Hello All,

it's been a LONG time since I posted on this board. I've owned a kinetic blue 08 type S since October 2010. I bought the car certified used with 33K miles on it and have used it as my daily driver ever since. I've kept up with the service on the car as long as I've owned it. The car has 114700 miles on it now and has been giving me trouble the past few months. For example, I had the connector between the radiator and the transmission snap on me while I was driving the car. I also had two coils lose grip on their spark plus which got loose and damaged valves and a cylinder head. I've gotten these items repaired, but it just seems like the problems are cascading to the point where I can't trust the car anymore.

My question to the board is: have other people had similar experiences with their TLs? I'm debating if I should keep the car or not, but in any circumstance I think it is done as my daily driver. If I keep it, I'll only be driving it occasionally rather than relying on it as primary transportation.

Thanks.
TheBradD

 

you're missing info!
do you owe anything on it?

to me, even if I put $2k-3k a year into a paid off vehicle, it's still worth to keep.
you will have to do the math.

also, I'm betting if there were periodic inspection of parts , you could have caught those things before they broke...
I've been through a lot with my 2006 6MT.... in seven years, i crashed twice...friend blew up the engine(over-revved) and I had to change out the heads...only i did the heads wrong, then bought a used engine to throw in...

my car is paid off. and even with all those things that has happened to MY TL, it's still a very trustworthy car.
I inspect my car, weekly....FOR ANYTHING that looks off or broken. I'm POSITIVE you could have caught your mishaps BEFORE they happened

 

Curious- when you say you had two coils loose their grip on the spark plugs.. do you mean you had two spark plugs come loose in the head?

Is your kinetic blue an auto or manual? The color is kinda rare and if it is a manual then there would be more demand for it.

 

That's how I read it.
the spark plugs shot out and damaged heads

 

The vehicle is 9 years old its going to have "issues". The recent issue about the coils I sense may not be issue with the car. Did you have any service work done recently? At your mileage you should have had the 105k service done...did someone not perform the work correctly or reassemble correctly.

Note - I am having a hard time visualizing the connector you mention as failing between radiator and transmission so I cant comment on if thats age issue, common failure or points back to my concern above.

In any event some sage advice here by more senior members so ill stand down but personally I think your looking for worry free driving and that will only come from a new(er) car not one thats 9 years old.

 

it does happen! the cooling lines, i think to the radiator and transmission.
but really nothing to be concerned of. fix it and the car will be ready to go. like you said, it's a 9 year old machine..
nothing that will make you be like...OH NO, i cant trust this car ever again..

But it sounds like OP has his mind made up, and wants a new car anyway

 

Lots of good points here, dont get rid of the TL, a car is only gonna run as good as u maintain it. I say buy a newer reliable 4 cylinder and use the TL sometimes. My TL is a 99, so imagine all the issues im having at the moment, and im at 117k, low miles for the year, but LOTS of factory parts starting to wear down. I have already replaced an alternator, ignition switch and a fan sensor in barely 8 months! And LOTS of more work to come. And not only is it my daily, its my ONLY car, keep the TL and maintain her to a T.

 

short answer : yes

it surprises me when people spend money to get it fixed then only to sell it for loss. Car is a depreciating asset, Acura TL-S is still a good designed car that stands out IMO. especially if you have KBP and Manual.

Keep it. Those problem are fixed. The loose coil was a common problem but otherwise the engine is a tank.

 

If you don't want to keep it, i know plenty of people that would buy it from you in a heartbeat.

 

Thanks in advance to all of the folks who replied to this thread! Great responses! I'll try and answer some of the questions below.

The car is a automatic, kinetic blue pearl with the two tone dark interior. It has been paid off since late 2014, and I have been cruising along with a reliable car with no car payments since. I do take good care of my vehicles and have them serviced at a dealer I trust on a regular basis, usually way before the car complains that it is time for service. I consider myself fairly in tune with the car and can usually hear or feel problems as they are coming up. With an older car, I understand some repairs are needed here and there. The kick in the teeth was over the last 3 months, it has cost me over $5000. Replacing the radiator to fix the broken connector to the trans was $1500. The first time I heard something weird coming from the cylinders, I took it in and the dealer suggested $300 to replace all the sparkplugs plus the damaged coils. That didn't fix the problem, which got so bad as I was taking back to the dealer again that the check engine light came on and the car started misfiring. 3 cylinders worth of valves plus a cylinder head set me back another $3500. Why wasn't this caught as part of the 105K maintenance? Good question. I hate to put $5000 in repairs into a car then offload it right after, but my fear is that this ordeal isn't over. Right now I still have the following issues:

- as the car sits idle, there is a slight but noticeable vibration that can be felt thru the entire car
- there is a loud vibration that can be felt in the gas pedal occasionally when pressing down slightly
- there was a burning coolant smell after the engine repair, but that seems to have dissipated
- there is a "hopping" that can be felt at higher RPMs (not the tires, I swapped my snows back to my summers on different rims and it's still there)

Not to mention I do need all new summer tires, plus we know how this car can be on front brakes. I do like the car, I try and take care of it, but I am admittedly at a decision point in my ownership of the vehicle.

 

Many of the issues you're describing are known and attributed to wear and tear items:

motor mounts, compliance bushings. You got royally ripped off for a 1500 radiator replacement.. You could have bought a new DENSO radiator for ~100, 2 gallons of coolant for $50, and new hoses if you felt up for it for a couple bucks more. I'm wondering if when the rad/tran cooler lines blew, did you drive it with no coolant which caused some cylinder head issues, combined with the common spark plug blowing which further exacerbated the issue. i'm thinking this because you said you have coolant smell which has me thinking ring failure perhaps?


new tires and brakes too are wear and tear items... I think you've just been very frustrated with some (not known to you) common issues and the monetary sexual assault from the dealership didn't really help the case.

By no means am i trying to convince you to keep the car, just putting things into perspective that it really isn't that bad.

 

Get a compression test to see how the heads are holding up.

 

I'll take it for $4000 as-is. Lmk.

 

$3,500 could have got you a new engine all together with money to spare.

 

Totally agree that I'm being charged way too much for some of these repairs and that is muddying the waters a bit. Being my daily driver, I can't be without it for any extended period of time, so I admittedly rush off to the dealer who serviced the vehicle under warranty for no other reason than they give me a loaner every single time.

In regards to when the transmission coolant line broke, I drove maybe a quarter mile tops from the time the line broke to when I stopped the car. There was still a significant amount of fluid coming out of the car after I parked it. The mechanic said I stopped early enough before doing any internal damage.

I have standing offers for $7000 trade in from 2 area dealers, and that is with 1 accident on the CarFax (no body damage, all replaceable parts). That money is what is making me think about moving on.

i've already agreed to lease a new vehicle to take on the daily driver / basic transportation needs. I don't HAVE to trade in the TL to be able to afford the new lease, and I'm thinking that having this new daily driver take the load off the TL might make keeping it feasible, along with giving me the flexibility to shop around for repair options when the need arises.

 

You should be able to sell it here for a bit more than that.

 

So we aren't talking just in abstract terms, here is a photo of my TL from late last week. The snow tires / rims are on in this picture, but I switched back to the stick rims to have he car appraised.

 

Brad...are those "winter wheels"?

 

They are. The stock rims have high performance all-seasons and the 5-spoke rims in this photo have Blizzaks on them.

 

so you're offsetting the repair cost by selling it below value and give the car away to someone almost free, with new parts



fixed the vibration with new mounts and bushing and if you smell something, cover it under repair warranty
i would talk to service manager is refunding you for the bugatti radiator

 

Just seems odd to me regarding the spark plugs. I would understand having one work it's way loose as we know it happens, but it's sounds like you had 2 or 3 come loose. Wonder if the plugs were all changed just prior to this issue? And the mechanic didn't tighten them properly?

 

I'm meeting with the dealer tomorrow to discuss these noises / vibrations / smells. I'm particularly curious about the condition of the mounts since I had them all replaced a little over a year ago.

What I'm thinking may be a good idea is to collect a list of known problem spots on these vehicles and compare it to the repairs I've had done over the past few years. It would also be nice to pick your brains about the best places to get work done since apparently my dealer is outfitting me with Bugatti parts. For the recent engine repair, one cylinder head was $2000. That's before any labor. If I did offload the car with new parts for close to free like Corrado said, it would be almost entirely out of fear of having another one of these monster car repair bills in the near future. If there is a better alternative, I'd love to hear it.

 

From what I was told, one spark plug did come loose from the coil and cause significant damage to the valves and the cylinder head. The second was on the same side of the engine and came loose enough to ding up the valves but not the cylinder head. Since they were already doing the valves for two cylinders on one side of the engine, they suggested doing all three.

 

^^^ This.....

 

as previously said, you should also bring up the topic of refunding you for the expensive radiator replacement.

my strategy is i have select 3 body shop or car repair man (somewhere near junk yards or places lined up with repair shops) and i get always get 2-3quotes and 2-3different opinion so i can choose the least bullshitter. I buy my own oem parts thru online acura parts store and pay for labor

you really dont have major repair bills to worry as now you have 12k/1year on the most severe issues. minor issues like mounts, bushings you can follow above

 

Can someone please clarify what this issue is with the "spark plug coming loose from the coil." I simply can't imagine what this refers to. The spark plug screws into and is held by the head--how could it possibly hit a valve? The coil doesn't hold the spark plug, the head does. I'm clearly confused about what this means. Thanks.

 

Looks like OP got a run around term from the shop/dealership. You know such as "air pocket in the ATF, "dirty differential fluid", "fuel cleaning services", coolant flush".... OP clearly trying to baby the car as much as he could, he has limited knowledge on working his own car therefore the dealer and shop take full advantage of him. SMH


I just purchase a base TL and the owner took great care just like OP, every service has been done by Acura dealer. He told me the dealer recently has paid for tires rotation service, I saw the tread pattern seem like directional tire and sure enough some dumb a$$ rotate all four tires against the rotation directional. He also admitted the dealer replace the battery twice within a year apart, he still haven't give me the detail yet and I already told him its the HFL is the root cause but the dealer charge for 2 hours of labor instead of 1.

 

Hoobooy. I really feel bad for the people that strap in for the full on stealership ride. They like to give me these outrageous quotes when I come for inspection of $1000-$2000. I like to make sure to tell them exactly how much I spent doing the maintenance when I return. Often about $110.

My favorite though is when they clearly know exactly what is wrong with the car, but ask you if they can authorize a $120 examination fee to "determine" what the issue you are already describing is.

 

Truonghthe hit this about dead on. I'm a computer engineer, not a car mechanic. I like to think I know more about cars than your average person, but I also know the vast majority of this stuff is beyond my skill set. To their credit, the dealership hasn't really tried to take me for a ride in regards to extraneous "maintenance" tasks like coolant flushes, and I like to think my bullshit meter for stuff like that is fairly accurate. Repairs are a wholly different animal. I have leaned on them to give me a proper diagnosis and a fair repair price since A) just about any repairs are beyond my skills, and B) I don't usually have the flexibility to shop around for the best deal, I just need my car back ASAP if I want to keep my job.

Bringing this full circle, I decided to keep the TL. You guys gave some good insight and I decided that I agreed offloading the car right after spending so much in repairs would be a waste. As a side note, I will scan a copy of the radiator repair invoice and will put it up here so people can weigh in on the infamous Bugatti radiator.

In regards to my current issues, here is what the dealer put forth as remedies:

- for the vibration coming from near the gas pedal when putting light pressure on the pedal, they are going to put clamps on the heat shields located right behind the firewall. They think the shields may have come loose during the head/valve repair. The dealer is doing this work at no charge.

- for the front end vibration and higher RPMs/speed, the mechanic says that the front axles need replacing and that it isn't related to the engine repair that was done. They are quoting me at $500 to replace both front axles.

Thoughts?

 

Good choice man I was considering selling mine a week ago too since 100k maintenance service is almost due and need a whole bunch of control arms and bumper needs paint.
I calculated a car payment of 500 a month which is 6k a year plus the added cost of premium full coverage insurance is a lot.
Spending 1-2k a year on a amazing used car seems like a much better choice

 

Since you have put some money in it, keep it a while longer... I got rid of my CL-S after 10 years of ownership and 148K on the clock. The car was in great mechanical shape but the body was starting to rust after 15 years... and some suspension parts were getting close to needing replacement and with the average age of the 5at used in that car being roughly 70Kish miles, I wanted to sell it BEFORE I ran into issues. The final nail in the car's coffin so to say was the 27 mile commute to work each way in the winter FWD was just not cutting it anymore as I typically travel to and from work BEFORE roads are plowed. I loved the performance and the ease of which the car accelerated and how it rode but there was more than once when I thought I was not going to make it to or from work due to 9+ inches of snow fall. The icing on the cake was when I drove my 2003 Legacy in the snow for the first time... so I bought a 2014 Subaru Legacy and put the CL-S up for sale.

As for the $500 for both half shafts, it's not terribly expensive

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-p...k-plug-943602/

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-p...r-head-941561/

Brad - Engine mounts might be a suspect. Vibration front might be these mounts, might be un-balanced wheels / rotors / braking from front drive automobile.

Our 2008 TL-S was checked for loose spark plugs a year ago at miles ~ 73,000. I was astounded what was found. Loose spark plugs. Thank you AcuraZine 3G TL forum!

The "hopping" you described, and the "burning smell" present many more difficulties, if true. Not doubting you, keep us updated 'cause we give a sh*t.

 

Good call keeping it Brad

 

I know your feeling man, I used to work up to 74 hours a weeks so DIY is not even an option when come to repair and I also do need a car to go to work therefore my local dealer get all the work and i just buy the part. Dealer expensive than shop? yes but its more importance is they do give out loaner so I won't get in trouble with my jobs.