Moon/Ebony] today. I don't have much time behind the wheel yet, spent much of the afternoon figuring out the voluminous setting for the car. I'll bet there are at least 100 things to customize. After more driving time I will share some of my thoughts about the car. So far it has been awesome. It is a smooth, powerful drive. I'm not so sure about the infotainment stuff. My initial reaction is Acura has more work to do on it. Confusing, complicated etc. but I may feel differently after getting things set up to my preferences and becoming familiar with how it functions.
Just a quick comment about the pricing of the car. I contacted 4 dealers in Southern California, each of whom had a single Sports Hybrid, 2 were Advanced, 2 were Tech. The negotiated prices ranged from $500 below MSRP to $250 over invoice. I got lucky that my local dealer had both the lowest price and my preferred combination.....Silver Moon Advance [sorry Bob but Southern California does have some advantages over Cleveland]. I also did jump for the 8 yr./120,000 mile warranty which after calling around and talking with multiple Finance Mangers I was able to get a quote of $100 over cost, which was over $1,000 less than my initial quote. My local dealer wouldn't match the $100 over quote but did the deal for $150 over cost. It was better than driving 2 hours to take the lowest quote.
I was sad to see my RL go. It was a great car, reliable and very advanced for 2005. I still think the interior is superior to the RLX but I may feel differently after more time in the RLX. The RLX is certainly more subdued but still elegant. The SHAWD was rock solid for 10 years and 121,000 miles. While there were numerous early adapter issues with the Nav system and XM radio, they were replaced under warranty. It was a hassle making so many trips to the dealer to fix issues, but Acura was good to their tradition of repairing/replacing problem parts without a whimper. The only significant repair cost was a new hard drive for the Nav system @ 80,000 miles.
My primary anxiety with the RLX is its rarity. How the service guys are going to fix glitches when my car will likely be the only Sports Hybrid they see [at least for the next 12+ months until the 2016 arrive]? I also bemoan the fact that few of the members of Acurazine will be able to relate to issues, questions or comments since very few will actually have the Sports Hybrid. I feel like I am going to be flying without a parachute. I have always learned so much from the denizens of Acurazine.
Just a quick comment about the pricing of the car. I contacted 4 dealers in Southern California, each of whom had a single Sports Hybrid, 2 were Advanced, 2 were Tech. The negotiated prices ranged from $500 below MSRP to $250 over invoice. I got lucky that my local dealer had both the lowest price and my preferred combination.....Silver Moon Advance [sorry Bob but Southern California does have some advantages over Cleveland]. I also did jump for the 8 yr./120,000 mile warranty which after calling around and talking with multiple Finance Mangers I was able to get a quote of $100 over cost, which was over $1,000 less than my initial quote. My local dealer wouldn't match the $100 over quote but did the deal for $150 over cost. It was better than driving 2 hours to take the lowest quote.
I was sad to see my RL go. It was a great car, reliable and very advanced for 2005. I still think the interior is superior to the RLX but I may feel differently after more time in the RLX. The RLX is certainly more subdued but still elegant. The SHAWD was rock solid for 10 years and 121,000 miles. While there were numerous early adapter issues with the Nav system and XM radio, they were replaced under warranty. It was a hassle making so many trips to the dealer to fix issues, but Acura was good to their tradition of repairing/replacing problem parts without a whimper. The only significant repair cost was a new hard drive for the Nav system @ 80,000 miles.
My primary anxiety with the RLX is its rarity. How the service guys are going to fix glitches when my car will likely be the only Sports Hybrid they see [at least for the next 12+ months until the 2016 arrive]? I also bemoan the fact that few of the members of Acurazine will be able to relate to issues, questions or comments since very few will actually have the Sports Hybrid. I feel like I am going to be flying without a parachute. I have always learned so much from the denizens of Acurazine.