I will be in the market the next couple of months for a new car, and was considering getting a 2002 TLS. However, being new to these borads, I began reading about the prevalent problems of the tyranny and am starting to rethink my potential decision. Any opinions? Or I was thinking about just getting a 1999 TL, and put on the 2003 tail lights and the type s wheels, due to my preference for that look. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for any information you can provide me.

 

Well, it's not really a risk. There have been problems with some trannies.... probably nearing 4-5% now... but every car has its problems. With the Acura, you're covered with a 7yr./100k mile powertrain warranty in case anything does happen.

These boards make people paranoid. Of course you'll read about all of the little problems (and the big ones too)... but you'll read more about those then the people with zero problems. Nature of the board I guess.

As for the car choice... why get a used 2002... why not get a 2003? Putting 2003 tails and rims on a 1999 will make it look nice... but you'll still be short on HP. I'd just get the Type-S so you can get the 260hp stock....

 

Yeah--2003 is the way to go. I wouldn't worry about the tranny issues anyway, as they are covered as Junior said to 100k miles and certainly, you'll know within that time frame if something is wrong...Mine's fine after 15 months and 30k miles and I've modded my car and drive it hard all the time...After owning many types of cars from Lexus to Mazda (nothing American-ever), this has been my favorite by far--and I just test drove a G35!

 

I thought the new 2003's weren't covered under the 100k warranty?

 

the ones that were built in the early production line are covered with the warranty.

 

I don't know how relevant this is in NY, but in Toronto the dealers are advertising big savings on dealer driven (which I'm guessing means showroom) 2002 S types. Kind of makes me feel like a loser, since I got my 03 which is identical about two months ago, but then I leased it so getting an 02 would have made no sense for me.

 

Laurelcrest, any idea on how big of savings or any way you could find out? If they were big enough I probably won't mine taking a trip to Toronto Although is there emission standards or anything if I brought this car to the US. I'm still a few months away from becoming more active in my car search, so I still have time to decide what I would like to get. As for getting a 2003 that someone mentioned, as of now I can't afford a 2003...so I'm stuck with a getting a used TL if anything. Thanks again for all the comments so far.

 

go 2003 and i have an 03 tls and was told i was covered 100K so its still in effect........

 

These boards defintely DO make you paranoid. I have an '03 TLS and was scare as sh!t that my tranny was gonna fail. Well, it did fail!!! BUT, thanks to being paranoid and reading all the tranny messages, I knew it was coming before it happened. Everytime I felt something, I thought to myself that I read it on this board!! Many cars don't have a board like this and don't know what is about to hit them!!

Anyway, enough with the tranny problem talk. Supposedly, the tranny problem was fixed for the '03 model year (except for the 1st ~5200 cars built for the '03 model year. I was one of the lucky ones with an early build!!) New tranny has been perfect. I have had my TL-S 10 months and already have 30k miles on it and have absolutely no regrets......

 

No idea, and it would bother me too much to find out. I do know that officially, they wont sell you a car if you tell them from the states, but most dealers are so slimy so I dont know how much of a problem you'll have...

 

Don't forget you will void any warranty if you buy your car from Canada and take it across.

Honda has to protect themselves! otherwise you'd get everyone buying their cars in Canada due to to cheaper $$$

 

Forgot about that...makes sense since there would be a conspicous arbitrage opportunity. Still not sure what to do though...because I sure love the type S incarnation of the TL. Also as a side question, why does it seem hard to find a 2002 TLS with nav?

 

From when I was buyin my TL-S, the showroom models weren't that much cheaper... driven for around 14,000 km but they only offered to lower by $4000cdn... maybe now itz different cauz they have the 03'

 

I have a 2002 TL-S...and have to say that I love it...great car, great power, looks good, great stereo......

get it!

 

Yes all very true statements However, don't you have safety worries in regards to the transmission? And on a side note, is it possible to get the Acura navigation system dealer installed if it doesn't have one? If so how much would it be?

 

If the car does not come with an Acura Navigation from the factory you will have to install it aftermarket since the dash layout is different on Navi and non-navi models. It's possible to obtain an Acura system and to install it somewhere on your dash.. but you'd be better off getting a flip out screen or something. To add an aftermarket Navi would probably run $2k-$4k installed depending on how good of a system you bought.....

As for the safety issue.... let's say that the failure rate is really 4% by now... that's only 48,000 cars out of 1.2 million. Personally I feel that it's still 48k cars too many... but still... all cars have their problems... you can't worry about what might fail. If it goes, it goes. Just like if your BMW X5 catches on fire or M3 engine blows, or Audi's electrical system goes out. If it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen no matter what car you're in. Just remember that while 4% of trannies may be failing... 96% aren't... so the numbers are still in your favor. Plus... you have a warranty.. so you're covered.

 

Mind18, I'd be weary as well but I think that the majority of the people here are happy with their TLS. I love my car but also wish I didn't have to worry about the car. I was paranoid for a little while but now I prefer to think of myself as informed. I know the symptoms and the process SHOULD my transmission go out. So far I have 10 months and 13.5k miles with no real problems. I plan on modding my car and enjoying for as long as I have it (at least 5-7 years according to the future wife)

If you have a few months before you are in the Market defintely consider a 2003. Prices should drop some with the 2004 coming out in the fall. If you can live without the Nav I'm sure you can find a non-nav TLS for 28500 or so. In the meantime you can check out some other cars test driving them to determine which car is best for you.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...&category=5333

 

Hey str8'.... are you a salesman or something????

:-jon

 

Heheh..that's funny that you posted that, because that is the exact color combination/options (minus the spoiler) that I was interested in getting.


Other questions I had are:

1.) What exactly does doing a Car-fax tell you about the vehicle? Would it mention if the vehicle had already had its transmission changed? Because would hate to end up getting a lemon

2.) Are the transmission problems subject to the 5 speed engines...so that would include 00-03 if I'm not mistaken. Because as mentioned previously, if I decie to get a 02 TLS and end up not being able to get one I want (color wise/price wise) I might just go for a 1999 TL, since that would rid me of the transmission problem

3.) I think the 1999 TL can have nav as an option, but it isn't DVD based. What are the drawbacks to this?

Thanks again to everyone for all of their comments and help.

- Mind18 -

 

Oblio98, in your signature picture, the 1999TL, is anything done with the wheels, or are those the stock 16in' wheels. Because from that picture, they don't look too bad...maybe its the skirts that make it look nice

 

My "old" TL, the 1999, had the body kit when I owned it. The new owner added the Comptech springs, that is why is is lower than a normal TL. Those are the standard "stock" 99 TL wheels.

As for CarFax, I am told that they do not report tranny failures. They report accidents. If the tranny has failed, the only way to know is if the seller tells you, or you check with the dealer who services the car.

The 99 4 speed TLs are not immune to the tranny problem. Just be sure to look for a car 99-03 with the Acura "letter" extending the warranty. If the seller does not offer this, I would beware. I do not think that the tranny issue qualifies a car as a "lemon". Many of us here who had trannys go bad have had no problems with the replacements, while a few have had nightmares with multiple failures. The tranny deabate is an old issue, not really worth rehashing.....

With the certificate, you are at least protected.

The 99 Navi is hard drive based. It works fine, but only covers "regions". You have to stop at a dealer and get your hard drive downloaded when you change regions. Updates are also a pain, as you have to go to the dealer.


:-jon

 

You have to have the letter to get the warranty extended?

 

Mind18,
Just get it dude, you know you want to you wont be sorry, even if your tranny does bomb, and you know it eheheh

 

Which would you think would be "better". Getting a 2002 TLS in which I know that the transmission was already changed or one where it hasn't yet. If it was changed, you think that another transmission problem arising is very small....because at least to me, if i knew the transmission was changed than I probably won't have to worry as much...right?