sab4you

I am definately needing a new car, as mine is starting to be an old POS.

Its an old DSM, and for those who know, they have nice tranny problems.

I cam here to kinda check out the CL boards, but I was suprised to find many threads about bad trannies here as well

But, I didnt seem to get much detail as to what tranny is breaking - just people say 'another tranny broke'. So is it the manual or automatic tranny that is giving all these acura owners trouble.

If I do go the CL-S route, it will probably be the early 2001 models or so.

I know they are pritty peppy as is, but I was curious also to what mods there may be out there? I dont want a loud exhaust and pullies never interested me. Besides an intake, what other easy bolt on stuff may be out there?

jimcol711

as far as trannsmissions go, they seem to fail quite a bit...but acura has given ever 2001-2002 CL owner and some 2003 CL owners a free extended transmission warranty (100k/7 years) so at least we are covered till then....the fact is though that more and more are failing and it doesnt seem to matter how you drive the car, what mods you have, etc...they just were poorly engineered. the 6 speed is entirely different and so far no one has reported failures.

as far as mods go...besides intake....one word HEADERS!!!

25-30 whp for 350 bucks (OBX price....if you want comptech or if you go with the 6 speed, expect to pay 1000 for headers)

dbox

cl is a bad ass ride but i wouldnt get it due to resale and the tranny issues. i tried to trade my in at the dealer i got it from and they didnt want it! the salesman even said''naw man we dont need any cl-s they have bad tranny issues and EVERYBODY knows now'' the would have taken my car but they were giving me SHIT for it. the fucking tranny ruins the whole fucking car!!!!! gdamn acura fucking sux for not fixing that shit once and for all. i love honda/acura but his has put a bad taste in my mouth.

BC

Welcome to this BB. You have about two and a half years of info to peruse, type mods, headers, sways, or whatever you are interested in on the search button. Prepare to be overwhelmed! My tranny has been good except for a bit abrupt shift into reverse. 11K miles on my 2001. I'd guess that most of the autos will go the distance, but the percentage of broken ones is large enough to be concerned. Factory extented warranty is a large relief. Some of the people expected perfection for $30K and it just ain't going to happen. Otherwise there wouldn't be any Benz or Rolls service departments. Geez, I had to replace two bearings in my 3 yr. old Maytag washer, now there's a crime if I ever saw one. . Anyways, welcome and good luck. Siezeya.

zeroday

maybe a dumb question but exactly what does DSM stand for? I assume its a mistu eclipse or something?

Shawn S

sab4you,

And as you’ll see the people with problems are MUCH more vocal then the ones who have a smooth running car.
For every person bitching about a dead tranny there are probably 100 owners who love their trouble free car.

Shawn S

sab4you

DSM=Diamond Star Motors

It was a joint venture that created the Eclipse, Talon and Laser

Fast, easy to mod and fun little cars - the turbo ones at least

Except mine is definately showing its age, and am kinda looking for similar performance but definately a nicer/luxury ride now...

Smitty

Tranny problems are with the Automatics, if anyone did not tell you...

Smitty

Pappy

I have to agree. I own a 2003 (auto) CLS and a TLS. I have had no problems to date and no complaints.

sab4you

Cool, thanks - who wants an automatic anyways j/k

JasonT

Yes the resale sucks, & so do the auto trannies. However, My 2002 with almost 15K miles hasn't had a problem, & is leased, so I can care less about resale. The 6 speed hasn't had an issue, & don't expect it to.

russianDude

I got 23K miles, tranny is fine. So far I had only minor problems ( but a lot of them ).

If you plan to keep this car for a long time I don't recommend it, I seriously start doubting quality of this product...
If you just want comfort, looks and performance -- its a great car!

But if you plan to drive it till 200K miles, I would not recommend it....

Honda of America is really hurting... they got to step up in quality. People look down on Honda these days, and instead go with competitors like Nissan or Toyota

Water-S

to sab4you:my dad works for Honda of America(where they make the motors)(he occassionally runs over to where they build the transmissions cause he a few friends over there) but they redesigned(Automatics) Trannys for '03.(he asked them if they redesigned the trannys for 03 and they said yeah and the trannys that were toasted they replace with 03s)
because the design of the 01 and 02 was engineering flaw.
If you go with the 6-speed I haven't heard of anyone having trouble with them(knock on wood) either way your getting a hell of a ride man. good luck

JokerABC

ok so if they are not replacing toasted trannies with updated ones, they will soon be doing that in a few months, right? maybe then we don't have to worry once we get the update (if the original fails in the first place). i have 53,000 miles and have a smooth shifting tranny.

JasonT

I know some 03 TL-S's have tranny issues. There a few on the TL board.

Eggplant-EX

IMHO

I have a 2001 CL-S with Nav. I would not buy the car if I had to do it over again...

1. Annoying having to wonder if and when my tranny will go
2. Acura service is far from acceptable when it come to warranty work.

sidemarker

I LOVE MY CL-S

sidemarker

mattg

i have 27,000 mi. on my car and no tranny problems. and thats with approx 100 runs down the dragstrip. i have had some other small issues but they were taken care of under warranty. all in all i'm happy w/ the car.

my dealer does a good job too, although i had to switch from one to another. acura of portland is very mod friendly.

Dacat

sab4you, even though my tranny went out, I still love my CL-S. They replaced the tranny in two days. So out of the 49,000 miles and 2+ years I've had it, the car was unavailable for perhaps one week (adding up all the service stops as well). That to me is well worth it. And with the new warranty, I can drive it to 100k before thinking about trading it in. I agree, resale will be pretty bad, but so what?

Johnny Rad

Just got my '01 CLS one month ago and love it! For the price, there's not a single car out there I'm envious of ... and I'm a huge car nut. If it's under warranty, your waller is pretty well protected. Go for it!

Kkranghkar

O M G

Red Rider

Like many said,my car is great and i would highly recommend it. People with problems will always be more vocal. Good luck.

chatapuggy1

Took over a lease from a buddy of mine for only 50$ last year, got 23K on it, baby it as best as I can, sits in my garage most of the time thesedays due to the fact I commute too damn far to work, drive a beater to rack the miles on, plus my divorce goes final in Mar 03, so I want to get rid of it in the next couple of months, save what cash I have left! Shoot me a PM if your interested, I just want to pay off the lease, not trying to make any extra cash. Its a real looker here in LA, I get complements all the time especially on the color.

Its classy enough to get looks and compliments from the older crowd, and yet turns heads with the young. Great car, haven't had a single problem. Not even the tranny, and I sport shift all the time.

nate'sCLS

With the Autos-- The harder you drive them, the longer they last

You just got to get out and "bust it" like every day in it

CLSter

Take a look at the December 2002 Kiplingers, the resale value isn't all that terrible (if you are buying the car used that is actually a good thing, right?). Consumer Reports still lists this car as better than average in reliabilty.

russianDude

Hell yeah, it's better than fuking Ford or GM products, so surely it's better than average. But is that the average where Acura wants to be?

CLSter

There is too much bitching on this web forum. I swear many of the people sound like old grandmas with their achy backs, bad knees, bad indigestion etc etc... This car is better than any American car. The transmission problem is really the only major consistent problem yet it does NOT affect everyone.