Hey y'all,

Anyway, I realized that my car has been at the dealership more often lately for fixes and so I decided to see how everyone else's 2nd gen TLs were doing. Now I still love my car but it has been a slight pain lately with all the repairs and what not but anyway, here are the vitals:

2003 TL-S with 98K miles on it (one owner, me, since 3/2002)

Recent repairs (Last 12 months):
- Something on the passenger side front control arm (can't remember right now) - $300
- Blown steering pump - $650
- Rear passenger side brake caliper seize (stays compresses) - $300. This also caused the pad to wear out and so they had to replace the pad, machine the rotor, and I asked them to flush the brake fluid (needed to be done) so an extra $250-300

Need to do:
- driver side back door lock jammed (won't open, hard to open even by pulling the lock manually) - have not fixed since I do not get in the back and the other door works
- cracked fog light lense and light out - will do this myself at some point and just install the lexan lenses I bought 4 years ago and install HIDs
- rough idle and occasional stall - will do myself sometime and clean out the TB and IAC
- At some point will also need to change the timing belt.

I know a lot of this is wear and tear so honestly I am just venting. The car still drives well overall and I still love driving her. I know more gremlins will appear but I guess it is to be expected.

On a side note, I am currently driving an 09TL as a loaner and I like it. The interior is nicer (though not leaps and bounds) and the exterior styling has grown on me a little (though I think the 2nd and 3rd gens still look much better IMHO). The car feels quicker but I still think my modded TL-S is a bit faster (especially once the brake is fixed). Obviously it is 6 years newer than my car but I say it is a push overall. My wife did say that my TLS definitely still gets more looks (the black wheels and tint probably help).

Anyway, sorry for the long post. Let's hear some other complaints/comments.

PS - I know I am paying a little extra at the stealership but honestly I do not have the tools to do some of those things myself and don't know folks up here in MI. When I was in Boston my buddies and I did all my mods (mostly them) or we could go to a local shop for certain things. I think now that the car is older I almost feel better taking it to a dealer.

 

mines doing just fine.

i do my maintenance one step at a time. b/c doing full services can get pricey..

next is timing belt and water pump... did anyone else pay less then 825 bucks for this at their dealer? (thread jack)

other then that... car hasnt had any mechanical issues. tranny is running strong. fresh wheels, tires, fresh paint.

i plan on this car going well beyond 200k

 

I hope mine lasts 200k but ideally I will get a new car within the next five years. Love my car but it has been a money pit (as most cars are). A lot of my issues have been mod related to some degree (other than the maintenance stuff). Glad yours is doing well.

 

mine is doing well and running like a beast. like you guys, I plan for this car to take me at least another 100K miles, which would put me in the 250K range.

 

Engine, tranny, interior, exterior are all going strong. I have a clunking from the front end that needs to be fixed but other than that, routine maintenance is done by myself.

86k currently and planning on 200k+ like the rest.

 

Things I'm going be doing very soon:
1. New HID bulb ($50)
2. Need fix header bolt ($5)
3. Shock & Strut (under $400)
4. Get TL repaint (under $1K)
5. New 19" tire or New Wheels ($500-2K)

Beside them stuff I think my TL running great

 

I'm also a first owner of 03 TL-S with little over 122K miles.
My car is doing just fine. No other repair beside regular maintenance schedule. B-pillars is crack and need sand and re-paint. Headlight lens is oxidized due to moisture get inside (open to blackout), but both are just cosmetic. Performing wise, engine and tranny are just great with all the mods in the sign below. Interior is good for 6 years old car. No crack on leather thanks to wipe the seat with leather conditioning almost monthly. Overall, this car has not give me any major headage and I love it!

 

was doing fine..abs pump went out....then a couple days ago battery light comes on..pop my hood and my alternator is completley crooked..and the belt is off...one of the bolts the holds the alternator snapped..half of it is still in the block...why does stupid shit like this always happen to me..never seen anything like this..car's at the shop now

 

I've been lucky considering my ignorance.

I bought the car at 95k miles and shortly after had a friend do a transmission fluid flush since he worked at one of those chain stores for oil changes and inspections. (He did it free, we were barely out of high school - who knows what kind of fluid he used).

At 120K I did the timing belt, spark plugs, etc done at a shop. Cost was 550 with parts.

At 150k miles, got new oem shocks. Cost was 175 for the labor, parts were bought online from acuraoemparts.

Shortly after that my power steering pump went out. Bought a re manufactured pump for 120 and had it installed for 60 (didn't have much of a choice, needed my car!). I'm currently at 160K miles.

That's about it for major repairs. I am not counting new tires, brake pads, oil changes, and air filters.

I definitely would like a paint job though. A nice black paint job with new rims would be nice.

 

lets see, ive put on about 35,000 miles on mine and she is at 90,000,

so far ive replaced:

rotors and pads: about $300
motor mounts: free
transmission: free
driver's side seat belt: free
air bag module: free
battery: about $60.00

other than that, just oil changes and routine maintenance. the car still drives great.

 

new engine
new tranny
new wheels
new tires
new paint
new ninja mod

 

holy moly ^

 

My TL-S is doing fine at 102k miles. Had no problems other than normal maintenance (timing belt, water pump, brakes). The tranny was replaced by the dealer just before I bought it in June 2006, so I'm good there, but I have an extended warranty to 104k.

I have pretty simple mods that have performed very well with no reliability problems. Plus, I occasionally sneak a glance back whenever I park the car 'cause it still looks great!

 

 

At the Dealership now.. been needing to bring it in to have the HID headlight checked out. OUCH! Inverter assembly went out and with need to replace the bulb... right at $850 to replace it out... again... OUCH!

Other than that... my '03 has been a great car... last couple of years I have not need to drive it much since I am working from home so the 46K miles I have on it are low mileage. I am the first owner, and that 46k is total mile on the car.

 

Mine's been treating me pretty great. There's only been a couple minor things other than routine and preventative maintenance that'd I've had to drop money on. Otherwise, she's running excellent, tranny shifts just fine, paint looks good still and with the recent mods I love her more than ever.

 

Im doin fine at 202k on first tranny. Planning to go well beyond 300k

 

i do the same almost every day

 

Hopefully...

DRL's, drop (height depending on LA streets), volks (te37 or gt-s in 19's), tint... lol... then sell before any tranny problems and ask for a 6 speed rwd/awd

 

What's going on Steve. Hope all is well man!


Looks like I got me a lemon! Haha, funny thing is that I want to take the car to the strip just to see how she runs (been like 4 years) but my wife won't let me. She is afraid I might break the car!

Like I said, all in all the car has been great. I drive her hard, been on crappy roads (boston, atlanta, and now MI), and have some mods on her but she has held up relatively well. Recently it just seems like these not so small issues are popping up. Gets pricey after a while, especially if you go to the dealer as opposed to independent shops.

 

mine feels like its falling apart recently, its wobbling violently at acceleration from 40-80km/h. but when i coast without giving it gas, the car runs completely fine.

 

my tl is doing good. just did the brakes front and rear. i got 57k on engine and trans and everythings running good. i got acura cares until about 85k so im set til then lol..

 

mine is just chillin in the garage with 98k~ miles.

waiting for a few more mods here and there... nothing big.
probably begging for new shoes.. lol

 

do a 6spd swap... everybodies doin it lol

 

^ eh..

for something i'm probably selling this year.. not such a great idea.

 

106k on mine now...and im doin pretty good with it...the only money i've put in it is all my mods besides the routine maintenance....time for the 105K scheduled maintenance so i will see how much that will cost me

 

^ what????? why u selling ur tl???

 

theres been talks between me and my dad since last december of selling it.. lol.. i just kept modding it and modding it and we just kept talking about selling it..

might just end up with a 4G TL and mod the fcuk out of that. lol

no more JDM bizz..
lolol

 

...you BASTARD!!!!....how dare you!?!?!

 

u suck!! u could of sold me ur atlp exhaust. lol instead of me begging everyone to get one.... ur supposed to be my west coast twin!

 

^ lol. better hurry up and get it all modded.

 

dont worry im gettin there. i got the lip kit, door visors are coming soon, function and form coilovers soon too and if i can ever get the atlp group buy to get 9 more ppl ill have that too... now all i need to do is go through about 10 sets of wheels in a year lol...

 

^ lol.. well its not positive positive on selling so no worries YET...

oh, you'd have to get a double din... puddle lights.. RS*R strut tower bar... cusco catch can.. soon, greddy radiator breather tank.. lol

and some more..

 

lol first thing i got was a double din pioneer avic z2 with z3 hard drive... best head unit out.. i got about 50 cds on the hd so far.. i got xm and bluetooth hooked up and 2 jl amps and a jl12w6v2 sub..
whered u get the RS*R strut tower brace?
catch can i dont want
puddle lights i was thinkin about gettin.. u got pics of urs?

 

^ got my strut tower brace from japan.. haven't seen one for sale at all.. and yes i do..

oh noeezzz~~ my secret is out!!!

 

u got the lights from autolumination.com?

 

Replace your axle. You have a broken inner joint

 

my cousins supposed to go to japan so ill see if he can get me one too lol...

 

ebay FTW! lolol

 

oh really? Ill get that checked out then, thanks Phee!