So my son is graduating high school this fall and is going to need a college car. (Two through college, this is the last one!)

I found a SMOKIN' deal on a 2005 TL and get this - it only has 17,000 miles on it. Literally driven by a retired lady that is now 84 and can't drive anymore. You'd probably call me a liar if I told you what I paid for it.

Picked it up for my son and got it stowed away in my shop so he won't know. Between now and graduation, I intend to do a few little things to it in order to make it a bit more "cool" for a young man.

It has the original tires on it and although they have lots of tread left, I worry about their age so I'm going to replace them. I found some 18" wheels that were display units for cheap and going to get them and put some new rubber on them. I'm going to basically do a "black out" job on the car because I know that's what my son likes. In addition, I have a kick a$$ alpine stereo system that I had in one of my trucks years ago that I can put in.

So I thought I'd join your community here and see what hints I can pick up for getting all this done.

Any direction for getting these mods accomplished would be great. I look forward to the surprise of presenting this to my son on graduation day - I should be able to post pictures by then!!

 

What colors the car/ rims? Grats on the steal tho

 

welcome! Post pics so we can see your upgrades

 

Not sure of the name of the color, but it's a dark red, like maroon or burgundy.

Will see if I can get a pic of the wheels. Right now they are still stock.

 

Welcome. Can't wait to see pics.

 

Redondo red pearl is the color and congrats 17k miles. Very nice pickup.

 

Wow! Super low miles on that TL. What a wonderful graduation gift. Your son will love it. If your going to do the "murder" look, perhaps tint is in order.
You can also smoke the tail lights. Interior LEDS (map and door lights).

 

Congrats on your new ride, Flatlander. Welcome to AcuraZine.

 

not gonna lie, dying to know what you paid...you know, for science.

 

Wow 17k miles is super low for an 05. Rare find indeed. Curious, does it have the navigation unit?

And yes as another member mentioned, its call Redondo Red Pearl. Great color!

I'm sure its possible to change the sound system in the car, but why not stick with the stock unit. Unless your son is major audiophile or basshead then I can see the need for swapping out the stock unit.

 

I paid just over $10k - There were no firearms or any other violence involved in the robbery! All parties

No navigation.

I agree the sound system is pretty good. What I really want to give him is connectivity. So now I'm leaning more towards just adding Bluetooth to the existing system.

He has an iPhone with all his music on it. With Bluetooth he could stream that, have hands free calling, and voice turn by turn directions - all from the iPhone.

I posted another thread asking how to do that and was told to use the iSimple device. Researching that now…

Here's a pic of the car and the wheels that I'm going to order today.

 

Great find! The car already has Bluetooth for the phone, called Hands Free Link in the Acura. That only works for phone calls though, not music. Best way to add connectivity is to get an iSimple adapter that plugs into the XM radio slot on the back of the radio. There are several DIY threads on AZ for installation.


Mod that will add the most esthetic appeal would be the Aspec body kit. Not sure if the RRP color is still available but you can get a different color and have it painted.

 

congrats on the pick up!

you are a cool dad

If you want something that offers connectivity for music, AS WELL as auto-connecting to your phone for hands-free talking (good for safety!) then this is perfect:

http://www.amazon.com/Kinivo-BTC450-Bluetooth-Hands-Free-Input/dp/B009NLTW60

http://www.amazon.com/Kinivo-BTC450-Bluetooth-Hands-Free-Input/dp/B009NLTW60

Edit: Yes, iSimple is good too

 

That car is practically new. My '05 TL is at 203k miles, haha. The only thing I would worry about in the near future is the timing belt due to age. Good find!

 

I can definitely vouch for the Kinivo unit! I just wiretucked mine and LOVE it. BUT I don't think the '05 has an AUX port right..?

Congrats on the steal though OP, awesome dad, FOR SURE! Be sure to get some tint, maybe A-Spec body kit (since you saved so much money ), and let the rest be up to his imagination.

 

Correct, there isn't an aux port on the 05.


There isn't an aux port on the 05.

 

I have an 05 TL as well and use the GROM bluetooth unit to connect in. Can be connected to XM or the CD changer. The XM module allows you to display text. I have an android and my phone connects to both the HFL unit that comes factory from acura and the GROM unit when I get in the car. If he doesn't want to program the HFL unit, the GROM unit can be set up to handle both music and phone calls which allows you to tap into the phones built in voice commands. The down side is you have to run a separate mic for the GROM unit if you want it to handle phone calls.

 

Congrats, I would also look into upgrading that old transmission fluid to at least the new spec Honda fluid.

 

Wow, nice ride. I tried hard to find a red one but they are rare where I am. The only one available was in bad condition. Good pick up!

 

Hi! I think you're an awesome dad, but don't give him everything too easy! It's an easy car to crash to us kids

For your audio question, I highly suggest buying an iSimple PXAMG box that will charge his iphone, play his music from his phone, and will also work with the steering wheel controls. Easy install, I did it myself at 18...but I am super skinny, so it was easy to get my arms in without removing the entire radio unit.

 

be careful about putting too many mods and fun things into the car....you may end up liking it too much and want to keep the car for yourself

though....looking at the pic with your house, you probably have something much nicer than a TL inside!

 

Ah..you are correct sir

 

From a 19 year olds view I would say:Tint, A-spec, Maybe inspire fogs if the shop you're having the work done at can do them. Maybe some USR Taillights I would say the Clear/Black versions in my opinion. Look into some JnC headlights even maybe? Definitely some coil overs to allow your son to choose how low he wants the car to sit (if you'd allow him to lower it that is).

 

UPDATE -

When I called the company to buy those wheels, it took me 3 tries to get a hold of them. Bad sign. When they are that hard to reach when buying, what's the after the sale customer service going to be like? So I went to a different company and am ordering these:



As far as other mods, I decided that I wanted to do just enough to make it exciting when I give it to him, but not all of them that I think he would want. I'd rather be doing this stuff WITH him and us having the fun together. He likes modding like his Dad, so I decided to just get the ball rolling with the 18" wheels/tires, and the bluetooth adaptor.

I went ahead and ordered the iSimple piece for bluetooth. I might also plasti-dip the grill black and shadow paint the reflectors too. But that's it. Once he gets it, then I'll let him decide (and pay for) anything else he wants to do. I have some alpine amps and some boston acoustic speakers he can have if he wants to tackle updating the stereo. But that is fun things we can do together rather than me doing ahead of time.

I will comment that, for each of my kids, getting their car when the graduate high school is the ONE extravagant thing they get. All growing up, they are taught to work for the things they want. They get a SMALL allowance to cover a portion of their needs so they learn to manage money, but it's far from enough to cover any wants.

As they go off to college, they are given a car to drive but the car is still MINE. When they graduate college, I sign over the title. This way, they get launched without any college debt and a paid for car to get them started.

And to satisfy curiousity, yes, Dad has had the blessing of being able to play with a few cars of his own over the years, including a couple exotics, built a couple street rods, a car for SEMA and a handful of Vettes, not including a few motorcycles along the way.

No I'm not rich, I just try to buy special cars at the right price, play for awhile and sell for what I have in them or sometimes even make a profit (not often enough!) I rarely have more than one in play at a time, unless it's one in a "build stage" and one that's finished and up for sale. Those overlaps get tight for me though.

Here's a shot of what I'm currently driving. Car is a Wil Cooksey special edition Z06. It's number 139 of 505. It's a tribute to the old 427 Vettes, so 427 were issued in the U.S. and Wil Cooksey, the retiring manager of the Bowling Green assembly plant, designed the car and signed each one of them.

 

instead of asking us why not just ask your son if he likes them? like on your corvette for example.

grats on the buy and welcome.

 

I spy 3 door garage.

 

i'm gonna need you to repeat the 3rd grade

I spy 5.

 

Yep, I'm counting 5 too...OP, you are not poor by any stretch, that Vette and Truck are worth $100K+ and you have that 5 car garage.

 

LOL I digging the picture more than the thread

 

i think that's awesome. launching them out of a college education without debt and at the same time teaching them how to manage their own money (and wean themselves off of yours) is excellent.

 

Once you make sure the mechanicals are in good working order, by far the best bang for the buck performance-wise is a J-pipe. You don't need any supporting mods to get some decent gains and your car will still be pretty quiet with no exhaust rasp. Then swap in a rear TL-S anti-roll bar. You can do the front too but since you have to drop the back of the subframe, the labor is much more involved. You'll end up with more midrange power, a bit better handling and a car that still looks and sounds stock.

 

Looks like a good deal!

 

Shit, im just going to stop posting now.

 

That's an awesome price!

I'd prefer some Type S rims over aftermarket though

 

I agree. the gunmetal color of the type-S rims would go perfect with RRP. I always get compliments on my wheels.

something like this with tint would be hot:

 

Damn, nice cars and house. I particularly like that Z06. As a previous C6Z owner I can vouch for how insane those cars are.
As for the TL that is a damn nice find with that mileage. I would try and keep that car as clean as possible. I'm definitely not a fan of the wheels you ordered, but that's all personal preference. If I had that car I would do 35% tint all around, aspec kit, and without a doubt aspec wheels. With those mods the car would be perfect.
I just had the original tires removed from my 07 Type S (in service late 06) at 8,200 miles. Even though they looked new, you could tell they had some age on them and some areas in the tread you could see cracks in the rubber. So I would definitely get a new set of tires on yours soon (get 18" aspec dark gray wheels and new tires) ;-) It would look so good on that color!!!

 

^ 100% agree with what he said regarding wheels.

 

I would suggest the following:
1. Replace the oil -> Oil gets acidic with time, most of the time within a year! (Dino oil, only TRUE synthetics do not)

2. Flush the coolant as it's over 7 years old

3. Flush the brake fluid, it should be changed every 2-3 years

4. Replace the transmission fluid NOW. Use the new Acura DW-1 fluid at the LEAST!!!! If you want something better, redline D4 is a good option.

5. Replace the tires! Tires dry rot with age and are the only thing keeping you stuck to the road!

6. Go to acura and get ALL RECALLS DONE!!! THERE IS A HUGE FIRE RISK IN 2005 MODELS WITH RECALLS NOT PERFORMED

This is all I can think of at the moment but congrats on the new purchase!

 

I agree I just recently purchased one and I love it!

 

Does it automatically connect every time you get in your car, or do you have to press a button or pair it each and every time? Also, how do you power it? Do you have to take it out of the car and charge it? I had a different one before that did not auto pair, and had to be taken in the house to charge. Totally sucked and was easier just to use the aux cable that screw around with doing the other stuff.