Hey,

I was looking into becoming part of the TL community.

I LOVE the way tl's look.


MAny people say that because they are made by honda they are reliable.

Some one told me there is a problem with the transmission.


Can you guys tell me if this car is reliable, and if its low maintenance.


I was looking at 2004 TL's with about 50 000 miles on them.


What u think?


Thanks.

 

2004 was the first year out and many people report rattles.
The auto transmission problem was in the older TL's, seems to have been fixed.

The 2004 and newer TL seems to be quite reliable overall, with 2005 being better
maybe, our 2005 has not had one single problem in 30,000 or more miles and has not been back to the dealers for any reason.

Compaired to anything other than a Toyota/Lexus, the TL should be quite good, consumer reports rates it very high.

People did complain about the auto transmission cars having a vibration, and Acura put out a tsb about it, not sure if it was a fix or not, as I have the 6 speed manual transmission.

The TL with the manual is a DIFFERENT car, the manual really changes the feel of the car, it seems much smoother, and you can shift early, like at 3000 rpm yet
give it lots of throttle, which equals quick and quiet.
The auto trans cars seemed to want to let the motor spin up high even under moderate throttle...

Overall, the TL is a good choice if you want what it delivers, performance, good economy, and room for 4 people. We get 34 mpg at 70 mph, which is very good
for the power and size of the car.

The TL is missing some real nice features that the Passat had, but its in another world in reliability. Things went wrong on day 2 with the passat, and just kept on breaking....I have had less problems in 3 years on the TL (0), than on day 2 of VW ownership (2 problems).

I also think the TL looks sharp, and I would buy one today if they sold the 3.2L engine with the manual trans, but they dont, so I dont know what I would get if I had to get a NEW car. Maybe a prius...


Brett

 

I actually bought a certified 2004 TL- WDP, Auto 52k about 2 weeks ago. First of all I would highly recommend that if you're going to buy an 04 TL with 50k-plus on the odometer that you get a certified used car from the dealership. It may cost a little more but you get an extra 12 months/12000 miles of basic warranty as well as a 7 year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty as well as road site assistance, etc. Go to www.acura.com and read up about the benefits of Certifed Pre-owned.

I have to say I think it's the best value in its class by far. If you look at some of the features of the TL like, Bluetooth, sunroof, hid headlights, dvd audio surround sound system, excellent power, etc. A lot of those things are options on the BMW 3-series, Lexus IS and the Benz C-class.

Anyway on to my impressions of the TL.

Power- Great power. It doesn't have the power of a G35 but trust me its more than enough for 99% of the people out there. I heard that it doesn't have a lot of power in the lower rpms and I'll honestlly say I that it is true. The power really kicks in when you're cruising at like 30-40 and you hit the gas. Sometimes I can't help but crack a smile whenever I get a chance to really unleash what it can do. Take a test drive and you'll see for yourself.

Comfort- The ride is pretty smooth and agile. The interior is beautiful and feels very luxurious. I feel that the TL and the C-class have the best interiors but if you get the Nav the TL edges it out.

Sound system- It sounds excellent when you play a DVD Audio CD... which I dont really have any of. Overall its a real good system, although it wouldn't hurt to change the speakers and add an amplifier.

Gas mileage- it seems like every TL is different. Some people say they get as high as 32mpg on the highway and around 20 in the city. Unfortunately for me I'm not one of those people. I would get as high as 27-28 on the highway but in the city I've seen the trip computer say I had as low as 11-12mpg... and that was for a good 6-8 miles. Fuel economy is normally worse in the winter so I'm hoping it improves in the summer time.

Overall the TL has everything I could want in a car. Although it is a 2004 I believe that it will still be ahead of a lot of other cars in the next 5 years. Everytime I walk away from the car I can't help but look back and admire how georgeous it is. I've been on a lot of other car forums and I've never seen owners who seem to be in love with their car so much. There really isn't much to not like.

 

my 04 TL has 64k miles. it just developed a knock and lost alot of power...looking like im needing an engine rebuild.