I was looking at another car and after the dealer wouldn't budge on the price I walked away and then just happened to find a 2005 TL for $6990. I ran in and asked about it, checked it out, told them I would let them know what I though.

Got home, priced out similar ones, it's a good price for the car so I went back yesterday and took it for a test drive, and all I can say it that it drives and handles just like my Mercedes, except, you know, this one works lol.

So I put a down payment on it so it's now off the lot and I'm going to the bank tomorrow.

Now does anyone have any suggestions for me? I've been a Volkswagen guy all my life, expanded to a Mercedes and I loved it until the accident. Got a good deal on a Mazda and I'm all about imports now, I've been missing out all these years and I'm really excited for this car but I don't really know anything about it other then in 2005 they added hands free to the stereo in the basemodel.

The TL has new tires, brakes, oil change, filters for everything, it's all new stuff in it and I ended up getting it for $7414.90 all in because he knocked the price down a bit since it's being sold at the Volkswagen dealer and I've owned 7 Jetta's and a Rabbit so they love me.

So what are some suggestions for new ownership, what are the faults I should look into upgrading? Are there any OEM+ parts I should try sourcing out? I don't know much about it other then it's FWD, 3.2L, automatic, and it's been lowered with aftermarket wheels and the rear Acura logo and grille have been Plasti-Dipped but it was done poorly and looks awful so I'm going to redo it myself as soon as I get it home.

Here's a picture of it just after I took it for a test drive.

 

drive it more and find the faults that you want to upgrade.

we all are different and have different wants and needs.
congrats on the purchase and welcome to the board.
this forum is literally FILLED with treasures that you might or might not be interested in and the only way to find out is to read this forum and drive the car

 

I normally would stay away from car that come with plastic dip, you never know how the previous owner treat it.

 

This is true, I was just thinking more of the known issues if there are any. I know in my Mercedes from 2001 to 2004 there are radiator issues so a good fix is to upgrade with the 2005+ radiator, I was thinking stuff like that.

I don't even know if these would have anything like that though, this car is built solid even with it being lowered. My Jetta was a whole different story when it was lowered. It's like it drives no different then stock, it just feels like a good solid car. I just want to stay on top of the maintenance and find some OEM parts I can use as upgrades like the Type S brakes or is it the A Spec brakes that are the upgrade? I'm not sure, I have a lot of reading ahead of me.

What types of oil would improve fuel economy but still respond well within the manufacturers specifications?

 

a lower viscosity oil will have negligible effects on fuel economy.
it is true that Honda moved from 5w-20 to 0w-20 for CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) regulations, but that's for the whole fleet of cars.
if the whole fleet of cars got .1 mpg better then they can safely be in bounds of the CAFE rules.

pretty much, this car is bullet proof.
the Hands free link likes to go out and drain batteries.
but you will know if something is broken as it seems like you have been through a fair amount of cars to know some common issues.
lets see what else....axles. axles like to go, as this is a FWD vehicle and the front suspension takes a beating.

its hard for me to go through the list, when it would be easier for you to scroll through some of the previous threads to find issues/problems/fun stuff that you are interested in, etc. as this car has been produced since 2004.
I am not lying to you, when I say that the forum has LOTS of treasures for you to find about your car.
just read some threads and you will have lots of knowledge

 

How many miles? When was the last time tranny fluid was drained & filled? Change out the 3rd and 4th pressure sensors (do a search on AcuraZine or google it with AcuraZine in the search terms if you don't know what I am talking about). At that price, I'm assuming it's higher mileage. Was the 105k service done?

By the way, congrats on the purchase and welcome to Acurazine.

 

Put up some more pics! I want to see those wheels from the side.

One thing thats pretty stupid, but made me feel awesome to figure out is the reverse mirror tilt. Only one tilts (i thought that one of the motors was broke) and you choose which one tilts by setting the L or R mirror toggle switch. I have an 06, but I do believe this was an option in 05.

But like I said, stupid trick lol

 

Yeah it's fairly high mileage but that didn't really concern me as I'm a high mileage person, my 1991 Jetta has 630,xxxkm and my 2000 Jetta had 450,000km before I sold it so this having 220,000km and being a Honda, I know I should be able to push the same mileage as my volkswagens out of it without a problem.

My Mom has a 2003 Honda Pilot with 230,000km and other then the routine parts needed the only things that broke were the rear right caliper (which still has issues even with the new caliper), and the infamous power steering hose is leaking but it's going in on Monday to get that fixed so I know these cars last forever when taken care of, but I like to push that with aftermarket goodies to extend it's life even further such as higher performance oils, improved fuel economy and better cooling to keep the engine temperature down, higher flowing exhaust while still keeping the noise down. That kind of stuff.

It's going to be my new daily driver so I just want it to last and in some way improve fuel economy slightly but being lowered should help a lot with the mild highway driving I do.

I'm going to look into that 3rd and 4th pressure sensor thing you said. I see what that means.

Thanks

 

I'll head over to Volkswagen to snap a few more pictures of it for you, I was actually wondering why only one mirror was going down when I was parking it back into the spot lol. I didn't think much of it because one of my Volkswagens doesn't have a passenger side mirror, didn't come with one so I learned how to drive without it when parking so when I noticed only one moved I too thought a motor was broken but didn't really think much of it since I don't use them for backing up anyways.

That's a good tip though, I'm going to play with that tomorrow.

 

Welcome benamodeo. The pre '07 cars sometimes had transmission issues, but as long as you keep the fluids changed and swap out the 3rd/4th gear pressure switches you can keep it going for a long time. There's a handy DIY on changing the switches. I did mine in about an hour.
Bottom line is, if you take care of the car, you shouldn't have any problems. Gremlins pop up from time to time but that happens with any car.

 

I just got back from Volkswagen, they put it around back with a sold sign in the window.

 

the pilot has the same engine as your TL.
and it will be just as reliable as the pilot.

 

Yeah the Pilot is an awesome vehicle, its been the most reliable out of every vehicle we've owned but it has a 3.5L, the TL I'm looking at is a 3.2L but I'm sure just as good, if not better in the fuel economy department lol

 

^its the same engine.
the J-series engine.
the same 3.5 engine is found in the TL type-s.

 

Yeah, the Type-S has the same 3.5L but mine isn't a Type-S, mine has the 3.2L

 

Looks good..id remove if thats plasti dip on the grill and emblems. ..besides that nice pick I have one the exact same color. ..

 

check under the hood for mods, def has plasti dip, looks like it has been lowered too. she looks really clean! CONGRATS

 

I'm pretty sure it has H&R struts and springs, no spacers, under the hood looks pretty untouched, exhaust all looks normal, pretty well just stock, lowered, aftermarket wheels, and plasti-dip on everything