Ok! This is my first post. I am confident this is a beaten to death subject, but I wanted to hear from you guru's on what I should bear in mind before I square in the car.
This one has a clean car-fax & auto-check report with around 40k miles on it. Besides the transmission problems on a few vehicles, I only got to read good about this car.
If I am missing anything or if you want to share a thought on what I am getting into I would very much read your valuable inputs on that.

thank you for your time folks!

 

If you can, get a TL-S. Otherwise, go for it

 

Here are some of the standard questions that I asked when I was recently shopping for used cars. (I ended up with a 1999 TL and I love the car.)

- Has the car ever been in an accident?

- Has the car ever had *any* paint or body work done?

- Has the car ever had any mechanical problems?

- Does *everything* work?

If you have problems with smoke, ask if the car was always kept smoke-free.

Is the seller the original owner? One nice thing about buying from the original owner is that they know the entire history of the car.

I was surprised how many times I found out about a signifcant problem with a car by simply asking the right question.

Finally, do you have a reliable mechanic that could inspect the car? (I'm not familiar with "auto-check" but that might be sufficient.)

Good Luck!

Bob

 

i have a 03 Type S and the tranny went at 59k miles, HID went out at 49k miles, 6 cd changer keeps jamming up, and my navi loads real slow or doesnt load at all sometimes, but besides those problems i love my car. the tranny and HID was fixed under warranty, didnt bother to take it in for the cd changer and navi. do ur research and try and get a Type S

 

Every Car has their problems, your main focus should be the transmission basically and on whether you become paranoid about the possibilities of your transmission screwing up on you..Other then that the car drives fine and its comfortable. yeah get the Type S if you can

 

40k is still a long way from reachin 100k..

 

If you can afford it, get the TYPE S TL like other have suggested. If not, get the reular 3.2 TL then cuz its still a great car with good performance. That Type S engine is just a bonus of more Horse Power and better seats inside. Anyways, There are no crazy problems or downsides with the car except for the tranny. Just make sure the tranny is original and find out if regular maint was done to it, oil changes etc and if it ever had any major service done to it an an acura dealer and what not. Also, your tranny on a 03 TL is bound to go at one point or another. Its just a defect in the trannys on that year TL for whatever reason. You need to just be mentally strong that your prepared and ready to deal with the hassel of getting a new tranny eventually when it does go out and even then, the replacement tranny will eventually go also. Some go quicker then others but if you read around about others tranny failures, you will see that even though they got new trannys put in, they all fail at one point or another and some go really quick and soon enough you find yourself putting in yet another tranny within a short period of time. You just need to decide for yourself if you wana deal with that or not. Other then that, your still a far ways away from high mileage so i wouldnt worry about the tranny going anytime soon. Also, its a great car, good features and rides really good. You'll love it but its ur call, you decide for yourself. Hope this helps.

 

Man, this tranny complaint is really de-motivating me. I bought a used Camry at 40k miles and put some 90k miles in 5 years without any complaint and here I read folks replacing their trannies thrice within 100k miles.
As for myself I think I am decided on going for the regular 3.2TL with some 38K miles on it. Buying it from a private seller. I believe I still have warranty through 50k miles and 7yr/100000 miles warranty on the transmission.

Couple of questions gurus:

1. Is there a transfer on the warranty that needs to be done, or can I assume with the title on my name I am good through the regular 4 yrs/50k miles and 7 yrs/100k miles on the transmission part!
2. I am not getting the car checked or inspected, I will have to trust my instincts on this. I am hoping with the 50k miles warranty still pending, if at all there is a mechanical issue I can always take the car to any Acura dealer - Right?
3. Do you folks suggest getting an extended warranty beyond the 50k miles? If Yes, any recommendations?

Thank you so much for your ideas!

 

I have a 2003 Acura Certified Transferrable Warranty Black On Black Type-S For Sale....

It got a brand spanking new tranny about 2 months ago....and did I mention it's certified??

I will take $17,500, 50,600 miles and the car is mint condition and has never been modified.

Warranty is 68k Bumper To Bumper and 100k Drivetrain & Engine.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...RK%3AMEUS%3AIT

Email me at lentz.kyle@gmail.com

 

Any advise folks?

 

Depending on production number, you may not have the 7/100k transmission warranty at all. Later build 03s were supposedly fixed, although we all know better.

There is no transfer needed on either of the warranties, assuming your 03 is one that is covered (unlikely) - post the last 6 digits of your VIN on here and someone can tell you if it is covered or not for 7/100k

Any Acura dealer can do warranty work.

With the TL an extended warranty is not a bad idea. Acura offers one you are still eligible for and that would be my recommendation.

 

Appreciate your suggestions:

* The last digits of the VIN are 060947

* First few of records of the Vehicle as per CarFax (goes like this)

**********************************
01/27/2003

Vehicle serviced
Pre-delivery inspection completed
Wheel locks installed
Sunroof visor installed
Mud flaps/splash guards installed

**
02/01/2003

Vehicle Sold

**

02/08/2003

Vehicle Registered as personal vehicle

*********************************

The rest of the history looks pretty good with timely services consistantly at the dealer but no record of transmission issues. I contacted the dealer and they mentioned that there were no transmission fixes done on this particular vehicle.

I am a little hesitant on taking the extended warranty right away as I am on a little tight on the green....

 

Isn't there anybody who can help a poor guy trying to join the 2nd generation community

 

Your car does not have the official extended 7/100k warranty. The VIN range for the extended transmission warranty on the regular TL ends at 019556 for the regular TL. Your's is well past this.

 

Thank you, that being the case can I assume that for VIN # beyond 019556 the tranny issues have been fixed and I should be all right or do you still suggest I go for an extended warranty?

Any suggestions on the warranties?

 

Based on 03CoupeV6 comments above, it doesn't sound like the transmission problems were resolved in the later production runs:

Later build 03s were supposedly fixed, although we all know better.

How much is the extended warranty and how long is the coverage?

Be aware that a replacement transmission can run in excess of $3,000. My 1999 TL had a new transmission installed right before I purchased it and that was $3,200 through an Acura dealer.

How is the car itself priced relative to the Kelly Blue Book or Edmunds.com estimates?

Bob

 

I am getting the car for a couple of thousands lesser than the kbb value. Its a pretty clean car and has warranty through 50k miles (its got 40k miles on it now). So, any suggestions on the extended warranty?

 

It's good that you're getting the car well below the KBB value. One way to look at that is you can put the savings into a "repair fund" for mechanical problems down the road.

I tried to find some decent threads discussing extended warranites but I got something like 4 million hits in this forum. This is a popular topic here.

But I did stumble across the following thread with some interesting discussions about "non-warranty" 03 TLs.

https://acurazine.com/forums/ramblings-12/life-136136/

Paying extra for an extended warranties is always a bit of a gamble. As a general rule they're a bad deal for the buyer. But they could make sense with a product with a known reliability issue. Some people buy them just for the peace of mind benefit.

In the case of buying a second generation TL, I would feel a lot better if the transmission had warranty coverage. My 1999 TL's replacement transmission has a two year, unlimited mileage warranty and that made me feel much better about buying the car.

Good Luck!

Bob

 

Buy mine!

All serious offers, mods below.

 

If you are really worried about the problems, get an Acura Cert. model and pay the $500 to get the warrenty extended to 100k. I did and am driving worry free for 52,000 more miles. Oh, and get a type-s or always be wanting more... if you are not sure, drive both. I did and did not look back to the TL-P.