There's an '05 TL I'll be purchasing next week w/ 88K miles. I understand the '04 had tranny issues. What issues should I look for in the '05 (if any)? Do you recommend an aftermarket warranty? If so, what company and how much should I spend? Is the navi up to date/how do I update it?

Thanks for your help

 

Welcome to Azine!

Nice pick up! Need to see pics please!

Now to your post:
I dont believe the tranny issues were as common on the 05s as they were on the 00-04s, but some 05s have been reported to have tranny issues BUT very low. If the TL has been kept up in maintenance than warranty is NOT needed and a waste of money IMO.

As for navi, its dvd based, and Acura has the 2011 disc on their website but you might want to check out the cities added in your state. I'm a second owner and the car still has the orig. disc., the disc retails for $185 through Acura, but right now Acura has the orange disc(04-06) for $149.

Make sure you did an extensive test drive on the car and get the car inspected at the dealer best $110 spent. Sadly I'm finding new rattles in the car, but I know there are solutions for them.

GL on your purchase.

 

I bought an 06 with 43,000 on it three days ago. I love it.

 

First item to address is that at @ 105,000 miles a major service is going to be needed and depending on the deals at the time, the timing belt etc. and plugs will run around $1000 +/-.

Just do an extensive inspection and make certain all the body VIN match, check CarFax, check tires for uneven wear across the tread and be certain they are in decent condition as you don't want to drop $800 on tires and alignment right after the purchase. Check the rotors through the wheels to see if any scoring or grooves, but naturally you'll only be able to see the outer surface. Check the trans fluid for any burnt smell, but a non pink color won't mean the fluid is contaminated and bad. Look under the car for any leaks or stains. Check dash pad for any cracks, and if you should purchase the car make absolutely certain you keep the dash conditioned.

Aftermarket warranties vary greatly depending on the coverage, length of coverage and deductibles. Just purchase from a recognized company, check the 'net.

The Nav discs are numbered and the latest is a 3A0 that just became available so I don't believe that would be in the car, but pop the disc and check the number and go from there.

You'll find that for the most part these cars are trouble free, but there are always units that exhibit repetitive failures for some reason and cost the owners major dollars. Stay with the recommended service intervals and you'll be good to go. Other than normal maintenace, our '04 has cost us $3.21, so good luck.

 

pretty much turbonut and mandotl have said.

if the prior owner, kept up with all the maintenance, then you should be good to go.

as far as aftermarket EW, a total rip off. be weary of the scamming companies (ie stoprepairbills.com and it affiliates- there are a lot of them). they will harrass you to death once you inquire. they will be painfully expensive with no guarantee that they will cover anything should problems come up, menawhile they already have your money so then you're SOL.

the TL is a pretty solid car, and yes i'm sure if you search and read here...you'll find the nightmare stories of other's experiences but they are the few (keeping in mind that acura sold a lot of TL's between 04-06, and dropped slightly for 07-08). reliabilitywise, you can't go wrong if the car has been taken car of.

navi...i still haven't updated my nav disc since new in 05. i haven't found a need nor been able to justify spending the money to update the disc (i may update one day, but...). another place you can check is ebay for the updated orange disc (at least the one before the latest most recent version), at least it'll be newer than 05 but not quite 2011. i'm not sure when the last update was, maybe 08-09?

@mandotl- sorry, the TL is a bit of a rattler some worse than others...but there are plenty of threads on here that may help deaden the rattles (i managed to get rid of one rear deck rattle and isolated out another from the sub, oh what fun).

good luck with the purchase!

 

Thanks for your help guys. I'll post pix as soon as I pick it up. I'm in a small town an hour away from the dealer so it may be the weekend before I can get a ride. I'll be searching and posting in the meanwhile.

 

@TLtrigirl
Yes it sucks but its really just 2 rattles i found, one I think driver door or gauge cluster, not sure and the other in the center glove compartment which is sounds like the cup holder piece is rubbing, creating a squeaky noise against the center console area.

Other than that I love my newish car, coming from a 91 tegra to an 05 TL.
to OP just expect some sort of rattle later on, this 3G TL have been known to have them.

 

Another question...I'm trying to find the owners manual online to see the maintenance schedule. A search on this forum yields dead links. I registered on the Acura website and they don't give you the full owners manual, only the full nav maunal.

Anyway, this site http://www.driverside.com/service-sc...?mileage=90000 shows at 90K, the timing belt/water pump should be changed? 90K??? Seems too soon to me. I'm used to changing timing belts at around 105K like Turbo said above.

The Honda dealer said they "checked" to see if it's been through the last major maintenance @ 75K. Yet the battery was dead. The 2 don't add up to me. I'm going to ask that they do the 90K service since they can't prove the 75K has been done. (It is at 86K mile now)

Meanwhile, what does your owners manual say for 75K and 90K service?

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/service-schedule-b-1-2-3-4-5-what-mileage-s-800173/

this^^ will give you an idea of what the maintenance schedule looks like. nothing is necessarily mileage based...we follow the the MID in the car. brake fluid is time dependent and their really is no listed interval for power steering except if it looks dirty then change it.

the 105K for the timing belt is not set in stone. it'll be around that mileage interval for most of us. the car will tell us code "4".

 

The full owner's manual and navi manual are available when you register the car's VIN at: http://owners.acura.com/.

The TL relies on the car's "Maintenance Minder" in the Multi-Information Display (MID) for maintenance-- there is no mileage-based maintenance for the TL. There is a time-based schedule for replacement of brake fluid-- every 3 years.

With the TL, the A4 (or B4) service calls for replacement of the timing belt and water pump "inspection." The A4/B4 message can occur between 90K and 120K miles, depending on how the Maintenance Minder evaluates the past miles driven.
However, the water pump is often changed with the timing belt as a precautionary measure. Water pumps sometimes fail between timing belt changes and the labor is almost as intensive to just get the water pump off the car as it is to replace the timing belt.

FWIW, car batteries can die with little warning, even after testing as "good." If the battery is the original OEM one, it's likely done-- mine lasted 5 years, which is longer than most.

Welcome to AZ.

 

OK, I had a third-party inspection company check on the TL I'm looking to buy. They found the tranny fluid was dirty, "previous repairs identified by paint gauge readings" and a cracked tail lamp. How much do you think I should, or should I, deduct from the negotiated price?
'05 w/ 86K miles

 

tranny fluid is due for a change soon at 90k, cracked tail lamp can get one for a decent price off of ebay or from the blackmarket here probably run you less than 100 bux ... now the body damage, depends on how extensive it was. if it were me i would look into other cars if more than one panel has been replaced

 

Thanks, VQ. I saw your pix, nice car, and the painted rims. How, where, how much?

 

Noo-B question here...does the sidemarkers light up on the '05 TL? I test drove the TL again this weekend and noticed the they didn't on the driver's side...didn't look at the passenger side. Neither did they blink on hazards or blinker.
Thnx

 

Congrats Welcome to AZ! Check out the 3G garage for tons of info. Also register your TL at www.myacura.com in the USA or https://www.myacura.acura.ca/myAcura...ToLoginPage.do in Canada. Save your Navi and Radio codes there. Check for any recalls your TL may need.