Hey fellow car nuts. My previous car was totaled 3 weeks ago and I have begun the terrible search for a new car. I've always wanted a TL and now I finally have the opportunity. Of course like any other good prospective owner I'm looking for a 6pd TL-S. Sure are slim pickings online. I'm willing to spend $18,500. I have to make 5 posts it looks like to be able to see the for sale section here, 4 more to go.

From what I can tell these cars are built well, needs timing belt, water pump ect.. at 105k. Motor mounts suck, clutches suck to change. If I buy a a vehicle with 80-90k miles what should I worry about?

I just came from a vehicle without much aftermarket support, ie stupid expensive parts, it seems the TL follows suit pretty well. Where are the dyno's for all these J pipes, intakes, and exhausts?

 

First off, welcome! The TL-S 6MT is very hard to find but you a few of them pop-up every now and again..just gotta keep looking.

I don't have a 6MT but I would guess check for any clutch slippage and the third gear TSB, which really isn't a big deal if you swap to GM fluid..just do a search for the GM fluid and for the jpipe, exhaust dynos but usually the jpipe pcd give you about 10-20whp.

It's unbelievable how much aftermarket support the 3G TL has. No wonder it is known as the "money pit" lol. Good luck!

 

Thanks for the input man, I've been looking for about 2 weeks now. Its discouraging because I check every day and nothing seems to be different. I have some auto brokers checking auctions for me as well, so I know I'll find one. Luckily I have a free bus pass, so I'm in no hurry to make a hasty purchase. The last 2 cars I've bought took me between 3-6 months to find, so I'm used to the hunt. I'll look into this 3rd gear TSB though.

 

Welcome to the forum.

IMHO- don't do the 3rd gear TSB work. Just use the GM Friction Modified fluid. I think they call it AC Delco now. Good luck w/ your hunt.

 

welcome to the site and soon to be in money pit.

 

you wanna 6MT?? you're going to have to travel to get one unless you get lucky.

there are 6 6MT within a 250 mile radius of me. of which maybe 2 were type s. one of them was 5 miles from me.

the type-s with 6MT is a unicorn. much more so than the 04-06 base 6MT, but a close second. although there is one at my local dealer for $14999 with 82k mi, 06.

so...with that said...welcome to AZ, read up on your future car...and good luck on your search for the unicorn.

 

Gonna be a tough find, good luck in your search.

 

Welcome to the Money Pit.

The TLs is an awesome ride. You will not be disappointed.

 

Good luck in your search. I hope you find that 6MT...you will NOT be disappointed

 

Welcome! And.. 6MT FTMFW!!! Good luck on your search

 

^^^ Isn't this an awesome ride?

First off, since you are looking to spend $18.5k, you should get a 6MT TL-S with relatively lower mileage and then do the 105k service. Nowadays you can get both the 2belt+pump and plugs+valve adj. done in a Honda dealership for less than $1,300.

Second, definitely get the 6MT. This automatic transmission is terrible, making me want to kill small animals when I drive hard. I guarantee after years you will say it's worth it to wait and find your 6MT TL-S.

Third, Acura TL-S is not really a sports car. It is somewhat sportier than average joyless luxury cars, but it is heavy, FWD, and weak by means of low end torque. If you are talking about aftermarket support, you should consider serious sports cars, such as Evo 8/9, 1/2G STI, 3G WRX, 370Z, M3, etc.

 

www.cars.com

 

Welcome Zane....if you've got $18,500 to spend, you might be relegated to a higher mileage Type S. If you get the 105,000 mile service done, you should have your car for at least another 105,000 miles.

 

TL-S with $18k? You can find one that has about 75k-90k miles on it, just use cars.com or autotrader.com

 

Yeah I'm kinda of leaning on the side of a higher mileage TL-S and just getting the 105 service. My first car was a 96 VR-4: stupid heavy, not that fast and expensive aftermarket. My last car I just had totaled was an 03 Celica GT-S: Light weight, great gas mileage, no torque way slower then my VR4 and expensive aftermarket support. I guess I'm looking for a car that is a mix of both of these.
Going back to a belt driven car seems kinda backwards to me. I had to spend roughly $1,300 to change my VR4's belt and ect, and the Celica literally required me to do zero maintenance for the 70k miles I owned it, besides a cheap 60k service.

 

I'm really considering one of these two cars. It seems like most dealers think they are selling gold bullion on wheels when it comes to these TL's but I guess that is the Acura resale value.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false
http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false

 

I wouldn't say it's terrible, as it holds the gear and rev matches, but I do agree to wait for a 6MT if you can.

Not sure why the first TL-S has the 04-06 rims but other then that they both look good. If you could get $18.5-19 for them I think that would be a good deal.

 

the first TL has 04-06 base rims...most likely b/c it was parted out to go back to stock. the OG managed NOT to get type s rims for the car before he either sold it or traded. so the first one has been modded. not sure how much...but it may also mean that the owner may have been a little hard on her.

 

Too bad you're not closer. I would sell u mine. LOL.

 

Luckily I'm leaning more towards the second one, which looks like it has not been modified. Its scary to buy a modified car. It seems like 75% or more of people who modify their cars, have no idea what they are doing, and might do a shitty job.

My biggest worry right now is if I fly in and look at this grey one, what should I be looking for? Is there a 60k service that would/should have been preformed?

 

Your selling your ??? ASM Type-S with A-Spec body kit ?

How many miles and how much ??? May I ask

 

there are no mileage intervals for maintenance on acura's. everything goes by the MID (the maintenance minder system-multi-informational display= MID).

if you choose to get this car, just change all the fluids out so at least YOU know what has been done in your ownership (clean slate). mostly peace of mind.

not all modded cars are beat on, mine is modded a little, but i certainly dont' abuse my car. my car is also meticulously kept and looks practically brand new. of course, i'm a rare exception.

check the carfax (not always reliable with accurate info, but that's all you have to go by). check for VINs in the right places, paint, body lines, honda/acura badges on on the windows, check the fluids, tires, wheels...then see how she drives. make sure it's sound in shifting and accelerating, listen for noises, rattles are not uncommon for the TL...play with everything (windows, sunroof, navi, switches, etc). going in sight unseen, is a bit unnerving, esp if the car is not as advertised. if the car is at a non-acura dealer, ask to take it to an acura dealer (if possible) for a pre-purchase inspection, if this might be the one. i'm sure there are a few other details i'm forgetting, but this is a start. good luck!!!

 

Guys check out the carfax for the silver one, its sketchy to say the least. Says only 1 owner, but goes back and forth between 3 states during that time.
http://www.carfax.com/VehicleHistory/p/Report.cfx?partner=ATD_W&vin=-50|2|-113|-24|59|-12|54|-16|47|-39|37|28|64|22|27|-59|32|16|-18|-15|47|112|34|67#Owner1

 

The first one looks good, besides as stated before having the base wheels, looks like it has a drop too

The second one looks trashed, I don't know who owned it before but it looks like they really didn't care for it at all, also, it's not an ASM, looks more like CBP

 

bought in NC probably registered in VA, but serviced in NC. then goes to CO (probably was traded in, then picked up by dealer in CO). or the person moved to CO and then traded.

sounds like a student or a military type person owned it.

 

I would want to see the carfax on the first. Second is CBP Although it does not look beat up to me. At least the carfax showed it was serviced. Too bad greensboro did not put mileage. Kind of weird on that.

 

Yes. Pm'd

 

The WDP in the first link has been sold for quite sometime but they never bothered to take down the listing. Just thought I'd give you the heads up.

 

whats up fellas new to the forum im looking into buying a tl-s ive been looking online for a couple weeks but no luck i live in riverbank ca right next to modesto an about an hour away from sacramento i would like to keep it under $20,000 looking foward to replies thanks

 

If you have driven VR-4 and Celica, TL-S is certainly going to disappoint you. Think again.

Of course, if this is going to be a family car, TL-S is next to perfection. It is a mature, calm, and reliable person's car. But if I'm buying a car for myself, with $18.5k I will certainly get Evo, M3, or Corvette.

 

Don't get me wrong. I'm just saying that TL-S is quite overpriced as a used car, mainly because it came out in 2007. Those base 3G TLs, on the other hand, are not really overpriced (~$9,000), because they came out earlier. Therefore for the same mileage they depreciate in more percents from MSRP than TL-S.

Evo VIII, E46 M3, and C5 Corvette, however, also came out earlier than TL-S, so you will get a much better deal with $18,500.

 

When you bring in all these other cars the thread really gets off track. They have heavy depreciation because the cost of ownership is much more than the TL.
I saw a 07 6MT with 25K on the OD this summer at a Acura dealer for 33K. That was a bit much but it sold and probably for more than 25K.

Agree with the basic point though a low mileage 04 to 06 can be tremendous value. But that may be even harder to find.

 

Why do you say this? I'm curious how the car drives. My VR-4 was super fun and fast and heavy, my Celica had great handling, became fast after an $8k NA build and weighed nothing. I just kinda figured the TL-S would sit somewhere in the middle. This is a car to get me through nursing school for the next few years. I most likely wont have any money or time to spend modding it. I thought it would be a good car for; comfort, reliability, looks, and reasonable gas mileage.

 

^^^there you go, this is the car for you.