My beloved 2001 NBP CLS has 98xxx on the clock and the thought has been crossing my mind occasionally as the clock approaches 100K. It looks good for it's age inside and out (because I baby it), runs just like it supposed to and has never seen the inside of a shop that wasn't an Acura dealership.

Oh, also I've been car note free for well over 2 years now.

So, what do you think?

 

i think you're still under warranty plus you can't beat being car note free.

 

keep it man,1st+2nd gen cl's are quality except our trannies but car market is bad lately so you'll just end up losing money and probably with a worse car unless you wanna go new nd finance

 

well said

 

trade it for a 6 spd

 

I voted to get something else, but if you've got enough saved to cover a tranny replacement if needed, you might want to stay out of car payments for a while...

 

nothing like a car that is paid for cost of routine maint on a car < than new car payment.

 

same, same, same. ...but seriously consider the tranny problems. It doesnt sound like you've gone through that hair pulling hell yet but yet hasnt finished until the car is no longer yours. Factor into your decision the cost of such a job. I cant give you the numbers for said cost bcs I have a sixer . I had a 00TL but that tranny was warrantied. But for a low estimate, I bet the cost is probably over 3k. I dont know what the ratio is for bad trannies to good trannies, but I bet its against you(if u searched the site its probably here somewhere). Look, you're getting up there in miles, and a tranny stutter could be approaching. So I say this: Just based on a conservative guess at the tranny failure ratio, you should sell it while its still in good condition. Once the tranny even starts to go itll make it near impossible to get rid of; that stutter is painfully noticable, especially to a tire-kicking used-car buyer. Plus, most people research every thing they buy now. They'd probably find something on the tranny problem if they looked. So basically, unless you have reason to believe your tranny is one of the seemingly few that wont eventually kill it self, or you will be able fork out at least 3K on a new tranny (do the swap if it happens), then get rid of it while its still worth buying. ...unless of course you cant afford to get anything suitable based on the Kbb value- a few hundred + plus what ever you have in cash combined with your financing abilities/desires.

 

The tranny is my only concern. I did get the "oil jet" put on it a while ago for the recall. I am thinking that should take care of any pending issues. Anywho, I'm leaning towards keeping because beside the tranny taking a crap (which might not happen) I don't see any other compelling reasons to get rid of it. I'll have to search all of the threads again in the recall section and figure my odds.

 

i can't vote man if i were you and cud afford it i wud get an 08TL-S 6MT....but other than that keep it...i see no other car worth really buying.

 

IMO you should go to Acura and ask them to check the tranny, might get a new one free. Do a 100k service and boom! You got a great car that will last a long time, I've seen CLs that have up to 200k+ miles on them still running strong.

 

You know, that is a good idea. That's exactly what I'm gonna do. Thanks. I'll even have them put it in writing that they checked it at 100K.

 

Yup, if they have it documented that you complained about it, Acura will most likely goodwill it if it goes out after the warranty is up.

 

yeah, I had my transmission fluid changed by dealer every 20-30K miles. So all the records are there. I only have 66K miles on my 2001 CLS, and warranty will be running out soon. So last time I complained about harsh shifts, which of course they could not reproduce. But the complaint is in the invoice, so when it does fail after warranty - I will really b*tch about it to the customer service telling them that I had a problem but they did not see it.
Anyway, after you fail in getting a free replacement transmission, I think you can get some kind of a deal, and only pay for labor or something like that. All things considered, its not too bad to pay 3K for a new transmission and keeping the car another 5-6 years, otherwise you gonna get yourself monthly payments again for 4 years (hate that!).

Transmission is the only weak component in this car, otherwise its rock solid. So if you get a new re-designed transmission I don't think you will have to worry about it failing ever again.

 

I had my trans go in my 97 3.0, and still bought an 01 (with a new trans) because for the money you can't touch a CLS.

I would not think of selling one I know the history of, that has had no issues and still has a warranty.

For peace of mind why not take it to the dealer and say you think it showed a symptom and have the trans checked out?