Time to look for a new car for my wife. Two questions:

1) Are the tranny problems solved with the new model?

2) How about the brake rotors. Are they still easily warped?

 

there have been no significant tranny problems for the 3rd gen TL. some early 04 models did get recalled for the oil jet fix for second gear. if you are really worried about this problem you can also contemplate getting the 6MT which has been trouble free so far.

there hasn't been issues regarding the brake rotors warping either. there was a couple of posts about brake rotors warping but they are more or less isolated incidents and have yet to be pervassive.

 

No problems whatsoever with my 6MT tranny or my Brembos.

I've had my '04 TL since November 2003 and it has almost 16k miles on it.

 

Thanks. I've got the 6MT in my CL-S, the other half wants the auto.
I've been gentle on my brakes, but have a little warpage. Not bad for 68k though.
It seems to have been a weak point in the CLs and earlier TLs.

 

I also have a CL (w/auto) and now 12k on my '04 TL and have not had any rotor problems.
Did get the oil jet kit for the TL's tranny.
I suspect like you I've had several visits related to the CL's tranny.
Replaced once.
I have recently replaced the motor mounts at around 61k. Thankfully, it was covered under the extended warranty.

 

There was an early-production defect on the 6MT that appears to have been confined to early VIN #s. A very small number of cars were affected. I have not seen any indication that this problem extends beyond those early cars. I can not tell you the VIN cut-off point. I believe the problem to have been solved and do not hesitate to recommend the 6MT.

My Brembos are still going strong at 30k miles. The pads are starting to make a little bit of noise, but there is no sign of warpage.

 

I had an 01 5AT CLS. The brakes were orginal when I sold the car at 83k miles. Yeah there was not a whole lot left. I was mostly highway and a lot of SS mode. Yet no warpage but I did have them serviced at 70K. They were cleaned and checked and my personal mechanic said you got like 40-50% life left in them.. So wait...

On to the tranny issue. In 04 when they recalled the 3G for the oil jet, my 01 was included in the recall. I had an 03 tranny in my car as well. As far as I can tell that the oil jet is now installed on the later 04s and 05s at the factory. It appears that the oil jet was an issue all the way back to when they introduced the 5AT in the fall of 00.

I would not say it has been resolved, but more or less addressed. The 3G puts out torque higher in the RPM band than the 2G which to me was to prevent the AT issues they were seeing. That and some ECU changes that they probably made which I noticed on the 2G. Otherwise, I would have thought that they would leave everything alone and just upped the compression resulting in more power at the same RPM.

Myself personally, I would tend to go with the 6 speed and hold off on the 5AT until you know more. The 3G has been in service for just over a year, so you cannot tell too much just yet. I would say I have not heard of anyone with a tranny failure that was more common in the 2G, but then it took a while for that to happen. Of course you hear about driveline vibrations... , etc...

 

no driveline vibrations for the 6MT, that problem is more related to the AT version of the 3rd gen when the rpm's hover at 1500 when cruising at 50ish mph.

 

8k miles on '04 NBP 6MT and very pleased. I previously had an '01 CL-S, never experienced tranny issues however warped rotors twice. IMHO the 3rd. gen is a nice improvement over the previous model. I have had no problems with the '04, with the exception of the flatspotting tires when cold. You won't regret the 3rd gen. As much if not more fun to drive than 2nd gen.