vpasla1

First time poster, but I've been lurking the forums for a while. I apologize if this is in the wrong section, but I did take a quick look and wasn't sure where else to look.

I am looking at a 2004 Acura TL 5AT, with 224,000km (139,000 miles) on it and am located in Ontario, Canada. The dealer is asking for $5,000 plus taxes.

I got in touch with the local Acura dealership and was told that the car was maintained there throughout its life prior to going to the dealership. The main point of my concern it seems should be the transmission.

I was informed that the transmission fluid was flushed at 139,000km (86,700 miles) and again at 210,000km (130,500 miles). The dealership did not have any other work related to the transmission performed. The car shifts okay, no issues, I haven't had a chance to check the colour of the tranny fluid or smell it to see if it smells burnt. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

Welcome to AcuraZine.

Your concern about the tranny on a 04 TL is spot on. At least it's had two fluid changes. If you buy it, change out the 3rd and 4th sensors.

Make sure the 105k service was done and there are no cracks in the dash.

Good luck.

truonghthe

make sure you change the ATF and replace the 3rd & 4th pressure switches, other than that I wouldn't let the trany issue mkes you losing sleep.

blkmz3

2004 model? the dash will crack soon if it hasn't already. if the car has always been in Canada then it will last longer.

vpasla1

Thank you all for the prompt replies!!

I was hoping to talk to the dealer and get him to include the changing of the third and fourth gear sensors as a condition of purchase. I would provide him the parts (I believe I could get them at any Acura/Honda dealer, please correct me if I'm wrong).. It would just be easier as he can hoist it up.

As an update, I looked at the transmission fluid today, it was red and smelled as transmission fluid does.

What is the 105k service referring to?

The dash seemed to be in good shape with no cracks, are there any areas on the dash that I should be looking for specifically? The car was in Richmond Hill, Ontario (near Toronto) for almost all of its life.

How soon should I change the transmission fluid since it had just been done less than 10,000 miles ago? What would be the best drain/fill method I should use? I see a lot of 3x3 on here, but is that the best way to go?

I once again thank you all for your time and appreciate all your experiences.

NBP04TL4ME

Here is a link to replacing the pressure switches - https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/110-diy-guide-replacing-3rd-4th-gear-pressure-switch-3g-tl-2004-2006-a-729149/

The 105K service is a major one including Timimg belt, usually the water pump, spark plugs, and a few other things. You can get the gist here - https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/122-diy-105k-service-timing-belt-water-pump-spark-plugs-thermostat-%2Apics%2A-784622/.

This 105K service usually runs USD $800- $1000+

If it hasn't benn done you either want it done or have a chunk of change knocked off your purchase price.

vpasla1

So I got the information from the dealership, a lot of it was in Acura codes obviously but I found some information online and I spent about half hour on the phone with Acura getting all the details of stuff like "Misc Repair" , etc.

At 159,000km (98,800 miles), the Timing Belt Package and Type 4 Service was completed (which I believe is Spark Plugs, Timing Belt, Tensioner Pulley and Water Pump). - I believe this covers the 105k package. The only thing she couldn't tell me was if the thermostat was changed or not.

Serpentine Belt was done at 190,000km (118,000 miles).

Driver Side Mirror due to Miscolouration at 115,000km (71,000 miles) and O2 (D2-S1) was done at the same time.

Wiper Motor and Power Steering Recalls were completed in 2008.

My main concern is that the customer brought back the vehicle three times in 2006-2007 and the item in the file was "Intermittent Lull Aceleration - Delay, Traction Control Kicking In. Hesitant Acceleration." (65,000km, 85,000km, and 96,000km)

The dealership of course said they couldn't replicate the issue and that this was considered a normal delay in shifting, etc. I would think this would be due to the transmission. These transmissions are known to go bad around this point, but this wasn't brought up by the customer again after these three times.

My guess is he may have gotten the transmission rebuilt by another mechanic as dealerships are known to charge a large sum more. Is it likely for this car to go 225,000km (140,000 miles) on the same transmission without any repair or rebuilding? I will be purchasing the car today and be doing the gear pressure switches within the next few weeks.

Thank you.

vai777

vpasla1 I own a 2004 with 90,000+ miles. I purchased the car new and it has no transmission issues or dash cracks. The car has been extremely reliable. Only issues have been passenger window sticking, and a small rust spot developing on the trunk. The $5,000 price tag on the care you are looking at is very low, which could indicate the car has been in an accident. I'd ask for a carfax report on the vehicle.

erg69

Yeah, I was going to comment on the low price too. That car would bring more than double that in the states.

vpasla1

Hey all, so I purchased the car on Tuesday, and it's been running like a dream since then. I've put about 1,000km on it so far already (mostly highway).
Getting about 12km/litre (28 mpg) @ 120km/h (75 miles/h). Does that sound right? Coming from a 2000 Nissan Pathfinder (18 mpg average), those numbers make me a little giddy, even with putting 91 Octane Fuel in the Acura.

I am starting to get an outline around the airbag on the passenger side on the dash, I'm going to get a Sun Shade soon so hopefully that will help prolong time before it starts cracking.

I have picked up the 3rd and 4th gear sensors and 2 10mm O-Rings, the sensors were about $50 CDN each, which from looking around didn't seem too bad, and the O-Rings were $6 each which I thought was absolute robbery but for the convenience I didn't bother shopping around. I will be putting those in sometime this week.

With regards to the price, the dealership had a CarProof report (which from my research does a better job in Canada, as CarFax does a much better job in the US), and the report was clean. However, just by looking at the back bumper you can tell there has been some damage that has been fixed, however, since the previous owner didn't go through the insurance to fix it (insurance is mandatory in Ontario), I feel that it may have only been a few hundred dollars job to repair.

Here are the pictures of the bumper, any insight on this would be greatly appreciated. http://imgur.com/a/jFeH1/all

vpasla1

Sorry, can't edit my posts yet, the car also has a few dents and scratches but i think that's expected for a car of this age.

Dumpedsi

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like you got a good deal! The dealer would rather make more oppose to less so if there was a big issue that would drive down the price you would know, if they could hide it, they would and charge more, so I don't think the cheap price tag indicates anything if nothing is obvious.

Get the car buffed if the scratches aren't too deep. You would be amazed at what a good buff job can do!

Good luck with the new car!

se05

Congrats.

Yumcha

Congrats on the purchase!

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

you could buy an ASPEC rear lip spoiler and it would cover up most of that damage in the back. good luck with that passenger airbag outline on the dash....

AMI8

Congrats on your TL. I recently bought a 2005 MT and just noticed that "outline" of the passenger airbag. I've heard that Aerospace 303 is great for the dash in our TL's but am having a hard time finding it here in Toronto (Ontario, Canada). Anyone have any leads besides ording it online?

NBP04TL4ME

I have found 303 is very good. Try looking in outdoor adventure/camping/marine stores. Not sure what is available to you in Canada but the product has UV inhibitors (which is why it is good on dashboards) and isn't only marketed and sold as an automotive product.