Noah Gibbs

I have found a 2007 TL Type-S for just under 7000 dollars with a manual tranny, but the catch is that it has 204,000 miles. Based on the consistent milage increases on the carfax, I am thinking that they are mostly highway miles. Are there any red flags here? I really want to go for it.
Here is the carfax:

08KBP_VA

Noah Gibbs

I have not driven it, as it is 3 hours away from me. I plan on doing a test drive after confirming the timing belt and water pump replacements.

08KBP_VA

Noah Gibbs

Yes that is very interesting. No accidents reported, so I'll have to get the story. Dealers closed for the day. Thanks for the spot.

truonghthe

not every accident got report to Carfax, like the one happened on my TL-S. When i bought the car it showed the history as "no accident" but during my initial car wash its said other wise, fast forward to this year when I had extra carfax report left over after buying a 05 TL. It showed the car involved in a side swipe around 2009 and did not get report to carfax until 2018 (yes not report until 2018).

Don't trust carfax with a grain of salt (about accident report) and make sure you do the inspection thoroughly if you could bring a friend or family member it will help you tremendously, two pairs of eyes is better than just yours.

6MTSSR

My 07 type s has 173k on it. Owned it since 85k and service it religiously at my local Acura dealer who treats me right.Just normal wear and tear TL specific items.When well maintained these can virtually run forever.My car looks like it has half the miles in and out but that my OCD.Whatever the miles do a PPI...if they cry about it then move on to another.Any car I don't care what the miles are will need something....Keep that in mind.Good luck.

WDPanda

I could care less about mileage.
I look for rust, underbody, engine bay, interior condition, how it drives up to 80mph+ WOT, rim condition, original parts, what's been changed and with what.

nfnsquared

On an MT with that mileage, clutch life would be another consideration. If the clutch hasn't been replaced, you might have a $1000 expense fairly soon, might not. If well maintained, these cars will last for a ton of miles. 200K miles for a well maintained, well respected TL is nothing.

My '04 6MT just crossed 307K miles on the original clutch and I still never have to add oil between 7500 mile oil change intervals.

08KBP_VA

Welcome. If was an accident I'd be surprised but you may never find out the real answer since its at a dealer. Looking further Im sure you saw Rear seat looks trashed too, maybe for others thats common but I rarely have seen rears trashed just fronts. Shame cuz car has decent maintenance history.

Overall those pics are pretty crappy and worthless. Let us know if you check out in person.

BTW...pricing is getting stupid for manuals...theres 111k miler asking $16k at an Acura dealer granted it is MRP/two tone interior

90foxnotch

Yes the photos are really blurry but still looks like a decent car. I had a really bad tear in my drivers seat fixed at a local upholstery shop for $200, so little things can be addressed. Im not a fan of the color of interior but that is a rare color especially with a manual, that being said You have to see the car in person to really know how it is. My type s had 173k on it with clutch, tb, wp replaced before I bought it. Some people would have walked away but I bought it for $5,300, dumped about $1k for maintenance in it and another $1k for mods. I have zero regrets of buying it and it's an absolute joy to drive. I wouldn't take anything less than $7,500 for the car if I sold it now. Good luck let us know if you look at it

Noah Gibbs

I ended up getting my shift covered to go test drive the car. It drove fantastically, no rattling, no weird noises, nothing odd whatsoever. The computer wasn't throwing codes, the shifter felt nice... The door itself had the same vin, but the dealer didn't even realize the issue with the single black door liner. It seems like it just got worn and the interior panel was replaced, there was no frame damage. I took the risk and bought it. I popped a tire on the way home from work that night (ouch). They were old and got them replaced today, so far so good I'd say. The interior was very well maintained except from that tear which is a bummer but not the end of the world. I was considering buying a 4g TL manual but it sold an hour before I was gonna test drive it, and since this one was a solid 5-6 grand cheaper, I went for it. Will post much better pictures if I don't forget.

NBP04TL4ME

Congrats and best of luck with it -

I've had my Type-S for 9+ years and love it. I keep up on all the regular maintenance and based on age alone have had to replace a few items, but it just runs and runs.

08KBP_VA

Noah Gibbs

Not guarenteed, but almost entirely sure they were done at the recommended times because this thing was serviced religiously, and just looking at the records that were left in the glovebox I can tell that the previous owner made sure everything was working properly. Planning on taking it to my trusted mechanic just to see what is up and start on a clean slate. But for 7ish grand, I am very happy with where it's at.

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

Hope it works out well for you. If it's well taken care of, it could easily go another trouble free 100K or more.

If you have the funds and/or mechanical know-how, I'd consider checking out the suspension as you can nearly guarantee that many of the bushings are worn or cracking after that long. Spending a few hundred bucks to replace things like control arms, tie-rods, sway bar links and ball joints can go a long ways into tightening the ride back up. If it rides well and doesn't make any clunking you may just leave it alone. But if it were mine, I'd pull the trigger on most of that. OEM shocks are about $160 a piece but all the other stuff is cheap (sans the lower control arm which I'd leave alone). I replaced the upper control arms, outer tie rods, shock absorbers, sway bar end links and chassis bushings, motor/transmission mounts and ball joints (front only) on my '12 TL @ about 150K and it completely changed the car. It drives brand new now. Nearly 200K on it now. Just a suggestion for the future

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

I think part of it depends on the part of the country you live in; the struts and bushings on my car are still factory original, and even after 13 years and 150,000+ miles, it drives like new. Last year when I had the clutch replaced I did the stabilizer bar bushings and end links, I kept them because they were still serviceable.