Greetings all, my name is Nick and I am a new member so please go easy on me. I am looking at a 1999 Black CL 3.0 this weekend, and I am wondering what you guys think of the price. It is listed as 78,000 miles, and from the pic looks like it is in great shape. The seller is also throwing in an extra set of rims/tires. He is asking $4500. I have been in love with this model Acura since my boss used to own one, and I have been looking for one for a few weeks. I live in IL, and most of the ones I see for sale are well over 100,000 which worries me because of the known trans issues. I figured this is a sweet deal, but the more i research the trans issues, the more it worries me to no end. Is it really that common, or is it more of a "if you take care of it, you're good" type of thing? Also, is there anything in particular I can look for when i do go test drive it that may indicate a problem down the road? If i do buy it, I will want it to last a very long time, so I just hope the seller took good care of it...

I plan on taking my mechanic buddy with me (he owns an Accord) to test drive it, but thought I could get more in depth knowledge from the members here.

anyways, any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

Welcome Nick, the tranny is a hit or miss thing. It's very prominent and a lot of guys have had to rebuild, but others have gone 150-200K miles on the original tranny. It really depends on how it was taken care of and how it's driven. The lower miles should definitely give you hope, however there's always the chance. They're great cars though, and for that price, with the low miles, and free rims, it sounds like a great deal. Just make sure to watch out for the tranny

 

Thanks for your quick response. I sure hope everything is in good condition with it when I go look at it. Question, if I did buy it, would the tranny be covered by the dealer as long as it's under 100k due to the issues everyone has had?

Thanks again!

 

Nope, there is no extended warranty for the tranny, the 2nd gens had one, but not us.

 

well that sucks. So basically, if I don't notice anything strange while test driving, it should be a straight deal, right? If anything falls through with that one, there is a 97 with 90k I was looking at too, any thoughts?

 

oh, and by the way, thats a beautiful pit you got there for your pic.

 

Thanks man, he was snow plowin

 

id say both these cars sound like terrific deals, if i could buy another car it'd be another CL with lower miles than my 173k haha.

 

I sold mine back in March with 136k for $4800 and no tranny or engine issues. Excellent car and I miss it

 

i just bought an 97 acura cl and now wanna do a engine swap and turbo it. but first i wanna know what year what year will mount in my cl.

 

what engine is in it now? I am guessing its is a 2.2 since its a 97 (but could be a 3.0). and what kind of swap are you looking to do, like from automatic to manual or what

 

I have a '97 2.2 with auto trans. 222K on original trans and motor and still solid. Maintenance is key, I am second owner. First owner was family friend and had every service record from dealer. I do my own work but keep up on it. Paid $2400 with 153K on it. I drive it 162 miles daily commute to work and still get 32 mpg with all those miles.

 

You will probably for sure have to rebuild the tranny once it hits 100,000... I know i had to