Hey Guys,

I wanted to drop in and run a few questions/thoughts by you guys.

We are going down to Atlanta this wknd to pick up our TL. We bought a 2008 TL w/75k miles. I am buying the car for my wife to drive for a couple of years until she's finished with nursing school. She drives 3 days a week from Calhoun, Ga to Atlanta on I-75. Neither of us have ever owned a Honda/Acura before but have always heard great things about the reliability. The main reason we bought it is because she is pregnant and this car has an outstanding safety rating and it's in our price range and I wanted to put her in something nice as well. I quite like the TL and will probably be taking it over when she's out of school. After that, she can buy whatever she wants!! Anyways, a couple of questions:

What do I need to expect maint. wise w/this car coming up?

What sort of gas mileage is typically observed here and what are they typical changes that will effect the gas mileage?

What type of oil do some of you who live in the south use?

Are there any quirky issues on this car that you guys are aware of?

I now own a Nissan Frontier and LOVE it. Before I owned an Audi A4 and there were a LOT of quirky things with that. Just don't know quite what to expect w/the TL. Any input would be great appreciated! Thanks. Have a good'n.

 

welcome to the site, TL is a solid car around thing can go wrong with TL.

1. HFL (Hand Free Link aka bluetooh) unit can goes bad but if you have non navi model it cost around $89 with an hour of your time.

2. Rattle you have to track them down.

3. for Maint you need to do 3x3, meaning that you drain the ATF replace with Honda AFT 3 quart at a time and drive for couple thousand mile, repeat the process three times.

Then you can change your AT pressure sensor (aka in this forum as 3x3 and 3rd & 4th pressure switch), this is not require but alot of member did it as preventive and claim the trany shifting smoother and more precise than before.

flush the brake system and power steering if the car hadn't done before.

4. Motor oil should be fine if you use the oil from Acura dealer and use the MID (Multi Information Display) tell you when oil change is due and you will be fine, however if you are willing to spend extra $$$ on full synthetic oil such as Redline Racing, Mobil 1, Royal Purple, etc... then you are welcome to.

6. MPG will depend your driving style and type of driving, I have Type S model which as bigger motor and I am no mean intended to save MPG. My MPG are 19 city (70% at 50-60 mph - 30% at 30 mph or below). Highway MPG at 75 mph are 30-31 MPG, if i drive conservative then the combine mpg is 21-22.

don't forgot to look into the vehicle history to see if the power steering hose recall get done, if not you can get it done at your local Acura dealer for FREE. its part of Honda massive recall.

TL is a quite reliable car oh and don't forget to post pics for us to congrat you

 

Welcome and congrats!

 

Good advice above. The TL is a very solid car. As long as you maintain it properly you should be fine. I have a manual tranny, but I average around 30 highway, and 19-20 city. Be careful with the metallic trim that flanks the center console, it scratches very easily. Also keep in mind that you'll have to replace your timing belt at around 105k miles. That service runs about $800-1,000 around where I live (Raleigh,NC), and I don't imagine it's cheaper in other areas. I've already changed the oil in my car once and I used Mobil 1 synthetic. Most guys on here seem to use some type of synthetic oil, with Mobil 1 seeming to be the most common. I also am not sure if it's a TL thing, but I've had a couple alignment problems, so you might want to make sure you get that checked out too (it caused mine to chew through a set of tires). Other than that, congrats on the new car (and baby)! Hope you guys like it!

 

Welcome, best of luck this weekend.

 

Welcome , I second the Mobil 1 oil and filter it is the beast bang for your buck.

 

emocleW

 

 

Perfect! Thank a bunch for the reply and warm welcome, guys. This is exactly the type of info I was looking for. Glad to be a part of the group. I'll post some pictures and feedback on the car Monday or so..Thanks again.

 

Welcome to Azine!!

Congrats on the new car! You'll love it!

 

Welcome bro! You'll enjoy the TL.

I agree with truong, the transmission is the big thing you want to watch. I strongly suggest at your mileage that you do the ATF drain and fill, and go ahead and replace your 3rd and 4th gear pressure switches. There is good evidence on this forum that replacing these switches not only makes your transmission shift better, but it can prevent transmission slipping and early failure. Mine seemed to be shifting ok before switch replacement, but after I replaced my switches, I experienced how the car was really supposed to shift--a noticeable difference.

Here is a very good DIY for replacing the switches--this is not bad at all on the TL (a bit more challenging with 3 switches in different locations with the Type-S). https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/110-b-diy-guide-replacing-3rd-4th-gear-pressure-switch-3g-tl-2007-2008-a-840630/

Good luck!

 

Welcome to the forum, and that is quite the commute! Did you end up with the navi or non-navi version?

 

Thanks for the link and advice!

 

Thank you! We got one w/the NAV. Wife really liked the backup camera as she is pretty short at 5'3". We drove the Type-S too and I really like it, but you can really notice the ride quality suffered w/the tuning of the suspension. If the car was for me, I would've bought the Type-S!

How does everyone like the functionality of the NAV? I didn't get to play with it much, but I can already tell it's better than Jeeps NAV.

 

Personally, I think the TL navi is slow when it comes to inputting addresses. I tend to use my phone for step by step directions and I use the TL's navigation screen as a general map of where I'm going.

 

Coming from a non-navi to a navi TL, it takes awhile to use it. Forget about voice commands because she/he won't understand you. The only thing I like about it is that it's still touch screen whereas all other navis have moved to iDrive type. It also likes to use the longest possible route to get to a place even if you know of a faster route.

 

Sounds like a bit of pain in the ass. Probably just antiquated. I won't expect much out of it! Thanks.

 

I like the TL's Navi-- it's better at routing and advising of upcoming turns in Southern California than the 2-year old Garmin we have in another vehicle.
Some members grouse about the Navi speed or routing, but updated Navi discs contain software updates; my TL is using a 2009 disc.

I don't use Voice Commands much, but they work pretty decently too. The HFL/Bluetooth works best when I rattle off phone numbers quickly.

Welcome to AZ!

 

navi input address is slow but its quite good compare to other navi, back up cam is a bonus part of navi. that voice command can come handy when you driving unfamiliar area and trying to turn AC on/off radio changing navi destination at the same time without touching anything. This is a unique feature where tom tom or garmin can't perform. I had trouble with portable navi like hitting a bump and the whole thing just fall down to the floor and that isn't good if driving on an interstate highway at 75. Many people say itsn't worth it (out dated) but if you take a look the navi is 9 years old and Acura/Honda Navigation system was getting top rating back in the day for easy to use, user friendly when compare to other navi system offer in other automobile manufacture like BMW and their terrible 1st gen I-drive. My point is why people comparing a 9 years old tech versus a modern one its just not fair.

 

Welcome to AZ! Register her at www.myacura.com and save your radio/navi codes there for safe keeping.

 

no pics no care

 

Welcome fellow Georgian!

 

Hey guys. Just an update. Upon arrival to pick that car up it was divulged to me that it had been in two previous accidents, this was not previously disclosed. So we backed out of the deal. I've been burned on wrecked cars before.

However, We found virtually the same car down the road with clean history for only a bit more $. It is also immaculate inside and out, freakishly so. We picked it up Wednesday nite. I'm going to get some good pictures this wknd with the nice weather and post them. Also, this car does not have the NAV, like the other one. I didn't think it would be a great loss not to have it.

 

Congrats, I wouldn't loose any sleep over no navi. Better to have pice of mind knowing the car has been taken care of and is accident free!

 

navi is cool to look at .. but your phone/tom tom/etc is better for practical use.

 

Wise choice, and congrats! You're always better off with a clean car. I learned this the hard way when I bought my first car many years ago--I was so excited and emotionally involved that I didn't see the warning signs that the car had issues. Now when I buy a car I look for reasons to turn it down and keep looking. Good, maintained, one-owner cars with full histories are out there--you just have to be patient.

Here are the things on the TL that I'd look out for that I've learned on Acurazine, and from my personal experience: https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/new-tl-s-owner-4-month-impressions-884488/

Congrats! We look forward to pictures!

 

OP no navi no problemo, like everyone else said you can always use Ipad or android tablet in place of that cheap radio display. I you want OEM then there are conversion out there but congrat on your pick up, and how did you find out the car has wrecked? professional mechanic inspection?

 

Good to hear that you passed up the "accident" one and went for a clean TL.

Whale cum to the boards!