07 RL Purchase need advice ASAP please
 

Good afternoon all!
I'm an 06 TL owner and veteran and have been looking to add an RL. I recently came across an 07 TL Tech locally that is a two owner with 102K on the clock and in good shape!
The carfax on it is great with all scheduled maintainance performed by Acura dealerships. All oil changes, timing belt, H20 pump done right on schedule. The rear diff
fluid has been changed 5 times as well which is great too. The only thing I'm assuming not done is tranny and transfer fluid exchange as that does not appear anywhere
on the list. My question for you RL vets is do I need to be concerned about the tranny without preventative fluid swaps? Wasn't looking to take on a transmission headache as I did with my TL.
Any other concerns I should be aware of?
Thanks in advance for your expertise - always much appreciated!!

Thanks rlerman have an extended test drive tomorrow. Are the RLs expected to be solid beyond 100k?

Very much so. And if you feel slips, lags, hiccups, etc. you can surely assume that it is not normal and need to be checked before buying.

check mounts
 

Check all the Motor mounts, and the transmission mounts. They take a beating by 100K.
And PCV valve.

Thanks for all of the input everyone! Took an extended test drive today - my first RL drive!! Really like the solid feeling of the car, and the sure-footed feel on the highway is really amazing!
Ride quality seemed good.....pretty sure some new dampers would be in order though to freshen things up. I noticed the message icon on the Nav display so clicked there and saw two new
errors for both the ABS system and also the TCS system stating both were working improperly :bawling:
The brakes did feel odd/somewhat soft to me which I'm sure isn't right. My TL brakes are quite good and I'd expect the same from the RL.
Tranny shifted smoothly, but I noticed a consistent whine from it at low speeds once the car warmed up. Not sure what the deal is there, but it seemed odd.
This is an independant non-Acura used dealership, so I'm certain they have no idea what the deal is on any of these issues.
The ABS TCS thing concerns me most. One tire was slightly under pressure, but I don't think that would be sufficient to cause a system fault.
Anyone have any experience with these errors?
Holding off on the purchase until I know what I'm getting into......
Thanks again!!

I would take an OBDII scanner and go for another drive. Also, be sure to reset the ECU before going on the drive to actually get a full feel for the cars acceleration and feel.
Brakes could be simply on their way out and not properly bedded. The brakes on the RL are brembos if I'm not mistaken, so stopping should be considerably better than a base model (not sure if you have an -S or not).

The whine again could be a bunch of things. IF your serious about the car, you need to do a bit more research, at least that's what I would do for peace of mind and before dropping a few thousand

Would love to bring a scanner along but I don't own one unfortunately. I may try to get it to my local mechanic and see if he can check it for me.
Yes the RL is Brembo, which my TL base is not so I was expecting better in the braking department. They are looking for just over 8K on the RL so
not jumping anywhere without knowing the full deal :blink:

The lights can be for other reasons not necessarily something actually bad with those systems. They go off for low battery, bad sensors, or gremlins. It's possible no one's changed the brake fluid, or its possible low level.

Also, are these only in the message folder, or do they light up on the dashboard?

About the whine, are you sure its the tranny? A whine can be a number of things, but i've read on here it can be the tranny but it's a small piece, getting to it costs - if my memory serves right.

So you noticed the ride difference? :)

Since you still own a TL, I won't comment on TLs, or their drivers.... for now :D

Thanks for the input - will investigate with a scanner and see where things go. The messages appeared in the message screen only and not on dash. The odd thing though is when I pushed the on dash buttons for TCS and ABS off position,
no confirmation lights appeared on the dash as they do on all other Acuras in my experience. This seemed strange. As for my TL - it will always be a keeper and remains my all around favorite so far :toocool: It's pretty tough to beat!

ha ha

well first for the lights, if they are not lighting and going yellow, then yea something off is there. They are supposed to be always off, which means the system is on, and when you press the button for a cpl of seconds, it turns that option off and it lights up in yellow to tell you that is currently off.

Oh I'm sure the TL is excellent in it's own right. I was merely speaking of experience with some resident TL drivers on here who tend to be more 'sore losers' than not; present company was excluded :thumbsup:


I say dig deeper before pulling any triggers.

Yea it's a typo.

I would take the car to a trusted mechanic to do the full exam of it ... have them look at it, pay diagnostic fee of $100 as it may save you thousands.
I personally do not like buying cars that have active warning lights like ABS, TCS, etc.

Sorry for the earlier typo - yes car was 2007 RL. TCS is traction control on/off button. I decided to pass on this entirely as the whole thing seemed just too "off" for me and I refuse to get involved in another rescue case. Too bad as the car was in great shape and had an excellent carfax/maintanance history. If the price was insanely low I might have thought about taking it on, but definitely not at $8,500.00. Thanks everyone for helping steer me in the right direction here - much appreciated!

07 rl tech - pax!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

You all missed the big $$ expense....getting rid of Michelin run flat PAX tires that were standard on the RL Tech............... new tires and wheels - $2000.00........ahhhhhhhhhhhh

07 Tech does not have PAX, its equivalent of a standard 05-06 RL. Its the CMBS/PAX package that has the PAX tires.

Yup, my 06 RL has the PAX and CMBS.

This never happened to me, but good to know. Thanks for sharing.

I am glad they removed that run-flat tires options as on the 09.