heymista

I have been reading this board for several months, and I bought my Diamond White TLS about 1 month ago. After 1 month of driving (1200 miles), I have not noticed any quality issues to speak of. I have heard that the paint was a problem with the 2000 models and there probably is some merit to this complaint, but many of these other items seem petty. I found the paint job to be better than any car I drove with the sole exception of a few german models. Did you guys look at the Chrysler 300M? That car stickers for 34k, and it has the worst paint and build quality I have seen. The Passat which offered a 12 year corosion warranty was the only vehicle remotely in the price range that had a better paint job, and I eliminated VW for other quality issues involving reliability and questionable dealer service. There is a reason VW only offers a 2/24 b2b warranty. The electrical issues with most german cars are expensive to fix and frequent.

I drove a 95 Avalon with wind noise so bad I found myself yelling when trying to have a conversation at 70mph. I drove a 99 Lexus LS 400 for a few weeks which is supposed to be the quietest cabin money can buy, but when it's quiet you hear wind noise above 60 mph. The plastic on the instrument cluster is comparable with the Lexus as well. Soft leather happens to be a sign of quality as well. The fake wood trim is not good quality in the TLS, but are there really any competitors using real wood for under 45K? There may be a couple, but they probably cut corners elsewhere.

My Toyota was very unreliable when the warranty expired and I spent thousands keeping that car running. I switched to Honda/Acura mainly for this reason. I know some of you have had a few serious problems with your Acuras, but I would wager they are few and far between with a much better percentage compared to other vehicles. I read on several message boards about people who had the same mechanical failures on the Toyota Avalon that I experienced, and Toyota did nothing. BTW, my Avalon never got more than 21mpg even on the hwy with a measley 200hp engine. I never got more than 18 in the city. I have been getting between 20 and 26 mpg since my first couple of tanks.

I feel I bought a vehicle for 31k that nothing can touch in this price range as far as performance, quality, value, and reliability. Lighten up and enjoy the ride! For those who have had serious issues, I truly know what you are going through and I wish you luck.

SoundSpeed

Very well said.

CarFreak

soooooooooooo TRUE

Bitium

Very, Very well said.

My 99' TL has had many problems, but I expected to have problems with the way I drive every day.

rockinTLS

Very well put!

RedLined

I wish I could agree with you. My 2 1/2 month old TLS w/ 9500 miles on it is in the shop probably for a new transmission. That doesn't seem very reliable to me. Also, the 98 Accord EX V6 I had prior to my TLS had a oil leak at 30000 miles and the same squeaky, rattling sunroof problem my TLS has. Oh, and the 90 Integra GS I had, it's fuel injectors went bad at 27000 miles. But I just love the way Hondas and Acuras drive and feel so I'm not ready to give up yet.

ucla107

I think your forum name says it all... you musta redlined the carz a little too much lol.... is that true? be glad u dont drive an american car if so =) hehehe

RedLined

Funny thing is that my American car, a 2000 Chevy Tahoe w/ 27000 miles, is as tight as a drum and has had zero problems. I don't know how long it will stay that way but it's already outdone the TL-S.

Acuraboy

I'm just curious, but with your nickname being "Redlined", is that any indication how you normally drive your car? You either have some really bad luck or you drive the piss out of your cars or a combination of the two. The Integra is possibly the most reliable car our there and you managed to have bad fuel injectors at 27000 miles? I would "redline" my old GS-R maybe a few times a week and I never had a thing go wrong for 100000 miles.

heymista

Redline, you have got to be kidding regarding the tahoe. We had a 96 GMC Yukon which is the same as the Tahoe. It was the biggest piece of junk I ever owned. Not only was it in the shop monthly, but there were so many trucks in the service department that they rarely looked at my car the first day. Good luck with that one! I'm sorry you had a serious problem with your TLS, but the service department at my Acura dealer is empty.

BarryH

As for Redline's transmission... Hey, it happens. Honda isn't building mission critical components for the space program they're building cars. In either the Honda or third party production processes occasionally a defect gets through. Between this forum and CL forum there's been some transmission issues reported but not what I'd consider an epidemic. On the CL forum, most of the people with transmission problems have either modified their cars or, by their own admission, drive them really hard. I agree the transmission in a new car shouldn't go south and I feel badly for Redline, but unless the number of problems goes way up I still think it belongs in the "isolated incident" category. I have an MDX and TL-S and haven't had a single problem with either one.

oracion

Ditto. For that price and the features included, I don't think you can find another car.

The base price of the new baby Jag (S-type?) is just under 30K, but every good feature is an option.

Guest

And it is a FORD so problems will abound I am sure.

Xorg

My "complaints" about the TLS are all very minor, they're mainly small items that would the car an "11" on a scale of 1-10 :-)

I just flipped 3,000 on mine and its by far one of the smoothest and quietest rides I've owned.

In regards to quality, the only other car I've owned that comes close to the TLS (so far) is my Saab 9-3 - that car has 30,000+ on it and still looks and rides like new. Only defect is a heat control knob that snapped once and was quickly replaced under warranty.

In regards to American makes, my Jeep Grand Cherokee was a joke. Every 2-3 months it was back in the shop having something fixed or replaced under warranty - including the entire rear axle assembly TWICE and the rear latch FOUR TIMEs. Most of these defects cropped up under 20,000 miles.

RedLined

Well, as far as the Tahoe goes, 2000 was the first year for the new design for which Chevy claims they made 1000s of improvements to reduces creaks and rattles and improve the stiffness of the body. Also, the sunroof doesn't rattle like the one in my TL-S or my 98 Accord EX V6. Whatever they did it, seems to have worked. I've been in many older Tahoes and Suburbans, and even when new they seemed like sh** to me so I'd agree w/ you there. The only things I've serviced it for has been regular maintenance and they're always able to do it the first day. For the Acura on the other hand, it's usually 3 days before they can take it. I don't know if they're short handed or what but they never have a shortage of Acuras to work on.

Now, as far as my name, RedLined, that's just something I picked. I think I drive fairly agressively but if it's any indication, I've averaged 26 mpg over the entire 9500 miles on my car, getting up to 33 mpg hwy and now worse than 22 around town. That's w/ about 30-40% in-town driving. I think that indicates I'm definitely not ragging it out. I guess I'm just the lucky one that gets the faulty Acuras and Hondas, but I'm beginning to wonder.

heymista

Redlined, My 96' Yukon was the newest latest greatest model also. I bought into the GM hype too. I'm curious if you will be singing the same tune 3 years from now. It's a bit early to judge a 2000 model. Many friends have bought the "new redesigned" tahoe/yukon/suburbans and I'm not the least impressed. Good luck.