infedince

Hey guys, I am looking at an Acura TL 2007 109k milles via private sale. The seller agreed to bring the car to Acura Dealership for a pre purchase inspection.

The following recommendations are listed below:

Front / Side motor mounts broke
T-beltt + water pump
Both valve covers leaking
power steering pump leaking
intake boot broken (this seems to be a minor issue I believe)
comp bushing torn
oil pump leaking
trans cooler lines leaking
outer tie rod ends boots leaking
catshield half missing (also seems odd)
Trans service

The car is very clean inside and out but im worried about these repairs.

Should I run away from this deal (5k) are the future repairs needed not even worth it?

or should I stick it out and try and renegotiate. How much will these repairs end up costing me?

sparc

That's a lot of work. Going to cost you thousands in service and repairs. Timing belt alone is going to be a lot.

Not really optional for the big ticket stuff unless you only plan to keep it for a few months.

Midnight Mystery

Negotiate on the price.

That is a lot of work but the car seems solid and the miles are low.

I think at this point it would be hard to find a 3G that doesn't need atleast most of this work anyway unless it was owned by an usually meticulous owner.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Have you checked CarFax? Navigation?
Lot of needs for a 109k car, but one item stands out-Outer tie rod end boots leaking.
There are no boots on the outer tie rod ends, so if boots are leaking, they are over the inner tie rods
and would indicate that the rack is leaking, big bucks $200-300 for rebuilt rack ( New Acura list $1189 net $821) and labor maybe $600.
I'd say $3K in repairs, but if you use the Acura rack price, make it $4k in repairs, so if tires, interior etc in excellent condition, offer them $3.5k for the car and go from there.

infedince

No nav, car was a lease for 3 years then 2nd owner had the car for the last 9yrs. New tires and brakes. Most service records are oil changes every 7-8k miles.

MyGuti

pass

Jackass

Common - Front / Side motor mounts broke - side mount can be changed in your driveway in 15 minutes
Expected - T-beltt + water pump - $1000-2500 depending on where it is taken
Common - Both valve covers leaking
Not so common - power steering pump leaking
Common'ish - intake boot broken (this seems to be a minor issue I believe)
Common - comp bushing torn - either press in replacements, or replace entire LCA
Common - oil pump leaking - get repaired during TB change
Not so common - trans cooler lines leaking
Not so common - outer tie rod ends boots leaking
Not so common - catshield half missing (also seems odd) - probably was rattling and someone ripped it off
Common - Trans service

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

The engine should last "forever" so if the price is right go for it.
If they are aware of the problems, have Acura come up with repair estimate and give it to the owners, or show them
the responses from the "experts" here on the forum.

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

If the engine and trans are in good shape then I'd consider it. I'd make sure the leaking observed on the tie rod ends is grease, not ps fluid. As Turbonut indicated, a leaking rack isn't a small fix. But if it's grease, then that would just indicate the tie rod ends need to be replaced.

An intermediate DIY'er could do that work for <$500. If you had all of it done by a mechanic, probably more like $3K. The timing belt job alone is a good $1000 or so.

I'd be interested in how badly the oil pump is leaking. That a daunting job, but I've never done it so I don't know for sure. It might not be that bad once all the guts are removed for the timing belt job. If it's not enough to leave spots on the driveway I'd probably live with it.

But if you can find something else with less problems I'd probably pass. But another TL without service on those parts might have (or eventually develop) the same problems. I've done about 3/4 of those items on my 4G - some of which were due to wear, some just as maintenance.

dj5

Sounds like the TL needs ~ $3k in maintenance type repairs which is probably why the owner wants to sell it. If you can get the purchase price to around $3000 to $3500 then it may be worth it. If the price is any higher then I would pass and keep looking.

GhostTL09

iTrader: (1)

Run Forrest Ruuuuun!

08KBP_VA

To put that price in perspective I bought an 06 Aspec Base 6MT from Private Party, 1 owner, stupid clean, crazy complete records and 61k miles for $8k. I'd say negotiate or walk away.

MyGuti

super rare to get that kind of deal!

08KBP_VA

Thats what I'm seeing now plus seller was an AZner and super nice, they even had fresh donuts and coffee for me when I arrived after my long drive up there

Chad05TL

Probably a good idea to replace them if you are sure they are bad. It is very hard to tell when they are bad unless you see the engine pull away from the mount. I replaced mine years ago and it was a bunch of Azine hype. nothing wrong with mine. - Front / Side motor mounts broke - side mount can be changed in your driveway in 15 minutes
Do this. I would not sped much more than 1,000, if that much.. mine cost 800? : - T-beltt + water pump - $1000-2500 depending on where it is tak
UNless you see oil, I would do this in your own spare time- Both valve covers leaking
This might be a warranty item. If not, you can do it yourself. - power steering pump leaking
Never heard of this but it is an easy fix, do this yourself.- intake boot broken (this seems to be a minor issue I believe)
Mine are ripped a little bit. They will keep running a long time as is. So, no rush IMO..- comp bushing torn - either press in replacements, or replace entire LCA
Never heard of this before. Might want to fix that.- oil pump leaking - get repaired during TB change
never seen these leak either.. - trans cooler lines leaking
Unless the joint is loose, you can just replace this yourself later and get an alignment done afterwards.- outer tie rod ends boots leaking
My cat shield rattle on the highway if the wind is blowing just right. been that way since I owned the car 12 yrs ago. - catshield half missing (also seems odd) - probably was rattling and someone ripped it off
Common - Trans service