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Sedans Acura RL Acura RL
7335 messages, Last post on Nov 26, 2009 at 12:31 PM
You are in the Acura RL Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: dwongswong (Aug 12, 2005 7:42 pm) |
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I can't answer all your questions about CR. But a few can be answered briefly. First, judging house paint is pretty easy. It goes on well (or drips a lot). It's easily washed and retains its color or it doesn't. It covers other colors well (or not). And heat lamps and simple equipment can tell you if it cracks, etc. Testing automobiles requires a lot more, including seasoned professionals, elaborate equipment, test tracks, time, etc. CR has a test track, but it is limited, as are its resources and equipment (especially since it pays for the automobiles up front). When one car has faults, many times CR cannot go out and buy another. But when one sample is defective for an auto mag, several samples can be tested to see if the defect is inherent in the design or merely in a specific car. The rationale is simple, CR is stretched thin testing elaborate machinery, but not so stretched testing laundry detergents and the like. I never said its household product reports were any more useful than it automotive frequency of repair records. I did say that unlike other organizations (you mentioned JD Powers; there are others as well), CR conducts surveys of its own readers only. This is bound to reinforce the opinions of the CR faithful, but not necessary that of the public at large. (It's also one reason CR's surveys often differ from those of other organizations.) I cannot tell you that Car & Driver's opinions are more "objective" than those of CR's. (There may also be editors at Car & Driver who "ride herd" on the eventual outcomes of tests conducted by that magazine.) But C & D, Road & Track, and others have access to more equipment, more seasoned experts, more professional drivers and engineers, and more varieties of automobiles than CR. They often have more funds for testing, both short term and long term (often for more than one year). Further, such auto enthusiast publications have proffered the safety and sensibility of a well handling automobile for decades. CR came very late to that party and to this day, sometimes recommends automobiles that have sloppy responses. As to the "conditioned" cars that are given to auto mags, many times these are prototypes or even pre-assembly versions. And often they are sharply criticized for fit and finish (at least as often as you will find in CR). Plus, when comparisons are done in Car & Driver, for example, you usually get the separate opinions of several different drivers in addition to the main review. (Not the one size fits all, boiled-down-to-a-single-opinion that appears so often in CR.) CR would like you to view it as a jack of all trades. And its subscribers have to view it as a good source of information most of the time, otherwise it would go out of business. (I subscribe too, but certainly not for its auto reviews.) Unfortunately, it cannot be an expert on all matters with the limited resouces it commands. It must make compromises. And those are big compromises when it comes to expensive items like cars and little or no compromises when it comes to less costly items like dishwasher detergent. But it's your money. And you'll be the one investing it in an automobile that you hope and expect to last you for years. Research your candidates thoroughly and test drive each of them—more than once if necessary. That's really the only way to be sure you're making the right choice for you.
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I'm very close to purchasing a 05 RL, but I've got one major problem--the tires.Has anyone had any problems with the Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 tires that come with the car? According to Tire Rack, these tires are rated 13 out of 13 in the Grand Touring All Season caregory. The tires only received a rating of 3 (out of 10) when owners were asked if they would buy the same tires again! I've asked the dealer to swap them out with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S, but he is dragging his feet. Unfortunately, this will be a deal breaker for me. I'll see what happens...I've got another question. The CR review stated that the spare in the RL is a full sized, but the cars that I've looked at all have a compact spare. Does anybody have the full sized spare, or could CR have gotten their notes crossed and possibly be "wrong"?
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Replying to: washdcguy (Aug 13, 2005 10:51 pm) |
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Replying to: jweaver1 (Aug 14, 2005 3:51 am) (SPARE TIRE) CR is wrong because the RL comes equipped with a compact T155/70D17 110M Spare Tire. (and is also Verified in the owners manual) You will be getting a great car in the RL. Good Luck! |
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Our host Pat brought this Edmunds comparison test to our attention on another forum! The results lends even more credibility to a great car. THE ACURA RL http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/Comparos/articleId=106555 |
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We finally purchased our 2005 RL last Friday. I had read through this entire forum prior to doing so and recall that several posts discussed an update to the navigation system shortly after they had purchased their cars. I also recall that no one thought they should have to pay for an updated one so soon. The next thing I remember seeing was that several owners received their updated disks in the mail. Could you please let me know if you received the disk as a courtesy of Acura or Alpine Navigation? Or, did you have to pay for it? I'm asking because I specifically mentioned that as we were buying the car and the salesman told me we would have the latest disk in our car. Today, I checked the system info and it tells me we have database 20041210, verson 1.10.00. I believe this is definitely last years as the Acura website states the current one is 4.13. Can anyone please help before I call or go to the dealership tomorrow. Thanks for any info. By the way, the car is one big toy! It's great!
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Replying to: spinningwheels (Aug 14, 2005 2:40 pm) Also, I read in one message that you cannot just check the system info, that you need to eject the disk in the trunk. I have now looked at the disk and it is 4.13, so all's well. Even our cell phones paired easily and seem to work well - no problems on either end of the calls. They're Sony Ericsson T637's. The ride is even much smoother than our demo car. I intended to keep this car only until the warranty ended, but it may be difficult to let it go! 
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I seem to be talking to myself ......and answering my own questions....can't help it. I've been excited about our new RL! All I can guess is that everyone has succumbed to the heat! Maybe Pat is still cruising through occasionally? This is somewhat RL related and I hope it's okay to say it here because it's for the common good. Since we now have an XM subscription with the new car, I was looking at the website. With the subscription for the vehicle, we are entitled to access XM online at no cost. I haven't seen anyone mention that and just wanted to pass it on to anyone who might be interested. You can't spend all of your time in the RL!
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Replying to: spinningwheels (Aug 16, 2005 11:25 am) Heads up folks. If your 3 month trial subscription is expiring...do not pay full boat retail price of $13. If you get a call from the XM telemarketers...tell them it is too much and you want the promotion price. The promotion price is $77 for 12 months...$6.42 a month. Believe it is called the 'winback' program. What are everyone's thoughts on XM? |
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