Let me get this straight...as I look through this entire website and all the threads when you cut to the chase the only systemic problems are memory seats, tires, and drooping headliner. These are all extremely minor issues. My point is, reliability of powertrain and overall quality is excellent compared to most other cars, right?? Or am I missing something here??

 

ABOSLUTELY CORRECT!

 

you hit that sucker on the nail.. some have rattles, I havent had a single rattle.. other than that, a great car!

 

Nope, not missing anything... all the major stuff is ok and most of the minor problems you listed have been fixed on later builds.

Welcome to the world of the automotive internet bulletin board, where the most minor problem will create 87 duplicate topics daily and small complaints get blown up into huge ones.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot the rattles. So it's rattles, tires, headliner and memory seats...right?? I still say that's not too bad, and I've got to believe all the other cars folks are touting on this website MUST HAVE issues similar to this.

 

Yup, they do, some worse then others... and if you visit their boards you'll see the same thing.... multiple topics daily about the smallest of problems.....

 

That pretty much covers it - I'm enjoying a smooth tranny, responsive braking, killer looks inside and out and a kick-ass sound system - all stock - no complaints. So as long as the headliner doesn't come loose smacking me on the head, causing me to swerve hard, causing my Bridgestones to blow and on impact the memory seat malfunctions and pushes me into the steering wheel!! All kidding aside I LOVE this car. Best deal on wheels out there. :worship:

 

Thanks- I just wanted to make sure I'm not reading more into all this stuff, like I bought a crappy car or something. I still believe I made the right choice over the G35.

 

Both are good cars.... couldn't have gone wrong either way....

 

NOw thats the attitude i wanna hear! :cop:

 

Exactly. This is a great thread, as a counter-point to a couple of recent ones by potential buyers saying they've been, or are close to being, scared off by "all of the problems" people are complaining about on this forum. You've summed it up perfectly - minor stuff, considering this is a new design, and it's all being addressed by Acura. Overall, the TL is a fantastic car!

 

Don`t forget the T616 bluetooth crackling

 

Whoa, that's a new one to me (but then again, I don't read every post on this board). My T616 works perfectly. Is this a common T616 problem or is it a general bluetooth problem?

BTW, I have had ZERO problems with my car (knocks woods) in the month since I bought it (have over a thousand miles on it). Hope this continues...

derscott

 

That doesn't necessarily imply that the crackling problem is caused by the car. Numerous owners pairing a T616 with a TL have eliminated the crackling by upgrading the phone's firmware, which would tend to exonerate the car, don't you think?

 

Excellent thread. Let me add that even the problems listed - rattles, headliner, etc. - may not be as common as this forum makes them seem. There's no scientific way to use this forum to estimate what percent of TLs actually have these problems - it could be quite low. Something like 95% of TL owners have never visited here and never will. And even many of us who are here don't have these problems.

Bottom line - the TL is a great car, and anyone who really wants one but decides against it because of the stuff on this forum is just missing out.

 

OK, don’t forget the other hot issues:

1. 1500rpm vibration and drowning sound. The vibration occurs at 30 – 35mph and again from 48-60mph along with a measured 5-6dB increase in sound level inside the cabin at those times (measured by vtec.net on a press car, and was louder at that point than at 70mph and close to full throttle levels). This is under steady speed conditions, not acceleration, as when in traffic. Acura has admitted to this problem and called it an exhaust resonance problem that has no fix in the near future (maybe in 2005?). The MDX has a similar problem but at 2000rpms, see mdx.org for details. Acura is calling this a “Normal Characteristic” of the car, for such a smooth car, this is not normal.

2. The Leather Seats – the side bolsters are showing heavy signs of deep creases after a few months of use, the seat looks 5 yrs old after a few months. I have shown this to other people in the auto industry and they say that it is not normal and totally unacceptable. Acura (in one of the other posts) said that they know about this and are working on a solution. NOTE – this is NOT the butt print issue, that IMO is nothing compared to this (this will be a leather cracking issue in due time from my experience).

3. Don't forget the hard starting (anywhere from 1-4 cranks to get the car to turn over). Acura says it is normal, but can be embarrassing in front of friend or associates in a brand new car.

The seats are a pain in the A$$ as replacement of the covers never turns out right and the seats get lumpy, once they do fix it.

The vibration is unbearable to some people (some don’t even notice it), it all depends on how sensitive you are. And from what it seems, this is not that easily fixed.

Things are not all rosy in TL land! :banghead:

 

That is normal due to the high compression of the engine. Nothing can be done about it.

Exhaust resonance... well, I have headers, intake and exhaust in my TL, so the odds are the 2004 TL will sound quiet to me and probably my wife as well since she's used to my car.

Seats, wonder if that's all seats.... I guess only time will tell. Still only minor problems (except possibly the resonance) when you take all things into consideration. Go onto any other board during a redesign or relaunch and you'll see much worse issues.

 

A falling headliner on a new 35K automobile is minor? I have some swamp land to sell you!

 

Absolutely. If it was on every single car it would be different, but it's not... so, minor. The fix is to re-glue or re-stick the headliner to the cross-beams... minor. Now, if your tranny was failing or the engines were blowing... that wouldn't be minor... but the rest of the stuff is. Just little annoyances that pop up here and there are not major issues. Some people may consider the flat-spotting a little more then minor which is debatable, however, anyone who's ever had good aftermarket high performance tires has experienced this, so they may not consider it major.....

I hate to break it to you... but the average car nowadays sells for around $30k.... so the TL isn't exactly much above the average. Not that it makes it OK to have these stupid things happening, but remember, it's a first year redesign.... stupid little problems like that always pops up, no matter who makes the car.... so the choice is to either wait until the mid-year runs on the current model or wait until the next model year is released. Otherwise the odds are you'll have to deal with the minor inconveniences of a redesign.


Oh and BTW, swampland could be very valuable... so if you have a good price I'd be interested. I know many malls, schools and communities that have been built on such land, so you could make a ton of money on that, so you may want to hold onto it.

 

I heard it's a $5.00 repair job to the dealer, so I would say that's minor!

 

 

I hate to break this to you, but a headliner should not fall out of a new car if it cost 10K or 100K. Its all about QUALITY and Acura does not know the meaning of the word.

 

I agree that flat spoting on high performance summer tires is common these days as most have switched to a nylon overwrap belt as this keeps the belt packages in the tire nice and tight at the high speeds (over 150) as the nylon constricts at high temps and holds the belts together. The downside is that in cold temps, the nylon belt also has a memory effect causing the flat spots.

This has to do with the new fed laws for tires, thanks to the firestone/explorer issue and underinflation. It is harder and harder to get high speed rated tires that don't have nylon belts, and since the EL-42's are all seasons, they see those cold temps.

This is the price paid for a car that does 150mph, otherwise, you could go to a T rated tire, many of those don't have the nylon as they do not need the high speed/temp stability that the W rated tires do. In many cases we have taken a step backwards in tire technolgy in terms of flat spoting, in which one tire dealer said he had "not heard of that since Bias Ply tires were around"

 

I love this car! No problems. :smokin:

 

IMO, 04TL has some big issues needed to be handled ASAP.

But, only if your car is trouble-free, yes, this car is still the vehicle better than others in the market now.

 

Agreed.... but you must not know the meaning of a first year redesign. Notice how most people have indicated that the more recent production TLs have had the headliner problem fixed.

First year release, minor problem, already fixed. If you can name one car company, any car company, that has released a first year model or a complete redesign and not had ANY problems with it, then I'll agree with you that Acura overlooked something on the quality side... but I'd be willing to bet you couldn't do so. These things are normal on releases like this.... everyone needs to stop overreacting.

 

are you on crack?? Acura doesnt know the meaning of quality?? oh man, please get outta this website and go visit www.onlyfiction.com...

 

ditto. at first when i was here (and especially at clubtsx.com, i was like holy shit, these cars must be terrible), but then realized i was an outsider looking in to the forum.

i'm a very active part of the taylor guitar forum, but i've been around forever, and that many of the problems people discuss there are either random or not that big of a deal, cause i'm 100% happy with my guitar, and most people are.

you just hear more from those that are having issues. i've yet to drive a TL, but i'm sure it's a great car.

i've not yet bought a car, but it's gonna end up between the TL and the G35 (same story as everyone else on earth, right?). i drove the G35 and was amazed, but i'm sure i'll be a big fan of the TL as well. i drove a TSX and really liked it (with exception to being a bit on the slow side), so i can't wait to get behind the wheel of a TL 6MT.

 

Just cracked 1k miles last week with my TL.......so far, I've observed none of the early run problems. No vibrations, no rattling, headliner is sticking firm. As for the phone......well, dunno, yet...Verizon won't be bringing out their HFL phone from Motorola until May/June.
I still smile every time I climb in.......what a great car!!

 

The few problems aside I love my car. They dont drive me crazy and they are cosmetic. I think the thing that ticks me off is not Acura's falt but my friend who sat in the passenger seat and scratched my leather seat with his watch. Love the car pissed at the friend and enjoying all the miles of driving thus far.