Hey all,

I destroyed my 2000 TL a few weeks ago, and today I bought a 1999 TL in Silver with Navigation, OEM body kit...for $8200. (do you think it's a good price?? It is cosmetically and mechanically in pretty good shape - it needs two tires, one rear control arm and a timing belt - although I probably won't do the timing belt for another 50K.)

While I don't regret the purchase, if there's two things that just bother me a little about having a '99 as opposed to the '00 is the 4-speed tranny and less so, the old-style navigation system. Does anyone have first-hand knowledge about the performance differences between the '99 and the later years in these respects? Even on the test drive I felt it was not as fast as my '00 TL. I miss that 5th gear ...I've heard it simply is not as fast as the '00+ models. But by how much? As for the navigation, I didn't have it in my other TL, so this one seems fine - I'm just curious as to how the DVD version differs in operation/performance. (I must say the graphics look ghetto, esp the climate controls, even if the technology itself is advanced.)

I also have a few questions about getting the car up to speed...

1 - TIRES: what are the best 225/55/16 size all-season tires to throw on the car? I am looking first for quietness, then for performance, though I will not be racing the car anytime soon. I was really close to ordering the Kumho ecsta ASX's, but on Tirerack.com's customer reviews, the Avon Tech M550 A/S, Pirelli PZero Nero M&S, Continental ContiExtremeContact, and Michelin Pilot Sport A/S all got better scores...what do you think? I am slightly sensitive to price, though I will definitely pay for the better tire if the price is not unreasonably higher than the other.

2 - SHOCKS/STRUTS/SPRINGS: I am NEWBIE when it comes to these things. Does the TL have shocks, struts, or BOTH? Are they different words for the same thing? Please help me out here...I'm lacking basic knowledge. I have been Googlin and surfing for almost an hour and no clarity!!
Well, in any case I have read on this forum that it's best to replace these all at once. The ride is a bit bumpy, so true to what people say it seems like time to replace them. Can anyone give a tried and true combination for these parts? I am not looking for a drop or anything. Just better-than-OEM performance and ride.

Thanks for reading this everyone.

 

you can get a DVD navigation unit and it is a direct plug and play for the original hard drive unit that came in your 99. Your car has struts - I would recommend the Tokico Blue struts as a good stock replacement that is still an upgrade because of ride quality and responsiveness. You should feel lucky with the 4 speed, it is plenty fast and much more reliable than the 5 speed - bring it on 5 speed lovers because you know I am right. BTW the climate control graphics are exactly the same...I dont know what you are talking about

102k miles on the original tranny

 

If you need a control arm, I got 2 that are available after i swapped them out for camber kit. PM me and we can work out a good deal

one of them ise brand new and the other was used for 40,000kms.
btw, i have a TL-S, not sure if the 99tl uses the same type of control arms...

 

If you are into modding then you can make the 99 pretty fast. I have a 99 w/123k+ miles on it(original tranny) and have I/H/E/P spacers, grounding kit, iridium plugs and my car smokes stock TL-S's. So if you want speed toss some money into some mods and you will be happy with the power. I agree with ousig on the tokico's, from what I have heard they are great struts and they will be my strut of choice whenever I replace mine.

 

thanks for the input, guys. as for the navi graphics i meant for all 2nd gen navi systems - the climate controls look like icons out of microsoft office clipart

 

99Tl is not as fast as 00+ .. because of the gear radio .. i think 99 are 15.7 and 00+ 15.4 at the 1/4 miles.. but the transmission is more reliable... as for your suspension i know your not planning for a drop .. but H&R Oe spring will give you better handling combined with strut.. this is maybe 1inch drop .. if you whant better handling check for sway bars and great tires too

 

the 4 speeds were LESS likely to have tranny failure also....You can feel good about that

 

Thats odd... I find that my old 99 was plenty fast enough, and I really miss my 4 speed. This new car "searches" for gears. The 99 by far is my favourite TL to drive, because of that. I feel that even though my new type S is faster, it doesn't really matter because I cant effeciently utilize it due to the 5 speed. I wish I could drop in a 4 speed into this type S!

Congrats on your purchase!!! I would definately upgrade to the DVD version of the nav. I believe its just plug and play, and I dont think they are that expensive if you buy them off ebay or somethin.