I am thinking of selling my Legend coupe and buying an 01 CL-S. It has low miles but the warranty is up in less than a year. It currently has never had any service problems or work (or so the owner says).

Do you think buying a used CL-S is worth it with all of these potential problems? Is there any way to ensure that I will not need a new $6500 tranny in one year??

Eric

 

50/50 man, most of all the CLS trannys go so most likely it will also go. If you have the cash for the tranny to be replaced its a hell of a car!! How low of miles are u talkin?

 

unless you find a 6spd

 

isnt the tranny warranty good for longer than the manufacture warranty

 

I had 2 Legend Coupes, an 88 and a 95 before I got my 03 CLS 6speed.
I personally would not get an automatic (01-03) CL or CLS.
get an 03 CLS 6speed MT.

 

definitely get a 6 speed...depending on how much you're looking to spend and mileage you're looking for, I might know where you can find one

 

its worth getting a 03 6spd cl-s. anything else is not worth it

 

For 01-02 and early 03's automatics, the transmission is covered for 109K miles...

https://acurazine.com/forums/automotive-news-6/

 

The trannies are hit or miss. Some people are still on the original, some on on their 3rd or 4th...

When I joined the forum back in 2002, I saw the tranny issue forum, and avoided the possibility of transmission problems all together buy getting a 6spd.

01's maybe cheap, but high mileage 6spds aren't that much more expensive. I'm sure you've learned on acura-legend.com that mileage usually isn't a big deal on acuras, as long as they were maintained...

We don't allow pics in sigs (it unnecessarily clutters up threads), but since you already have the pics hosted on photobucket, it should be easy to post pics using these instructions:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=177755

Also, your link is bad:

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a.../Eric11-05E.jpg

Looks like you cut and pasted it from another VB forum. You need to replace the "..." in the link with the correct text.

 

I somewhat agree what others have said above..but I too bought a used CL-S
(01 Certified) 2 years ago and I have had no problems what so ever with the tranny. It is just luck of the draw. I have put over 40K on my car and no problems to speak off and like stated above tranny is warranty till 109K. Best of luck.

 

i personally would get almost any car in manual.... its just my preference, but those legends are pretty damn nice. i say test drive a 6-speed and get a feel for the car before you decide.

6speed ftw

 

If you were looking for a certain color like me (SGP), you may be stuck with getting an 01. I would get an 03, if only for the 6-speed, though there are some other nice updates over the 01-02.

 

all depends on what kind of a deal your getting. ive always bought high mileage cars with no problems, id rather do that then get a new hyundai or kia for the same price. but when looked at CLs i came across my 01 with 59K miles for $11K, you better beleive i was the first caller on that. transmission was replaced last fall. if something were to happen to this car though, yes i would get an 03 6 speed.

 

Thats wrong. Its way WAY less than 50% of trannies that are bad. I think 15% of all CL's were affected.

Plus if its got under 100K you're golden on getting it replaced. I had mine replaced once and have now put over 100k on the rebuilt transmission with ZERO problems. The auto CL is still a great car.

Dont be scarred off by misinformation.

 

that is subjective...some people like the road lamps and chrome headlights, i have limo tint all the way around and 35 on the windshield, i thought about getting 03 headlights and inserts to compliment the black tint but damn it looks so good with the contrasting chrome headlights and fogs with the black tint when your looking at the car head on (35 on the windshield looks like black glass when you have 5 all the way around). i have SDG by the way. and i think the all red taillights looks better on SDG than if i were to get the 2tone. chrome door handles i could do without but i certainly wouldnt pay to have them changed, that and the grille.

 

I agree with that. I do like the red tail lights on SGP, if I buy one I will have the door handles and grille trim painted. I would even go as far as taking the headlights out and painting them the same color as the car. Oh I can't wait.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone. They were really helpful...unfortunately for me, I drive in the city and don't want a manual.

Is there any way to know from the VIn if the vehicle had the bad tranny?? Probably not.

Eric

 

I have 63K miles on my 01 CLS, and in 6 month my tranny warranty will be finished.
I will need to hope for some kind of mercy from Acura if it goes out after that.

 

Go to an acura dealer with the VIN and have the maintenance debt check history to see if it had the tranny replaced or if the Oil Jet "recall fix" was done...they might look it up if you are lucky.

I bought an 01 CL-S used, still got the original tranny with no problems now at 105k.

 

I wish Acura would give some SOLID numbers about how many cars (%) were affected with the tranny issue. I have an '01 CL-S with no oil jet installed, and no problems at 80,000 miles. But everyday I worry about it ever since it was first reported.

 

You can also change the tranny oil to synthetic and add a tranny cooler. I am not saying this fixes the problem, but it sure doesn't hurt. I did it to both of mine and now 110K miles later between them, so far so good. Just my 2CW.

 

Is your Legend coupe a manual? I am assuming it's not...I had a Legend Coupe 6MT and honestly, city driving with an MT is over-dramatized. In low speeds you just work the pedals, 1/2 and N...not that hard. Some people like the chrome and "fog" lights on the 01. My 01 looked good b/c of the limo tint, black grille I had, and also the black connector hinges between the side mirrors and doors. The chrome of course looks good if you have chrome wheels also. For the 03, 6MT is the biggest plus as they have had virtually NO tranny problems. You can always put the "fog" lights on the 03, the body colored headlights and other pieces look better IMO (at least with stock wheels), the tail lights definitely look better IMO. No you don't get Pimp Daddy Gold which I love, but you also get AGP and Anthracite which are both tight colors. If you can also, in most peoples opinons the black/cf interior looks much better than parchment fauz wood. The parchment has two different tan/brown colors on the dash/doors that looks a bit weird.

Yes you can look by VIN to see if the tranny is still covered under warranty.

 

can someone show me another luxury coupe in the same price range as a used CL that would be considered more "worth it"...........?

 

nice to see A-L members here too CL's are nice cars. a friend of mine has one, 80k its a 02 (still on the original trans). i vote for a 6spd, but i'm kinda partial to 6spd