Alright.. so I’ve made my decision to spend $35,000 on a car. I placed the order and since then been reading about people’s roof panel falling off/ rattling.

BEFORE I buy the car I’d like to find out if this is true for you guys as well. How’s the double-sided tape holding up in your car? Has the roof started rattling or coming off?

 

Buy the car. Some are falling, most are not. It is easily fixed. If enough fall, Acura will put out a TSB and even if they don't they will fix them all. Probably come up with a better adhesive and the problem will be cured.

 

I've had rattles in the moonroof area, but the dealership has been diligent in working with me to get rid of them. I wouldn't worry about headliner issues ....

They're minor when compared to the other awesome aspects on the 2004 TL!

Congrats on your decision. You won't regret it.

 

Yep, right behind the sunroof, the headliner will droop down. No Big Deal!!!

 

For a 35 thousand dollars car I would expect the headliner to stick. This is a problem that a 1970's car should have. I'm REALLY concernted that the darn thing will come off while i'm driving!!

is this something that's very common? it's not too late to back out on the deal now, but now after signing the dotted line...

Thanks for all your input!

 

I would agree...for 35k the headliner should stay up. Not all the cars are doing it I guess. The real joy comes from eating Stangs, Boxsters, C4 vettes and any other unsuspecting poser!

 

Well it's hardly "Is the roof falling from your 04 Acura TL???? ". It's just dropping a little in the middle.

I didn't have this problem yesterday but I noticed I do have it today. I've had my '04 TL for 13 days now. Off to the dealership on Thursday.

Considering almost everyone is having this issue I suspect Acura will have a fix for it soon and it won't be a problem on the '05s anymore.

 

Chicken Little cried, "The sky is falling, the sky is falling!"

 

My headliner is fine as well - I had never noticed a problem, but I just ran outside & checked! FYI, I've had the car for just under two months now.

I agree that this shouldn't be happening at all in at $35k car (my parents used to have an '81 Buick Skylark that looked like it had a parachute hanging from the roof...). Having said that, though, I also agree with the people who have said that this is (a) a minor problem, which should be easily fixable by the dealership, and (b) most definitely NOT happening to the majority of '04 TLs. If you read any car forum, or even go to carpoint or epinions.com and read the user reviews of other cars, you will find a certain number of common complaints. The key is to see if any of them are serious enough to keep you from buying the car, if you are so inclined.

I looked at this forum after I ordered my TL and saw that the biggest problems were the drivers' seat memory issue, which had a TSB and which newer VIN numbers didn't seem to have (mine doesn't), and the Bridgestone flatspotting/vibration issue, which happens on some (but not all) of the old Bridgestone EL42 tires, is fixed on the newer models, and can be solved by replacing the problematic tires. To me, neither of these things seemed like deal-breakers, and I certainly wouldn't consider the headliner issue to be one, either.

For an example of a more serious problem with another ~$35k car, check out one of the G35 forums and search for posts about leg pain. There used to be a post on here that linked to one of those threads, but I can't find it now. But these are just some of the threads I found on it when I searched the freshalloy.com G35 forum:

http://forums.freshalloy.com/ubbthre...umber=67531324
http://forums.freshalloy.com/ubbthre...umber=67384868
http://forums.freshalloy.com/ubbthre...umber=67393543

Briefly, some drivers are having chronic leg pain, caused by the support pillars in the cramped seats pressing their legs into the center console. It's still not happening to everybody, but I think it's a bit more serious than a drooping headliner. And the official Infiniti TSB involves putting more padding in the seat, without cutting the pillar, which seems like it would just make it press even more! One guy took matters into his own hands, opened the seat up & cut the support pillar himself - he even posted pics... unfortunately, that was the thread I couldn't find anymore.

But you get the picture: every car has its issues. If the worst ones you find are about the fit & finish of the interior, or tires that can be replaced, then I'd say it could be a lot worse.

 

You started a second thread on this subject before the first one had run its course? You haven't taken delivery of a TL, and you've announced your decision to call the whole deal off. That's fine for you, no argument. So what's the point of doing a Chicken Little dance to warn everyone that the headliner is falling? The rest of us can follow the progress of the other headliner threads just fine, thanks.

 

Man how many issues does this add up with the new TL now? Glad I made the right decision.

 

Let's see, I look back at the sum total of my ownership experience with my 04 and my old TL ... do some math ... include this thing ... carry the 1 ... consider a couple other aspects ... some more math ... and come with ... hmmmmm ... drum roll please ... *zero* issues. I'm glad you made the right decision also (the right decision *for you*).

I've been giving you my own personal benefit of the doubt for a number of posts that you've submitted, since you maintain that you were not trolling, merely correcting erroneous posts where and when you saw them. Sorry, but this one tips the scales and busts you for the troll that you are.

Have a nice day.

 

yep, me too. I looked back at the roof and sure enough mine is drooping too. Looks like whatever they put there to hold isn't sticky enough. Here comes the dealer.

 

Damn. Did they screw up the headliners after the early build cars? No trouble here (yet), I'm afraid to look up now for fear of the sky falling on my head.

 

Just to clarify. There are three blocks, about 1" square, across the inside of the headliner, with velcro. This is different from the velco I have seen, because both sides are hard plastic, where usually velcro is hard plastic on one piece and a felt like material on the other.

There is a metal channel across the roof just inside the front edge (at the rear of the sunroof opening). The top piece of velcro is stuck to that. This is the piece that is coming loose. On mine, 2 are loose, and the one at the driver's side is still stuck on.

The headliner is like a shell. It is not just cloth glued to the roof like on some cars. The shell is like a thin plastic, so it is fairly rigid. This means that the headliner will not droop down excessively. I believe it is made this way so that some type of soundproofing material can be inserted between the headliner and the roof, but I could be wrong.

I believe having the sunroof open, at faster speeds, is part of the problem since I think the airflow helps separate the velco from its mounting.

Mine is only hanging down about 1/4", not enough to worry about yet. Some reports say it is 2-3", which is way too much and needs fixing. Some people say Acura replaced their headliner. Unless the plastic material stretched, which is not likely but possible, the best fix is for Acura to come up with some velcro with a better adhesive. This can then be repaired without removing the headliner, since opening the sunroof gives you access to this area and the new piece can easily be attached to the metal channel.

The best fix would be for some mechanical link between the metal channel and the headliner, but for now we are stuck with velcro that comes unstuck.

 

Watch out drivers, an aggie is about to buy a TL. :lol2:

I had to...GO UT!

Besides, something this trivial is going to make or break the deal of buying a car then just spend 15k on a civic and be done with it. Remember, someone can say a thousand great things about the TL but one bad comment will erase anything positive said.

 

This one is good.

 

Bob, I bought my car the same month you did I think (October 25th). I noticed the other day that my roof is sagging, too. I don't know when it started, but I didn't notice it until someone posted about it and I went out to check it.