Hi all -

I'm trying to decide whether to repair or trade in my 1999 TL. Figured you guys might have some perspective on this.

The car is ready for its 105,000 mile service, including timing belt and water pump, so that's not cheap. On top of that, I've been told the catalytic converter needs replacing (again), also not cheap if you use the OEM cat. (Ordinarily I would go with an aftermarket but considering the repeated problems I've had with emissions stuff I'm wondering if that's not asking for trouble.) I'm planning to get a second opinion on the cat replacement from another independent mechanic, and to ask them to check for any other potential problems while they are at it.

Other than that, the car is in pretty decent shape (considering its age), aside from a few scratches. It's still on the original transmission - not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

Trade-in value on Kelly is $2100-$2700. The first repair estimate I got is around the same amount.

So, do I spend about $2k to keep a 10-year old TL going, in the hope that I can squeeze another 3 or 4 good years out of it without major expenses? Or do take the nominal trade-in value now and shell out for something newer? All things being equal, I would rather not have to buy a new car now.

The third option, I guess, would be to install an aftermarket cat myself and have the shop replace the timing belt (I am not going to mess with that one).

Would welcome your feedback - thanks!

 

Ok, the first part is the 105,000 service. You can get that done for about $400-$500. That's not a bad price to possibly go another 100,000 miles.

The second part is WHY does the catalytic converter need to be changed? I'm still on my original with 206,000 miles and having the smog checks in CA are strict......passes perfect every time, every two years.

I would keep it.......unless you have lots of money to afford big car payments every month.

 

Do you live close to NJ? There's a special going on now for the timing belt service. $390 at a dealer too...which is an insane deal. I'm having mine done next week.

Agree with above about the cat converter. It should not be failing this early...and definitely not 3 times before the timing belt service... You might want to get that checked out.

I would keep the TL. If you're not near NJ, you can get the 105k service for 400-500 at independent shop. And install the cat yourself and keep the TL.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys! I'm in what I guess is a relatively high-cost area (DC suburbs), and the quotes I'm getting on the 105K service are more in the $700-800 range. Good to hear that there may be cheaper deals out there - I may just have to go a little further out of town to save some money.

The cat issue has been very frustrating. What I've been told - by a number of different shops - is that the high level of ethanol in the fuel in this area is really hard on emissions systems. I have no idea whether there is any truth to that.

 

i doubt ur cat is bad. that ethanol reason is bs

 

i would keep the tl.i also have a 99tl, purchased it in aug of 09 and it had 179k....after researching the service records found out the timing belt has NOT been done. also priced around and the dealer wants 1200 and i live in ny.....it is worth keeping ...this is my 3rd acura and my first, a 89 legend had 302k when i sold it...getting timing belt n water pump done for 350 parts included from an independent mechanic.....shop around for best prices and make sure they know honda/acura

 

Timing belt and water pump for $350 sounds like an outstanding price. I've been calling around and the best I've found around here so far is $800.

 

Keep it