skm348

Hi, newbie here. am about to join the fold. Have a couple of o4's with 45k, 6spds. Pls advise is an 04 ok as it was 1st of this generation and what should I look out for. Will be driving them soon. Was prepared to get a clearance priced 08 but saw 2 04's become available. Should I buy new or are 04's ok if purcahsed in low 20's??

Thanks in advance!

Joe

chillout24

As consumer reports told me, in 04's the paint/trim reliability was a lot worse than the '05's onward. Also the sound system was changed after the '04's to be more balanced between front and rear speakers and sounds noticeably better in '05's and onward. Also in the '04 there are no sensors in the front-passenger seat which alert the driver when an occupant is out of a safe position for the side airbag, as this was added in '05. These are not all huge deals, but expect more paint/trim problems and if you care about sound quality I'd get '05 or onward.

csmeance

This information is somewhat false. The 04 did not have any trim issues, all TL's suffer from some rattles, but they are easily fixed by the dealer. The paint is the same on all TL's, just a few colors changed, such as the silver, from Silver Satin to Alabaster Silver. The sound system did change, but a simple adjustment to the 04 stero makes it like the 05 one. The 04 has that sensor, the difference is that the display for the sensor moved, on the 04, it was in the guage cluster, in the 05+, it is underneath the hazzard switch.


There are a few smaller differences in the 04;s
There is one less line of stitiching on the front seats, this leads to butt prints, this was fixed on the 05. Besides that, there are no other differences.

Here are some things to look out for:
1. open up the hood and make sure that the bolts holding on the fenders are painted, and also the panels have a sticker with the VIN on them.
2. Make sure that all the fluids are proper.
3. Make sure the rear tires are worn evenly, if not, tell them to replace the tires and go to acura, they have a fix with this.
4. When driving, check the clutch for slippage and for 3rd gear harshness in engagement (popping out), if it does do this or does not, all TL's have to be taken to acura to get the 3rd gear fix.
5. Make sure the nav, speakers, and all other electronics function properly.
6. ask the owner what fuel has been used, the answer should be premium.
7. Check the spare tire and jack, if they have scratches, ask if they have been used and why.

chillout24

Like I said I got the used car reliability information from Consumer Reports...I believe their information is accurate, here is their reliability information for the TL. Red is above average reliability and black is below average.
.

And when you say "a simple adjustment to the 04 stero makes it like the 05 one." what is the adjustment you are talking about? If you mean just fading the volume to the rear that does not make it like the '05 sound system it makes it sound worse because most of the sound in the '04's is programmed to come from the front speakers and only filler comes from the back. If you make the sound come from the back it sounds very weak because only filler sound is supposed to come from those speakers. It's totally different in the '05's where it comes evenly from front and rear in full high quality sound. And I don't know about that sensor, but I own an '04 and have never seen it no matter how my passenger sits and Edmunds says on their site under "What's New for 2005":

"The front seatbelt buckles are now mounted to the seat frame, and sensors in the front-passenger seat alert the driver when an occupant is out of a safe position for the side airbag."