Hello all, I am looking to get out of my 98 Volvo S70 Turbo and into an 05 TL. I thought I'd come and see how enthusiasts felt about the car and ask for opinions related to the purchase.

My Volvo has been a very good car, I've spent quite a lot of time, effort and money on making it how I want but after 3.5 years it's time for something new.

I'm not going to much into the modification game if I go with the Acura, I just want something nice that just needs oil changes, gas and regular maint. I have seen some pretty neat aftermarket things for it but would be keeping it in it's stock form. Aside from tinting the windows and maybe a small system.

The Acura in question is, again an 05 TL, it's got 80K miles and is being advertised at $15,900. It is the graphite in color with charcoal interior. It has Navigation, heated leather, Xenon headlights and is a 6MT. I'm sure there's more but those are the obvious options. For a used car I would say it's in excellent condition, I'm pretty picky about cars and giving it a once over I didn't see anything that stuck out as an imperfection other than the dealer's decal on the trunk lid and front plate. (Both of which would come off ASAP.) :lol:

Aside from general feedback I'm wondering a few things:

- How is the audio system?

- I do mostly highway driving, what mileage could I expect to see if taking advantage of 6th gear most if not all the time.

- Are parts expensive for the car? I imagine it probably wouldn't need anything for a while just thought I'd ask. Genuine Volvo parts are crazy expensive and I'm just trying to gauge what I'd save.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated, thank you in advance.

 

Also, I noticed the front brakes look pretty beefy. Are they some sort of upgraded option on certain trims? They seemed to do a great job at promptly stopping the car.

 

that price is kinda of high. i purchased my 06 with 62k for $15k in excellant condition

 

I didn't try to haggle with them at all so I'm not sure how concrete the price is, to offset it a bit I'll have a trade as well. Looking at KBB, which I know doesn't mean much it values the car around the 18,500 neighborhood. I don't know much about these cars but I've drawn the conclusion from searching around for a similar one that a fully loaded 6MT is a bit challenging to find, there's always the TL-S but that just doesn't suit my wants financially. Most of what I've found within a few hours away from me were Nav + Auto trans.

 

The 6MT TL comes with Brembo fronts which might explain the beefy look and feel. I think you made an excellent choice opting for the 6MT. You would avoid any potential tranny issues some AT owners are dealing with. Take it for a test drive and see if there are any issues changing gears/ popping out of gear. A lot of 6MT owners have changed the fluid out to the GM friction modified fluid. If you do a search on this site for that fluid, you can see what I am referring to.
If you are doing mostly highway driving, expect 30-33 mpg.
The audio system is ok.
Good to see the one you are looking at has Navi. It completes the look of the interior.
The big service on our cars are at 105k which is the TB/Water Pump, spark plugs etc. Expect to pay about 400 for parts. Obviously labor charges vary.
The 04-06 MT TL will give similar performance to an AT TL-S. The MT TL-S is on a different level.
Last but not least, welcome to the forum.

 

Thank you for the welcoming and I hope I can spend more time here if things go according to plan.

Gotcha with the brakes, they surely didn't look like plain jane single piston calipers. lol

I've bounced back and forth from manual and auto and while sometimes got tired of shifting a manual I always desire it when driving an auto. Not to mention 6th gear is just such an engine saver on long trips, I remember a 6 speed 07 Altima I had that sat around 2K RPM cruising at 65 mph, very gentle on gas that is I think.

I did take it for a short test drive and all seemed well, however if there are recommended things like a certain trans. fluid to extend the life of things then that would be something I'd be interested in taking care of almost immediately after purchasing. The Volvo auto trans is similar, for hard shifting a certain Toyota fluid is recommended so I generally understand that concept.

I've never had a car with Nav before, it really does compliment the interior really well and I'd be very excited to have that at my fingertips when I'm in the car. I'd probably use it to go to work just for shits and giggles. lol

Thanks for the service heads up, I figured it was somewhere around 100K miles but didn't really know what was recommended other than the timing belt. Are things like that DIY friendly? I'm pretty handy with my tool box/tools.

No one likes paying for labor and I am totally against it when possible. I do like having an actual dealer handle my state inspections though just to possibly catch something that I might have missed/overlooked.

The TL-S is amazing and I wish it were in my budget but it's good to know the performance of what I'm interested in will be similar to an AT Type S.

Thanks again and any other comments or anything are welcome.

 

Oh, also I wanted to ask about an aspect of the motor.

This will be my first Acura/Honda. That being said I'm very unfamiliar with VTEC, I've ridden in newer Civics and such and to be honest the VTEC just didn't really impress me/feel like it did much.

Is it more pronounced with a more powerful 3.2 V6 motor? I've been researching the good ol' web in regards to VTEC and feel I have a good understanding of what it is exactly I'd just like to know if it's something that you can def. feel in the TL's.

I didn't really push the car that hard on the test drive being that I was a little short on time.

 

Check the 3G Service Department (sticky on the main 3GTL page) when you have a few hours to spare.....haha. There is a wealth of information in there including a DIY written up by Majofo for the 105k service.

 

This really depends on what tires you have and how fast you are driving. If running the OEM EL42 driving at 65mph I was getting around 33-34. Bump the speed to 75mph and it was right at 30mpg. If running something a bit more sticky, expect it to stay under 30. Last year I replaced my OEM tires with Pilot Sports and I dropped 3-5mpg on the highway.

Be ready for the city mileage if you do nothing but stop and go. It can drop into the teens very easily. My mixed driving (70%hw/30%city) usually gets me around 24mpg these days in my '05 6-spd now that I put Pilot Sport AS+ on there.

This really depends on what you are used to. If you are used to factory systems, then the TL is pretty nice. If you are used to aftermarket with stupid amounts of power and big speakers....then yes it is just ok.

I had aftermarket in every one of my previous cars just because factory stereos in the 80's and 90's were just horrible. I am still amazed at how nice the stereo is in this car each time I get in and turn it up. It won't boom/bump/blow your head off, nor will the rest of the neighborhood ever hear it, but for the most part you can just enjoy what Acura put in the car. Especially when I open my trunk and there is no sub to work around, no amp that is getting hot, no wires in the way, and no ripping my car apart because I want to change something out.

As for the cost of parts? I really don't know. I have had mine for 3 years and 55k miles and really haven't had to do much yet. The only replacement part I have had to pay for so far was a rear-view mirror which was $80. Any other minor issue (door lock actuator, mirror motor, clicking clutch pedal) has been taken care of by the dealer so far.

 

Thanks a lot, if things go as I hope they do I'll be sure to do just that!

Gotcha, I think the car has newer Uniroyal tires. So, basic All Seasons. I appreciate the information, really helps to shine a light on what it's like to own one of these beautiful cars.

 

Well, I don't think this is the one. Upon a test drive everything went very well, only thing I noticed was that the passenger side auto down when reversing mirror did not work. Closer inspection of the exterior revealed deep key marks on top of the trunk lid the length of the lid and more down the RR quarter down to the front door along with a few on the driver's side.

The search continues, Autotrader has some likely candidates which I will consider next. Only problem there is the drive, before I travel I need to make sure I'm not going to get there and find crazy scratches.

 

80K and $15,900 is too much. Keep looking and I am sure you will find a TL will 60K or less for the same price.

 

Man, there are only a small handfuls of fully loaded TL's across the county in a 6MT w/ Nav.

I have emails out to a few dealers awaiting a response about those.

One specifically intrigues me which is an 05' 6MT w/ Nav, 48K miles advertised for 19000. I would haggle a little to compensate for PA sales tax and for any imperfections I'd find. I'd also have a ~2000 trade in so it might not be that bad.

I crunched some numbers with the bank and can stay around ~350/month for up to 20,000.

The other 3 that I'm awaiting responses on are all 6MT's w/ Nav and are all 2006 models

80K for 18,000, meh
61K for 18,000
75K for 17,000

All of my other findings and I've been searching dealer's high and low come back with very high miles. I'm not looking for anything more than 80K. I'm also not interested in a car that was driven much more than the national average per year.

 

Oops, country not county. lol

 

Also, the 05 I mentioned with the low mileage is Satin Silver w/ Charcoal interior. Silver for masking imperfection as the car ages and charcoal because that's what I'd like.

 

Audio system is great, ELS-branded. Just crisp, deep, and clear. Much better than most.

I do 32MPG on the highway with a 5AT.

Parts are cheap. Shares many parts with the Accord V6, so you can shop for some parts at your Honda dealer if you want.

 

Excellent, thanks for the reply. The one I test drove today I didn't fool much with the audio system. I had the volume off just listening for anything out of the ordinary, especially while shifting gears. It's such a shame the one I looked at today was keyed badly.

 

Ouch. I remember I looked at one, and it looked nice online, but in person it had heavy hail damage. I can assure you the audio system is great though. You'll need it to cover up inevitable interior rattles..

 

Such a shame, I like how the dealers never tell you normally about flaws until you waste your gas and time only to find the sales person standing there with that oh so stupid look on their face.

Excellent, I imagine I'll be enjoying the audio system soon. I just have to choose my 6MT w/ Nav TL.

The pickin's are so slim on them. I visited a well known Acura dealer today and their auction manager told me good luck finding one. I found 4 that I'd consider so far and am waiting on replies. Details on those are a few posts up.

 

The 6MTs w/ Nav are the best way to go, more fun, more speed, more reliable, more rare. I hate having an autotragic. Hey well good luck either way. The wait will be well worth it.

 

Thanks man, I am looking forward to my first Acura and am def. stoked to become an official part of the community.

 

Vtec isn't super pronounced, but you can feel the cam switch at about 5200rpm. Its a worthwhile feature,but even the vtec profile cam tends to be conservative, just not focused on low end and fuel efficiency. I'm not sure if anyone has done replacement cams yet, but that where you can really feel it. Stick in a huge cam on vtec and mostly keep your car normal for day to day driving.

 

Thanks for the information!

Tuesday i am heading to the beginning of New York's tail with every intention of returning home in an 05 6MT w/ Nav, Silver w/ Charcoal, 48K miles. It's certified and comes with a 6 month/6000 mile warranty. The only service it needed when it came in was new tires, last week it had brand new Michelin Pilot sport tires installed.

SUPER EXCITED!

 

I'm catching a lot of shit from my Volvo buddies as well, I don't give a shit. I'm tired of owning a 500 dollar car.

 

Great find and price. I just traveled up to NJ and got a 08 TL-S w/24k miles for the wife and we both *really* love it.

The audio is fantastic - I "acquired" some DVD-As and brought them with me and played them back and we were ecstatic at how the different channels made it sound like we were in a concert hall.

 

If you dont need navi, mine is for sale, in the for sale section of this site. I am in mechanicsburg.

 

I'll have to read more into that, I'm unfamiliar with them. Is it pretty much similar to an mp3 data disc?

I appreciate the offer.

The one in Queens, NY was horrible. The body was bumper car status other than that it was fantastic, I walked away.

Stay away from this one, you will be disappointed:

http://www.koeppelnissan.com/used-ca...498&vk=1739981

I found another one that I'm taking delivery off tomorrow.

It's a white w/ light tan 06 6MT w/ Nav. One owner, 75K bought locally, serviced locally.

It just passed MD inspection although I'll have to have it Pa inspected and only needed a P/S pump to cure tough steering.

I'll have more information later in the week but it's official.

There was no room for haggling in price, they revealed how they price their inventory and it was as competitive as they would go. I am trading in to offset things a bit.

They also have warranties available. I will be going with a 12K/1year plan which is covered 100% at any Acura dealership. There are no deductables, pay in advance or anything, it's very similar to a new car warranty covering the systems which I choose. That adds some security to the deal I think.

This is the one:

Overall great shape, I just have to replace the cap on the rear most portion of the outer door handle which I'll find out about when I have Jones Acura here Lancaster inspect it.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false

 

Nope. Pretty much the polar opposite. multi-channel, 24bit, 96khz audio. Very very very limited selection of discs. Its pretty much like a beta vcr now. The '06 won't read a mp3 data disc by the way, nor does it have an aux input. The aux can be solved for less than $50.

The stock system isn't anything special without dvd-A to play. Not a terrible lot of power, and a fairly weak 8" sub. It gets loud enough I guess, but its pretty fatiguing to listen to at high levels. I suppose it depends on what you're used to. If you've had descent aftermarket speakers and amps before you'll inevitably go that way eventually. If you've always had stock systems you'll probably think its fine. I did until I blew a speaker and installed something good.

 

Ah ok, thanks for the explanation.

I'm going to stay content with it for now, sound quality is pretty good I think. I was surprised at how quiet the factory subwoofer is though.

I took ownership of my new to me and first Honda product, an 06 TL 6MT w/ Nav. I'll make an introduction here.