Hello, Im new to the board.

I was extremely interested in purchasing a TL, problaby used for my next car. I found some pretty decent deals on 04 with less than 35K. I was wondering what were the things I needed to look out for on the 04s or is any of the other years were significantly better. Also did the 04s come with navi?

thanks

 

Welcome to the boards!

04s should come with navi... but its not standard. as far as things to look out for, the 3Gs don't really have many differences amongst eachother - major ones at least, unless your comparing a Type S to a regular TL.

Acuras are built with quality, except the rattles, so you are definatly better off buying a nice certified Acura before going to a shady salesman and Chevrolet or Hyndai or something...

just my

 

Welcome to the boards and like stated above great car just might run into a few rattles that are covered under warranty.

I fixed my own.

 

^^^ no way man go w/ NBP aka black !!! black on black you can't go wrong !

 

hahaha.. YOU WANT WDP OR NBP :[ sry diego! but those are the only colors i'd get my cars in.. unless i had a fastback mustang, or a ferrari.. then i'd go RED!

 

+1 The only way to go.

 

Actually you'll find the TL quite trouble free, and yes, the '04 has navigation. I would check for a Certified TL, although you will pay more, but it will add 1 year/12,000 miles to the factory warranty, and take the power train to 100,000.

Color is subjective. Must say black looks great, but with swirl marks, and about 30 minutes after it's washed and polished, the dust can be seen accumulating, it's certainly not maintenance free. Also, lighter color, interior/exterior, cooler (as in temp) car.

 

NBP (black) FTW!!!!

 

hey Johnny--2k, were you at Target in New Berlin Sat night? I saw a beautiful NBP - debadged, chromed out... parked next to it (i park next to expensive cars because more than likely the owners will be more careful with their doors)

 

I like the black, but i think i like the silver the best. I also saw a white one and thought it looked pretty clean.

Thanks for your input keep em coming.

 

WDP is the way to go!!!! haha NBP is second place!!!!! The WDP - NBP battle continues....haha p.s. there both good colors....

 

Nope, wasn't me. I dont have chrome wheels on my car, just silver.....I would like to know who it is though......

 

yeah... no doubt, ive seen two NBPs within the last week... one with aspec and debadged and another regular tinted and debadged... i wanna get some acurazine cards or something to put on their windshield lol

 

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Color has nothing to do with how a used car runs. Please keep on topic.

 

.

 

You guys are obviously not reading the warnings.

Soon your login will not be working and you will wonder why...

 

someone told me the other day that the TL's need premium, I was wondering if this was true and how well your gas mileage is.

 

Yes - premium is a must, and NEVER mix the two... as far as mileage goes, I can't help ya there, I am 50 miles back and forth to work, and then out at the race scene at night, so mileage for me varies.

 

Im assuming that if you dont put premium, the car will detonate and run poorly?

 

as far as detonating goes... no... as far as running poorly... more than likely... theres different types of gas for different engines for a reason... i dont know everything about a car, but i do know that much....

 

I bought a certified used '04 non-navi about a year and a half ago. So far, I've only done routine maintenance - oil changes and the 30,000 mile service.

Check the power windows - my passenger side randomly doesn't feel like rolling up. It doesn't do it often enough for the dealer to duplicate yet. I had a similar issue with my prior RSX Type S - the drivers window track had gotten twisted somehow and was replaced under warranty.

The car came with plenty of rattles, but I don't care. After owning two American crapmobiles, minor issues like that mean nothing to me.

 

With 11:1 compression ratio of the 04+ TL, 87 octane WILL cause detonation. Especially in heavy-load or hot conditions. Fortunately there is a "knock" sensor that will retard ignition timing to save the engine. This sacrifices power and motor longevity as you are still exposing the pistons & rings to detonation before the ECU can react...

Bottom line: Run premium (minimum of 91 octane) if you care about the car...

 

+1

 

I've been working with my Dad looking into getting a TL. But he is concerned with the warranty and reliability of these cars. (It has to be better than my Jeep). So I was wondering what the factory warranty and certified warranty on these cars were. And maybe some good sources for him to read up on these cars. Im already sold on them, just gotta sway him a little.

Thanks

 

Believe the factory warranty is 4 years/50,000 miles "bumper-to-bumper". Covers everything but the wear items (wipers, brakes, tires, etc). Powertrain is 70k or 100k (I think. Someone can confirm). Extended Warranties are available from Acura directly (i.e. not a 3rd party warranty; it's an Acura warranty).

As far as reliability if you read the stuff here, you find basically three things:

1. - Minor anoyances that piss people off (rattles, leather problems, etc); quite a lot of these.
2. - Significant Issues (trany failures - 2G mostly, Suspension issues, etc); not as many and Acura seems to *try* to fix them.
3. - NO recurring issues of "My car broke down and I got stranded". Seriously, I don't think in 5+ years, I have EVER seen an Acura broke down on the side of the road.

Have dad check Consumer Reports. The TL is one of the best deals going.

Also, ask who in world makes a better gasoline engine than Honda? They are legendary.

 

Few things I think that are correct..

- Some early 04s were affected by 2nd gear issue that affected the 2G TL & previous Accord; so get the VIN and make sure it doesn't fall under that recall/service bulletin.

- There was a change in the seat design for 05 so your arse doesn't leave a permanent imprint on the seat (they added one more section of material; 3 seams instead of 2 - guess it helps stop stretching).

- Many 04's are approaching the end of the factory warranty; once that expires you won't be able to get the Acura Care Extended Warranty (I think..?).

- Base factory warranty is 4yr/50k for the car and 6yr/70k for the powertrain


The TL is much better than the heep.. er jeep.
Here's why:

- Less likely to roll over
- Front Side & Curtain Airbags (and the standard driver/passenger ones)
- Less chance of going deaf in the TL because it's quiet
- Better gas mileage
- Less chance of rattling your brain loose - softer ride
- Various other things but they all end with something along the lines of "better than the Jeep" so just make things up (hehe)

I would lean more towards an 05 myself; there were no major issues with the majority of 04 TLs but again you're going to be looking at higher mileage which might put you out of reach for an extended Acura warranty; and the seat thing.

Oh I think in 05 they also added an airbag cut off switch for the front passenger.

 

Yeah I would definitely prefer an 05 over an 04, mainly because as with all new models the first year always comes with its fair share of bugs.

This is my college grad gift from my pops. But he really wants me to get a new car for some reason, and I know he wouldnt fork out the money for a new TL, but im just trying to get it into his head that an used Acura can be just as reliable as any new car.