Hey, I'm a newbie here (as you can tell) and I am VERY interested in purchasing a 2001 3.2CL but I've ran across a very tough crossroad here in purchasing the car, after reading many threads about buying a CL and the 5AT nightmares (and after test driving a 5AT w/ the wacky idling problem, and slow shifting which scared me) I really wonder is it worth it to save $5-6k and a 1000+mile trip or should I really break down and spend the money and take the trip up north to get a 6spd w/ navi?

The 2001 CLS here i'm looking at has 86k miles w/ nav and all those other fully loaded goodies and no problems what so ever when I test drove it.

I am open to many options such as manual tranny swaps, or hell even adding an acura nav to a 6spd w/o it.

thanks for your time! and pre-thanks for all of your opinions!

 

I am selling mine for $14k and commute to Houston.

http://houston.craigslist.org/car/308284516.html

I would definitely go with the 6 speed manual because you do not want to deal with the tranny problems. Let me know if you're interested. Thanks.

Email me at supply@houston.rr.com

 

hi..im pretty new here. got an 03 cls 6m about a month ago. im falling more and more in love with the car everyday. since you already know about the problems with the autos that's a good thing then..you know what you're getting yourself into. the 03s with the manual are not only great whips they're also reliable. ie: no major discrepancies (transmission problems). i'd say get the beatiful and rare manual. that's my opinion.

 

Welcome!!

First off, get the CLS6. Its more fun and no problems with tranny's. I have one and i love the car. Original Nav install on a non factory nav car is a bit tedious. There is a pdf file somewhere that will walk you through it, but you need to run all the wires and all on your own. MT tranny swap is a bit more involved than you think. Needs a whole new wire harness under the dash and they are not cheap if bought new...

 

Manual tranny all the way, don't waste your money and time looking for an automatic

 

I know the hell of a tranny swap (i watched a 6thgen accord AT to MT swap start to finish took a good week of highs and lows), so unless the CL is special, I know what hell i'm getting into.

 

Emailed you back

 

o heck no manual all the way stay away from tranny problems i had two tl's and got rid of them asap each time haha now i got 6spd and im freaking loving the feeling of not being scared from tranny

 

no competition, think of it this way, the money you think you will save by buying an auto will be spent on a transmission so buy the cls6.. cls6 it even sounds right lol

 

I don't disagree about the manual being the first choice, BUT....

Everyone talks like every auto is going to fail, no question. In fact it is only a small percentage that ever have a problem. Plus they are covered for 109,000 miles, which is wayyyyy longer than any 6 spd clutch is going to last.

I would be more concerned about how many miles on the car and its overall condition.

 

I mainly got the CLS because of the 6 speed option. I've actually had 2 6 speeds, a white No-Navi and the current anthracite with Navi.

Unless you just just love to tinker and rebuild cars buy the manual instead of swapping out.

 

I agree with hemhaw. I think it was less than 15% of all CL's were affected by the tranny situation. Mine went out at 70k, I now have 135k and have had 0 problems. Plus if your trans. goes out you can get it replaced for free, even after 100k miles. I wouldnt sweat it if you want an auto.

Manual transmission swap....upwards of $10,000 with no labor. Also very time consuming. Pointless for a CL when you can already buy the 6 speed version.

My advice...get whatever is cheapest when you are ready to buy.

 

Get the 6MT CLS. You'll be a lot happier. A MT swap is a waste of $ & time if you can find a 6MT CLS.

 

that's true, not all auto's have that problem, but you don't know which does and which doesn't.

so to be on the safe side, get the 6-speed...

 

you guys are making it sound like all of the 5at's are complete P.O.S's...yeah, there are problems w/ a select few, but damn....im at 87k on my 01 CL-S 5at and she runs like a champ....good luck w/ your purchase

 

Guys thanks allot, I knew I was due in for a big project with whatever Honda I'd end up getting, truthfully, the only thing I'm scared of is having the AT dying on me and Acura won't replace it, so just to be clear, lets say I get the recall work done, and the work they just did dies after 107K, will they fix it again?

 

Also just my but I have an Anthracite '01 CLS (non-manual, no navi) with over 105K miles with no tranny issues .

 

i have an 01 cls it had the tranny replaced at 80k im at 94k no problems but see the way i see it is if the first last 80k if the second lasts another 50k i think i will have gotten my moneys worth on the car and i can spend about 3k and get a new tranny where i wanted a manual with navi with low miles i would probably have to spend about 20k and what most people dont know or fail to explain is that manual tranny have lot more of required fixing a friend of mine who has a 99 integra just had to rebuild his manual tranny because of horrid gear slippage granted manuals are usually cheaper and easier to repair but the fact is still their no matter which kind you buy their is always the chance something could go wrong

 

That color was only an 03 model year color.

 

They'll fix it until 109,000 miles; probably even longer than that if they just did the work 2,000 miles ago.

As a whole, a small percentage of the cars have had tranny problems. Even if there is a problem, Acura will fix it for free, and give you something to drive in the mean time. Just get what you want: 5AT or 6MT. It's your car to drive everyday.

Me personally, I have an 03 CLS, 5AT, 44,5xx on the original tranny.

 

Awesome, at first I was feeling there was no hope at all for the 5ATs and was pretty much going to give up on em, and yes I've dealt with dealers and recalls before, the current car I'm driving is a '97 Lesabre (i call it the blade), for a while I was going in every month for 6 months getting something replaced because GM sucks @ designing cars (looong story) but it was fun because I got to drive an Impala SS while the blade was in the shop. So if there's one thing I learned from this thread it's get a 6spd if possible (they're too far out of my price range) but 5AT's aren't automatic (haha punny!) doom?

 

guess mine's whichever grey color came for '01

 

How much is the one you're looking at? I agree with a couple of the guys here. I think the Auto gets a bad rep. Some people just don't like driving a stick. If I had to do it all over again and I was staying in NJ, I would buy another Automatic. Stick in the city just won't work for me.

I think it's a solid enough car. Trannies fail with other cars too. If you're not paying a lot for the car, an auto will be fine. IMO, it's better to buy an auto with lower miles, than buy a high mileage 6 speed that will still be about $4K more. Plus, I've seen too many people that can't drive stick grinding gears around here.

Good luck with the new car, whichever one you buy.

 

Exactly.

I forgot to mentiob before I had a 5AT, and the tranny failed at about 45K, and was replaced. I didn't have any further problems with it. I traded it with about 87K.

Try to search for one with lower miles and even if it's a bit more. It will still be less that a higher mileage 6 speed.

 

Auto (w/ nav 88kmiles) 10K, Manual (w/ nav 70k miles) 15K.

 

while I agree that the auto tranny faliure issue may be somewhat issolated, I find it odd that there are always 4-5 failed auto trannys on the floor next to the lifts at the dealer lately. Both in Birimingham and in Baton Rouge. I would be a little concerned.

 

Same here, I really did my HW on this one, but also there CLs for sale w/ 150K miles on the original tranny

 

I guess it just depends on the car that you get (just like any other cars), it's the luck of the draw when you purchase a used one. There are the lucky few (hopefully myself included) that do not experience any issues with their tranny. As I mentioned before, my car is an '01 CLS w/o navi (non-manual, though I wanted one before, but hard to find in my area for at least a decent price!) that I purchased used roughly 3-4 years ago with currently 105K miles w/ no tranny issues. I did get a good price for it though back then at $10K. But anyways, just make sure you throughly check the car out so that you'll be happy with your purchase. All in all, just my ....