rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

I'm unconvinced that there is anything you can do about it if you live in a very hot climate.

I knew it was coming...I've been on AZ for the last 3 years...did the 303 on it, kept it clean and moisturized. Kept a sun shade on it at work...kept it in the garage at home. First 5 years of life this car lived under an awning and a huge tree.

It happened anyway.

Trunk Monkey

iTrader: (1)

If we could only prove it and make Acura replace it! I've used 303 on various occasions, but mine still sunk down and cracked. Improper support is the culprit also

Bruce Banner

iTrader: (2)

This sounds like a class action lawsuit idea

crbnfbr

iTrader: (1)

Unfortunately, my dash is cracked about 10 times as bad as yours. Personally I believe it comes from have the car in South FL for 5 year with no sunshade then moving to Northern SC where it gets hot as hell in summer then occasionally below freezing in winter. At least my believe anyway.

MEKO

iTrader: (1)

I have the car since 6 years. They say Armorall is bad for the dashboard and don't use it. I used it for 5 years. Didn't know. Yesss there is sun light in Boston and there is cold also that makes cracking sound coming from windows.

Nothing happend to dashboard.
We tried more than 20 cars in USA. Only one that didn't have major or even little problems is the TL.

What other car would you buy OP?
Hope you not going to say German?
You probably know that Germany sends cars depending on the country?
and sends the worst ones to USA? Major parts

ben2jz

I read most of the post on this thread and I just got to say buy a Lexus OP. My personal experience is I use to own 2003 GS300 and my wife drive a 2004 GX470. Both car run and idle like day one. Oil change, spark, fluids and go. People who sit in any of them would of never knew it was high millage. (GS300 was 166k and GX470 is 110k) No issues at all and we bought them used (knock on wood for the GX).

The dealership here in Orange county, California service is very nice. Everyone is polite and the employee knows their stuff. For example, I wanted my doors to be reprogram so that when I put it in "D" all the doors would lock up automatically. I called and spoke with a rep. The guy just say come in whenever and ask for him. I show up and it happen to be a very busy time of the day but he personally took the car to the back and did it himself. 10 mins later I drove off with a smile on my face and it cost me nothing. On my GS I had a few issues for example my TB was making noise, bad lower ball joints, rough idle and a few other stupid things typically from wear and tear being at 70-90k at the time. Took it in and my extend warranty covered it all. I paid nothing and I they gave me a loaner each time at no cost!

Not trying to convert you or anyone here but I would buy a Lexus over any maker. I know you got to pay to play but for the money Lexus is the bang for the buck. And if anyone is wondering why I have a TL, well I only paid say under 8k for a car that is under 90k miles with full service from a buddy. Cant let a good deal fly by And for the record dont flame me because I never said Acura or any auto maker is a bad brand. I understand it is a hit and miss. Its just my .02 cent

ben2jz

I have to add, my Acura dealer here in Cerritos are a bunch of douch. The vibe feels like a bunch of immature "ricer fanboy" get together under a AC building to work. I hate that place so much that I am buying all my OEM stuff online even fluids if I have to.

nj2pa2nc

Sounds like having the Extended warranty came in handy. Did not buy it for my tsx which was good for me. Would not need it. Going on 144k miles. Excellent car with Excellent service from my dealer.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Right...I have a buddy at work that has an 06 IS350 and has only 60K on the clock and has nothing but problems with it. No one manufacturer is the answer...just maintenance and accept that in these days where everything is electronically and technologically driven...you will be replacing stuff.

The first ever CD player I ever bought still works...bought it in 1991...but Acura's CD player in my 04 doesn't work anymore. Go figure.

The dash cracking is weak...but I'm sure it was attributed to them trying out some new design or new mixture of rubber/plastic that was going to be the next best thing and ended up being the next worst thing if you live in a hot climate.

The armoral thing...i think that's a myth at this point...the problems they had with armorall drying out and cracking dashes is from an older formulation

truonghthe

Since you remind me of the GS300.

1. I had experience with bad valve cover gasket which spray oil every where under the hood common issue with 2jz motor.

2. Upper control arm snapped at 146k miles causing bend fender in case I have to buy a used fender and car need to be towed . Lexus and Eclipse has this same issue.

3. Rattling issue isn't far better than our TL, holly rattling.

4. City gas mileage is bad in city (driving around in Houston TX).



Nice things I can say about the car

1. At 156k miles the car running like a champ and the leather seat quality is awesome.

2. Ride comfort is good.

3. Love to have that power button switch.

TVL65

As the father of a now 19 year old daughter & 20 year old son who lost their mother back in 2007 due to cancer let me state there are much worse things in life to get upset about, a car can be fixed, a person with cancer faces the unknown.
My 2007 TLS had the CD player break & driver power seat track break, both repaired under warranty. Nothing is perfect in life, cars break, it's normal. A dashboard should NOT crack however. Take some deep breathes and relax.

truonghthe

here is the pics from the GS.






and speaking the G35 nightmare.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

TVL65 put some good thought into that post...sorry for the loss, man. Definitely puts things into perspective...

erdoc48

Here's my take:
- it is frustrating to buy a product and not have it function as expected, but the problem is that the whole car wasn't built by Acura. It's a bunch of sub assemblies made by different vendors (for example, BT module made by Johnson Controls). Any of the sub assembly parts should be reliable on the whole, but can fail. The more complex the newer cars are (whether it be electronic engine or transmission controls, or HVAC/ radio electronic controls) , the more likely a component will fail.

- my 06 has been extremely reliable, but I've had the B pillar rattle, and my o2 sensor failed at 80,000 miles (I expected it to last longer), but I've corrected both of these problems and have moved on. If I get the dreaded dash cracking, I'm getting a dash mat, immediately. I wouldn't bother trying to have Acura assess the situation, possibly charge me 1/2 the cost to replace the dash, and potentially deny me anyway. I want to keep the TL for as long as possible, but when a car has really racked up the miles, you can't expect that it's going to be like new (even if adding new parts). You'll always be chasing it and getting frustrated if you're trying to keep it like new. Even if my tranny failed (which it hasn't), it's still cheaper to get it fixed than to get a new car and start making payments.

- realize it's a car, has many parts and sub assemblies that can fail, will deteriorate with time, and will depreciate. Get as much life out of it as possible before replacing, because although you're starting with a new platform, you're then entering a whole new set of variables/ problems that will need correction.

- in terms of service, I've always had my cars serviced at Goodyear for the routine stuff, and the dealership for warranty items. I've had good success so far. I'll take it to Hamilton Honda for the TB change when that comes due, but overall, the TL has been a relatively cheap car to own.

Every car maker makes a few stellar cars (of a particular model), most are middle of the road reliability wise, and a few lemons. It's that pick 2 of 3 thing:
Cheap, reliable, complex:
- if it's cheap and reliable, it can't be complex
- if it's complex and reliable, it won't be cheap
- if it's cheap and complex, it won't be reliable


If the carmakers got the most up to date, ridiculously reliable sub assemblies for their cars, a car like the TL would cost ~ $100,000

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

and BAM...truth is spoken. Well put.
Every car maker makes a few stellar cars (of a particular model), most are middle of the road reliability wise, and a few lemons. It's that pick 2 of 3 thing:
Cheap, reliable, complex:
- if it's cheap and reliable, it can't be complex
- if it's complex and reliable, it won't be cheap
- if it's cheap and complex, it won't be reliable

sixsixfour

how about the AT shifter?

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

^^^ Sorry buddy I was mistaken....i thought DeathMetal did the AT shifter but I dont think he did....maybe you can be the first and try it out

sixsixfour

no worries man. im not that brave to try it yet though lol

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

YOU?!?! Yes you are...knock it out!

sixsixfour

lol i dont know, if i do i will be sure to do a DIY because it will probably take me days

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Just get in there...I bet it's more simple than you think.

LaCostaRacer

Great thoughts on this subject. I think a second-hand buyer is also at the mercy of how well did the previous owner or owners treat the car. Was the car garaged?, serviced regularly (like ATF), cleaned/waxed etc. Those intangibles will greatly affect an owner's experience 6-10 years later.

On the compromise traits, there is a 4th criteria that is more subjective: excitement or sportiness.

You can have a cheap, sophisticated, reliable car and still lack the sporty trait- the Toyota Prius comes to mind as an example of this concept.

I would argue that driving a TL is more engaging for the driver than driving a Lexus in general. Perhaps an IS350 is better but that's a smaller car. The ES350 certainly isn't as engaging as a TL.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

the ES is ugly as hell too...that car is my go to car to describe a car with a soulless look.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

^^^

the wifey drives an ES....you messed up my weekend mang....

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

What is this "Multi Quote" feature you speak off?

OP - every car has issues. I had all kinds of stuff replaced on my CLs in 50K miles of ownership. Had NOTHING replaced on my I35 in 140K miles. And so far I'm at about 50K on my TL with minimal issues.

Sometimes shit just breaks.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Sorry Anil...didn't mean the dig to you, man.
I just always felt like it looks like it probably drives so smooth and probably has decent power but the design looks so "vanilla" to me.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

^^^ the funny thing is wifey was telling me the story of "how she bought the car" and she picked the ES between the 2003 ES and 2003 530i....I was like "how could you".....

all she said is the ES made her smile....

but I agree the design is very "plain jane" and the car lacks power, the suspension is very very soft.....drives beautifully thow....very very comfortable....if I didnt mind driving this car as compared to mine, I would take it on long ass trips just because it is sooo comfy....

magnod

My TL doesn't rattle (yet), but what are the easy fixes for rattle sounds?

Enevarez

It's always a great car if your the 1st owner if you get it used then it's a 50/50 even with the car fax? I love my acura tl 2006 no problems

Redsand353

This.

I beat the piss out of my car, and she not only enjoys it but still fools everyone she comes across that shes brand new

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

I love my car.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

^^^ Jeremy wanna know something ironic...

on Friday we spoke about the wifey's ES....I was driving it that day as I had my driver and passenger seat out to fix the brackets....

on the way back home at around 3PM-ish i was rear ended at a stop light...how ironic is that LOL....no major damage....just a repaint job will do the trick....the lady behind thought the light turned green and stepped off the brake and rear ended me....

she asked me how I am so calm and i said because its the wifey's car....if it was mine i would have been a tad bit pissed

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

LOL...that wouldn't have happened to yours because lightweight racecar!

that is pretty ironic, man...glad it's just cosmetic and you're ok.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

^^^ yeah never been in an accident so when this happened i yelled out "mother#$@#$"

got out to see this lady rear ended me....she was crying and i tried my best to stay calm and calm her down...."its only human" worked well on her well....

yeah i wouldnt have been as calm if it was my car LOL....

TheChamp531

iTrader: (3)

Another good product that I use is Optimum Vinyl and Leather Protectant. 100+ degree weather all year round in Texas and so far no problems. The dash actually looks brand new when it is cleaned.

Xiomaro

iTrader: (5)

:sigh: where's the love...

I hate cars

I've never understood that and I've known people that have done that exact same thing. The light turns green (or so they think) so they obey the light, screw the stopped car in front of you.

I'm not aiming this at the OP, just the overall tone of the thread... People seem to demand that the car be perfect and that would be nice.. My TL has been as close to perfect as I've ever owned at 109,000 miles. It drives like the day I drove it off the dealer lot with 8 miles on it. No major repairs. It's never broken down or left me stranded except for me running the battery down. I can handle things like the headlight that burned out, replacing switches every couple years, a $.25 O-ring that took 5 minutes of my time.

Cars have gotten much more reliable over the years. There are more features, more systems, so more stuff to go wrong but most of those are convenience items, not things that are going to leave you stranded. What people don't look at is cars years ago when I was younger had just enough cooling capacity to keep the engine reasonably cool. Once you hit a decently steep hill you had to turn the AC off and pray the engine didn't overheat. Now you can do the same hill with the AC blasting and never even think to look at the gauge.

Electronic fuel injection, especially the newer stuff that uses a wideband with the very quick warmup cycle has vastly improved engine life, over 300% by some reports, over carbureted setups and a small margin over non wideband equipped cars.

Transmissions always worry me because we're packing more average power into a smaller, more compact trans that usually has more gears than old cars. The heat buildup is much greater, some parts are made to be smaller and more efficient, giving up some strength but with better fluids and good engineering not a lot has been given up. I worked at a transmission shop in '98 and at that time it was completely normal for a car to come in with around 50-60k needing a rebuild. The early days as the 700-4R went electronic turning into the 4L60E kept transmission shops alive. Honda did a great job of that as well when they starting using electronics, especially with pressure switches lol. It seems like most have the electronics worked out now. There were some bulletproof transmissions back in the day like the TH400 but some that always kind of sucked.

I doubt many remember a cold start in a carbureted car. What was considered normal back then would have the owners getting their cars towed to the dealer thinking it's broken if it behaved that way now. Cars used to be temperamental, their owners expected it. Just about the whole population could change their own oil (3k intervals at most), plugs, cap and rotor, even points lol, modulate the non ABS brakes, somewhat control the car if it slides, they were just more involved with the car because they had to be. 100,000 miles was definitely toward the end of the engine's life expectancy because the carburetor's lack of precise AF control, the misfires, and crude timing advance curve.

When I get in my TL that's had practically zero problems in 109,000 miles I don't even think about the possibility that it might not start or that it's time to start looking for a new engine since I'm over 100k and it's probably going to fail soon.

If you look at common failures of other companies it's usually not the petty stuff that we worry about. Spun rod bearings for one big company, cylinder wall porosity requiring engine replacement, spark plugs that blow out of the heads because the factory did not design in enough thread depth, one that likes to crack the heads between the valves, incredible amounts of intake tract carbon buildup requiring the top end to be disassembled after as few as 30,000 miles for a cleaning, cylinder wall washdown resulting in cylinder wall wear from an improperly implemented DI setup, obnoxious piston slap when cold, software glitches that kill people from uncontrollable full throttle DBW issues (yes, it was in the software). I could go on and on.

Older cars like my GN have a good engine mechanically speaking with a great for the day but average EFI system. BUT, the trans is fully mechanical/hydraulic, the engine wiring harness is only connected the the ECU. The ECU is only connected to the engine, not the trans, no CANbus. The only non engine things connected to the ECU is the TCC and AC compressor which are simple on/off inputs and outputs and a speed sensor at the speedo.

The body wiring harness is beyond simple. No airbag system. No ABS, no traction control. The headlights don't even use a relay, full power goes through the switch inside the car. Electronics inside the car are limited to power windows and lights. The HVAC controls are vacuum operated except for the fan. It does not have to send a request to the ECU to turn the fan on, it's a simple switch and relay. It's done as simple as possible. No features but very little to go wrong and it still wasn't quite as reliable as the TL with about a thousand more things that could go wrong but don't.

Trunk Monkey

iTrader: (1)

Wish I could say the same Matt. Yesterday I had some very strange things happen with the A/C on. It's been weird before I wrote this post, but not like what happened. I'm uploading a video right now that I'll post in here and the "problems" section to see if I can diagnose. A/C still works, but it's not quite as cold. No big deal. It could be many different things and it's a 120k + car. Hopefully this issue just needs a little more refrigerant. The issue I'll post up...I have NO CLUE.

My damn windshield spray nozzles just stopped working last week also. Seriously...I must have pissed off someone.

Trunk Monkey

iTrader: (1)

There is a loud swooshing/wind-type noise coming from up near the defrost area. Much harder to hear on the video b/c the Iphone seems to pick up every little thing. The compressor usually kicks on for a second (making that noise) and then goes off within a few seconds. Well it stayed on for the entire time until I turned it off. Didn't happen today on the way to work, but still.

View My Video

^ VIDEO ^

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

^^^Check the hose connection under the cowl and at the reservoir...might just be the pump motor on the reservoir that went bad? A fuse?

Very odd...multiple weird electrical issues...how old is the battery?