I have found a 2005 TL (Anth/Quartz/Auto/Navi) at the local Acura dealer with 4900 miles. The salesman I have talked to tells me it is one of the dealerships loaner cars and that since it is CPO, it has a better warrantee. He said something like 6 years/62000 miles. Can someone enlighten me on the Acura CPO, and tell if the salesman is correct? Or at least tell what is correct. Any CPO stories? It seems too good to be true.

Thanks in advanced.

 

Dealership loaners are lot like a dog you find at the animal rescue shelter...often abused and issues pop up once you get them home. Be cautious of a "loaner". I know some to the TL loaners I've gotten were dirty inside and out, wheels had been curbed (obvious curb rash), etc.

 

I bought a CL with Acura Care (Extd Wnty)... Mine was from 7/100,000. They told me it was bumper to bumper... Come to find out it is a limited b-2-b.
ex) There is a trim piece on the driver side door that was comming apart. It obviously is a OEM defect. They told me that if I was under the OEM warrenty it would be covered, but since it would be under Acura Care, they would not approve it.

Good Luck... Really check out the car. It could have been ridden hard and put away wet!

Also, if there is something that needs to be fixed on the car, please make them put it in writting... ex) extra keys cut, storage locks don't work, trim pieces comming apart...

The Spazzz

 

Personally I wouldn't buy a loaner car. I know for a fact that people rag on those cars! You don't want something that hasn't been well taken care of.

 

After my first post, I happened to got to MSN.com and guess what? Home page feature was about Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) autos...

http://autos.msn.com/home/cpoResearc...c=msn&GT1=7136

P.S. Don't let us steer you away from CPO Acuras, just the "loaners".

 

Exactly! I am not saying CPO are bad... just loaners because people tend to not take care of cars that aren't their own.

 

I needed a bit of clarity from you guys. I will wait. Possibly get an 06 with the iPOD addition. Any word on how the intigration will work? I heard voice commanding the iPOD will work, and learning curve?

 

06's arent coming with ipod hook ups. Think only the TSX is.... Yea Loaner TL's = Beaten Up! How much are they asking for that CPO Ex-Loaner TL?

 

Salesman called and said car sold last night. I suppose better off, and him and I discussed and agreed with the questionalble nature of the tratment of the car under loan-out status. I'll keep looking, there is an Anthracite/Quartz/Navi/Auto, with my name on it out there. Just have to find it...........

Oh and they were asking $32900 for it, I was planning on offering them (to start, $29500) to see where it went. Oh well.

 

32900 for a used loaner? Rip off! You are better off IMO!

 

yea $32,900 is a rip....

 

a total rip

 

32900!!! You should be able to buy and 06 for that. Do not put so much hype in the cert process at a few thousand miles, they act like they spent 2000 to recondition the car. As for the better warranty, you shouldn't need it if they build quality.

It might be considered a used car and you usually do not get as good a rate interest wise (if you are financing). Unless you are saving like 4000 bucks and it was from someone you know you are better off with a new car.

Get an 06 and start telling us how well it drives and what improvements they have made. Considering the issues people have had with brakes, etc. I would want to get new since they hopefully adresses some issues.

BTW when you do buy be sure to check all the fluids, check the tire air pressure, and retorque the lugs nuts. I have always done this when I get the car home.

 

A few months ago, I bought an 04 loaner TL under the CPO program and it looks/drives like new (ABP/non-navi, 22,700 miles). They extended the powetrain warranty to 100,000 miles, 62K non-powertrain. I also got it for $25,700. That's not bad a for a certified -pre-owned car which is worth $29K KellyBlueBook. Unlike most people on this forum, I am poor and couldn't afford to spend $30 -$32K on an '05. It was either that or a new Accord EX V6 (which was at the limit of my budget -I really could only afford an EX 4-cyl). Sure a brand new car would have been nice, but a year from now when the new car smell wears off, I'd rather be driving a 2 year old TL than a 1 year old Accord.

Now -to the "loaner car" aspect of this purchase. Of course I was skeptical about buying a loaner. It's like buying a used car. So I test drove it for a while and really checked it out thoroughly. The dealer that I bought it from did a great job addressing the cosmetic wear-and tear items that I pointed out. The exterior was detailed and pretty much like brand new. The interior had some scuffed/cracked vinyl (at the rear A/C vents, rear door panel) and they replaced/repaired it (it looks brand new inside). The car drives fine (no different than my friend's 2004 TL). Since it is CPO, they'll treat it as if you had bought it new. There are some rattles that I'll get fixed (under warranty) during the next service -I'll report back to let you know how Acura honors they're CPO promise.

Everyone boasts about Honda/Acura reliability and engine quality. "You can drive these into the ground" or "you can get at least 200K miles on it" so why this apprehension about buying a loaner Honda/Acura? This isn't a loaner Taurus we're talking about here.

 

My thoughts:

I've seen it called a "demo" as well.

I traded in a previously wrecked (possibly twice) acura to a dealer and they sold it CPO.

He even told me (as part of explaining why he could give me so little for my trade) that part of the cost of reselling (markup) is what they PAY $1000 for the CPO. They pay for certifiying it and pass the cost on to you. I suspect they don't even inspect it (it just works like a warranty).

I don't care if its honda, toyota or unobtainia -- if the engine wasn't properly maintained (oil, filter etc) or it was abused, then its lifespan is diminished. If you don't plan to keep it past the warranty and don't mind minor issues cropping up (that you may have to live with) -- then go for it.

 

Obviously if you're purchasing a used a used car, you have to do your homework. Even a CPO might have accidents on it's title so buyer beware. I am surprised Acura would sell a a CPO if it had accidents on it's title (I am pretty sure one of the provisions for qualifying for CPO status is that it has a clean title). Of course if someone got into an accident with their loaner, the dealer could have fixed it without reporting the accident.

 

Carfax is not perfect. I know someone that bought a vette and it has been in an accident 2-3 years earlier. I would use the argument with the dealer that I do not care if acura certified it.. That's like a basball pitcher calling his own balls and strikes.

If you were to drive a car 4000 miles and then have to sell it or trade it in the dealership would probably want at least 5k off what you paid for it... And, that would be during the same model year. The 05s are not in the model year since the 06s are out now...

 

I just bought a 2004 TL (Silver AT with navi) about 3 wks ago for $29700 on the CPO program. It had 15k miles. After getting over the thrill of such a great deal purchase wise, I have had some problems-
1) A persistent rattle with every bass beat in the rear deck. Sounds like a bunch of tin cans in the car. And the radio is not cranked up. Brought it to dealership, who supposedly replaced insulation but never checked it out. SO, I was bringing it back the next week b/c never fixed. NOW they are saying they can't find any probs with the speaker, and it still sounds like dookie. I will let you know the upshot of that fight
2) Last week I noticed a number of paint chips on the car. Now obviously, it is a used car so I am not unrealistic and expect a new paint job. HOwever, there is the beginnings of rust on the car. I pointed this out to the dealer who said this is not covered under warranty. Even though I just bought the car, all they offer is to touch up the paint chip, over the rust? Nice one.
3) I also have the dash unit mysterious rattle, which can't be "reproduced" in the dealership
4) I also have gotten a vibration at 20-40mph on only a couple of occasions, but it shook the entire car and forced me to pull over to check that I didn't have a flat. The temp was 80deg out, and the car had sat for about an hour, so I don't think it was the tires, but who knows? THe dealership couldn't reproduce it, yet again and didn't seem to want to hear my request/suggestion to try to balance/align check the tires. How nice.

Any thoughts from you guys out there? I just came to Acura from Lexus (1999 RX300) and after a pleasant CPO experience, this one has been rotten.

Appreciate any feedback. SOrry 'bout the length of this.

 

problems 1, 2 are perfectly normal. My rear deck rattles and mine is brand new. paint chips. what can I expect from used car. 3 and 4 are somethign I would talk to dealer.

 

Just wanted to add an update to my CPO experience posted yesterday. Today I went back to the dealership to pick up my car, and it was as if they were a new place. Service mgr came to meet me as well as srvc tech who worked on car. THey were able to fix rear deck rattle, touched up all paint chips (that we could find anyway) and they completely detailed the interior of my car. They went above and beyond...guess it pays to be patient and persistent with the dealership.

 

I bought my CPO , 05, WDP, 5AT, Navi etc...
I don't think it was a loaner... probably because it has navi etc... who knows...
doesn't matter, it's in good shape, drives great..

had 9K miles on it, paid $30. I don't think I got ripped LOL..

I love it... they also told me b-2-b warranty until 62,000 miles...
we will see I guess..

still beats the $36-$37K for a new one...

 

Why are problems considered to be perfectly normal... That's why acura can continue to not address things like this since "normal" is applied to that and of course all the cattle believe that... I have 15000 on my car and non of that is normal...

maybe they are consistent with issues acura has in QA but not normal...

 

Two Acrua dealers sold my lemon as CPO, even the title is branded as MFG BUY BACK in my state, not so sure if it is in the other state, however, this is where CarFax is good, as it lists my car as a MFG buy back and says alert all over the place. While I agree carfax is not always perfect, you should always check because you never can tell what it will say.

I found it very interesting that Acura can have the car as a CPO and it was lemoned, so I would not put too much faith in CPO'd cars (They also said the car was a "fleet" car, go figure, I don't look like a fleet?)

See below for yourself from Carfax!

early 2004
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Dallas, TX
New owner reported - it was not me that told them this, I think it was the company who took care of the buy back
MANUFACTURER BUYBACK
OR LEMON REPORTED

early 2004
Motor Vehicle Dept.
MANUFACTURER BUYBACK
OR LEMON REPORTED

2nd Q 2004 Acura Certified Dealer
Offered for sale as an Acura Certified Vehicle

2nd Q 2004 Auto Auction
Sold at auction
in Illinois
Listed as
a fleet vehicle


3rd Q 2004 Acura Certified Dealer
Offered for sale as an Acura Certified Vehicle

 

I purchased a 04 TL (in June 04) with 7900 miles CPO. Here for is my experiance: I've had some rattles (we ALL have almost), still have one that seems to come and go. After reading this forum I'm convinced that the CPO was not the fault of any problems, however the early build date may have been. The car was in mint condition, tranny get extra warranty (this could prove to be useful, the tranny needed the 'JET' fix). Two of the ACURA dealrs in town have provided outstanding service.

Look at the people dropping off and picking up the loaners, 1/2 of them are soccer moms. I'd bet the guys from the performance section (CAI & Exhaust mods) regulary drive harder then the people "pick up a loaner to get to work". That's not to say that the loaner do not get driven hard 'sometimes' (as our cars probably do), just saying that not every mile was put on the car at the redline.

Each one is different, and should be evaluated like a good used car. Additionaly, while the TL holds it's value well, it can't hurt to consider letting ACURA eat some of the deprecation.

It depends on the deal..

Good Luck Shopping..

 

I also bought two Acura’s recently, both CPO – originally I was looking for two CPO Hondas (me and my wife) but ended up with Acura deals that we could not pass. My wife got ’02 RSX with 14k miles (3 years old leased car) in a perfect condition. All of out issues were addressed in a timely manner. Things that we complained and were addressed: squeaky breaks (they resurfaced rotors and replaced pads), steering wheel not being centered (we just wanted to get it centered, but they also redid alignment – we did not have any problems with alignment) and last I noticed some cracks on one of the tires – tried to get all four of them replaced, but they did the two of the four – still not bad, plus they did balancing and rotation on all of them.

My second CPO Acura is TL ’04 6M/T with 13k on it – this car was of the one year lease – perfect condition in and out. The car has missing ring around the shifter boot and a coin box – both are being ordered by my dealer (just need to drop of the car), they also agree to fix a scratch on one of the wheels (still have not had a chance to drop of the car). I have only two annoying rattles so far – one is in the driver’s vent area and another one if the window rattle (found a fix on the forum here – I am going to present it to the dealer to see if they can do it instead of myself dealing with it) – my service advisor has already put notes regarding the rattles and they will address them when I drop of the car. Other thing I need to address is the glove compartment gap – it is too big in my opinion; we will see how that goes.

I would be hesitant to buy a CPO car with 30-40k miles because like some of you said, you never know what kind of maintenance was done, but buying a car with 5k-15k what kind of maintenance would you expect? One or two oil changes and perhaps tire rotation? No big deal in my book! In addition, most of CPO Acura’s have really good interest rates when financing – another good selling point

 

My '97 was a CPO, leased by an older gentleman and then purchased by him after the lease was up. In my case, I lucked out as he kept it in top shape and as evidenced by the car's history, he liked it enough to hold onto it.

Most CPO cars are great and well worth the money. But I'd be VERY hesitant to purchase a loaner... they might be in decent shape, but those miles are usually very strenous and you basically have a prematurely aged car.