im in the market for a 2007-2008 acura tl-maybe a tl-s. i live in PA and at auction can get them for about 18-23k with around 20-30k miles on them. looking for some advice on what to look for or watch out for. id be planning on owning it for at least 5-7 years. it will be a daily driver and at some point would perform simple mods ie intake exhaust etc. thank you in advance for and tips.

 

at an auction it would be kinda hard to look out for anything cause you cant really test drive the cars.....it would be hit or miss depending on which one you buy

 

Is this the Manheim auction and is your connection a sharpie ? Extra clean (not "average") cars are harder to find at a "decent" price these days at auctions because of the tight supply of quality used cars the past 12 months.

Get a pre-sale list so that you can run some Carfax or Autocheck reports to weed out the cars that have reported accidents. Keep in mind a lot of accidents DO NOT show up on these reports.

It would be nice the cars have service history records on the online reports. Also check to see if the cars have "in service" dates late in the model year. Gives you a couple months of "bumper to bumper warranty" on the 2007 models since it's a 4yr/50k warranty. The powertrain warranty is 6yr/70k. A 2007 model with an "in service" date of Dec. 2006 means no warranty to fix a burned speaker, burned out window motor, etc.

While at the auction, check to see that the VIN stickers are all correct and not missing. Ask your auction contact if he knows any of the Acura dealers that show up to bid on the Acura vehicles. If the the Acura dealers are bidding on the car you like, you can have some comfort the car is in decent shape.

Also, does your contact have a paint meter ? If yes, use it to take readings on ALL of the panels to look for paintwork.


Good luck and please report back on what you get. It would also be nice if you give fellow members a recap of your auction day.

 

thank you so much for the input. yes it is the manheim auto auction. i work at a local dealer on manheim pike, they are my connection. it appears that tl-s go for closer to the 23k range. ive got some $$ choices to make before i go. do i save and get the tl-s or go with a lower price and get a non tls? or even to i give up more miles and bring the price down? the warranty input is big help. and a pre inspection report is big. im still prob a few months out on pulling the trigger. i have a 2004 g35x right now and want to get rid of it while its still worth something.

 

TL or TL-S ?

Comes down to your financial situation and if you want all the bells and whistles (TL-S).

The Manheim auctions have many more TL's than TL-S's. It may take some time to find the TL-S in the color you want. You may want to ask your connection to see if they can buy the car for you from the ADESA auction in NJ. Honda/Acura Remarketing has weekly auctions where they auction off somewhere around 300-400 Acura and Honda vehicles weekly. It used to be held at Manheim (Bordentown, NJ) until American Honda moved their weekly sales this past summer.

 

Couple things to consider: how many are listed in your area? is mileage a concern for you? manual or auto? base model or Type S? I am going to be looking at upgrading to Type S in a few months and will not want to pay over $25k. That's just me though.

 

Leroy,

Do you know if Acura/Honda Remarketing holds off-lease auctions at your location ?

If yes, you may be in luck in that factory auctions usually (I am not 100 percent sure) have their cars "graded" by Manheim. The grade is on a scale of 0 to 5 with 5 being the highest grade. These graded cars usually result in average or below average grades as Acura dealers keep the best cars for themselves. There will be "clean" cars at the auction, but they are rare these days since the used car supply is very tight over the past year and a half.

The Manheim report tells you the amount of tire tread left on each of the 4 wheels and also the brand. It also tells you if there is interior odor. The damage section of the report points out the exterior damages and suggested repairs. You will find the cars to usually have bumper scratches, curb rash on the wheels, minor dings and dents that need Paintless Dent Repair and paint chip repair for the hood. Expect to spend some money to recondition the car.