Today I bought an 07 ASM TL-S w/ 75k miles. I bought it at Honda dealer in Elk Grove (by Sac, 1 hr 15 mins away). I've seen 5 or so TL-S in the last month and for one reason or another I didn't pick one up and was getting discouraged, but buy today I chalk up to patience and luck.

This last week I found an 07 White TL-S at Carmax w/ 111k miles for 19k in Roseville (by Sac). I wasn't too thrilled about the price so I wrote it off. My wife's cousin lives in Roseville and out of the blue she tells me she wants to go up Sat and if I can come along. I tell her about the car and said I'll go and I'll go look at it even though its too expensive for that # of miles. I make appointment for 11am.

Last night before I go bed I go on autotrader and run my saved search (TL-S within 200 miles) and I see a new ad from a Honda dealership in Elk Grove. Where is Elk Grove? I see its in Sac and immediately email through autotrader. The ad says the car is CBP (which I'm OK w/), but when I went to the dealer's site I see its silver!

Long story short, I get there at 9am today and by 10:30am I have the car. This is the cleanest TL-S I've seen in my month of searching. Interior is immaculate, barely any rash, headlights are clear w/ no scuffing, paint is in great condition. I told the wifey I'm keeping this baby stock, she just laughs and rolls her eyes.

The only things I need to take care of are:
-The car came w/ a Viper alarm fob and 1 key. The OEM alarm and Viper do the same thing w/ all the playing I've done, so I need to find a shop that can remove the Viper and make sure all the stock alarm functions work. Will this be hard to remove?
-Allignment is off, pulls to the right slightly. I noticed when driving home, so the dealership offered to take care of it for me (will be done next Sat)
-The passenger airbag says its OFF w/ someone in the seat. Dealership will also take care of this. Is there an easy fix for this?

Things I want to buy are:
-Retint the windows. Only has tint on the back 3 windows, and its pretty dark. 20% I think. I want to get 35% all around.
-All weather mats and trunk tray
-Color matched splash guards
-Another switchblade key as the one I got is pretty beat up. Are these pricey and can my local Acura dealership cut and program it?

On to the pics:

 

Congrats on you Type S
I personally would just tint the fronts with 35% and leave the back 5 with what is
on them.
Here in sunny cal, I would skip the all weather mats too. Put money elsewhere.
I'd skip the splash guards your type S looks to nice without them.
And the switchblade key, I hear they are expensive. Maybe a locksmith can be cheaper?
Of course this is JMO.

 

Nice pick up! that evo tho

 

BAY AREA. Where in the Bay are you at?
Congrats on the TL. I'd also skip the splash guards and get the aspec kit (if you're looking into it) since they're not compatible.

Personally I like 35% tint all around, and have it on my vehicle. I don't like having 2 different shades.

 

Nice looking car! If I'm reading correctly, you didn't like the one with 111k miles for $19k. So, how much did this one with 75k cost you (if you don't mind my asking)? Also, I am curious if they provided you a Carfax or if you pulled one, yourself. Sometimes the pulling to one side can be the result of a previous accident if it wasn't fixed properly. Most likely not but it never hurts to know the history.


Regarding the switchblade key, I got this from another thread. I think I'm going to order one from there:

http://www.heeltoeauto.com/fastline-...roductid=64771

 

That's a very well kept Type-S- enjoy it!

 

The new key will a little pricey. You can get the key cheap, but programming and cutting the key is what will be pricey.

Someone suggested the Aspec lip kit...ASM has been discontinued. You can still get a kit but it'll cost you to repaint it to match your car.

tint is up to you. Cali laws say no tint up front and as dark as you want in the back. The previous owner was compliant with the law. So... depending on how strict the local PD and CHP are about front tint... have at it.

Otherwise the car looks clean. Enjoy your time with it!

 

Nice looking car. Enjoy it!

 

Awesome car. I just got mine last week.

 

why do you want to remove the viper? i say keep it if has alarm and starter its better then the stock alarm. but if you do want to remove it very easy take of the steering wheel plastic and the dash piece underneath find the module then trace the wires to were its connected and cut. i can get you pics if you want

 

35% will look good all around. Silver can get away with lighter tint as it contrasts better.

 

Thx! The Evo is the wifey's.

I'm in the Richmond area. Is there a meet? I dont want the A-Spec kit now, I like how the car flows. I agree w/ the tint.

I got the car for 18k. I saw the Carfax, showed most of the maintenance history. I also found the owner's notebook in the instruction manuals set, has hand written history from 1/07 - late 2012.

The dealership will fix the allignment, I'll ask them to look to see if it was in an accident.

I also found this key and its OEM and a lil cheaper: http://www.keylessride.com/order/cho...=2007&model=TL

Ive had a Viper years ago and thought this one had remote start too, but it doesn't. After the 10 mins or so of playing w/ the fob it does the exact same thing the OEM fob does w/o the key.

I just want to make sure when I do remove the Viper, I get all of it and all the OEM remote components work like normal.

 

congrats on the pick up searching and patience is all it takes. Its so much more worth finding the RIGHT one vs. finding a car. Its not like buying a camry.

Enjoy the new ride and welcome to the club!

 

Make the dealer do the key also...way cheaper at cost for the Honda dealer to program it.

 

Congrats on the purchase! Love silver; it's my favorite color and keeps clean best, but I may be biased.

If alignment is off, it may be due to the compliance bushings in the lower control arms up front - they are made of rubber and known to go out as soon as 30k miles. I'm in the process of getting mine done and hope it helps my alignment; not sure if this is the exact problem yours is experiencing since the cause could be different from car to car, but it may be worth a start.

Regarding tint, maybe it would be better to get the front two windows tinted to either match or be a little lighter than the rears. Another member in this thread mentioned not getting the all-weather mats... I live in Texas, and got mine just a couple of months ago and love mine! I can't believe I went so long without them (had carpet mats before, didn't like how easily they wore). Trunk tray is also very handy.

Not sure about the key; the one link to HeelToe posted above is the milled version meant for us 04-06 owners who want to upgrade the look. A new blank key may be cheaper than what HT is selling it for, but the cutting and programming is where it gets pricey. My dealership wants to cut/program my two switchblades at $90.00 apiece (which is actually the cheapest quote I've found so far). Hope this helps!

 

Congratulations on the car purchase!

Regarding the factory key programming, I'm doing one now and it costs $89 for programming (cut is free) at my local Acura dealer. You can buy a factory replacement key (OEM) via many sites online- KeylessRide.com is one of many decent places. I believe the key there runs $89 so total cost will be about $200 for that second key figuring for shipping and taxes. Make sure you bring all keys (valet as well) with you- otherwise any non programmed keys will not allow car to start.

For mats, I would go with WeatherTech if I were you. The WeatherTech off more coverage protection in that they are perfectly cut to fit the foot spaces. WeatherTech also offers a full backseat mat that protects the 'hump' as well.

The dealer can fix the airbag off problem using the IHS? software. Since you'll need the dealer for the key programming you may as well have the dealer fix the light at the same time.

 

Congrats! I just recently purchased a Silver Type-S from Carmax (just like yours...great choice). An '08 with the same mileage as yours for $19,900. Check for all of the VIN stickers around the car. If one is missing then it has been in an accident. Carfax is OK but Autocheck will occasionally show stuff that Carfax does not.

 

Congrats to you too!
On what other parts should I check for the vin?

 

I can think of 7...there may be some i am missing:

-Front underside of hood
-driver and passenger doors
-rear driver and passenger side sills (probably a better way to describe this location)
-open the trunk and there is one on the rear bumper and one on the right underside of the trunk

There will be the mounts on all of those locations, if the VIN is missing from the mount then that is probably not an original part.

 

Thx Conan. Will check tomorrow AM.

 

Cool. I'm hardly up there but always cool to see (relatively) local people on here. There's a few people from the area on AZ, but Norcal is a pretty dead zone when it comes to meets, etc...there's nobody that's got the time / willing to plan one, I guess.

 

That's too bad, would love to meet some local AZ peeps

 

Grats! Good to see another type s in the area, im in Pinole/Hercules area. by looking at your pics I guess you in Hercules area?

 

Yep. We're you the black TL-S I saw this AM?

 

Congrats on the pickup!

 

Ya it was me I saw you were making a right turn and I was making left on Tsushima st

 

I've seen a white one driving around this area too. We should meet up for coffee or something

 

check Weathertech out, i love that ish. I have the original floor mats in my car and they are bulky and annoying frankly. We have weather tech mats in the german cars though and i love them, they look really good and protect well without being too bulky like the OEM ones.

 

Nice looking car! I agree with some of the others, skip the splash guards. Looks much cleaner without them.

 

Thx all. I decided to keep the alarm. The guy there said the alarm I have is a $600-700 alarm. I'm skipping the mud guards, and I'm redoing the tint to 30% all around. The tint guy says the tint I have is limo tint. I ordered my all season mats and the trunk mat so I'm good.

I may get 6000k HID bulbs and some LEDs for the rear plate lights, but thats pretty much it. Doing my best to keep this car stock.

 

I think the oem painted splash guards look great on the type s and actually slightly improve the look. They are also functional and will save your side skirts and lower door panels from small rash and rock chips from your tires.

 

Damn it man!!! Now I really want the splash guards. My wallet thanks you hahaha
The A-Spec wheels look nice too. Is that car lowered? Maybe on the A-Spec suspension?

 

Congrats STC. Be sure to join our Silver TL Social Group and our Type S Social Group from the links below my signature.