jake14mw

Hi All,

I am close to buying a 2004 TL. I'm very excited about it, but I have some questions first. The dealer gave me a Carfax Report. I am in northern CT, and the car was from New York. The dealer said that they got it from their wholesaler. Should that cause any concern? This is not an Acura dealer. Why would a dealer bring in a car from another state? Also, I noticed that Premium fuel is recommended. What octane is that considered?

The car has about 44000 miles and was originally purchased in Jan 2004, so that means that it should have 6,000 miles and 4 months left on the factory warranty, right? I guess I could call Acura with the VIN to verify, right?

In testing the car, I did not notice anything that showed the direction you were driving. I thought that was odd in such a well equipped car (w/o Navi), is that not a feature?

As far as making sure that a car is not a flood car, has not been in major accidents, etc, is there anything else that can be checked other than CarFax?

Is there anything else I should do to have the car "checked out"? Should I bring it to a mechanic even though I'm buying from a new car dealer and there is factory warranty left? Thanks for your help with all these questions!

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

Hi and welcome to the forums. In my personal opinion, I don't think the fact that the dealer getting it from a wholesaler is necessarily a bad thing. Thre could be a few reasons why a wholesaler has it. Maybe the TL was traded in? Maybe the dealer just wants to make a sale and bring the car in from NY? Again, I personally would not be alarmed over it but I would look into its ownership history.
The TL requires at least 91 octane. See: https://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/...404O00164B.pdf

I think your right about the time & mileage left on the mfg warranty but you can always check the VIN. Speaking of the VIN, I would call and find out if the car has had any of its TSB's or safety recall work performed.
There is alot of valuable info in the 3G garage: https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84834

Getting an independent mechanic to look at a used car seems like a prudent decision.

Good luck

jake14mw

Is it a definite bad sign if the dealer balks at having me take it to a mechanic?

smoknLT4

Don't let a dealer give you any crap about taking it to a mechanic. Car dealers in general are the scum of the earth. So many people forget that when you buy a car YOU are the boss and the dealer is working for you.

TzarChasm

I don't know about you, but that would be a definite bad sign for me.

VmtSquad

iTrader: (1)

MT or AT ?? Would suggest MT, I know that AT of th 2004 version had some major issues

VmtSquad

iTrader: (1)

I personnaly bought an 2004 Dynamic 6mt, from a small dealer(non acura) and didnt have any problem at all. Its been 4 months and 12000km and it stills perfect

I bought it 109 000km ~65000miles and it seems like the mecanic is flawless. Honda mecanic is simply one of the best around.

Just remember that the 2004 version is the first of his generation so it has some small detail issue that you can fix urself...such as rattles.

jake14mw

Thanks all, they are fine with me taking it to a mechanic. I imagine that anything that he finds would be covered under warranty, except tires. Brakes aren't covered under the original factory warranty are they? Got it for $18,900, I think I got a good deal! A later year wasn't an option for me money wise.

jake14mw

Another question too, with the programmable seats, does that just adjust the seats, or the mirrors too?

KeithL

I have owned 04, 06 and 07 TL as well as 08 TL-S. The 04 was the worst, as it was year one and had a multitude of squeaks and rattles and such. Also there was a TSB on the tranny that if was not done could mean tranny problems at some point. Personally I would avoid 04 and look for a Certified Pre-woned 05 or newer or if you have Carmax or AutoNation try them, they tend to be reputable and stand behind the vehicles they sell.

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

You can "program" a whole slew of things including the seats, rearview mirrors, radio presets, lock/unlock....

Will Y.

Each of the two remote fobs will store an individual setting for the driver's seat, outside mirrors, climate control preferences and audio system presets.

The seat programming buttons on the driver's door will only store the driver's seat position.

Welcome to AZ!

jake14mw

Excellent, didn't know it controlled all the other items too!

jake14mw

Hi All,

I am close to buying a 2004 TL from a Saturn dealer near me. I just took it to a mechanic for inspection and everything turned out ok except that the rear brake pads need to be replaced, and the rear rotors are rusted and pitted and need to be replaced. The guys at the garage said that the dealer should take care of fixing this for me. Should this be expected? What if they say that it's a used vehicle, you can't expect perfect everything? I got the car for 18,900 which I think is a great price.

The car has about 47000 miles and was originally purchased in Jan 2004, so that means that it should have 3000 miles and 4 months left on the factory warranty. Brakes are not covered under factory warrantees so that won't help. What do you think?

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

jake, i'm gonna merge both of your threads. You really didn't have to start a new one. No hard feelings though- your new around here

Shalooby

Lemme see. . .

Clean CarFax report
Great price
Reputable dealer (in that they didn't balk at taking it to a mech)
TSB's checked (did you do this??? ((transmission on the 04's)))
Mech says OK except for the rear brakes.

Enjoy your new car.

You might be able to haggle with the dealer on the brakes. Tell him that you'll buy the car if he does the brake work on it first. Shouldn't cost the dealer much to do that and I can't imagine they would walk away from the sale because of it. Especially since any future potential buyers would be questioning the same thing.

jdb8805

If they care about their reputation, they might just fix it rather than put you on the road with the car in unsafe condition.

Did they have the car inspected? It might not pass inspection that way and in that case they should fix it before selling.

IMO a good compromise would be:
They should fix the rotors, and you should fix the pads.

Should be parts only since they will already be there fixing the rotors


The rotors are not a wear and tear item (at least not at 44k miles), but the pads are.

lembowski

iTrader: (1)

What are these major problems? I've had my 2004 for 3 years now without even a minor problem

joed40

Sounds like a good deal if they do the brakes. Don't compromise.

godizus

Sounds like a good deal if they do the brakes (actually not too bad even if you have to do it). Hope you enjoy the car and welcome to the club!

KeithL

Early 04 TL AT's had a Tranny cooling problem, there was a TSB that added or redirected a cooling jet in the tranny and they were supposed to inspect for damage. My 04 was purchased in early March 04 and it already was outside the VIN range, so we are talking only the first few months of production, I beleive cars built after January 04 were OK.

KJSmitty

The oil jet issue/TSB was nothing.. Handled quickly and properly. It by no means reflected a "major" problem with the 04TL's.

If one "really" looks at all of the issues discussed with ALL years of the 3G, the "major" issues (major as in the greatest % of effected owners) are spread across all of them and not just the 04 (and AT issues aren't one of them - MT is more questionable in all reality but then again not "major"..).

-VSquad's comment should be taken extremely lightly...

jake14mw

Well, they agreed to do all of the things that the garage came up with except that they said that the rotors were not bad and could be resurfaced. I agreed to that. I'm happy with the overall purchace, and will pick the car up on Monday.

kenny5

Try to get it certified and the warranty extended, even if it means you have to pay for it (within reasonable amounts).

Mastervtec

Haha my '04 has 85k on it and not a single problem. Enjoy your car!