Used 2006 Acura RL Sedan Consumer Reviews
Used RL for sale
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My "new" used RL
Ruppster, 11/15/2010
2006 Acura RL 3.5 4dr Sedan AWD w/Navi System (3.5L 6cyl 5A)
27 of 27 people found this review helpful
I am a car guy. Have owned three beemers, four Mercedes, a couple of 3rd generation RX-7s, etc. I am now a dad with two youngsters and decided to go "practical" and buy a responsible used car. After much research settled on a very, very clean 2006 RL. While it does not have the marquee value of my last to Mercedes, it's a pretty darn nice car and one heck of a value. Paid about 20K for a car that listed for 50K new and still has very few signs of wear and tear. Interior features are just great. Voice recognition isn't perfect but everything else is spot on. You really feel coddled in the cockpit. Stereo is best I've experienced, materials are top notch.
Best value on the market for AWD.
Dan, 12/28/2018
updated 07/08/2019
2006 Acura RL 3.5 4dr Sedan AWD w/Navi System (3.5L 6cyl 5A)
16 of 16 people found this review helpful
You can get more practical AWD vehicles, and you can get faster AWD vehicles, but the 2nd generation RL (2005-12) is the best value in the sweet spot of high performance and high reliability with the added control and safety of AWD. This car sold new for $49k and I bought mine for $5500. 160k miles and it drives like a new car. I put $1200 into replacing the timing belt as soon as I bought it, this is a must every 60k miles as it is a common Honda interference-type engine. Have performed only regular maintenance in 2 years since. It’s built like a bank vault and though it’s a heavy sedan, it handles well. The SH-AWD is more sophisticated than most AWD systems because it can send varying torque to the rear wheels independently. The torque distribution is even shown on a neat bar graph display within the instrument cluster. It’s also one of the safest sedans out there. Tons of cutting edge (for 2006) luxury items standard. I really like putting up the automatic rear sunshade for my 2 year old (manual sunshades for the rear windows also are standard). Xenon headlamps standard and they even turn in curves to illuminate more of the road. It makes about 280 HP and the VTEC makes a wonderful sound when you rev it. It’s enough to keep up with most everything on the road today. And when you just want to cruise it gets you there in supreme, quiet comfort. I absolutely love my RL. Update, July 2019: still love my RL. The only thing I’ve had to do in 3 years of ownership, besides the timing belt change mentioned above, is oil changes (synthetic because that’s what the previous owner used) and get a new set of tires.
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Just bought one - Pleased so far
Jim Billingsley, 12/19/2015
2006 Acura RL 3.5 4dr Sedan AWD w/Navi System, Tech Package (3.5L 6cyl 5A)
23 of 24 people found this review helpful
I just bought a 2006 Acura RL. It has all the tech gizmo's except Collision Mitigation Braking System and Michelin Run Flat tires (which you don't want!). I haven't owned the car long enough to give credible Reliability ratings, but I am very impressed with the car's handling, brakes, "solid" feel, quiet interior, sound system and navigation system. A warning I should pass on to potential buyers is to test drive the care and beware of a speed dependent whistling noise (sort of like blowing over a empty coke bottle). It starts about 32 MPH and quits about 38-40 MPH. Being a harmonic, I suspect it would also reappear and disappear at twice those speeds, too. The RL I bought exhibited this noise on the test drive and I insisted it be fixed in order for me to buy the car. It turned out to be a fairly expensive repair. The noise is caused by a bad center carrier bearing on the rear driveshaft. This normally wouldn't be an expensive repair, but Acura only sells this bearing as part of the entire rear driveshaft assembly and that assembly retails for $2,229! (If you are facing this repair, you can get one online for $1,500 or so.) Attention Acura engineers!!! If you read these reviews how about designing a driveshaft assembly that has mechanic-friendly easily replaced components? Your driveshaft is carbon fiber and ought to last for centuries, but bearings do go bad and ought to be easily replaceable. If I hadn't insisted on this fix before purchasing the car, and had to pay for this out of pocket, I would have been very upset.
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Love this car, but
fred porter, 09/18/2008
2006 Acura RL 3.5 4dr Sedan AWD w/Navi System (3.5L 6cyl 5A)
10 of 10 people found this review helpful
Bought the car July 2006, wife agrees with me that it is the nicest, most luxurious and fun car we ever owned. Just a total pleasure to drive. Power, comfort, sound system: everything is great BUT: we are on the third battery in 2 years, left us stranded twice. Dealer can find nothing wrong with the electrical system, very frustrating-- waiting for the next time we get stuck.
Luxury & Technology + Every Detail
NETSECSVC, 09/17/2008
2006 Acura RL 3.5 4dr Sedan AWD w/Navi System (3.5L 6cyl 5A)
7 of 7 people found this review helpful
My 2006 Acura RL has everything I always wanted from a car and much more. This is a car that exceeds expectations in many ways! They really included every detail imaginable to make the car safe, fun, powerful, comfortable and beautiful. It's not too flashy, and from a distance one might mistake it for an average car, but nothing could be further from the truth. Up close the sleek and stylish design make you take notice, but inside is where things get really interesting. The 2006 model doesn't have cooled seats or an iPod connector. Aside from that, if you can think of a feature it probably comes standard.
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