Hey what's up everyone! How are you doing? Me im actually looking toward getting a 2005/2006 TL here pretty soon ( I hope) I will be coming from a 2003 Civic Coupe LX. I have question for you owners, especially if you have a 05 or 06.

1) Have you had any problems with it yet if so at about how many miles?

2) I test drove one the other day. I am 6'1 is there any problem with leg room ? also for people behind you?

3) If you had to change something about the vehicle what would you?

4) How well does it go, going up hills and mountains and stuff like that, my civic sucks and hates it

5) Average MPG?

6) maintenance, I was told you dont have to change the oil and what not for about 7,500 miles? is this true? Also any other maintenance info would be great because im looking to get a TL with about 30,000 miles on it

7) navi, how well does this work? can you use it while driving? and does it search for local shops and places to eat?

8) the leather interior, is it good quality? easy to clean? Easy to scratch?

9) any other info I would apperciate!!!

 

Check out the 3G Garage for alot of useful information.

Welcome to the forums BTW

 

Welcome to AZ and hope you find the TL you want.......

 

Yea ggesq, but those highway overpasses can be killer

 

thanks ggesq for your input on my question..

30mpg huh? says that the car average is 20-28 but you got 32-35? dang does anyone else get this? if so this make me want the car even more now!!!

If you have a white TL post or a Red post I would like to see yours especially if you have some custom stuff.. that's the car color im looking at... or if anyone else wants to post some of their custom stuff. systems rims and what not.. thanks

 

I have two. Mine's an '04 manual and my wife's is an '05 automatic. You question relates to our '05.


1. No problems at all. It has been in for the power steering hose recall. Has never had any problems.. not even rattles.

2. I'm 5'10'' and with the position possibilities of the driver's seat, you should not be concerned about room.

3. RWD and a larger engine to handle the RWD components. But frankly, that is a small concern for this car. It is one of the best FWD cars I have owned.

4. Hills pose no problems at all, even when using the cruise control.

5. Our '05 averages 25 MPG in ruralish suburban areas and 32 on the highway. Of course you probably know the engine requires premium fuel.

6. Most people probably go by the MID. I change my wife's '05 oil at 5000 miles.

7. The Nav works very well and is also interlinked with the sound system, the bluetooth system, and the HVAC system.

8. Her leather seats are like new.

9. A very solid and "safe" car with tons of bells and whistles. And for a 3500 pound car with a rather small V6, it is pretty quick. You won't be disappointed.

 

Yes, both of my TL's get good mileage. My '04 manual has gotten a best of 27.98 in the summer for a week of work commuting and a high of 33.94 on the highway for a summer road trip with the A/C running the entire time and speeds averaging from 62 to 78 MPH (depending upon which road).

 

thanks southernboy for your time. some of your answers actually made me think of some question and you did tell me something I didn't know!!!

I didn't know it took premium fuel(blah) oh well

and also my other question is


on 05-06 TL's automatic have there been any recalls on stuff that I should take a note on when im looking at the car? also is there any advice and stuff I should know when im buying the car? warranty and what not.

thanks again

 

As far as warranty, if you get a CERTIFIED used car from Acura the warranty is 100K miles. Check here for any recalls/RSB's:

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/3g-tl-service-department-aka-garage-questions-answers-check-here-first-553557/

 

so all certified acuras have a 100kmile warrant? is there a year limit? thanks LoveMyTL-S

 

Yes, at least as far as the '04 and '05 TL' are concerned. There was a recall campaign this year regarding a power steering hose and the windshield wiper motor. A dealer can tell you if the work has been done on your car.

 

First of all, welcome to the forums! My friend has a civic coupe, and I've driven several as rentals so I can sort of relate to what you're saying. In college I had an '03 Altima 4cyl. and it was absolutely horrible going up hills!

What color combo were you looking at? Like others have said, go with the black interior as it's the easiest to take care of.

Were you looking exclusively at the automatic or would you consider a manual 6-speed? In the 2GTL, there were a few transmission issues with the auto, and, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but there were issues with the early 3GTL's autos early in the production run as well.

If you can't drive manual but are willing to learn, if I were you I'd get the manual. It's really easy to drive and Honda MTs are very easy to shift, even more so to learn. I tried learning on a G35 coupe 6MT once when I was first learning and that was traumatic! I later learned on an Accord Coupe 6MT and it was like night/day!

Anyway, here are my responses, coming from an '05 TL 6MT silver/black owner:

The recall issues that everyone's brought up already. The major issue is with the dashboard: it'll start getting blotchy and look almost like it's "peeling off" or getting dusty. The dealer used to replace the entire dashboard under warranty until Acura stopped reimbursing them for it. Now, you can just put a solvent/chemical on it (almost like Armor All but not quite) to get rid of the blotchiness. This is due to Acura's cheaping out by using junk plastics. This blotchiness you'll start seeing around the first several months of ownership.

I'm 5'11" and have no problems, but I do find myself extending the driver seat all the way back. If you had a tall passenger behind you, with the driver seat all the way back, you might have some problems with his knees to your seat back.

Several, actually.
First, I ripped out all of the interior lighting (with incandescent bulbs) and replaced them with LEDs. I'll post pics later.

Second, the leather quality is actually pretty cheap and the driver's seat has creases and folds in it. The leather quality could definitely be higher grade; this actually doesn't wear very well and isn't forgiving.

Third, the trunk rain gutter. Open the trunk lid too quick when your car is covered in rain and the shallow rain gutters around the trunk overflow and spill directly in the trunk cargo area. Plus, the black plastic trim around the tail lights where the tail light housing meets with the trunk gutter, was so poorly designed that it traps water, dust, leaves, debris, and is impossible to clean without removing the tail light housing to do so. For comparison, the G35 coupe/sedan tail light housings were completely flush with the metal and trunk gutter so you don't have the same problem.

Very well, actually! The car in 2004 and 2005 was rated at 270hp for the 3.2L V6 but for the 2007 model year, was rated at 258hp under a new SAE rating system - the 3.2L V6 engine and power output remains the same.

I'm biased because I live in the city and don't travel far at all. MPG ranges about 15-20mph all city, with almost all of it stop and go traffic.

Oil changes depend on your location, driving pattern, weather, etc. In HNL, it's bad and rated at 3000 mi oil changes. As people have said, go by the MID (I do).

My car is about 30K miles now. If you have the manual transmission, you'll get the brembo brakes, which are excellent, BTW, but very, very costly to fix/replace. My brakes gave out recently and they quoted me $600 for the pads only. Then, when they took out the pads, they found that they had to do the rotors as well. Total repair bill: $1200. Plus, you'll probably need new tires, which I think mine were about $600/pair. Rule of thumb: the skinnier the tires (17", 18", 19", etc.), the more expensive the tires.

I can't vouch for the '05 Navi but the '08 Navi is awesome! In Lexus and Infiniti you can't program the Navi once you put the car in Drive, but in the '08 TL I was driving you hit the talk button on the steering wheel and say, "Find fast food restaurants" and it spits out a list on the screen. It's touch-screen but also has a knob/joystick that you can click on like a mouse. Once you've programmed your route the lady voice comes on and tells you where to go and for how far. It's very, very intuitive to learn/use!

The '07-'08 Navi's came with the back-up camera, which was totally awesome! I'm not sure if the '04-'06 came with them, I'm guessing not. My '08 loaner also had backup sensors with the camera so it gives you a perspective of how much space you actually have while reversing.

The 3GTLs have DVD-based navigation systems. I didn't know the difference between this and hard-drive systems (the G35, G37, and 4GTL all use these) but apparently it boots up way, way quicker with HDD than with DVDs. It was annoying with the Navi because you have to wait for it to boot up and then click on OK. If you don't and you start driving, it'll just turn off the Navi screen so you have to wait and click OK. With the 6MT, if you stall the engine, when you restart, the Navi screen OK button will keep appearing each time you stall!

The bad thing about these car-based OEM Navi systems is that the POI (points of interest) all come from, in this case, the DVDs, which you need to take to a dealer to replace. I don't know what Acura charges but I think on the Club Lexus forums the dealers there sell them for like $700! If you don't update your POI, basically you're using a 4-year old map! I think there are hacks you can use to update your POI without buying the new DVD, or by loading it yourself via an alternate method. I'm not sure about this so you'll want to check out the forums for more info.

Sorry to say but the leather sucks ass! It looks great new and the design is actually pretty nice. Very supportive. However, it is not forgiving at all. Sometimes, when I'm trying to get something from the other seat and I'm standing outside the car, if I lean in and put my hand or fist or knee on the seat and lean on it while I get something from the other side, when I get out of the car there's like a fist/knee print on the seat that'll be there for like an hour. I tried this with the G37 and didn't see the same.

Like others have said, the leather's not the best but you'll want to definitely get one with the black interior! The only downside to that is during hot days - just don't be wearing shorts! haha.

If possible, try buying from a private party as you're likely to get a better price. Also, depending on where you live, you may not need to pay excise/sales taxes on private party sales.

And insofar as stickshifts are concerned, if you buy a 6MT TL, chances are you'll get a much better price (I know I did) because they don't make them as much and the majority of drivers don't know or aren't willing to learn how to drive stick. The 6MT is awesome but is very much a niche vehicle so a dealer's going to be more motivated to move the 6MT as it's likely to sit in the lot. I'm just speaking from my experience, of course, but on the other hand 6MTs are hard to come by so your experience may be the opposite.

Oh, and when you see the car you like, make sure that, in addition to looking at the Carfax report, you check and inspect the paint very carefully to see if there's been bodywork done, accidents, etc. You can use your findings as a negotiating point to bring the price down further!