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I'm looking at joining the club. I've always wanted an Acura tl type s but money is a bit tight so I'm looking for a fully loaded tl instead. I found the following car and wanted to know if you think it's worth the money
it's an 06 tl, 6MT with navigation and a-spec kit. 170k miles with a clean and clear carfax report, seller won't budge a dime below $5200. This fits my budget at this time and the car seems clean inside and out. I wanted an automatic for a daily but u know these cars have issues with the auto trans and I come from two manual swapped mitsubishi galants so I'm kinda liking the manual.
Thoughts are appreciated. I want to decide soon on what to do
The closeup picture of the rest passenger door shows the only dent on the car according to the seller. Although it is high mileage and its a bit discouraging me from buying it, I'm liking the car a lot so wanted to come here and get few more opinions before I decide on whether to buy it or look for another one.
what maintenance has been done? if its not up to date, your looking at anywhere from 600-1000 IMO
Serpentine belt recently replaced
Power steering line replaced
Regular oil change
Transmission fluid recently changed
No idea on the clutch since he only owned it for a year and history doesn't show.
Timing belt and water pump were done by owner #2 (I'm buying it from the third owner)
That's all I have on it. I am mechanically inclined to do any work needed. Most likely some ball joint and misc suspension components for a car with that kind of mileage.
the problem with how you posed the question; "is this car worth the money?" is...
everyones idea of "value" and "worth" is different.
the car in question is a very clean and a great specimen!!! Is it worth the money? I know I would try to sell my car for at least $6k. the car in question is in the correct price range and if i was the seller; i wouldn't budge either.
a better question would be; "I'm worried about the car being a higer mileage example; what can go wrong? what can I expect? how good are these cars later in life?"
The car is a Honda with a Honda engine. the first iteration of the engine was produced in 1996. 21 years of producing an appliance engine!!
the J-series engine is as stout as ever. unless neglected; the engine will run forever.
since the car is a FWD vehicle, the front end suspension takes a beating. Check control arms and axles.
to answer another one of your questions; the TL's clutch is one of the hardest cars to master. for some reason, I can pick up an american car in one day. the TL took me at least a month to two. this learning curve ate up the clutch real quick. it could have been me, previous owner or other test drivers.
but you should at least include in your budget for a clutch, JUST in case. I did. I bought the car in 2010 for a lot of money. not 5,000 miles later and I had to change the clutch
you are right, i should have worded my post differently and asked more and better questions. but it was a last minute decision to join the club and post asking for opinions here. but you got the idea of what i was trying to ask lol. im glad you covered more than i asked, i did just enough reading to know enough about the car, but never read deeper on those engines or anything else for that matter. i figured the suspension probably needs an overhaul at some point soon. the guy i am buying the car from happens to be an Acura tech at an Acura dealer near him (just found that out last night while chatting with him) i will be going there on tuesday evening to see the car and test drive it, he is also willing to throw it up on the lift for us to go through the suspension and what not.
should i bring a compression tester or no ? since you said those engines are very stout, im debating whether i should test it or not.
as for the clutch, i have been driving stick for about 9 years. i have a 2001 mitsubishi galant that i manually swapped that had been my daily for a couple years. and my racecar/street car is a 400whp galant with a stage 4 competition clutch that is a bitch to master! so i hope i should be ok learning this clutch.
and yes those headlights are going to get a full restoration as i have the proper stuff to do it.
that even more comforting to know he is an acura tech!!!!
the compression tester would be for your own piece of mind, but i'm not sure you could find damaged valves (interference engine; money shift will result with pistons kissing valves) with just the compression test. you would need to do a leak down test too, if you were so inclined.
p.s. a friend money shifted my car. damaged the exhaust valves in the heads. I swapped heads!!
the clutch isn't so much hard to master because it's stiff or anything..
Acura elected to put a 2-peice hydraulic clutch (forgot the correct name at the moment)
it self adjusts when wear occurs. this means the bite point or engagement point is inconsistent. 1st gear will be the hardest to figure out LOL
Last edited by justnspace; 11-06-2017 at 07:19 AM.
that even more comforting to know he is an acura tech!!!!
the compression tester would be for your own piece of mind, but i'm not sure you could find damaged valves (interference engine; money shift will result with pistons kissing valves) with just the compression test. you would need to do a leak down test too, if you were so inclined.
p.s. a friend money shifted my car. damaged the exhaust valves in the heads. I swapped heads!!
the clutch isn't so much hard to master because it's stiff or anything..
Acura elected to put a 2-peice hydraulic clutch (forgot the correct name at the moment)
it self adjusts when wear occurs. this means the bite point or engagement point is inconsistent. 1st gear will be the hardest to figure out LOL
this is where new terminology is going to get me. you said money shift, what is that ?
where you go from 4th gear to 2nd. it's called the money shift, because you have to spend money to fix things.
interference engine. mechanically over-rev'd.
like mentioned; i swapped the heads and i was good to go
I'd focus my efforts to find out what has been modified on the car. the lugs and exhaust look to be aftermarket...I'd just want to know the extent of it because troubleshooting someone else's mess ends up being a nightmare I wouldn't take on unless the price of the car was super cheap. Is 5K fair? I think so...you're getting a hell of a car with a $800 aspec kit on it for that price and if the timing belt was done, you have another 40K before you have to worry about it.
where you go from 4th gear to 2nd. it's called the money shift, because you have to spend money to fix things.
like mentioned; i swapped the heads and i was good to go
the galants have interference engines, the only thing that can do any damage is when the timing belt breaks at any speed but idle, that's where valve get bent (dealt with that twice)
what causes that on the TL ? timing belt im guessing since its an interference motor. anything else ?
i've only ever worked on my 2.4 4g64 mitsubishi engines in the last 8 years so going from that to a V6 is all new to me, im still inclined to do all the work myself.
to give everyone an idea, i have built this car from the ground up all by myself (minus the welding and the tuning)
I'd focus my efforts to find out what has been modified on the car. the lugs and exhaust look to be aftermarket...I'd just want to know the extent of it because troubleshooting someone else's mess ends up being a nightmare I wouldn't take on unless the price of the car was super cheap. Is 5K fair? I think so...you're getting a hell of a car with a $800 aspec kit on it for that price and if the timing belt was done, you have another 40K before you have to worry about it.
as far as he told me, it only has a type-s exhaust but those tips arent consistent with the dual tips for the type s but looks to have burnt exhaust tips like an aftermarket exhaust for a TL. i did also notice the blue lugs nuts and i wanted to ask about those. do the stock wheels use flat bottom lug nuts or acorn style ?
i think the price is fair for what i am getting even though it is high mileage, im not worries unless the engine was neglected. according to the carfax records, it looks like the second owner had it from 09 till last year and he stacked all the miles on it. and this guy had owned it since august of last year.
thank you. the car is power by a Holset Hy35 from a cummings diesel and makes 391whp and 365tq at 25psi and barely gets traction with that much power to the front wheels. looking into doing an AWD swap some time in the near future.
I want to say conical seat for the lugs...
I was going to say it's an ATLP exhaust, but I think those are aftermarket tips welded on, maybe stock mufflers.
Sounds like current owner doesn't know too much about the car's history.
I want to say conical seat for the lugs...
I was going to say it's an ATLP exhaust, but I think those are aftermarket tips welded on, maybe stock mufflers.
Sounds like current owner doesn't know too much about the car's history.
From what i gathered, he didnt get much information from previous owner. my guess is the car came in as a trade in (the history shows it was sold to him from the dealership where he works) and he only knows so much about it without the previous owner giving out all the information.
i will find out when i put it on the lift tomorrow. could be stock mufflers and just welded tips. to me that is not a big deal. as long as its not an exhaust system done half ass.
even if it was, that alone wouldn't deter me...it might just be an indication of what else he hacked up
either way, it's looking like something to snag, man...
to this day, I miss my 3G TL...
I sold it for substantially more but had less miles and arguably better kept.
even if it was, that alone wouldn't deter me...it might just be an indication of what else he hacked up
either way, it's looking like something to snag, man...
to this day, I miss my 3G TL...
I sold it for substantially more but had less miles and arguably better kept.
yeah im too worried about the exhaust, the car will most likely get some changes over time, coilover, wheels, exhaust and few odds and ends possibly. i simply cant drive a car stock.
my current daily is a 2001 mitsubishi galant with a 5mt swap, 4 piston brembos on the front and 2 piston brembos on the back with Megan Racing street series coilovers with Swift springs (softer rate), custom project headlights with RGB halos and demon eyes. AEM short ram intake. 17' evo wheels
well done...
interesting set of cars to modify!
It's funny...there are a lot of Honda, or Toyota or Nissan guys...Domestic etc...
you rarely see too many Mitsu freaks!
I'm guessing that since none of yours are spyder GS-X you had kids young.
well done...
interesting set of cars to modify!
It's funny...there are a lot of Honda, or Toyota or Nissan guys...Domestic etc...
you rarely see too many Mitsu freaks!
I'm guessing that since none of yours are spyder GS-X you had kids young.
no kids here yet, i was never a coupe kind of guy and also GSX usually are a nightmare to deal with since they come with a laundry list of stuff that needs fixing and they are money pits.
i opted for the galant because i wanted to be different so i moved forward with the galant. it is very similar to an evo in a lot of way except its FWD instead of AWD. and my daily is the same because i know these cars inside and out i have buckets of spare parts (this is my 3rd daily galant as i scraped 2 prior to it already) since i usually buy them with a broken timing belt and bent valves for cheap, i do a full timing belt and head job and call it a day and drive it for a couple of years.
nice, man...
so the gallant for you, would be the TL for me!
well the white one will be leaving and the TL will be replacing it. im getting older and i need something more my age (if that makes sense im 34 now). i guess the TL just has everything i want in it. the luxury, performance (galant stock is 110hp to the wheels) and looks. i cant drive an ugly car so i couldnt find anything that i liked stock as is.
the TL is sexy stock, add few small things and it will look even better and wont look like a teenager's car like the galant does.
racecar stays. white car will get stripped. wheels will be winter wheels for the racecar, coilovers will be sold and ill use that money to get ISC coilovers for the TL. manual trans and misc parts will be kept for backup for the racecar as well. remaining stuff ill sell to fund the new TL addiction (need to upgrade tail lights, side markers, add front fog lights, HIDs, Intake, and whatever else is cheap and easy mod to do)
In some ways I feel like my TL looked juvenile...
but I still miss it a lot. I learned a TON on that car. Longest I've owned one...7 years.
I think you will not be disappoint with your decision.
In some ways I feel like my TL looked juvenile...
but I still miss it a lot. I learned a TON on that car. Longest I've owned one...7 years.
I think you will not be disappoint with your decision.
wow that is super clean. 04-06 im guessing. stock bumper with A-spec lip and custom fitted fog lights ? those dont look like the accord fog lights that i saw were being fitted into this bumper. love the brembos color as well. got more pics ? id love to see different builds.
Yeah, I had accord and switched to inspire fogs.
I had so many colors and iterations...headlights, caliper colors...etc...
I learned a LOT on that car.
Yeah, I had accord and switched to inspire fogs.
I had so many colors and iterations...headlights, caliper colors...etc...
I learned a LOT on that car.
that link took me to the search page. were you trying to link to a specific post instead ?
(adding inspire fogs to the list of mods )
i used to powder coat on the side as a hobby and i stopped when i went for my engineering degree, so changing colors was so easy for me, my brembos and valve cover etc went through few different color changes in a couple of years. im due for a new color on the racecar, i will be hopefully up and coating next summer so the TL will get a nice added touch of color. i do dislike that the rear has stock calipers, that annoys me a bit lol.
i saw a post where someone was trying to fit evo rear brembos on the TL but never followed to see if it was ever done. it is a shame that we cant steal them from another acura and mount them directly on the TL. the evo brembos were a direct swap onto the galant with zero modification needed (ok i lied, i needed to cut the dust shield since the rotors were bigger.)
i will dig deeper into it since i will have a set of evo brembos coming off the white car. i can use the rears on the TL or just leave it alone.
let me buy the car first
Leave it alone; the TL's rear brakes are already more robust than necessary. Putting Brembo's on the rear will do the following negative things to the car:
Upset the front/rear brake balance in favor of the rears which will in turn make the car unmanageable in emergency situations and in slippery weather.
Eliminate the parking brake; a very bad thing for manual transmission equipped cars.
Leave it alone; the TL's rear brakes are already more robust than necessary. Putting Brembo's on the rear will do the following negative things to the car:
Upset the front/rear brake balance in favor of the rears which will in turn make the car unmanageable in emergency situations and in slippery weather.
Eliminate the parking brake; a very bad thing for manual transmission equipped cars.
U may be right on the first point with changing the way the brakes behave. Ad for the emergency brake, if done properly then emergency brake will stay of the proper rotor/emergency brake hardware were used.
U may be right on the first point with changing the way the brakes behave. Ad for the emergency brake, if done properly then emergency brake will stay of the proper rotor/emergency brake hardware were used.
Uhhh, that makes no sense; the Brembo calibers wouldn't clear both the larger diameter hat for the parking brake while at the same time clear the inner surface of the wheel rim.
Uhhh, that makes no sense; the Brembo calibers wouldn't clear both the larger diameter hat for the parking brake while at the same time clear the inner surface of the wheel rim.
Your statement isnt clear at all.
what i was trying to say that if i would let say use brembo calipers from an evo then i would need to use the rotor for that caliper and the corresponding emergency brake hardware to make the emergency brake functional.
what i was trying to say that if i would let say use brembo calipers from an evo then i would need to use the rotor for that caliper and the corresponding emergency brake hardware to make the emergency brake functional.
i dont know where you got confused here.
I believe the Brembo calipers from the Evo are the exact same model number as the units on the front of the 6MT TL (as well as the TL Type-S); assuming that's the case, there isn't enough room between the larger rear hat (larger because the parking brake shoes live inside the hat) and the inner surface of the wheel rim.
11-05-2017, 06:24 PM
I love power!
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