I am new to the board and have went through the faq and most of the posts throughout the last 6 months or so and have a couple of questions about the car.

My dealer has both a CL-S and a TL-S both with Navigation which is what I want. i have owned a 3.0 CL before and was quite impressed with the car for the three years we owned it, so on with the questions.

After going to the daler and talking with the same saleman that I delt with before he made the first offer of 1000 off msrp for the Navi blue TL-S, we drove the car and man do I like it, I have been looking at the 330 BMW which is just to much money for a small car, the A6 with the lease specials and LS300, the Acura wins by miles and miles just has everything that I want, so off we go on the test drive, great power great handling little torque steer but nothing excessive, burned the tires on the first turn with a little to much throtle but JD did not mind (JD's my sales guy who drives faster then any man on earth).

So after reading the board here are the big remaining questions,

1. Squeks and Groans, any problems with the 2002 S's. I know the sun roof sqeaks but can i get it fixed before i pick the car up.

2. any trouble with the blue or grey paint, flaking discoloration, I really like the metalic oragne but no dice on the Type-S.

3. Transmission mounts, I drive very hard so if there are I will find them.

4. What verion of the alpine Navi system do the 2002's have.

5. Any other strange wierd troubles, drivetrain loss, tire eating, insurance worries, someone said front light assemblies were being stolen any resolution on the matter.


Any help would be great as I am looking to trade in my beetle in the next week and pick one up.

 

My 02 TLS didn't come with any sunroof squeaks. I believe Acura has fixed this problem by replacing the rubber material in the sunroof.

Not really, or rather, not any more than other colors. I have the silver. The paint is rather thin. You might want to invest in a 3M ScotchCal clear bra to protect the fragile front end.

Don't know.

I believe it's 2.04. A new version is due to come out this month.

Don't know much since my car only has 2700 miles on it. Yes, the HID headlights are hot items on the black market right now. Thefts seem to still be localized to CA, NY and NJ for now, but what goes around comes around.

There aren't any security devices available for the lights that I know of.

Another thing that I got fixed was a misaligned driver's door. It was a quick fix, just a minor adjustment of the striker's distance.

Make sure you check your tire pressure and deflate them to 32 PSI if necessary. TL's come off the trucks with 40 PSI in their tires and some dealers "forget" to deflate them before delivery. 40 PSI makes for a very harsh ride!

Inspect every panel on your car very carefully before taking delivery as people have found dings and scratches every now and then. Get your dealer to fix the problem or refuse delivery of the car.

Also inspect your leather seat bottoms. There has been more than one instance (my car being one of them) where the seats have arrived with a mysterious half-inch cut in the leather, as if it was made with an X-acto knife. (Maybe an Acura test driver has a screwdriver in his back pocket). Do not accept repairs in this case, get them to replace the whole leather cover.

 

You don't have your location in your profile, so I am not sure where you are coming from. What daverman said is great advice. You may want to just take the problems discussed here in with you to the dealer, see which ones they have seen and what they did, and also the ones they haven't seen ask how they would address it.
I was looking at getting a 330i, also. Actually had the money down and was 2 days from picking it up, but... semiconductor industries *ss fell out. Check out the problems they have at www.bimmer.org. Paint, squeaks, water leaking through the drivers door, thermostats going out on the drive home from the dealer, steering is too assisted, ...
Which ever choice you make will be a good one. I doubt you can lose.

 

Don't worry about little squeaks and creeks. Acura will take care of you, should you have any problems. What matters most is how much enjoyment the car brings through the years, and how reliable the car will be over the course of time. All cars have quirks now and then, and you have to realize that the people on this site are very tuned into their cars. We notice everything!

I've had five Acuras and I can tell you that I don't plan on buying anything else. They are such reliable cars and purely suited for driving enthusiasts like myself. As long as Acura keeps improving through the years while I keep making more money, I'll stick with them. The finest all-around automobiles your money can buy.

 

Great thanks for the answers, I went down to the dealer and settled on a Grey TL-S with navi that is coming in at the end of the month, I was hoping to find one before the 15 which would get rid of a payment on my current car because they are doing me a favor taking it off my hand.


The other option is leasing one off the internet. I am looking in to that right now, seems greenlight.com has them listed at 1700$ under msrp right now. Going to look at a few other local places before I settle on the dealership because I tend to really modify my cars and often need a nice relationship with them to smooth over issues.

 

Your trading in a Beetle for a TL-S, what an upgrade. As my kids say "punch buggy, no punch backs", my kids love that game. Anyway, I didnt know the TL-s was availiable with grey exterior, I thought it was only the TL, like I have?

 

Grey exterior with black interior, I love the blue color but it will just not hold up, I live so close to the ocean (1/2 mile) that salt crystal buildup on the paint and will really scratch it even with a big amount of zaino prep. got to wait quite a bit for it and also have to come up with another 750 for the down payment and walkoff stucff but thats real simple I just got to wait a week more then I thought I did.

It is quite a step up in luxury for me but not so much in speed. my beetle was quite fast (turbo 1.8 motor.) In reality its a real big step up as I have been driving my 72 914 for the last few weeks.

Well the lease payments are nothing the residual is nice and the money factor is really cheap. But they showed me the money rating on the RL the money factor is .000014 way way low. You can lease one for something like 450 with 0 down. But not real fun car to drive.