Hello folks,

I am in the market for a used car and right now seriously considering an Acura TL. My budget puts me between a 2004 - 2005, the dealership I am working with currently has a 2004.

I read through the reviews on Edmunds last night and it seems like the two biggest issues owners complained about was the leather seats and cabin noises (creaks, etc).

How widespread is this problem? Can the dealership fix these problems?

Anyone have any additional issues or can think of anything else this year model is prone to that I can look for?

Thanks in advance!

 

you just have to a little search on here, some earlier 04's had issues with auto tranny, and if you're looking for a manual, there's an issue of 3rd gear engagement

interior rattles, I would say, is a huge thing, and you can't really know whats rattling and when... my advice is to get a car that is still under full 4 yr 50K mi bumper-to-bumper warranty to have those issues covered, ideally if you got the car new enough that will have at least a full yr before that wtty expires. I dont believe the certified wtty or any other extended wtty covers interior rattles.

 

Welcome to the forums

The 3G Garage has alot of useful information. Here's the link: https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84834

 

Go '05 if you can

 

Thanks for the replies and the links appear to be great reading for me!

 

Just went and test drove a TL, wow great car! I can see why you all own one, good chance I will be joining your ranks shortly.

 

just wait and get the new 4th GEN TL

and figure all the issues for us on the 1st year new model....

 

I would get the 2005 TL as it has a bunch of the issues fixed, one was the leather seats. Walk over to an 05 and you will see the fronts seats have 3 rows of stictching vs. the 2 in the 2004, this was to avoid butt-prints forming in the seats. The Rattles are a normal occurance and can be fixed easily with foam or felt. I have an 04 and it has held up well. Besides the normal maintanince, it has been at acura for a few minor things such as Window Tint scratches, Hands Free updated replacement and for some minor rattles. As well, I have good news for those with a rattle in the pillar, I got it fixed by acura

 

Make sure it has navigation. It's worth every penny.

There's good reasons why most of the used '04/5 TL's for sale out there are non-Nav units.

 

You are 36! Ever had a perfect car? The TL isn't perfect but is very good. Do try to find an 05 and Navi.

 

TLs are the s**t! Definitely keep interest up! The Acura forum is probably the best forum ever, anything you don't learn by yourself or "from the dealer", you will learn from here. You can learn anything and everything here! Good luck man!

 

...or for the same money, you could get a new 07 Accord V6 EX-L w/navi.

j/k If I did not have a hangup about having a new car then, I would have purchased an 04-05 TL myself. So get the TL and come to Azine regularly.

 

Update,

I bought a TL 2004 model, I know I know I should've bought a 2005 but the deal was hard to pass up, the 2005 I found was just more than I wanted to spend. I did not find one with a nav system which is a shame, but 2004/2005 with nav was impossible to find and I was tired of looking .

My new TL is Pearl White/Parchment 2004 5AT w/o Nav.

I love the Bluetooth Hands Free, one of my favorite features of the car, hooked up to my iphone with no problems what so ever. I do need to have the software checked to make sure I am on the most current.

I did go with a 3/36000 bumper to bumper warranty which makes me feel alot better about the purchase.

I absolutely love driving this car, and glad I went this route. I did see the new Accords while doing my financing and they look GREAT, but I didnt want to a buy a new car this time so I resisted the urge.

Main issues with my new TL, is it had wheel rash all the way around on all 4 wheels, few minor dings and a few nicks on the paint nothing out of line for a 3+ year old car.

I am going to call AWR specialist and have them repair the wheels, thanks to this forum I found out about them, and have them replaced later with a larger tire.

I have a guy coming to tint the windows this afternoon.

Turned on the XM, even though I prefer Sirius, I am too used to sat radio now.

Thanks for all of the help and information on this forum prior to my purchase you guys are great, I look forward to contributing for years to come.

MR1 you are right, I have owned my fair share of cars and none have been perfect .

 

 

Congratulations, I am sure you will love the car.

Take it out for a long drive on a winding road!!

P.S. I like XM channels 25, 46 & 49 depending on my mood.

 

Alright no go to the dealer and have they fix the bump stops and the bluetooth module. If the paint on the bumper doesn't match the car have them fix that too.
http://www.in.honda.com/Rjanisis/pubs/SB/b05-020.pdf
http://www.robertcotran.com/files/B05-076.pdf

 

Congrats and welcome. You'll love you purchase. To this day I still love driving my 05 TL. It has enough bells and whistles to keep me happy. All around one of the best cars, very well rounded.

 

I actually talked the dealer down $500 because of the curb rash on the wheels, I can get them repaired for around $400 so I felt good about that. I may actually just bite the bullet and upgrade the wheels instead of having them fixed.

Nothing wrong with my Bluetooth, I just wanted to make sure it was current. Already synched my iPhone to it.

Bumpers are the same color, far as I can tell.

Just got my windows tinted 20% looks great!

Now I have to figure out how to keep my wife out of the car so I can drive it

 

[QUOTE=tkemory]I actually talked the dealer down $500 because of the curb rash on the wheels, I can get them repaired for around $400 so I felt good about that. I may actually just bite the bullet and upgrade the wheels instead of having them fixed.

Nothing wrong with my Bluetooth, I just wanted to make sure it was current. Already synched my iPhone to it.

Bumpers are the same color, far as I can tell.

Just got my windows tinted 20% looks great!

Now I have to figure out how to keep my wife out of the car so I can drive it [/QUOTE]

Bribe her, scare her or pick a fight if it's worth it to you. j/k
Whatever, good choice, hope you enjoy it. Welcome

 

congrats on the TL and welcome to the TL club

 

Congrats and Welcome


I bet you...you're outside right now staring at it.

Hahah HELL I still do that all the time

 

Congrats on the new car and welcome to the forum! Lots of helpful members and information here. The main pitfall now is how to avoid spending ALL your hard-earned money on this car!

 

 

[QUOTE=tkemory]I actually talked the dealer down $500 because of the curb rash on the wheels, I can get them repaired for around $400 so I felt good about that. I may actually just bite the bullet and upgrade the wheels instead of having them fixed.

You might consider buying some chrome OEM wheels on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/4-17-...spagenameZWDVW

 

while it might not be the most cost effective way of going about it you can still have the oem navi installed there are a could of non nav to nav conversion threads

 

The "creaks " is why I am no longer a TL owner. I had a 05 TL Aspec, nice to look at, but after about 10000 miles I started to hear stuff in the car I just didnt like.

 

dammit someone already said it


oh well

 

Haha, well I will post pics in a couple of days.

I may go larger on the wheels, like and 18" rim. Havent decided yet.

I saw the thread on the OEM Navi conversion and may consider doing it after a bit. I guess it depends on how difficult it is to get the parts neccessary. From what I read around $1700 in parts, then the installation cost (I am not brave enough to try anything like that myself).

 

If the bluetooth ever has an issue with understanding you or freezes up you may want to have that fixed. The bump stops are something that you will want to have fixed if it has not been done yet. Correcting the bump stops will prevent your car's rear tires from wearing out prematurely. That is something you will care about because that will save you $$$$$. We are talking about tires wearing out in as little as 10000 miles with "conservative" driving.

 

Ok guys, finally had a chance to take some pictures of my WDP (Finally figured out what that meant) 04 TL. I had to take them with my iPhone and its overcast so not the greatest, but you get the idea.

Also I went 20% all the way around with the tint.





Loving this website so far, a vault of information!

 

I do have some curb rash on all 4 wheels. I found out from the local Alloy Wheel Repair guy that I can get all 4 wheels repaired for $340.

But I have been kicking around going to 18", 19's are just more than I want to spend on tires. I looked through the Wheels & Tires forum and these are the ones I am really leaning towards.

 

Looks great, I like the tints and the rest looks new in the pictures. I might be the oddball here but I like the look of the stock rims.

BTW, I'm at about 37,000 miles with no squeeks or other problems.