hey all,

im new to the boards, but ive been reading up on some threads and you guys know your shit! i was hoping i could pick your brains about a CL im wanting to buy. this 03 cl s 6sp is in utah and a good price and the color i want with nav. good milage, clean looking, seems a bit too good to be true. so i called the guy up and told him to give me the no BS version of the cars story.

he told me its a 2 owner from cali, he repaired under warranty the tranny and replaced the engine in a japanese engine exchange. the synchro on 4th was bad causing a grind so they rebuilt the syncs from 2 to 6. the new engine has about 20k miles on it. on top of all that he says that hes putting new tires on, guess where, the front.

tell me if this is a bad buy or not. my gut is not 100% on it but its tough cause its the color trim and price i want. what are your thoughts? thanks and im looking forward to getting into the cl community.

 

If you don't mind me asking...

How many mile?
How much is the car?

Suggestion...

Run a Carfax, and take the car to a mechanic you trust. If you want to spend a little more get a pre-purchase inspection from an Acura dealer close to where you or the car is located. The dealer should be able to run service history on the car via the vin #.

 

I'm curious why he had to change both the engine and tranny....sounds like the car may have been ragged on pretty hard.

Also notice that the letters on the rear deck are too close together, looks like they have been put back on. Accident or debadge?

The price is almost too good for that mileage and with nav, makes me think something isn't right....might be a junk yard rebuild.

I'd keep looking.

 

My car fax should be active for a few more days.

If you haven't already paid for a car fax, PM me your VIN and I'll reply w/ car fax report.

 

I'd keep looking, with the bad transmission/engine issues, it appears it's been abused. The automatic CL-S' are known for the tranny problems, not the 6-speeds as much. Also, as Zippee said, the 'ACURA' lettering should be much further apart. Dealers wouldn't often re-badge a car for a sale, it'd be from the previous owner wanting to (somewhat unlikely), or that it was replaced at a shop after repair work.

There are millions of cars out there, patience is key, and if your gut isn't telling you to go for it 100%, there's always another car out there. I'd say wait and find something else

 

nice thing about auto trader now is that the dealers can use their accounts to run carfax's free for the internet users. pretty wicked. theres a link on that autotrader page.

im agreeing with zippy more and more... sounds like it was raced/modded and put back to stock for a sale.

its 15995 and 40k on the odo.

 

does it have a clear title? The engine replacement would have me suspicious.

 

There's something weird going on with that car. As mentioned before the ACURA letter are too close together and the CL-S badge is too far to the left, so that's odd. Also it's missing the little vent inserts that go where the 01-02 fog lights would go, don't know what the technical term is. I'd stay away.

 

Judging not only by aesthetic things like a missing engine cover, road lamp inserts and odd trunk badges, but also a rebuilt engine/tranny on a four year old 6speed, i would steer clear of this one just to be safe.

There are other nice 6speed/navis out there.

edit: also looking at the carfax report, it says the 2nd owner put almost 25,000 miles on it in 10 months. seems like a lot imo.

 

sadness. this one got my hopes up. i will get one tho... in time. thanks for the input. i totally missed the trunk badging and fog lights. you guys are sharp!

 

That's what we're here for

Don't get your hopes down though, I've had to turn down what appears to be a dream car, but that's why they only appear that way. Wait until there are no suspicious feelings, you'll be much happier.

 

Something else I missed first time around, it's sitting higher than normal in the front. I doubt the Jap engine is enough lighter to make that happen. Also the fit of the hood to the front bumper looks off.

 

Sitting higher might mean new (oem?) springs up front (they haven't settled yet).

Too many questions with this car... the missing peices here and there is kinda bizarre... and an acura engine shouldn't need replacing with that kind of mileage...

 

Yea I agree with everyone else! Heck if ur looking for a good deal on a CL I would check our private sales forum! I saw a couple in there for a good price!

 

Look a couple of threads up, asking about trade in value. Guy has a 6 speed in the color you want, no nav. Might be just the thing for you.