jencatt

Man. I was all researched out on cars when I found this used Acura TL Type S. Aegean Blue. Spoiler, nice. The guy said he totally stuck to the maintenance schedule and we had a good time test driving it. No squeaks. No problem. Then we put the deposit down and he tells us, by the way, that he had to have the transmission and roters replaced. He said the transmission went out at like 30k (car has 55k) and the roters warped. This is scary for me. I had a 1993 Honda Accord that was like the most reliable car ever. And I bought this car because I figured, stupidly it seems, that HOnda makes reliable cars, so... And it has standard side airbags and ABS brakes. SO, here I was thinking that this car would be safer than my Honda Accord. I am planning on getting pregnant and now I read these stories about going into first on the damn freeway! This is B.S. I think I'll keep this car like a year and sell. I don't know. What do you all think. I feel so STUPID! I could've probably driven my HOnda Accord another 100k and it would've been fine. Flashy exterior messed my judgment up. I think this TL must be one of the bad batch because the original owner did have problems. Let me know what you think.

fsttyms1

dont worry about it too much it will drive you nuts. it will be just fine. oh and only a few have had it drop into 1st on the hwy. 99% of the ones with problems, you could tell before it dies.
hope this doesnt worry you too much. oh and welcome aboard

jencatt

Thanks. Just what the husband told me. :P I'll try not to worry. Apparently, the guy who sold it to us gave Acura a real hard time and demanded the transmission and roters be replaced. He said he never had problems after. We got the car for 17k-good deal. Perfect condition. Let's hope I don't have problems. Let's hope if I do, I can tell before it flips into 1st on the highway. Heck, in LA, it's not often I get to go 80mph on the freeway on the way to work anyhow with the traffic.

Thanks for the advice

Daggra105

hey jencatt,

don't worry about the car! instead, have fun and enjoy driving the car!
my wife drives the tl-s all the time....she loves the car and so will you....
and, try not to read all the threads on this forum....it might scare you...i was terrified when i heard of all the transmission failures.....

jencatt

Thanks! It is a fun car 2 drive. I'm gonna have to chill out or I'm gonna go crazy. I need to sell my little Honda Accord and get over it. It's like breaking up!!! If you know anyone who needs a good deal on a reliable car...

I've got to have faith that this car's problems have been resolved.

Take care all! I'll keep checking for any other advice. Thanks much.

Ken1997TL

Statistically, you are safe. The squeaky wheels get the grease, so when you read about complaints and petitions, keep in mind that those who complain tend to post about it.

There are many many satisfied TL owners out there who have had no problems at all and more of them need to post about NOT having problems to counteract

yield2s

Hey jencatt, we're pratically nieghbors. I'm up in Camarillo,used to commute to santa monica/w.la,currently commute to the Valley and spend half of my free time in Mission Viejo,OC. Anyways I also bought a 02 TL-S but did it back in jan of 03 used w/ 30k on it.
The previous owner had the tranny replaced at 28k(he used to commute from Valencia to Long beach)Well anyways look at my sig. and youll see what kind of luck Ive had w/ my tranny.
I thought that you'd like to know that none of the failures were violent ones, just allofsudden couldnt transfer power to the wheels.
I hope you know that the tranny is covered under a 7/100k warr. but if it fails you are not cover for roadside assistance (but I did get acura to provide that to me as a "favor" at 52k) so AAA is a good investment at this point.
I also came from a 93 accord 5spd w/ 185k miles on it and sold it running perfectly(man i miss that reliable car)
Stay away from Acura of Santa Monica;check your Trans fluid If Its golden brown (like new oil or like beer)take it in to the dealer and tell them its slipping. the fluid should be pink. and try to enjoy this wonderfull,powerful, sporty sedan,that even w/ the known issue is still one of the safest cars on the road. The 4 channel ABS work flawlessly(much needed on the 405)The VSA is forgiveing........hey its late and Im rambling so later and welcome to the board.

hemants

Do NOT worry. I've had my stock rotors and pads on for 50k kms.

WRT the transmission. You can drive with confidence because you have a 7 year 100k transmission warranty. You may just want to ask the seller and/or dealer if there are papers that accompany this because it was something that Acura mailed out to everyone.

itloser

Jen, dont worry too much about the transmission issue. With my car I just got the transmission fixed 2 weeks ago at 41,000 miles. I was able to tell that their was some problems with it (Shifting got rough and delayed). From the way the service tech's talked about it they get it all the time and without a problem they took it in a replaced it.

Also this is not a honda, they give you a nice loaner car while they perform service on your car.

For the rotors, I have 42k on my car and have not had any problems with my brakes, actually about 3 weeks ago I took the wheels off, just to take a look at the breaks to make sure they are ok. After 42k they were only slightly more then halfway down.

The car really is a lot of fun to drive. It does have its occasional here and there issues, but overall its great. Welcome to the board, have fun!!

goldendragon576

yeah, I wouldn't worry too much. As long as they were replaced. If he said there was a tranny and rotor problem and didn't fix it, then I'd worry, but if he got them both replaced, you should be ok. Enjoy the new car and welcome aboard!

stiletto

I had the tranny problem... and the rotor problem... and the sunroof, and the driver's seat, and the seatbelt tensioner, and... and...

All that said and done, though, I have to admit that this vehicle kicksasmuchassasitcankick. Simply put, it rocks!

jencatt

Glad to hear all the positives. I think I'll just try to chill out and enjoy the car.

Those little Honda Accords-there's just nothing like them in reliability...well, my husband has an 88 Toyota Truck with 218k on it. Runs perfect.

Hope this Acura hangs in there for me.

Talk to ya'll later!!!

CU on the highway!!

Jen :P

dark inspire

yeah enjoy the car! my accord has 235k on it, and its still doin alright

Sic TL-S

hey Jencatt,

I've had my TL Type S for little under 2 yrs, and I love it. I haven't had any problems with the car at all. I my opinion, I think you bought a great car. Don't worry about the problems and just have fun driving your TL.

RevinV12s

TL is definately fun car to drive. Although it is my first car i ever drove! Man, Im having hela fun here.
You just bought 260 horses under your foot ma'am!

LiQiCE

One of the fixes to the transmission replacements was a fix that prevents the car from suddenly shifting from 5th gear to 2nd gear at highway speeds. This was definitely one of the most dangerous aspects of driving the TL with the older 2001-2002 trannys .. If yours got replaced it probably got all of the fixes in.

If you're interested, here's a good summary of whats wrong with the tranny, and what Honda has done to fix it...

http://www.acura-cl.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104677

Also, like others have said, don't worry and just enjoy the car! Its a great car, and fun to drive. I hope you enjoy it.

Ruski

I would still sell it when possible and get something else that doesn't have a history of failures.

yield2s

There's only a hand few of Autos that DON'T have a "history of failure" when mated to some power. The one that the GTP has is one of them.

Yaron2

Just Hope Your Lights Don't Get Stolen!!

jencatt

Say what? My lights? Why, do they get stolen a lot? That would suck. I'm a teacher and people actually target our cars while we're in class "Where is the love?"

They must be a lot to replace too.

RevinV12s

Ok, Jencatt. Check this thread out... and be aware of those thieves targeting ur HIDs...

http://www.acura-tl.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84937

garylee55

I agree. I too appreciated the reliability of Hondas, but it just isn't there any more. The real die-hards still love Hondas and say ALL cars 'fail' at some point to justify the tranny issue. With the new Honda reliability, you might as well buy a Chevy or Ford. Surely you heard the massive tranny recall a few months ago on Honda/Acura. Unfortunately it did not include the TL.

LiQiCE

The HID problem is mostly isolated to the East Coast NY/NJ metropolitan area though. People's lights do get stolen in other places, but the biggest amount of theft occurs there.

If you're worried about the lights getting stolen just take a few precautionary steps like putting a shock sensor or an aftermarket alarm on your car. Don't park in isolated areas, try to park where people are constantly around ... back your car into spots instead of pulling in. Or if you pull in, park in a spot where you're so close to whatever is in front of you (like a wall) that its impossible for thieves to get the lights out.

The HIDs being stolen is really not that big of a deal though ... If you spend all day worrying about your car, you might as well just not drive at all. Because you might get into an accident and hurt yourself or others .. And that goes for ANY car! Not trying to make fun of or offend anyone, just trying to be realistic here.

fordysstype

Jencatt:

Acura makes some of the most reliable cars in the world. They did apparently have some issues with the transmissions. Told another TL owner that they extended the warranty on these to 7 years. It sounds like they have resolved the issues on the replacement tranny's.

I have had mine for over a month now and am glad I traded for it. You cant beat all the heated stuff in the wintertime and it rides like a dream. It has got pep and I have really smoked some people with it. You cant beat the car for power.

Like any car it has some glitches, but other cars wont last 200,000 miles like your Acura will. The gas mileage is great as well. I had a Jeep Wrangler before getting this Acura and it had less horsepower and half the fuel efficiency. You did right.

dug-mac

This post is a year and a half old...

dug-mac

This is an old post like I said, but I wonder if Jencat ever did get pregnant, don't you?

sbuswell

wow, digging up the past recently. I have seen a lot of really old threadsa coming back, this one makes no sense at all to be coming back.

dug-mac

Yeah, but I said that about bell bottom jeans and tye dyed shirts and look what happened....................?

Edward'TLS

As for cars, the best you can do is to put on an antique licence plate. They may not even have wheels ten years from now.

t0ast

::does the worm and moonwalks::

actright

she paid 17k for a type S in 04, thats a good deal!

derrick

Closed -- too many PW's around here.