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Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Acura TL Prices Paid and Buying Experience
9365 messages, Last post on Jul 23, 2008 at 4:57 PM
You are in the Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Forum. Your Hosts are car_man & kyfdx
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I bought my 2008 Acura TL w/Nav on 02-22-08. I have spent about 2 months researching what I want to buy, how much I should pay for it in current market and so on. I chose Acura TL over Lexus ES350 and Infinity G35. Reasons for choosing TL ES350 -- Reliability is not as good as it used to be according to owners reviews. Costs about $5000 more when compatibly equipped. G35 ----- Reliability is not as good as TL I am not a boy racer so RWD and more power don’t attract me. Leaving in Indiana, FWD is more practical. Costs about $3500 more when compatibly equipped. link title is good place to find MSRP & Invoice for cars. TL Base -------- MSRP $34,440 Invoice $31,750 TL w/ Nav ------ MSRP $36,940 Invoice $33,998 TL Type-S ----- MSRP $38,940 Invoice $35,832 *Price includes Destination Charge Currently, there is $2000 manufacture to dealer incentive only on purchase. Not on lease. Special financing is only available in select region. You have to ask dealer to find out about special financing. So here is what you should expect to pay when you are shopping for 2008 Acura TL. In large competitive market ( Bay Area California, La Area California and Houston, Dallas Texas etc...). If you have more than 6 to 7 or more Acura dealers in your area it is a large competitive market. Invoice less $2000(dealer incentive) less $500 to $1000 (dealer is more willing to share their 2% hold back). Bottom line is go for $2500 ~ $3000 below invoice. In medium size market (4 or 5 Acura dealers in your area) Invoice less $2000(dealer incentive) less $300 to $700 (dealer is some what willing to share their 2% hold back). Bottom line is go for $2300 ~ $2700 below invoice. In small size market (3 or less Acura dealers in your area) Invoice less $2000(dealer incentive) less $0 to $300 (dealer is not willing to share their 2% hold back). Bottom line is go for $2000 ~ $2300 below invoice. *Above target pricing applies to most shoppers, but individual bargaining skills, trade-in (give you less for your trade-in and lower the price on new car or vice-versa) and financing (shopper with bad credit score, dealers love people with bad credit because they see it as a chance to make big profit) could make the difference in pricing. * Try not to take the car that’s been sitting in the dealer lot for more then 2 months the max. You can find built month and year on the sticker on the inside of your driver’s door jam. Dealers want to move out old inventory, especially in smaller markets where turn over ratio is not as good as in larger markets. Unless dealer is willing to give you a substantial discount for it don’t take cars with over 50 mi and/or built in more than 2 months ago. After a test drive write down the VIN of the car you picked and make sure this VIN is what you see on the contract before you sign. Dealer add-on protections (leather protection, clear coat paint protection, under body protection etc…. are never recommended. No matter how dealer sweet talk you into it, it either not needed or way over priced. If you really want them check out your local detail shops. You could find better ones for less then half the cost. Dealer installed accessories -- Don’t take it unless you could have the dealer throw it in for free at the price you negotiated without installed accessories. Bottom line is don’t buy any accessories from dealer unless it’s totally free. If you want to buy any genuine Acura Accessories check out these sites. You could find it for a lot less then at your dealership. link title link title link title Dealer Documentation Fees -- Unfortunately for shoppers, there is no set price for this fee. You just have to visit different dealership in your area to find out what the reasonable documentation fee in your market is for yourself. I’ve read as low as $50 to as high as $500. It just varies by market. If dealer A is charging $100, dealer B is charging $125 and dealer C is charging $135 for documentation fee you know that the reasonable documentation fee in your market is $100. Check out this for your information. link title Other Charges -- Do Not Pay. you shouldn't have to pay anything other then Tax, Title, Registration, Documentation Fees, Extended Warrenty (if bought one) and Tire Tax. If you see anything else on bill of sales dealer is just trying what ever it can to make more profit on you. Extended warranty – You have to make the decision on this yourself. I didn’t buy one because when I decided to buy Acura TL reliability was a big factor. I don’t anticipate TL will have enough break downs to recoup what I spend on extended warranty. If you decide to buy one only buy Acura Care Extended Warranty (this service is provided and backed by Acura and good in any Acura dealer in the US) DO NOT buy third party extended warranty as they could be pain in the rear when you actually need to use your warranty. Followings are places where you could buy legit Acura Care Extended Warranty online at fair price. It’s honored at any Acura dealer in the US weather you buy it online or from dealership. link title link title link title * Acura will not allow online sales of Acura Care Extended Warranty beginning April 1. Tax, Title and registration fee – This is about the only thing that gets straight forward in car buying. Everyone pays same set amount that applies to your vehicle in your area. Unless you live in same county or city everyone pays different amount for this. Dealers would rarely play games on this because Uncle Sam is watching.
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I live in Carmel, Indiana (Indianapolis suburb). We only have 2 Acura dealers (not a good place for bargain hunters) in the area, but still manage to get fair deal. Don’t ever tell dealer you want to trade-in your car. Even if you have a trade-in tell them you may or may not trade it in depending on dealer’s offer. 9 out of 10 times, if you get fair offer for your new car they will lowball on your trade-in. You will always get more for your car when you sell it yourself. I didn’t trade-in my 2001 New Passat GLX Auto because both dealers offered way below KBB trade-in value. They offered $2500 ~ $3000 below KBB trade-in value. I’ll just put up a for sale sign. I didn’t finance because I’m just one of those people who don’t like paying interest. Only thing that I’m paying interest on is my mortgage. I can’t help it. I didn’t have enough cash to pay for it in full. LOL Some people think that you could get better deal by paying cash for your car. This is NOT TRUE. Dealer gets money weather you pay cash or finance. Not many people know that dealer gets commission if you finance your car. Dealer is only a middle man between the lender and the buyer, therefore when the lender approves the loan and the buyer accepts it dealer get commission from the lender. Here is what I paid for 2008 Acura TL w/Nav Price of Vehicle ------ $ 31,498.00 ( Includes Destination Charge ) Tax ----------------------- $ 1,889.88 ( 6% Indiana Tax Rate ) Tire Tax ----------------- $ 1.25 Documentary Fee --- $ 99.00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total ...................... $ 33,488.13 ( I wrote the check for this amount ) * I had dealer throw in color matched splash guard at no charge. * I bought the car built in 02/08. Dealer wanted me to take the car built in 09/07 with same color and 25 mi on it, but I said NO. * In Indiana, dealer doesn’t collect Title & Registration Fee. Buyer has to go to DMV(it’s called BMV in Indiana) for Title and Registration on new car purchase. Hope this helps folks who are looking for new car. ^.^ 
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Hey guys! Just letting you know my transaction. I just got a new 08 TL w/nav for 31.5K a week ago. I took the 2k dealer cash over the 2.9% finance they offered. My total out of pocket cost came to a little under 33.4k. I went do woodfiend acrua in woodfield IL. they were very nice! I also have a question that i hope one of you know... it said in the review that you can have the climate function displayed on the nav screen. does anyone know how to do this? I have yet to figure it out! Maybe I'm just slow.. but can someone please let me know? Thanks!
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Replying to: kyekyk (Mar 06, 2008 3:47 pm) |
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Replying to: lockgiants (Mar 06, 2008 5:31 pm) What is current tax rate for vehicle purchase in Schaumburg, IL. I though it was 6.5% at least. You said you paid $ 31,500 for the TL w/Nav and total came out to under $33,400. Price of car ------- $31,500.00 Tax ------------------- $ 2,047.50 ( Tax Rate 6.5% ) Title ------------------ $ ? Registration ------- $ ? Document Fee --- $ ? --------------------------------------------- $ 33,547.50 ( before title, registration and doc. Fee) Without factoring in title, registration and document fee (because I have no clue how much you paid for these) it’s already over your claimed out of pocket total of little under 33.4K. Can you share your secrete on how you manage to do it? This could help others in your area. Thnaks.
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Replying to: 23109vc (Mar 04, 2008 11:10 pm)  I have to wonder if you drove a crappy TL-S or something like that, the shift gates on mine a slick. In fact when I first test drove the TL-S I thought second gear was neutral and was trying to pull it farther back LOL. MY 98 Maxima traveled twice as far in the gates, it took some getting used to. The clutch is amazing in comparison as well, easy to predict and modulate, I can use the throttle a lot more on take off than my Maxima could. We had really nasty weather in Dallas/FW today and the TL-S is amazingly stable on wet roads, the other drivers were really pissing me off...they were sooo slow! For straight line freeway in inclement weather the FWD has an advantage all it's own: If you keep the throttle on, it's really hard for the rear end to get out of line, or stay out. Let off the gas and the opposite is instantly true.  When hitting troughs and puddles, the FWD just pulls the car through, even if the rear end steps out, since the front wheels are pulling forward, the rear end tracks back in line. I used this idea to hilarious results on the traffic circle last year when it snowed hard. I was bored and there was no traffic so I set the parking brake and drifted around the circle with the rear and dragging like a wake board. You can easily modulate the drift with the throttle and if you let off completely you get a nice 180. I recommend that anyone who sees snow covered road try this in a parking lot or empty street, it's great practice. Most of the wrecks I saw in the snow last year were single vehicle, the darn Texans panic when they see ice and let off the gas or slam on the brakes, then they go flying. It's counter-intuitive to the non-performance driver to stay on the throttle, and the news media doesn't help by telling everyone to slow down. Anyway, that was a nice tangent! LOL.
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Replying to: kyekyk (Mar 06, 2008 3:47 pm) I am in the market for a TL-S in the Illinois area, I am going to use your post to negotiate a good price. What has worked for me very well in the past was to e-mail multiple dealers in your area/s and have them compete for your business. Just bought a Lexus 08RX 350 for $2k under invoice using this technique~! Enjoy your TL, its at such a sweet spot, luxurios and sporty at the same time, very few cars that can compete with it at its price point! |
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Replying to: kyekyk (Mar 06, 2008 6:38 pm) |
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Thanks to everyone for all the great information....it's really invaluable. So I thought I would share my buying experience for those in central NJ. Purchased 2008 TL w/NAVI from Springfield Acura for: Price: $31,000 including Destination MV: $389 Doc: $258 Prep: $400 Etch: $188 (Don't really need but didn't haggle over it) NJ Tire Tax: $7.50 NJ Tax: 7% Contact John Freudenberger, Internet Sales. Wasn't a terrible buying experience (since I have low expectations) but three things really irked me. 1. I sent an email with all the exact details of the purchase conditions including the price & financing. During the financing part of the buying process, it was 'conveniently" overlooked that I had stated that 2.9% as the finance rate. 2. Which leads to my next issue, they kept urging me to give them the down payment when I hadn't received or signed the contract. Who the hell in their right mind signs over thousands of dollars for a downpayment without seeing or agreeing to a contract?!?!?!? Give me $K now and oh by the way, the price and financing rate just changed. Maybe I am naive and this is the standard practice in the car industry but as a manager of million dollar contracts, it seems ludicrous. As it turned out, that's when I was notified that the agreed to 2.9% financing rate was not available. I still got a decent rate but I was more upset about what I thought was bad business....whether it was intentional or not. 3. I was prepared to speak to multiple people thanks to Edmunds. Amazing how many of the story details are true. I learned to ignore everything they say or do and just focus on what matters, the details of the sale (Must Read - "Confessions of a Cars Salesman" - http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/articles/42962/article.html) However, why the hell did it take 3 hours for a car purchase when all the terms of the deal were clearly stated in my email. Oh by the way, bring in extra copies of any and all communication.....they steal your copy and never give it back. I should've been out of there in 1.5 hours tops.....even with the negotiation on the financing. If it weren't for the great price, I'd walked out after an hour. All in all, I'm very happy with the price and financing terms. I'd give my experience with Springfield Acura a "C+".....the salesmen were somewhat friendly (except for the big shot) but the whole car buying game is ridiculous. Hope this helps you potential buyers. |
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| I bought mine back in Dec of 07, and got 2.9%,,, Wow they must be hurting now! .9% why not just make it 0% man what a great deal going on now! | |
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