So its finally time to say goodbye to my '99 TL with 178k miles with a tranny fail
I found a 2006 TL with nav, 52k miles, clean title for $15.9k from a private sale
Just wondering:
Is this a good price for the car?
are there any known defects/recalls reported?(Im aware every car is unique but still had to ask)
any negative findings in the tranny dept?
anything else I should know before making a purchase Monday.

Thank You

 

Its a pretty good price except i would talk to 15-15.3 as it would have to be in pristine condition condition to get 16k.
Power steering hose recall
The achilles heal of the TL is the tranny 04-05 are worse but 06 can also have issues.
If you purchase the first thing to do would be replace the transmission fluids and pressure switches.

 

with the tranny fluid flush, is a power flush ok? because that's what my mechanic has upgraded too and refuses to do an old fashioned flush(even though he did a powerflush on my 99 TL a few thousand miles back and everyone here on acurazine is telling me that that's what destroyed my trans) and I don't have the equipment to do it myself (i.e ramps ect..)
for the pressure switches and power steering hose, how much does that usually run for?

 

find a new mechanic.

3x3 is the recommended way to change out the tranny fluid.

 

one thing i wish someone told me is stay off acurazine if u like ur car as is and wish to have money in ur pockets lol

 

fixed

 

I paid $15200 for my 06 nav with 87K 6 months ago in damn near pristine condition other than a few paint chips, interior was spotless. I got it through a dealer so I feel like I could have gotten something similar a little cheaper elsewhere but I had already sold my car and was in a bit of a rush. They were asking $17k for it... if the thing is clean I wouldn't hesitate. 07-08 do have a better trans but the 06 doesn't have as many issues as the 04 and down. Plenty of people on here with 100K+ miles on the original trans in their 06.

 

I have 54k miles. See if the dealer can swap out the pollen filter and maybe replace the hood struts. Open the hood and see how 'strong' the resistance is when pushing the hood down. If it's a little weak have them replace the struts. Outside of that the TL is a great car.

I have 54k miles and the struts crapped out on me a couple months ago- that seems like an age thing and not caused by mileage. They're not expensive and easy to replace. Depending on how the car was driven, you should have plenty of life in the brake pads based on my experience. Definitely change the ATF and 3/4 gear sensors at 60k.

 

the pollen filter (cabin filter) can be changed by yourself in less than 10 min.

 

^only if you have cut the glovebox. There is no way you can change that filter in 10 minutes without breaking a clip or two. It takes me 5 minutes and I have the mod- easily a 20-30 minute task for somebody that has never done this before like the OP.