After reading so many problemed and grieving posts, i decided to share a positive testimonial on my experience with my 2nd gen TL.

I purchased my 2003 TL-S after my 2006 Mini cooper S was flooded (with only 2600 miles).

other cars at home :

2006 Mini Cooper S - flooded and totalled
2005 X5 4.4
2001 e46 M3 (6-speed) - sold
2000 Mitsubishi Galant - considering for sale
1995 Grand Cherokee Limited v8 - sold
1995 Nissan Maxima GLE - stolen, recovered, sold
1995 Acura Integra LS Coupe (5 Speed) - sold
1993 Camry XLE
1986 Acura Integra RS - sold

The TL was found by a friend and needed a bit of work. The car was well maintained and used by a japanese businessman as a company car. The dealer service papers, all keys/remotes and unmarked rims after 92000 miles of driving was testiment to the car's care. It was certainly a hard car to pass up and certainly as proven to be a keeper IMHO. I knew it was a match made in heaven as I saw the car, then waited 10 days while dozens of other people looked at her. Most people lowballed the seller or tried negotiating repair work as part of the deal.

With the additional baby in the family, a larger sedan was definitely a must. I knew the seller to be honest and respectable so i asked him for a price, checked, the car from underneath, and paid what he asked for.

In Sept, I began rebuilding the suspension with new stock shocks and oe bushings (The one in worst condition was the lower ball joint), engine mounts, engine oil/filter, coolant flush, steering fluid, transmission fluid.

In December i started fiddling with the brakes. Upgraded to the 1995 Legend GS dual piston calipers and replaced the brake fluid. A new wood steering wheel was also installed.

While this certainly isnt an M3 or Mini cooper, as it will never be, it has proven thus far to be reliable and a fun to drive as daily commuter with reasonable fuel economy.

The Transmission was driven with care and the engine mechanics runs better than any other car with nearly 100,000 miles on the odometer.

The only thing left to do is to sort out this radio code problem. The mechanic temporarily unplugged the radio while installing the wood steering wheel and inadvertently reset the radio. I have gotten two separate codes from the dealer and have tried disconnecting the antenna wire (after taking apart the center console to pull out the radio) with no luck... I'll have to try another dealer and see if this finially gets sorted. if this is the only thing i have to worry about in this TL... Its trivial.

I am really glad this car has come into the family and expect to get many many more miles out of her. Maybe this is a sign of getting older but modifying her is the last thing I consider doing with her... I just appreciate the ride, power and handling as is. I just dont see many people these days doing the same... but again, to each their own...

 

Nice write-up! For your radio code, it may be written somewhere on your car. Some have found a sticker on the outer wall of the glove box. Open it and check the outer walls on both sides. Some people have found a sticker underneath the fuse box covers inside the engine bay. I think some people have also found them in the trunk area, maybe on the trunk hinge arms or something like that. Good luck.

 

All you need is to remove the radio and get the serial number off the back
The acura can look up the code for you

 

You can also try to remove the Radio fuse for about 10 minutes, put it back in, and then enter the code. So far that's what I've had to do a couple of times, I haven't had to pull the antenna yet. The fuse is located in the passenger-side interior fuse box (to the right of the glove box)

 

SOLD the M3? why would you do a foolish thing like that? haha if i ever get rich enought thats deffinitely the car I will buy.

 

probably the baby?

 

sell the baby

 

Is your transmission covered by the extended warranty? If so, be sure to have it checked out by Acura if it shows any odd behavior before you reach 109,000 miles. That can help you get "out-of-warranty" coverage if it fails after you hit 109,000 miles.

On the radio code problem, perhaps the radio had been replaced and that could explain why the code doesn't work. As 01tl4tl mentioned, get the serial number off the back of the radio and take it to your local Acura dealer.