Hey everybody, Im a new member here. I thought I would introduce myself.

Ive been lurking around for a few days because Ive been thinking of buying a used TL Type-S. I found what I think is a pretty good deal on a 2002 Type-S, blue in color, with 89k miles. Asking price is $9990. Kelly blue book lists them at up to $14,300.

I havent seen the car in person yet but the ad has 40 photos at 640x480 and the car looks to be in nice condition. I have to drive 268 miles to go see it tomorrow. I have a check from Capital One that should be here in the morning so once the check comes its time for a road trip!

Here is a pic of the car..



I registered the VIN on Honda owner link and it shows that all of the safety recalls have been fixed. Also it says the transmission warranty is good until 9/27/09. So I basically have 10,000 miles worth of warranty on the tranny. Also the Carfax report came up clean.

Does it seem like a good deal?

I work at Carmax as a production technician. I am used to doing thorough inspections on cars everday so I should be able to spot any deal breakers as long as I can get a good view of the undercarriage.

Wish me luck!

 

wow... sounds pretty cheap. All I have seen around here with that type of miles are about 17-19k

 

Sounds like a good deal. The price is good since it's about 15k from needing spark plugs and a timing belt service. The car looks nice and it appears they have already blacked out and cleared the headlights. If you're in Houston, where is the car if its a 4 hour drive? That black interior is going to be a bitch in Houston, mine's bad enough in Dallas without all the ridiculous humidity, love the car color though.

If he's asking 5k less than estimated book value I'd look pretty close at it though.

 

Looks good, sounds like a deal to me. I paid $10,500 for mine and it was out of warranty on the transmission. Nevertheless though I still had it covered.

 

It looks like somewere in East Texas. Who knows, maybe Central Texas. Regardless, the price is good for what it is. I just acquired a 2000 TL with 89K for 3000. I will put 1500 in it after all said and done. New tires, belt, pump, plugs, etc

 

Im ok with the black interior. I work nights so the car will be garaged in the day while I sleep so it wont be too hot when I get in to leave to go to work. Then I get off work early in the morning between 6am-7am so it wont be hot when I am heading home. Im also going to install a remote start as well so the AC can work for a bit before I get in.

Plus Im coming from a 1995 Civic. The 92-95 Civic AC is under designed. I can leave for work and be semi comfortable because the car is not hot (due to being in the garage all day). By the time I get to work (45 miles away) my back is sweating! My AC is working correctly and charged correctly (I am a mechanic) I have done everything according to the Honda factory service manual. It just doesnt have the capacity I need. The TL A/C has got to be better than my Civic. This is one of the reasons I went searching for another car to begin with.

If you are in Dallas, the car is not far from you, in Arlington. Maybe I will stop in on the way back for a beer to celebrate,

It also works out that I am a mechanic so the timing belt, water pump and tune up items wont cost an arm and a leg.

I plan to go over it with a fine tooth comb before signing the check over. Thats what I do at Carmax. I check the vehicles over to make sure everything works, nothing is broken, no frame damage or flood damage, etc.. All I need to do is be able to get the car on a lift. If I have to, I will take it to an Acura dealer, theres one I-20 that is about 10 miles away from where the car is.

Thanks for the comments!

 

OK, I live about 20 minutes from Arlington. The dealer you are speaking of is either Goodson or Vandegriff, both good dealers, not where I take mine, but still good places. The A/C in both TLs I've had have been awesome, and I'm a big fan of black interior(3 cars in a row) so good A/C is a must. Hit me up when you're in town if you want to have a beer and shoot the shit for a little while. My number is 817-791-2133, name is Andrew.

 

Well, the good thing is that whoever you have agreed to purchase from has already pulled it off the lot for you. I have checked Vandergriff's and Goodson's inventory and it is not to be found. Dont worry, Im not in a market for another TL. Just astonished to see that deal!

 

Good luck man! Hope the car works out if you get it. Wish I could've gotten mine that cheap. Cool that your a mech too and can do all the work on it yourself as well. Must save you lots of dough.

 

No the car is not at the Acura dealer I was talking about taking it there to get it up on a lift so I can look at the undercarriage to check for frame damage. The car is about 10 miles away from Vandergriff Acura.

It helps!

 

Its good to know the AC works good since thats my main motivation for buying an additional vehicle, hehe

Im not sure how much time I will have while Im in the DFW area because I have to work tonight. (I work nights Monday through Thursday) I told my boss last night that I was going to Arlington today and he said "haha you are going to be late"

The fedex tracking number for my loan check says "by 10:30". So if we leave at 10:30 that should put us there hopefully by 3pm. Then an hour or two jacking with the dealer and such. I hope to be back on the road by 5pm. Im supposed to be at work at 7pm but I know its not going to happen. If I get there by 10pm I will be happy and wont miss too much.

If the check gets here earlier then thats gravy.. I wish I didnt have to work tonight. Then I could hang out there and you could give me some "TL veteran" advice and we could have a few beers. I could stay the night with my best friend from high school for the night. He lives in Keller not too far from there either.

I could just tell my boss I got held up there and he would be cool with it, but we have a couple guys out this week and Im too much of a team player to leave everyone hanging. I cant miss too much work anyways though because Im going to have a car payment again now,

Anyways Im rambling on and that damn check needs to get here ASAP

 

good price n good luck .

 

sounds like a good deal. nice color on the car too.

 

Damn thats a good deal!

 

Haha, Keller is like right down the street practically, small world... Good luck with the car, hope it all goes/went well. And definitely good luck on getting back to work on time.

 

Nice look'in car , but that price bothers me. Why so cheep. Check that car out six ways from Sunday . And check the owner out as much as possible , does he have clear title . are there any leans.

 

Not to be a dick, but some things I have to correct. It's liens, not leans, I know it sounds the same, but some mispellings drive me nuts.

 

Why do you say there is only 10K miles left on the tranny warranty?

I thought tranny warranty went to at least 109K if not ~115K b/c of the odometer readings.

 

The transmission warrant was extended to 109000 miles or 7 years, from the original date of purchase.

 

^Yeah that original date of purchase catches a lot of people off guard. Some people see a 2002 and assume the warranty goes through 2009. I think mine was purchased at the end of 2001 originally, my 99 TL was first purchased in 98.

 

Well folks, the old adage is correct once again!

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is..

I wasted an entire day driving to and from Arlington. That car is in horrible condition. I learned a big lesson about shopping out of town. If its too far dont bother.

I wont get into all the specifics, but the main attraction to that three ring circus is that the core support is crushed BAD, REALLY BAD. You cant tell by looking at the car, but it is a wrecked car. The title should be branded salvage in my opinion. Im sure it is repairable. You would have to drill out a bunch of spot welds to remove the old core support and then weld in a new core support then paint it to match. I will pass....

So I am back to the drawing board. I have a good prospect lined up.

2003 Acura TL Type-S
Black exterior
Black leather interior
59k miles
Trunk spoiler
No ground effects
$15,995



I think I would rather have Black anyway. Also, this one is 10 minutes from my work so no more wasted days of driving. Its more than I wanted to spend, but if after yesterday's fiasco Im thinking I may need to pony up more cash to get one in the condition that I expect.

 

Now that car looks real familiar , same as before , check it out thoroughly , if it's a go , good luck .

 

That sucks that you had to waste a day dicking around with this, but that's a nice second choice. I've been thinking that I may trade mine in or sell it and get a black on black TL-S, with a black grill and blacked out headlights they just look mean. A silver car just can't be that imposing.

 

Im surprised people would have the nerve to have somebody drive from Houston, only to hide vehicle condition until they get there. I would be more upset about the information withheld until you were there.

 

Man that sucks. I'm gonna stick with buying car direct from the dealer's lot rather than going to some used car place and dealing with ppl who are shady like that. CPO is well worth the extra cash IMO. G/L man, hope this one works out for ya

 

Lets see at 89,000 what is lurking around the corner.
You mentioned nothing about any Maintenance records????????? on the car.
Hopefully this owner has some. When I bought my used 99 the owner had every receipt/record/of what was done to the car while he owned it. VERY meticulous owner! I knew there would be no problems and after putting on 45,000 miles on it=no surprises.
What's coming up:

Replace timing belt/water pump. V belt = 600-1000$
Plugs=$70.00

Brakes etc. I'd look it over and weight what all needs to be done.
Some peole run a car with no maintenance till it time to dump it. Buyer beware!
Good LUCK!

 

Im pretty well versed in used car inspections, haha.

I work for Carmax. I inspect used cars for a living. I know what to look for.

Anyways, the 58k one was ok but it had some minor issues that the seller was not willing to negotiate on.

One of the headlamps was cracked and moisture got inside, one of the fog lamps was cracked, the plastic cover that goes across the core support covering the radiator was cracked, the splash shield under the front bumper was missing clips and started dragging on the concrete during my test drive (it was all melted do to the scraping on the road), the rubber seal near the firewall (where the hood meets the body when closed) was ripped in one spot and hanging off a little, The tires (although they were brand new & correct size) were the wrong load and speed rating (they were 90H & Honda specifies 93V)... I may have missed something.

The issues that the car had that they were willing to address were: Courtesy lamp lens on driver door was missing, Brakes were pulsating (pads were good, just needed to resurface rotors, wiper blades were torn, loose bolts on driver side hood hinge (hood had been repainted)

Interior was perfect in every way (except the lense on the driver door), Exterior has some mior scratches consistent with age, There were hips in the paint on driver door edge from opening door into other cars.

I originally set out to get a TL-S because I found a good deal on the first one. I got set on finding another one and raised my price I was willing to pay to 16k. I looked at a 16K one and it did not meet my expectations.

We have a couple in the Carmax inventory that will be nice and my employee discount will get me close to the price I can afford. There are 2 silver TL-S's at the Vegas store, silver with black leather. But I have to pay $600 to transfer one of them to Houston and that adds an additional cost to an already tight budget.

So after some deliberation and a lot of shopping and driving around, I have decided that a TL-S is not going to be in my driveway. There are a couple in the Carmax inventory in Houston I could get, but they have tan interior and I just wanted black interior.

Sorry guys, lol I didnt mean to tease. It just didnt work out for me. Im a Honda fan first and foremost so my only other option is the Accord. I dont like the ac/radio setup on the newer Accords because I was planning to install a VGA touchscreen for a car computer setup. So I will be shopping for a 98-02 Accord V6. I hope to find an EX V6 black with grey interior.

Anyways, good luck with your TL's guys and know that I am jealous of you. I may still browse the forum here though because I may be needing some TL parts in case I decide to do a motor swap into the Accord

 

Hey everybody. I just wanted to say thanks for the warm welcomes before. I didnt end up getting a TL but I did get an 2002 Accord V6. Its not quite a TL but close enough and its a clean ride inside and out. I got it for $3200 below Blue Book (benefit of working at Carmax, hehe)









I will still browse in here from time to time since at some point my plan is to upgrade the Accord with some TL parts. Im sort of way ahead of myself but looking at this thread:
http://www./forums/showpost.php?p=680791&postcount=29

I think I may be in the market for a 02 Odyssey block, 05 RL pistons, and TL-S/CL-S heads. It sounds like a nice sleeper could be had for minimal work. I would just need to find someone who could beef up my tranny. The 6 speed CL-S tranny is supposed to fit but Im getting lazy as I get older and I think I will opt to keep the auto.

 

Looks pretty clean, congrats!

 

Great pick! I've always liked that generation of Accords. Great car and lots of power for what it is. Good luck!