m&b6speed

april 05 CR is all about cars, new used you name(actually a good informative issue).
on page 82(if anyone has it) there is a small overall review of the CL since 97 thru 03. it gives you a rundown on the reliability of the car. the 01 -03 models recieved average reliability rating overall which kind of suprised me. with the exception of the auto trans-which got a much worse than average), they gave below average ratings on electrical, brakes, paint/trim/rust, body integrity, power equipment, and body hardware(excluding the 03).
i don't know about you guys but ive had mine for 2 1/2 yrs, 46K+ miles and have seen none of the mentioned above(well maybe me sub par e-brake, but i took it as the brakes not parking brake). overall i feel it is a very reliable car, and would recommend it to anyone.

anyone experience what they are talking about as below average

123456SPEED

You are reading the symbols wrong and combining 2 totally different models together with you analysis, G1 and G2 CL.

For the 14 TROUBLE areas the symbols are NOT an average (above or below) at all.

RED dot means less than 0-2% of respondents reported problems.
01 got 7, 02 got 7, 03 got 7. out of 14!

Half RED dot means 2-5% reported trouble.
01 got 4, 02 got 5, 03 got 7.

White dot means 5-9.3% reported trouble.
01 got 2, 02 got 1, 03 got 0.

Half Black dot means 9.3-14.8% reported trouble.
01 got 0, 02 got 1 (tranny), 03 got 0.

Black dot means 14.8% or more reported trouble.
01 got 1 (tranny), 02 got 0, 03 got 0.


You a re misinterpreting what the ratings mean, it's not an average.

123456SPEED

It's true that the other Acuras actually got slightly higher ratings on the trouble areas than the G2 CL.
As for Overall Reliability you are right, the G2 CL and 02 & 04 TL got AVERAGE, every other Acura got above average overall reliability from 97-04.
I think the lower production numbers of the CL definitely skewed the results against the G2 CL.

mattdaddyz

I just got done reading that issue from back to front about 45 minutes ago. The G2 CL used to be on the CR recommended used car list. I noticed it's gone. Plus, the 02 tranny was rated as average, now it's lower to below average (slightly better than the 01).

I've had my car since June and put about 13000 miles on it, and the only issue I have had was glazed brakes (resolved by resurfacing rotors under warranty) and a sticky throttle body (also replaced under warranty). The car has been perfect other than that. I haven't experienced the body/build quality issues others have, but who knows, maybe I listen to music louder or just are not as picky as others.

m&b6speed

maybe i should go back and read it some more, my point was that i've had no problems, just wanted to know if anyone else did

MethodRN

Well knock on wood right now. I went through 3 trannys in 3 years before I got rid of the car. This car was a daily driver that never saw track time. Driven hard at times. Good luck

mystikk

My second tranny seems to be bulletproof, even after all the hell I gave it when I was stuck in a ditch and I had to roll back and forth between drive and reverse. Anchorage Acura seems to be doing this right.

123456SPEED

It shows that overall, Acuras are extremely reliable with low trouble areas, I'm just surprised that the 01-03 CL ranks lowest of all Acuras. Again, it must be because of the fewer number of G2 CLs.

I remember with my 88 5-speed Legend Coupe, Consumer Reports had that version on it's 'avoid' list because of the clutch. I think that was also skewed for low numbers compared to the automatics. I did have to replace the clutch but it was at about 120k miles and all the mechanics I talked to at the time said that they saw no issues with the clutches.

I think CR sometimes raises more questions than it answers a lot of the time.

russianDude

I am not happy about the reliability of my CLS at all. Some people say that its better than GM or Ford. Sure its better, but I don't think it stands out compared to other well known Japanese brands like Nissan or Toyota.
I would say its average, or even bellow average.
I've hand numberous problems with my car, nothing major, but small anoying problems that keep happening again and again.
Other things that were replaced in 4 years of ownership:
- CV joints (two times)
- Heating element, both driver and passenger
- Window regulator 2 times (now its getting loose again and I am out of warranty)
- Rear mirrow(did not dim)
- Side mirrow (motor broke)
- Numerous rattles, overall build quality is crap
- streched leather replaced
- wheel bearing ($350 out ot warranty)

Engine is fine, and car runs great, but all the electronics crap... I have no faith in it.

123456SPEED

Sorry to ear about your problems.
I'm very happy with all 5 Acuras I've had as far as reliability, that's why I've kept buying them. I saw on a Toyota forum complaints about the new Solara with rattles in suspension, steering to the right or left on Camrys too. Even 'perfect' Toyota has problems.

Loseit

iTrader: (1)

everytime i see russiandude on the forum it is about some problem. he chimes in whenever there are threads like this. I feel for you!

russianDude

maybe all cars today are POS in terms of reliability, I don't know. All I know that I had Toyota Camry 1988, I had it for 6 years and put 100K miles on it. When I sold it in 2000, it had 200K miles, and I never had any problems with this car. Perhaps they used to make cars more reliable back in the days, I feel like nowadays they make cars last for 4-5 years because average consumer likes to change cars offten.

chevyjase

I buy all my cars with a little research before the purchase, which is why I bought the 6speed not the auto. Overall I bought the CL-S because it was a lot of car for the price tag-----simular cars with the same HP and features 10k-20k more $$$

But as a Tech I have worked on and seen a shit load of new and used cars and it boils down to one thing TAKE CARE OF YOUR CAR AND IT WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU

I beat the crap out of my Z28 camaro and I keep shelling out the $$$, but I know this and I don't complain about it.

As for my CL-S I wipe it with a dyper because it's my new pride and joy, but like my Z28 I only drive it 6 months out the year this keeps it new and exiting.

If you drive your CL-S as a daily driver the miles go up and you will get bored of it causing you to either go crazing on performance improvements or beat on it. This is why the average consumer flips there car every 3-4 years.

My

Jayhawk1

I'm on my second CLS...had a 2001 and now a 2003 6spd. All told put 75000 miles on the two and the only problem I had was warping front brakes on the 01....they were fixed under warranty and never had a problem with them again.

Frainky

I bought my CLS last year after I read the consumer reports reccomending it. Pisses me off now that they don't now. I called the previous owner and talked to them about it and they said they NEVER had a major problem and had all of the maintenance done at the dealership. My CLS has 85,xxx miles on it and still runs like a champ,like brand new on its first tranny. Problems I have had....seat belt buckle had to be replaced other than that nothing. My wiper system sucks smears but I am told that it is a problem on the earlier models. As for the rattles most cars will rattle when you upgrade. Cars are not made to have home stereos installed in them.

Russiandude...you seem to have a lot of little problems. You must drive hard seems like it would be difficult to throw out the CV joint on a newer model car unless you had a suspension mod and the instasllers fk'ed it up. also streched leather.....streched leather come on. Did you not like the car from the begginng and tried to make the dealership sorry. How the fk'much do you weigh dude?

I love my car. I always had muscle cars 68 GTO 72 Formula firechicken. This is my first import and I could'nt be happier with it. My firebird has had more shit go wrong with it than the CL and it has about 20,000 less miles on it,original

m&b6speed

i've always had a honda or an acura and maybe i am just bias, thats why i felt the ratings were a bit low. people complain about this and that, but try to get all of our standard features in some other cars like lexus and mercedes, who make you pay $1500 for a sun roof, $600 for a cd changer thats mounted in the trunk, who the F wants to get out, in rain, snow or even nice weather and mess around in the trunk to to change one cd. we get a lot for the money guess you just can't please everyone
i'm happy though

MethodRN

I know I've chimed in and complained about the tranny many times. However, that was just my disappoinment w/ Acura the "luxury" division of Honda. Overall, I loved the car. Yall are right, for what you pay you get a lot in the CL. I would have driven the CL till wheels fell off if they tranny was good. I just couldn't risk mine or my wife's life. As with most major cities, Houston has crappy freeway traffic and it's hard to avoid them. So drivng a car where the tranny could fail while on these freeways is just trouble waiting to happen. Sure there hasn't been a major accident, that I know of, caused by the tranny. I didn't wanna find out though.

As for the squeaks and rattles, all cars will have them w/ time. Nuts, bolts, scews and grommets become loose over time so it's bound to happen. Now if you've taken apart your interior for A/V mods, this is very likely to happen. Toyota/Lexus is one of the few companies that may have fiquered it out cause I drove a first gen RX330 at least 8 years old, and it still felt more solid than my 3yr old Acura. Same goes for my aunts 4runner which is 5yrs old w/ >100K miles. No rattles or squeaks.

I've driven all 3 of the major Japanese car makers and in terms of reliability I would rate them like this:
1. Toyota/Lexus (Family has driven them for years. Grandfather drove an '81Tercel and only major problem was body rust cause of Canadian winters.)
2. Nissan/Infinity (Drove an '89 240SX w/ original clutch w/ >150K miles. Electrical system failed because of faulty alarm wiring)
3. Honda/Acura (Rated last cause of CL-S, the most expensive car I've owned yet had most problems)

Sorry for the long post. That's just my 2 Filipino Pesos (Not worth a whole lot)

russianDude

yeah, lets face the truth, CLS quality does not stand out, average at best. But nothing impressive.

power3dfx

Lexus and toyota do have overall good quality, but even they have their problems. For example, there was a problem of rough idle with the GS400. I saw the problem in our own car and there were several threads about it on the GS forums. Also, the GS had a creaking sound like an old house with wood floor (fixed though under warranty). One thing thats for sure is that engines and trannies from Toyota are simply the best! (in terms of reliability, i have seen one tranny failure on a 90 camry with close to 200k miles, and not maintained very well. across my immediate family, we own over 15 toyota products at any given time for the past 10-15 years!)
As for nissan, they have their fair share of problems as well, but generally they are decent cars. I dont have too much experience around them so i cant comment on that much.
Finally, if you are shocked about consumer reports reportings, then you need to discover the dedicated section to the auto tranny on Acurazine.