quiche_97

My son - 19 - did an unresearched purchase of a 1999 3.2 TL (yea, I know, stupid but what can I say). Car is in nice shape and he got it for a decent price, but......no vehicle history. I was angry and am doing research and seeing all these transmission problems posted! I did a VIN lookup and there's no bad history that I can see. However, this car has 75K miles on it and I have no idea if it was ever brought in for recalls, etc. My mechanic didn't find anything blatantly wrong with it. Is the 7 year, 100K warranty from Acura applicable to this car or would he had to buy it from a dealer? Is that warranty only for certain year cars? Do I need some kind of paperwork? What in heavens name happens if his transmission goes (besides pay a fortune to get it fixed). Any advice welcome.

LG

ou sig

ok first of all chill out and go make yourself a drink!!! ok, the main tranny problems are with the 5 speeds ('00-'03) models - the '99 has a 4 speed and I am yet to hear of ANY problems on this site - well one person did, but that seemed to be a lemon of a car. And yes, his car is covered under the tranny warranty, and no you dont need to do anything about it! There was some ignition recal work for the '99... so go to Acura.com and go to the owners link area, there you can put in his VIN # and it will register it (free) and you can see any recals that are for his car and if they have been taken care of.

Now if he got a TL with the 5 speed, then you may have something to think about, but still - not worth worrying about it. these are great cars, you should be happy he got one!

MikePA

Register the car under the Owner's Link at Acura.com. Once you do this, it will show you what recalls it is eligible for and which have already been performed.

It's eligible. No need to buy it from a dealer. No paperwork needed.

If it happens within 7 years/100,000 miles, Acura will replace the transmission at no charge.

quiche_97

LOL (I had few last night)! I know, I'm a typical mother and freaking out. I know this car has an automatic transmission but not about speeds. I know very little about cars but alot about teenager headaches! The car is beautiful and in great shape but sheesh, I can't imagine him going along a highway and the gears shifting on their own! I will do what you say and register his car on this site. Unfortunately I'm a single parent and of course he thinks I know nothing (which is true some of the time but not all!)

ou sig

ok well if he doesnt believe you, send him over here and read this thread or have him search on it - lots of info on this site, from knowledgable people. So he will be just fine with that car, very reliable and fun. Just know that he has a 4 speed transmission and the majority of the problems, I would say 95% are with the 5 speeds - and even still, the problems are few and far between, just on a site like this, you hear about all the problems while there are 1,000's of 5 speed TL owners with 0 problems.

BTW go to the main Acura site to register for owners link...not on here

55M2G7L

LiQiCE

I wouldn't worry too much, the '99 TLs have a much lower occurance of transmission problems than the '00-03 TLs. Its not 0%, but there aren't many cars out in the world that can claim 0 problems for every vehicle manufactured.

If you want to get the vehicle's history, your local Acura dealer may also be able to pull its service records out. Acura has a national database that shares service records, so if the car was serviced at an Acura dealership, the records should be there.

The TL in general (besides the transmission problem) is a fairly reliable car. No promises that you wont have any problems with it But he could certainly do worse.

55M2G7L

just kidding, dont worry about the car, you should be glad your son has such terrific taste

MikePA

and a mother who cares enough to both find this web site and post a question!

Might want to keep your son away from this site, or he will get all kinds of ideas about modifications he will just 'have' to make to his car.

55M2G7L

s welcome

ou sig

ya I was fine till I came to this site...now nearly 5k later (mostly in the stereo), my want list for more modifications is growing!!!

patrick

quiche:

As the others have said, there's no need to worry about the 4 speed transmission. If you are still concerned about the transmission problem, then I recommend you be pro-active about the following: have your mechanic (or Acura dealership) do a transmission fluid drain/fill (or tranny flush if available) every 40,000 KM or so. Keeping your transmission lines free of debris (while not documented) should go a long way in preserving the life of your transmission. Installing a transmission cooler would not hurt either. Good luck!

Shift_it

I am a proud owner of a 99 TL w/ 114K. I researched mine also by giving the vin# to my local acura stealership and there were no work done. Now please give the keys to your sons TL and let him enjoy a great ride.

quiche_97

Thank you all so much! (sorry 55M2G7L, I have no witty pics!).

I feel much better now. And about the modifications...hey, he's lucky he had enough $$ to buy a car! (I only help w/insurance). I didn't know about transmission drain/flush, etc. or all the possible ways of getting info on the car but I will do that. The VIN search lookup said it was one owner and leased. There wasn't much else on there except a couple of recalls which I will see if they were taken care of. My job doesn't help my stress level lately and now this! ;-)

Shift_it

Oh shiZzz I registerd at Acura. there was a tranny replacement on mine. Here is what is said:
Your 1999 Acura is included in the 2001 TRANS WARRANTY EXT Campaign.


The stealersip lied to me. Well heh,,,, mine drives like new. lol

Tunaboy

Werd, as stated the 99's tranny's are top-notch (besides being a 4-speed). They did not have a recall. I've had the same tranny and Im at 106,000 miles. As for the warranty, it will still work, Acura is very reliable when it comes to customer satisfaction due to warranty related problems.

quiche_97

Maybe that means you are just eligible...that doesn't sound like they replaced it or is it that this line wouldn't appear if the tranny wasn't replaced? Sheesh!

I am having trouble using the owner link. Says it's already 'owned' and it will email me my password (ha). I guess I have to contact customer service and fax the title or something.

BLaCk Acc

i have a 99 , went through 2 trannys so far, acura will take care of it when it starts going bad, its not just going to fail out of no where, trustttt mee u will know the tranny is about to go, i was driving on a bad tranny both of the times for about 3 or 4 days, it would just drop into neutral wouldnt goto 2nd gear, so i would just shift it from 1st to 4th if i had to go somewhere. then took it to acura, they gave me a rental and thats it, ur covered uptil 100k miles or 7 yrs ,, dont worry.

Ken1997TL

You might have to do just that. Be patient though.

Oh and by the way, welcome

quiche_97

Anyways, that's 7 years or 100k [which ever comes first], right?

Technically the car is like 6 years old I would think. I guess I have to hope nothing goes wrong soon or repetitively! Actually, I don't think Acura wants my mouth in their earpiece if that was the case. ;-)

...and thanks for all the welcomes!!

stiletto

Welcome aboard. Can't help but chip in: If anything should help your stress level it should be the fact that your teenage child will be on the road in one of the most reliable and capable automobiles ever made. Plenty of power to get home before you do even though they are grounded. Luxury interior to take MOM out on mother's day and make her feel special like she should. Loaded with safety features such as High Intensity Discharge lights, Traction Control, Sequential SportShift gearbox, anti-lock brakes, air bags, unlocking trunk from the inside.... I just wish I could have gotten a TL in my teens...

ou sig

what are you talking about? that just means that you car is included in the extended warrany

samkws

first of all, you have to realize Acura sold A LOT OF TL, and only a very few members here have experience failure

as long as you don't drive it hard like there's not tmr, then it will be fine. i love my TL and everyone loves the car. they are so jealous with my nice baby~

F23A4

my neighbor had problems with his 99 TL (which resulted in him trading up to a 323i) but the powertrain was never an issue for him AFAIK.

Liftedoff420

THE FIRST THING YOU SHOULD DO IS TO GET YOUR SON UP ON THIS SITE

im also 19 and if i didnt use this website i would have sure bought a shitty TL with tranny problems and no warranty

now im driving a clean 2000 with around 8k left on the warranty, your son is actually luckier than me cus he has a nice 25k still under warranty

im pretty knowledgable about my car and everyone here is pretty helpful

plus hes gonna learn how sick these cars can be made

NYZGREATST

the only thing you have to worry about is when he starts wanting to mod his tl. its like a bad drug habit, minus the part that makes you steal from your grandmother, run over a old man in the street, hit a little girl on a bike as you leave the rive thru, let the kid your babysitting play near the pool, etc. etc. (you've seen the commercials right).

Shift_it

Oh ok, sweet. Well mine has 113K w/ original tranny

quiche_97

So many have made me feel comfortable. Thanks!

Shift_it --> I'm sure you are sighing a breath of relief now and feel proud about your purchase!

quiche_97

Ha ha! Believe it or not...until you are the parent of an 18/19 yo....you will think those commercials are a joke! They are FOR REAL!!! My son bought this car because it screamed "sex"....LOL! ....(and it already had tints and other xtras)...I doubt he looked at the dip stick! (no pun intended!)

aaronnn

im also 19, bought my 99TL used by myself. parents will never help me with anything. i wanted to get the 02-03TL but my parents wouldnt cover the other 5k dollars. haha, but im happy i chose this car. i have yet to get a trann replaced and no major problems thus far. the only thing that i had a problem with was the EGR. but that wasnt too bad.

damn, i had the car for about two months before i joined this site. once i registered here, WOW i wanted to mod it out like crazy. spent close to 3000 already and i only had the car for 5 months. but i was lucky its winter, if i got it during the summer, i wouldve spent close to 6000 on it.

im happy with the TL its a great car, gets the job done with acceleration, great comfortable smooth ride, and an overall great with handling, especially in the rain and snow. pretty crazy how you care about your son so much, especially when when he's old enough to buy his own car. my parents wouldnt do anything for me once i got a job.

shogun

whats amazing is that you beat your son to this site. kudos on that and oh yeah what everyone else said :P

quiche_97

Thanks for your post aaronnn! That's good to hear! If you knew my whole story you would understand...I think I'm over protective in many ways (my son says I worry too much)...guess in the end even though I get on his nerves, he knows I care...(I hope!). I am in good communication with his friends and him, thing is, we trust each other alot and I guess he took it to the "nth" degree when he bought the car. I guess it should be cool in the long run.

I will tell him about this site AFTER this post dies out...he'll freak if he knew I went to this length of not trusting his judgement!

55M2G7L

spent more than 15k on my TL and still love her to death

55M2G7L

god dam that sounds bad

BLaCk Acc

how much did he get his tl for if u dont mind me asking,,

ou sig

no kidding, I wish my mom was cool enough to check out a car forum - even if she thought I got a bad car!...oh well I love my mom anyway

Liftedoff420

yea what did you get the car for? what kind of mods?

quiche_97

10K which I think is expensive considering it had 75K miles on it.

Liftedoff420

thats a good deal for a 99 TL with only 75k

i live in the bay area where the market value is higher, but i paid 10k flat for a stock 2000 with 90k, and i love the car to death

most 99 TLs in this area are still like 11-12 grand+

quiche_97

I have to say, I'm getting pretty nervous about the tints on the car. The tints are so dark. They have to be illegal here. The back windows look nearly as black as the car. The front windows aren't too much lighter. I don't know much about tints but I know the cops here are pretty hard on teen drivers. I think I see alot of tickets coming up. I have now been browsing tint threads (obsessing on tints instead of tranny! LOL!)...I think it will take a while for me to get used to this car.