I know this topic has been discussed before but while searching I couldn't find a direct answer to my question.


I currently have a 2000 TL with a couple mods nothing crazy and looking towards upgrading to a 04-06 TLw/nav or 07-08 Type S with relatively low milage. The price ranges I'm finding for the base is around $15-16k and $22k-23k for the type s.


My question is the type s worth the extra $7k? If I buy the base I could mod it for around $4,500 with installation help (CAI, XLR8 exhaust, XLR8 HFC, RV-6 J-pipe, A-spec Body Kit, A-spec Wheels, RSB, JnR Headlights, Type S Tail lights w/ side markers, fog lights, and roof spoiler) and use the other $3k towards paying off the car or future mods. Also I would probably want to mod the type s as well which is more $$

All opinions accepted

 

In before the

 

I see your dilemma, but a base is still a base. And the type-s has it's own incentives. I too went through this and decided to go with the type-s. Although, I did find one for 19k.

 

In before Justnspace too

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/type-s-worth-trading-up-692400/

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...t=worth+type+s

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...t=worth+type+s

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...t=worth+s+type

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...t=type+worth+s

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...t=type+worth+s

And the icing on the cake: http://www.epinions.com/review/2007_...t_278522793604

 

I have seen some type s for $19-20k but the milage is close to 100,000. I'm looking for something under 75k miles

 

Thank you

 

^ IMO though go with the Type-S. If you don't, you'll spend hundreds or thousands of dollars trying to make it look like one.

 

JnR Headlights = typo should be JnC

 

if you can afford the type-s than get it. after you get the type-s you won't ever have any regrets. compared to getting the base model, a few months or years down the road you might say to yourself "i wish i would have gotten the type-s"

me, i got a 08 nbp w/ navi and 30k miles for $15k. at times i wish i got a type-s for the extra 30 ponies but it's ok. i really like the blue interior for the 07-08 base compared to the TL-S red anyways. could be because blue is my favorite color, but i'm sure if i would have landed a TL-S instead i would be for the TL-S lol...

 

wow what a deal.
08 with 30k miles for $15k?!

 

I bought my type s with 31000, for $22000 in October. You just gotta look and you'll find a deal. My choice was simple, I wanted Kinetic Blue only comes type s

 

i bought my type s for 17.5k otd. with 74.9k miles

that was my budget, so a tl-s was originally out of my price range but i was lucky to find 2 in my area during that time and even luckier to have bought it.

 

Go with the type s, the 04-05 have the 274 HP engines with a 6 speed tranny. 07-08 type s models are more powerful and further updated so majority of the kinks that the 04 and 05 had are worked out. You can find a type s for 22k with 50000k miles all day where I'm from which is the South. Be patient get the type s and when the time is right pull the trigger, your type s is out there. Advice get the 6 speed type s be in control of ur power.

 

Me, I'd save the money for the bills.

 

Actually the 04-08 base 3.2 is 258 HP. They just rated HP differently back in those years. The new rating system started in 07 I believe that's why the 04-06's say like 270 something HP then the exact same thing starting in 07 says 258 HP.
So if you want to get fancy with it then using the older rating method technically the 07-08 Type S is around 300 HP ;-) The 6mt Type S is the lightest, quickest, best balanced, and most fuel efficient TL out of all TL's built in 07-08.

To get back on subject without a doubt get a Type S. Why would you want to buy a car then have to spend thousands to make it something it will still never be? And I highly doubt you plan on swapping in the different motor. I made that same mistake a couple years ago. I bought a base 07. I literally regretted my purchase 1 WEEK after I bought it. Needless to say I traded it in for a Type S lol.

James

 

lol..justnspace is a cool dude.

anyway...OP i say get a type S. If I waited 1 more month before I got mine back then, I would have gotten the Type S.

 

I'm in the minority but in my opinion it's not worth it. But it's going to come down to you, what you like, what the car is to you, and what you want the car to be...

For me, it wasn't worth the extra $6/7/8k. An extra $7k for what; different wheels/exhaust, stiffer suspension, and a few extra ponies? No thanks. YMMV.

EDIT*** Also, consider if you plan on getting aftermarket wheels and exhaust... then you'll be paying $7k extra for just a little bit more horsepower on a car that's slow regardless... Doesn't make sense to me... Save the $7k for wheels/exhaust/suspension/etc... that you'll end up replacing either way.

Don't get me wrong... I like the TL-S, and would rather have one than my base all things being equal... but I'm not forking out the extra money for it.

 

I understand your arguement and all, but anytime I see a post where someone claims the differences are nothing more than wheels, mufflers, and a couple HP I always gotta comment. Without getting into too much detail the differences are wayyyyyy more than what you make it out to be. So lets see starting at the front of the car the entire bumper is different, the grill, the headlights, engine, wheels, brakes, side skirts, interior lighting, seats, interior accents, interior colors, rear side markers, tail lights, rear bumper, exhaust. Soo pretty much the entire car except for the sheet metal itself. Sure we all know the Type S isnt going to walk all over the base model say like how a Z06 would a standard Corvette, but in the end I think the differences are significant. On top of the that the exclusivity of not seeing your exact car 40 times a day makes it a little more "special" of an owning experience I guess you could say. Im not dissing the base TL because I personally love all TL's, but I just think the S deserves atleast a little more respect than "An extra $7k for what...no thanks" comment. And that number is just a figure someone threw out there anyway. You can find a Type S cheaper than a base model it just depends on many things such as mileage etc etc.

 

^ I hear ya... and I definitely know the differences too, but I didn't feel like typing out all the subtleties. Even with all of that stuff you mentioned, while they are differences, are they $7k worth of differences? I don't think so, and that was my point. Most of the things you listed are relatively minor and less expensive... I tried to cover the main components (wheels, etc...). And my main point, that almost everyone on this site ends up modding 90% of the things you mentioned whether they own a base or a TL-S, still holds true. You can find countless of base and TL-s's on the site here that look very unique because people modded them their own way, not because they chose a TypeS over a base. But I hear what you're saying. You DO get more with the TL-S, but I don't feel that all those things you mentioned are worth the extra bones.

All things properly compared (well maintained, low mileage, etc...) the $7k difference is pretty accurate...

 

I agree with JTS97Z28, and that's coming from a Base owner. I would think the Type S has a bit more potential as well, with the 3.5 over the Base 3.2. However, the Base '06 with 19k miles fit my budget and my requirements (WDP, black interior, 6mt, navi) and I'm happy with it.

 

I've said this countless times, back in 05 if the S was available I would have undoubtedly bought it. However, I'm not going to run in and trade my car in for the S because IMHO it's not worth it.

 

I would pay more for a Type-S (actually, I did). But how much more is the real quesiton. I think that depends on specific and individual circumstances.

In some cases you might find, say, an '07 TL-S with 50,000 miles. But compared to what? An '05 with 80,000 miles? Or an '06 with 30,000 miles?

Besides a reasonable/modest premium for the TL-S "upgrades" from stock, it all comes down to the way you value depreciation.

 

Very true, there are other factors like Navi, transmission, color, which all come into play unless you possess the ultimate factor: Patience.

 

if you can afford it and find a low mileage manual then go for the Type S!

 

3.5 > 3.2

Plus in the future, if you want to mod your Type-S.. that's like extra power on a more powerful car. Ya?

 

What he said!! I have a base 6MT w/ NAVI and I have no regrets. With the budget that I was working with I could have bought a Type S but I couldn't justify paying that much extra for it. To the OP I have not once regretted my purchase of a base TL. The difference in power is 28 hp. You can make up for that for WAYYYY less that$7K

 

Another thing to consider with mods and DIY maintenance, the dealers will mess with you and will always want $$$ when you come in for repairs even if you are under warranty....im still currently fighting back and forth with my 06 between the dealer's Service Advisor and Acura Corporate. Just to warn you all even though its completely understandable if you are capable of working with the car's simple daily maintenance.


P.S. Does it say anywhere in the manual or any Acura document that you can't maintain your car. Meaning do you have to bring it to the dealer all the time or some shop for an oil change?

 

IMO in Looks alone you can tell the difference between a Base TL and Type S. I had this problem back in Feb when I was looking for a car. I had my mind set on either a newer 3 Series Bimmer or a TL. I knew my budget wasn't Bimmer budget so i decided let me look for a TL. I seen tons of TL but the only deal breaker was the Navi. If I couldn't find one with a NAVI I wasn't getting it. I then started seeing price differences. I did see that the Base was a lot cheaper than the upgraded Tl with navi but since the deal breaker was the Navi the price didn't matter between a Base TL and upgraded TL. I then remembered a few years back seeing a TL Type S for the first time in my life parked at a wall mart and remembering that Quad Exhaust Tips and how sexy it looked. I then started looking at prices between the TL with Navi and the Type S. The price differences wasn't much, maybe a grand or two. So I decided going with the Type S since it had everything in it. Back to the Looks, When driving around and seeing a regular TL and a Type S. The Type S will always catch someones Eye and on that just alone i think its worth picking up the Type S because later you will pull up to a red light and see a type S there and you will think in your mind "Damn I should have bought the Type S Instead". Trust me it has happened to me when I purchased my 97 BMW 328i back in the day. I would see the M3 rolling around and i would say DAM i should have gotten that car instead.

 

.3 ≠~$5k.

From strictly a power perspective... do you want to pay thousands more for .3 liters? Not me. 3.5 or 3.2 the TL is not fast.

 

i cudnt have put it better !!!

 

^ That's a good point, but in my mind if it's not worth trading it in to get a TL-S because you could lose, say ~$5k in the trade, why would you spend ~$5k more in the first place??

I understand his point, and agree (I feel the same about people who go out and sell their perfectly good car and buy a hybrid to "save" money on gas), but I'm kinda playing devils advocate...

I don't want to paint myself as a TypeS hater... I really do like the cars and appreciate the subtle and not-so-subtle differences... just TO ME it wasn't worth it. I realize that it might be worth it to some and that's great.


To the OP - if you plan on doing your list of mods then I think a lot of people would agree that it would at least be more cost effective to get a base and use the saved money to do your mods... Like you said, it sounds like you'll just be buying a TypeS and modding it anyway... might as well save a few bucks.

EDIT*** Whatever you decide to do, the most important factor will be if you get a good deal on the car, regardless of if it's a base or TL-S. PATIENCE is the key. Don't compromise on what you want. Whether you decide on a base or a TypeS, there are enough of these cars out there to get a good deal. If you overpay by $2000 on a base you're just as foolish as if you overpay by $2000 on a TypeS.

Good luck!

 

The Owners Manual specifically says any peson with appropriate skills can do the maint. It advises that you keep adequate records for any non-dealer maint.

 

Get the type-s.

 

The way I see it with my current budget is if I get a base tl I can start the mods right away. If I get the type s it would be over a year maybe longer before I could afford to mod it.

 

type-s 3.5...
type-s headlights / chroming...
type-s standard navi...
type-s steering column...
type-s sound deadening properties...

type-s exhaust... but who wouldn't be replacing it anyways?
type-s suspension... but who wouldn't be replacing it anyways?

type-s aspec lips...
type-s accents...
type-s gauges...
type-s wheels...

Give me blue accents gauges and I'm in. Red, no way!

 

Im a fan of both the type s aspec and the red interior over the blue,but thanks for the input

 

Also, I'm sure if I searched I could find it, but what is the difference between insuring the two?

 

When it came time to buy my TL, my main focus was getting a car with low miles, whether it was a MT or not. I came to the conclusion that all the really low mileage base models were overpriced as hell and were in the low 20k's. At that point I shifted my focus to the TLS because I had seen some in the mid 20s and I figured why not get a rarer car that hopefully will be worth a lot more money after I put 100k miles or so on it(I ended up talking a stealership down to $23,400 for an AT TLS with 22k miles on it).

I also found that if you look up acura TLS online based on highest miles possible, you will find that base models with around 110k-130k were around 11k-13k and the cheapest I could find a TLS for was about 16k or 17k based on the same mileage.

So I made the justification that I'll be paying slightly more for it, but in the end after it is paid off, I will have an asset worth more than a base model(if you can call a car an asset at all lol).

I did the same thing when I bought my first car... I wanted power then so being a younger sibling of a Ford mechanic, I went straight for the mustangs(I was young(er) and stupid, I will admit). Looking at the GT's I liked the power but found that the Mach 1's were much rarer and had slightly more power being a DOHC compared to SOHC GTs(which I think is comparible to 3.2L vs 3.5L). The extra power isnt that overwhelming, but the extra features and looks you get with that package make it worth more money in the long run. And when I ended up selling it, I made out quite well.

So long story short, looking at your purchase from a financial standpoint... Yes, you will be paying more for not a lot more features, but when it is all said and done, you will have a car worth a lot more when it comes time to move to your next car.

 

I bought my '08 6MT CBP TL-S for about 25k with 40k miles on it, was a hard find to find a 6MT though, good luck!