I took my TL in for a sevice b today and walked over to the VW and Audi dealerships (all the same owner) looking for a wagon-type vehicle for the future and ended up buying a 2005 S Avant. I've enjoyed reading this forum for the past year or so and have learned a lot from some of the threads. Thank you.

 

hope u are not my frd
my frd's car got out of service for a month after the first month

 

Oh, I had no complaints or problems with the TL, I just wanted a vehicle I could put larger items in from time to time.

 

i am not saying you have complaints
but I am just warning you
the computer in you steering wheel is what my friend have problem with

 

Enjoy your new Audi! BTW, I have a friend who live out there and works at Ft. Huachuca. Man, I really love that part of the country. I love the roads to Padagonia!

 

Congrats! Enjoy the new ride. Sometimes we have to buy to fill a need and not a desire

 

I think you made a big mistake.
While the VW/audi cars are fantastic, they are always broke.
I got out of a 2 year old passat GLX because it was ALWAYS having problems,
serious problems like the fuel pump wearing out at 27,000 miles, water
inside the car that got in the trans and comfort ecu's, evap system leaks, and on and on.

Most VW/audi dealers are the worst, look on 1.8t.org web page and see if there
are any reasonable dealers near you.
My local dealer was at the bottom, at a -6....

You may find the car in the shop every few months, for weeks at a time
waiting to be fixed.

I recomend the VW votrex fourums, they have an audi side, you will get plenty of
info about what fails and when, and how to contact audi usa to twist arms
to get them to fix things (sometimes).

Good luck,
Brett

 

no need to leave the forum, good luck with your car, hope you enjoy it

 

sorry to see you go....

 

grudax .. good luck with the Audi .. the points Brett brought up are valid but don't happen to all VW/Audi .. the water issues can happen if you live in an area with a lot of leaves that can plug up a couple of drains by the fire wall and also lack of maintenance on the sun roof drains. These drain issues were more prevelent in the pre 2001.5 models. And more to VW than Audi.

A lot of what you read as problems on the VW side are self inflicted wounds. I have a 03 GLX and in reality the only common problem I had with others is the dash rattle and that again is the VW side. Audi used a different dash mount system.

As for dealers .. I have heard horror stories about VW. I have had nothing but good service out of the one in Kelowna. I think is all in the dealer and as with anything people will automatically post about a bad experience as a vent but seldom post about a good one as no venting needed.

The biggest thing is if you got a 1.8T go with the recommended synthetic on the oil and service it per the schedule as they have had sludge issues.

 

Yet I have a TL that is going to the dealership for another laundry list of problems. Now there is a big difference between big issues and little issues, but it's not like the TL is anti-dealership visits.

 

Congrats!! But there is no need to give up this forum.
Good luck with your new vehicle

 

you're right bro its not. but no car is. shit my father had a freakin E430 that was in shop constantly. there is always going to be that car that for some reason has problems no matter what. you 3rd gen guys kill me, Ive been on the acurazine boards for a year now and never read so much bitching in my life that I see here in this forum. you esp never have anything good to say, evar. 113 posts of complaining. if its not one thing its another. christ... no wonder you always see 100 users and 300 guests.

 

Bitching about bitching. Who's the bitch now?

 

I think Audi offers customers a very good "free maintainess" plan and warrenty plan (no extra cost), 6 yrs or 8yrs? 80000KM...

which is better and longer than Acura. and yes, TL also got a plenty of problems. and i m gonna trade it in next yr, before the 3 yr warrenty expire...

coz I don't wanna waste a lot of money to fix cars...

ps: well, i dunno VW, but my Audi dealer dose take care of my ride everytime.

 

nice ride!

 

Yes, every car is different, and so is what people will put up with in a car,
but troll the VW and Acura lists and problems here are minor, while
on the VW list, 30 people have had their fuel pump fail on 2003 passats,
thats a high failure rate on a simple part, and it kills the car.
Hundreds have had coil pack failures, and many have had the engines ruined
from oil sludge clogging the intake screens.
V6 engines typicly use a quart of oil or more in many cases, and most leak
at the cam seals over time.
ABS ecu's fail all the time, as do ignition modules (1.8T), coolant temp
sensors, the air injection pump fails from the combi valves failing, evap solinoids
fail all the time, and on and on.

As far as water inside the Passat goes, mine was garage kept, and never
got clogged drains, yet it had water damage to the ecu's.

I know people have had TL problems, but ours so far has been totaly trouble free,
and in truth, the Passat only had one problem in the first 2 years, then it was
down hill fast.

What do we have here...
Brake dust,
Brake noise,
Leather problems,
Rattles,
Dash fade,
Paint on bumpers not matching on some color cars.

Anyone been stranded because the fuel pump wore out?
Anyone using a quart of oil every 1000 miles?
Anyone report oil gushing from the engine?
Anyone have various ecu's ruined from water damage?
Anyone need ANY sort of engine sensor yet?

If so, I missed it.

Brett

 

There are some really passionate people out here. Very passionate about Acura and our TLs. Sometimes it runs over, but the root is still positive.

Now if anyone really passionate wants to make my car payments, you can bitch all you want!!!

 

thats about covers it Brett. not bad IMHO

 

I've been on this board for quite some time now and I've seen my share of people buying new cars and then 4 days later turn around and trade them in on whim!

Help me understand how people can just casually stroll in a dealership while getting their car serviced and buy another car?


Either I must be on the wrong profession or there's probably some secret pot of money out there that I don't know about

 

You have a good point, however when I spend 40k on a new car and it has more rattles and little nuances than my 2000 Grand Cherokee, something is off.

I expect more for spending 40k.

Now the styling and features are to die for.

 

Yes, well we took a bath in going from the 2003 lincoln LS V8 and the
2003 passat GLX, but we removed one car payment (for the lincoln), one
car insurance bill, and got an overall lower payment for the new TL,
$100.00 less a month in just the car payment.

To get rid of the very trouble prone Passat, and the gas guzziling V8
lincoln, it was worth the loss we took.

We wont do it again though, the Tl is staying around till the wheels fall off.
Hopefully that wont be in 2 years like the passat!

Brett

 

I agree bro, I really do and for 40K acura should come correct with you. Im sorry that you have to keep going back.

 

AcidHorse: I've had the TL for 21k miles so it's been a bit more than 4 days for me. I've been thinking about either getting a second vehicle for larger items which I decided against because I really didn't want two vehicles. The problem with having had the TL for a year and a half is I didn't want to give up having a car that was fun to drive just to gain some utility. The Audi dealer which is on the sme block as my acura dealer and under the same ownership had this S4 Avant with 2k miles they really wanted to move. It worked out good for both of us though I wasn't planning on doing anything until early next year.

 

 

 

It is a bit of a shock coming here from the VW list, over there, people get pissed when VW wont replace their ruined engine because they are missing an oil change receipt.
Here, people complain about butt prints in the seat, on the VW list, the seat frames have been replaced on some cars 3 times (they break and flop around).

When TL owners feel down about their cars, they should read the VW vortex
a bit and see how good Acura cars actualy are.

The TL is a tarted up honda accord (much better styling), its not really
an expensive car, it adds up if you go navi and aspec, but the base car
is $32,000.00 roughly, yet people seem to expect $45,000.00 Jaguar
or lexus, or BMW quality.

I dont have any rattles, but if I did, I would put it down to the stiff sporty ride
shaking things up.
If the TL was a mush mobile, I doubt it would get many rattles....

My Jaguar had no rattles, the passat did, at the folding rear seats.

For around $30,000.00, you can get real wood and good leather,
no rattles, or you can get something that stays running, you can not
have everything at that price.

Would you pay another $3000.00 to get a TL that has really good leather,
real wood, no rattles ever?

I would, but many people like the TL because of the price for what you get.

I look inside lots of cars, and generaly, any Japanese car has poor looking
leather after about 5 years or less.
My Jaguar was 13 years old and had 150,000 miles on it and the leather looked like new.
(the entire car looked like new)
To put that kind of leather in the TL would likely add at least $2000.00 to
the price.

Jaguars and German cars can look very good when they get old, they can have
great paint, leather and wood with a bit of care.
If you can put up with a lot of problems, they can last.
I dont see many good clean looking 10+ year old Japanese cars.
You trade reliability for that.

Brett


Brett

 

I think everyone should have what they want and can afford. Sorry the TL didn't work out. Best of luck with your VW.

 

Good luck with the new VW.

I just bought my 05 MT mid-Aug. and so far so good. Other than the headliner coming apart at the back window brake light and the dash fade, ehhh no biggie. I am willing to over look petty things versus major mechanical problems.

 

So why is it Acuras aren't called Hondas and Audis are called VWs by many of you in this thread? If you look through my past posts I've had nothing but good things to say about my TL. It just lacks room to carry the amount of stuff I want to carry.

 

Ha, your right. That's why I just basically said good luck and best wishes. I'm lucky, I have another bigger Acura to haul stuff. Acuras are fancy Hondas and Audis are fancy VW's to a large extent. They share many parts and some assembly lines with each other. Some people just need any audience.

 

Now isn't that the truth.....



Congrats on your new car Grudax - enjoy

 

Yes, space is nice, and the TL rear seats dont fold down.

I cant say I can think of anything nice in a wagon except the VW/audi
cars, subaru does not do it for me, not as a luxury car anyway.
Who wants a giant gas guzzling suv that rides like a truck?
I test drove the acura suv and found it very truck like, and very expensive.

I think the variant/wagon is great, except for the reliability problems.
If it wasnt for all the problems, I would still rather have the Passat.

Hope you have better luck with the audi than I had, but think about a 2
year lease, or trading it in on a new one after a few years, they do hold
their value well, for some reason...

It really will pay to monitor the Audi lists to see what is likely to go wrong
and keep an eye out for problems people have, and their fixes.


Brett

 

awesome post.

 

Good luck with your new purchase. Prior to the TL I owned a Passat, great car no major problems except few recalls. The only major annoyance that I could recall was spending a good chunk of change and having VW unable to step up to the plate for service. My experience was poor, the service people themselves were nice, but, no loaners, and I honestly think VW was not, and still is not setup for the amount of cars they sold. The two dealerships I went to barely had a vacant parking spot, and service appointments were always over booked with long wait times, even for an oil change. Unlike the Acura dealer who treats me the way I want to be treated or appreciated.