lavo

Few questions guy, I have been really busy lately with school/work/investing, but i was browsing the internet and found a 2004 black on black navi 6mt TL for $18500 with Nav. The downfall is that it has 71k miles on it but it IS in my price range. I'm working on a deal with him, and I will get the extended warranty on it for 1700 from my local acura dealer 4 yrs 48k miles, which is when I'll sell it most likely. What should I offer him, in other words what would make it a good deal given it's in good condition. I'm not worried about having the 2004's or the fact it has 71k miles because the warranty will cover me. I'm thinking after 4 yrs of driving I'll be able to sell it for 8-10k which will be good imo with 120k miles. Thanks again for the great advice, hopefully now I will be here more often. BTW it looks VERY clean.

darksom1

It's navi & NBP - get it! But do you think you will stay under the miles? How are you at maintenance? Cars over 100K need maintenance sooner than later on wear and tear items. How is that clutch?

lavo

Well I don't drive much, only 12k tops each year, even if I don't, I'll only be over for at most six months (I've never had a car with a warranty so that wont be a problem). Maintenance, I'd put mobil 1 in every 3-5k miles, obviously premium gas and she'd be babied

BLACKURA_NY

iTrader: (6)

i would try to research the maint. on this car.. couple of problems w/ the 04 that were addressed with recalls & TSB's. you should check that

steve9207

^^^

If you have the VIN, I believe you can check your local Acura dealership to get a copy of any work performed by the dealership (in or out of warranty). I know years ago (we're talking about 6 or 7 years ago), I was looking at a Lexus ES250 (hey I was in high school, haha) private party through someone I worked with. The local dealership here was able to provide all service work done through ALL Lexus dealerships for me

lavo

I did a carfax and it looks good. It's mine for 16500 as of now. I think its a buy!! 1700 into a warranty and it's like having a car with 0 miles no work for me to put into it. opinions or anything else I should watch out for??

Mastervtec

That's a fine deal...I paid much more for mine with 83k on it. Same car but auto, 2004 TL Navi.

MR1

Have the body checked by a real professional, check dealer records, buy it. Welcome to the club!

stillhere153

iTrader: (1)

damn good deal in my book... and with 120k miles odds are you may get over 10k later anyway, gotta love how honda/acura hold their values

JD TL-S

iTrader: (1)

If you get a warranty, I would say go for it. IMO...

lavo

Well guys it's almost definite that I'm getting it. I wanted to go next tues but I have to work, so I think I'm going friday after thanksgiving. Nice little xmas gift for myself Then instantly I'm going to get an extended warranty. You guys know what's a good price to pay, Ray Laks acura said 1700 for 4 yrs 48k miles. I might check out Tim at Ray Laks Honda (HondaAcura World). What'd you guys pay?

Mastervtec

I would skip a warranty. I've never had a warranty on any Honda I've owned (2 Accords, 2 Legends, 1 RL, and 2 TL's). All of them have had well over 100k on them, besides my current TL which has 91k now. I don't know if I've been lucky or what.

Evader

I would also skip a warranty and if your tight of cash just put the 1700 in savings for the chance you have to have something repaired.

darksom1

Yeah, you guys say skip the warranty, but that was probably for a new car that you expected wouldn't give you major issues for 100K. This car is going to go over that soon, at the time when things go wrong. I can see repair bills going over $1700 easily with a TL. Get the warranty. How is $1700 more going to hurt you? You said you do pretty good for yourself right? So don't go cheap and then you can drive with peace of mind! You've heard the dealership horror stories WITH warranty covered cars. Do you really wanna have to deal with them with NO coverage?

Wise man said: Better to have and not need...than to need and not have!

Evader

So for once darky brings up a good point. I guess one reason I don't go for the warranties is because I have a good relationship with my mechanic and if anything goes wrong on my cars I always get a great deal and I guess I don't realize how much it actually would cost the average person to have repaired.

darksom1

That and the fact that I have triple your post count means I am smarter than you!

terminex

The Navi system is the only reason I picked up an extended warranty. I have a friend who got an PDX with Navi and had to have it swapped out. It was close to $5K.

OBVIOUSLY this is only one incident, but I was able to get the Extended Warranty for $1K, so for me it was not bad insurance against anything.

Privdog

Wish I could've got a 6 speed.. wife wasn't having it. Shes good enough to grind through a few gears to get me home from the bar, that's about it.. Anyway, I just bought an '04 A/T NBP 80k with Nav for 19k, so I'd say your doing pretty good. Wish I would've found a car like the one you speak of for the price, I might've been able to convince the wife.. Although she wasn't too thrilled we just now paid off my '02.. it still brought 8.5k with 124k on it from the dealer. gotta love Acura resale value. love my new/used AT TL... and maybe a little jealous of your find.. I'd been looking in three states since my car was paid off in august. There was one just like the one you are describing in Houston a couple weeks ago, want to say almost the exact same miles and everything.

lavo

ya if the car had 30k miles I'd save the 1700 and use that, as my Stratus R/T only had minor things wrong with it from 33k to 68k. But I'd like to not have to worry about it at all and it's a good deal so I don't mind spending 1700, I hope Tim from honda acura world can give me a better deal. 16500 plus 1700 beats my other deal for 24500 without a warranty. Thanks for all the help guys, best forum I've been on yet!

darksom1

Try Delray as well.

KJSmitty

Think hard about the warranty. Look over the print and see exactly whats covered and whats not. Most of the 3G TLs on this forum have not had significant problems even with mileage above 100K.

I like a few above am a firm believer if your worried about a major repair, put that $1700 in the bank and add a bit to it each month. You will either have it for a future repair if needed or "have" it as a nice nest egg if no major issues arrise... Big thing is however, don't use that fund for wear and tear items like clutches, brakes, tires etc.. Any warranty you get wouldn't cover W&T items so your fund shouldn't.
I've had several vehicles beyond a 100K miles and none of them required the same amount of "care" as they did while under the initial warranty.

- It can be a crap shoot but I would consider keeping your money vs possibly wasting it...

-- Their's a reason they offer extended warranties you know - the providers make money due to a vast majority of the purchasers/vehicles never needing them....

darksom1

Those points are all good points KJ, but none of them protect you against the unexpected. Just as much as we've all had good experiences with our cars, there have also been those of us that had things break down on our car that shouldnt've happened so early on. So to get an Acura warranty that is just like the original is a good thing to have. Everything that can go wrong does not fit under minor repair. Like the Navi for instance, which was a good point by someone. Also, the tranny or power steering. Sme people have gone thru 3 of those trannies, but you or I may never experience a problem for the life of the car.

It definitely is a crap shoot...but so is car insurance. I have owned a car ins policy and never needed it on the car, and I have also owned one and needed it almost immediately! So if the OP can stand it, why have to worry about it just to save a few bucks and gain a small amount of interest?

lavo

I NEVER EVER buy warranties for anything, electronics or anything of that sort so I understand 100% what your saying. However, I am worried a little about the tranny (I have till 100k anyway) and the navigation system. I also don't want headaches. I think it's bumper to bumper, in fact im 99% sure but I will check, thanks for the heads up.

You don't need car insurance or a warranty....until you do

igor13

Is there any way that you can buy just the side skirts and rear bumper? i am getting the versus front bumper and would like to get the aspec for sides and rear if it is possible.

KJSmitty

I agree with you guys that it adds some piece of mind, I just tend to look at all the alternatives. Overall just playing devils advocate for ya lavo.

Lavo, are you able to actually see and drive the car prior to purchase?? The one thing that would make me lean toward the warranty would be if it's an eBay purchase and possibly sight unseen etc.??

My own personal opinion/feeling is, if looking for a TL in that price range for a 4 year driver, with exception to the engine self imploding, nothing should cost you more than $2K to fix, given used parts etc..

I'd be more worried that the week after I brought it home the clutch, brakes, and tires had to be replaced... That would set you back more than what the warranty cost you and the warranty wouldn't help ya...

And yes, I hate insurance as much as the next guy... But without it you could easily be financially ruined/devastated for the rest of your life.

Anyway,,,
BEST of luck with your purchase and may you have a malfunction-less ownership experience!!

lavo

ya I'm looking at it prior to purchase and I have another car kind of lined up if this one isn't what I expect. The tires and front brakes were recently changed, so it should be good to go. From what this guy says it's a beautiful car and the pics he sent me show it 100%. I just want the warranty so I don't have to worry about having a high mileage car. I hope nothing is wrong with it ever, even if I have the warranty...I'd just rather worry about other things, like school, investing, mods

ndabunka

Warranties are Insurance Policys, that's IT. You say you can buy the car for under $17K yet your going to spend nearly another 10% on an insurance policy? Really? That is VERY poor financial acumen. A $1K extended warranty on a new car to change the warranty period from the std 50K to 100K is a VERy small fraction of the actual VALUE/price of the car (something under 3%). Your should NEVER pay a 10% PREMIUM-to-value for ANYTHING. Much less a car!

lavo

hmm, for 10% I will not have to worry about any problems for 4 years, that's what 425 dollars a year to not worry about check engine lights and navigation problems or tranny problems that the 04's have, poor financial acumen on your part. 425 a year is nothing for insurance on a high mileage car, ESPECIALLY when comparing to the other car I was going to get 24500 for an 05 with 26k miles and no warranty.

mickey3c

Don't expect to sell a car with 120K on it for 12K or even 10K at 8 years of age. 150K is the practical life of any car. You might be able to get more from it but don't expect that you will. You could get less. First off nobody wants an 8 year old car unless it is very well maintained and has low miles.... Even then, the changes in designs, safety, etc change dramatically in 8 years. You could buy a new car for what you are looking at to pay for a used car and have something new that will last 120,000 miles. Sure it is not an acura but then you can keep this car for a longer period of time.

lavo

how do they sell 2000 TL's then?? with 100-200k miles?

darksom1

Not to mention old ass Volvos and Benzs! You just can't group a proven, reliable vehicle in with the masses. Plus, as far as safety, the TL is holding it's own, if not exceeding expectations, just purely based on the examples of accidents shown on this forum. I would buy one anyday if I saw that stuff people show and they survived, and if the car is in good shape!

lavo

bluebook for a 2000 tl with 120k miles is 8k, the new style has a msrp of 6-8k more so I'm expecting it will be bluebooked at 10k and I'll sell no lower that 8k (by then I should be out of college so I'll have more money and trade it in on a tl-s )

Evader

In a few years you might be able to buy my TL-S at a very good price. .It will of course be well maintained but have many many miles on her lol

lavo

haha ok let me know.

So I went to ray laks acura today...The warranty is 1700 it's an aftermarket warranty but it's bumper to bumper other than wear and tear items. I went to parts and they said they don't sell Aspec parts because...haha this is funny...They only have it for the type S, but then she said they didn't have aspec for the 04's and then she went on telling me that they only sell what acura sells and acura doesn't sell Aspec parts because it's aftermarket. Have you a clue what I said? because I didn't understand what she was saying...the people there know 1/2 of what I know about the TL's and I've only been looking at one for 8 months.

lavo

after looking at the pamphlet they gave me I might not get the warranty. I don't think the NAVI will be covered plus I have the power train warranty until 100k miles, so that will take car of the Tranny for a while. I don't know, I will wait until I get the car to decide. Any thoughts on not getting it?

Update: gettin the car monday

darksom1

Did you try here?

steve9207

I haven't read to the end of this post yet, so this may have been addressed already, but extended warranties are very rarely, bumper to bumper. So, for example, you hear a rattling noise in the car somewhere, they're not going to cover that. You have a problem with the transmission, they will cover that.

By the way, I went with the extended warranty on my new '07 TL in August. I drive higher mileage, so in 5 years, I'll be at roughly 90,000 miles. For me, it was just the piece of mind that while paying it off, I won't have to worry about ALSO paying for a costly repair at the same time. I'm paying more each month and hope to have it paid off in 3.5 years, but still, I'll be out of warranty by roughly 65k miles. Plus, it can help you on resale if there's any warranty left.

Typically, I'm not a fan of extended warranties, and in fact I waited over two months before buying this one. It's the only one I've ever bought on a car. I went through Tim at HondaAcuraWorld.com and got a good price compared to what all of the local dealers were offering (plus no sales tax if outside of NY - I'm pretty sure they're in NY).

steve9207

I bought a 97 CL (in '05), so it was 8 years old, with 96k miles (in excellent cosmetic condition). I paid roughly $7k if I remember correctly. This was a CL, not even a TL. So, there are people out there that want these cars. At the time, my previous car was totalled, got $8k from the ins co and didn't want car payments, just something to get me around until I bought the TL I drive now.

There will always be a market for used cars, high mileage / high years in service. It might not be the choice you'd make, however there are obviously plenty of people out there that do want them, otherwise they wouldn't hold their value the way they do.

Just my

lavo

needs to be under 50k miles

KJSmitty

You already know my thoughts of not getting one.... :-)

After market warranties (not that I like the manufacturers either) are definitely a pain in the ass if you ever have to use them. I have never heard of anyone actually receiving 100% payment on something they were supposed to cover. I have one on my Cobalt ski boat (comes with as a factory extension to 5 yrs - IE, I didn't have a choice in the mater...), anyway, i used it for the first time last season on a simple yet expensive power trim repair. They only paid for the "cheaper parts and a portion of the overall labor even though the marina said they should have covered the bill in it's entirety given the verbiage in the warranty. The warranty company wouldn't budge...
Bottom line, I just wouldn't do it - stick the money in an account like I mentioned and save it. You will probably never need for it for an actual "repair" beyond W & T items... If you do get an aftermarket warranty, best get a lawyer to handle any of the repair negotiations. Trust me, the warranty provider did not sell it to you to loose money. They will make you fight for near every dime.