My cousin is thinking about buying a 1996 Acura 2.5 TL. What do you guys know about the 96 TL? We've checked out Edmunds, consumer reports, consumer guide, and ran a carfax report. Everything looks pretty good so far. Do the 96's have any issues like the tranny issue with the 00-03 TL's?

He is going to pay $5300, but the car needs a new windshield. Is that a fair price?

Any info is appreciated.

Thanks.

 

I know that a friend's 2.5TL burned oil and leaked--he said something about the 5-cylinders having oil burning problems. He took it in for regular services and changed the oil, so there was no abnormal wear.

BTW--how many miles does the car have? He might just wanna splurge and go with the 3.2 version. The 2.5, I've heard, seems a little gutless.

 

I had a 95 2.5TL and 2 Vigors with the same engine. Our local service has never had the heads off an Acura I5. It is a great engine high miles engine that should last as long as you have the car. It is a wonderful car. If I was in the used car market it would be on my short list.


The first generation TL's (95 to 98) only had automatic trannies and they were all made in Japan (at least my 95 was) and didn't have any of the problems of the 2nd generation TL (99 to 03)


As for the price, I would check www.nada.com and www.edmunds.com and make sure to factor in the condition.

 

The keywords there are Made in Japan because I know they have better quality and reliability build than the 99-present Ohio built TL's. But, why is there all this complaint of rattles in our Japan made TSX's?

 

The car has about 125k miles.

 

Thanks for the replies. I'll pass on the info.

 

The high miles is not a problem with this car if it had regular maintenance.

BTW, no rattles in my TSX yet after 4500 miles. None of the 4 Japanesse made Acuras I have owned over the years had rattles.