Hey guys and gals,
As my title suggests, I am no longer a TL owner since I sold her but don't fret I am still in the Acura family. I just really wanted to thank the veterans off this forum section and in particular iHateCars with his expansive knowledge on anything automotive.

He is has helped with much of my research in troubleshooting for my TL over the 4 years of ownership. I came to the decision that I wanted something newer with more utility or just on the list of wants. I was seriously sad that I let go of my trusty car I drove through college.

Well it's no surprise that the Acura family has one of the best selling mid-size crossover in the luxury segment, so it was a no brainer to add that to my short list of vehicles.

Other cars I looked at were 3G Lexus GS sedan, Honda Ridgeline 2011+, and Toyota Taco sport 4/door 2012+. But the MDX was the one at the top of the list since it was a vehicle I hoped to have one day. Only way to get an MDX was selling my TL.

And that became a hope became reality as of Dec. 3rd I picked up a 2011 Acura MDX w/Tech in Grigio Met. /Taupe interior. Just wanted to let any future MDX owners that this is an awesome crossover. Get one!!

I will say that the TL is much more fun to drive, but the utility and comfort were something I would need now. I DO NOT have a family of my own, single, working and responsible young adult. But I have an immediate family of 4 which helps with family travels with the parentals and younger siblings, one being a 4 year old.

Sold my 05 TL with 163k miles, to a close by neighbor who absolutely loves it( we keep in touch). Never any tranny issues with mine, so a lot had to do with the preventative maintenance suggested by many of the members.

A couple of photos of my TL and one of the MDX.

Thanks guys. I may pick up a 3G TL in the future since they are such great cars, but go for a Type-S.

OLD RIDE:
[Day I sold her]




NEW RIDE:

 

Congrats!

The MDX is something I can see myself in sometime in the future.

Quite the age difference between your youngest sibling.

 

Congrats! MDX looking good

 

Yeah, he is just 4 and the next one is 14 then myself then two older siblings.
Fitting a carseat in my TL was very difficult to do get him in and out when taking him to school or to the store with me.

Thanks, it needs the roof rails in silver [asap] then some trifold weather floormat and digital fit 1st/2nd/3rd row set.

Then hold off to slowly add accessories like
- wood/leather steering wheel & shift knob
- door edge gaurds
- bumper applique
- door side moldings
- moon roof visor
- fender trim
- towing package w/harness
&
-19in chrome A-spec look wheels.

phew, lots of future accessories for the X.

 

 

the SHAWD handling like champ especially on up hill with couple inches of snow.

 

We have owned both the TL and the MDX and enjoyed them both. Each have their merits, but the major detractor from the MDX was gas mileage. The Mrs. was putting $80 a week into the tank. As you know or will soon find out, the MDX is a big and heavy SUV, which translates into thirsty. Add the combination of premium fuel, mostly around town driving and no longer really having the need, we traded ours. We still talk about how much we loved the MDX and the possibility of getting another one at some point.

 

Thanks, I wasn't sure where to add this thread, but photography is the nice place to move it.

Holy cow, yes its amazing on the curvy roads near Malibu, CA. I am very pleased with my buy and do not regret it.

Yes, the gas mileage was something I knew I would hate coming from my TL which achieved 24/26 city and 30/31 highway. I am lucky to get 17mph in the city. But luckily gas is low in CA especially in my area, and I can fill her up with $52 bucks of premium at Shell or Chevron.

But the X has so much power, than my TL did and you really notice it when I'm on the highway and need the extra power to pass a car or even on the on ramp.
Many questioned why I bought such an SUV for a single guy like myself. But I thought the need for a 7 row passenger was needed since my parents 2003 GMC Envoy XL family hauler is gone. So now we just have a small Toyota SUV, Toyota Tacoma and my new SUV.

We go camping yearly and tow a trailer with all our camping gear, also coupled with the fact that to get to the campsite we must go up very narrow steep inclines so the power delivery is needed.

All of these outweigh the cost of fuel since I am accustomed to paying premium in my TL even when it was at $4.00+. But yes I digress the fuel economy is bad, but it will never be just a city car since I do many weekend trips so highway will help with keeping wear and tear of the motor/tranny low.

 

Sounds good. Just wanted to hear you made a informed decision!!!

 

Yes, certainly and I know more of less know when each minor interval service needed, I just haven't asked my dealer the cost for each. But I can always take it to a Honda dealer or local Acura/Honda indie shop like in the past with my TL.

This is an SUV I'm keeping for 15-20 years from now. Until I want another X.

 

Congrats on your new ride.

 

some how I manage to get a better MPG on the 2013 MDX than a 2013 TL SH-AWD. I got positive experience in both car driven in snow and climming up hill in northeast. The only negative i can say about the MDX/09 to current Acura is that dam Navi knob is annoying as hell lol.

 

aww man you guys n CA after almost 10yrs that TLs paint is mint. I have a 06 in canada its whole life and the front end is beat to shit lol

 

Gratz

 

Congrats!
I too, will be going the SUV route after this TL.
Family life.

 

Thank You!!
I am AVG 15-17 city via the MID, but I havent bothered to manually calc it, I've put nearly 1,200 miles already since ownership. Traveled to visit family before the holidays. But this is actually better than my mom's 2003 GMC envoy XL which could barely get to 13mph city. That SUV was a gas hog, RWD, and narrow, also way larger than my 'X'.

It was strange that I have had loaner Acura's when getting my TL serviced, and the knobs never annoyed me at all and I actually like them more than the touch screen. The TLs was a resistive touch screen so sometimes a press didn't register properly, so I had to repeat the input.

One thing that really is annoying me right now is the Voice Recognition stinks in my MDX, my TL's was way more responsive. BUT

Something that is really worrying me is the transmission on the X. It shifts feel laggy/confused so power delivery is very slow when moving up the gears (1-4). Not sure if thats normal, but I told the dealer if the latest software update was done when I got warranty work. They said yes its up to date.

I have heard of TC troubles and oil pumps later down the road after 60k miles mark, on some 2010 models but I think I saw it off MDXers.org site. This worried, me and hoped that 2011 models got the bugs sorted for Honda's new 6AT transmission.

I try my best to keep my RRP TL in great shape, mine had some fair share of front bumper chip marks and scratches due to lots of highway driving, but it had never been in snow. I was planning to repaint the front bumper for about $400 at a reputable shop, but I received many inquiries for my car and well someone ended up buying it.

I can only imagine what snow and salt would do.

Thanks!

Consider an X.

 

how much did you end up getting for the TL? just curious, I'll be selling my '05 here in So Cal soon

 

I sold mine for $7500. I was originally asking $8500, but my TL needed tires so I knocked off another $600 and bluetooth module didn't work/failed like 2 weeks after posting my car on Craigslist.

So I thought the $7500 was more than acceptable for a near 10 year old car, with high miles, but in great shape. KkB valued it at like 6000 for good condition.

Many ads posted are at like $8-9k asking price with similar miles, so these 3G TLs are still popular cars no matter the miles.

But I noticed some TLs with heavy modifications or salvaged titled took longer to sell since I did my research in comparing my car to others. Their ads are still listed. Modded cars with higher price tag will not sell is something I noticed.

 

the shiift from 1st - 4th does not felt laggy to me (well the car only has 1k miles on the clock). other than that its felt like a TL on steroid to me, I avgerage manually about 22 MPG vs 3.7 TL at 19 MPG. Dealer are too dam lazy to dignostic especially it come to warranty work, I had Acura of Avon check my TL making noise before the warranty ended it turn out to the TB tensioner and the dealer reponse MULTIPLE time was "Noise could not heard during engine cold start up". I would check and look into that latest software and also don't forget to do 3x3.

 

Yah I sort of figured, I reverted most of my mods but nothing I can really do economically with the body mods, my roof is painted NBP, RJ kit and the carbon hood with NBP Type-S spoiler on it lol...

I just replaced the HFL, amp and put a brand new set of bridgestone potenza RE760 tires on it too. I have a full maintenance record though and 40k less miles than you did. I really have to find the right buyer with the mods done to the car though haha.. it still has the N7 tablet integration in it. I could get some parts off ebay and revert that for about $100 and keep the tablet integration parts if I wanted to, but I'm going to try to sell it with it in the car first.

About to hit it with a DA buffer this weekend to buff it out and seal the paint with glare and then post it up in Jan sometime.

 

Wow, that sucks. My dealer knows me but I feel that I am not welcomed. When I got my TL serviced, I had specific services I wanted done, transmission fluid change, oil change, bushings or belt buckle failure(lifetime warranty covered) etc. None of the BS "oh we found this issue, its important you should get it replaced" spiel.

I would not follow the MID fully, like tire rotations or filters etc. I do those on a different schedule not the cars computer because it's too late. So the SA would tend to just really not ask further questions on issues or things I noticed when before getting serviced. I would try in a polite way to check these items, they said I should follow the MID for service and the car runs fine after inspection, which seems very unprofessional and rude if you can't hear out your paying customer.

Now that I bought the X, and brought it in for warranty work the SA are just the same way so now I'll just take it to Honda Dealer right across the street or Honda Indie shop to get it serviced. The Honda dealer service department is way more friendlier and willing to work on my car if I bring my own supplies.

The local Acura Dealer told me the last time I got a transmission fluid change that we cannot service your car if you are using aftermarket fluids. (I asked to do a 1x3 of redline D4 ATF change). They said that it would damage the car, and cause excessive wear/and that the fluid used was not recommended from what their senior Acura Tech told them.
So this senior Tech came out of service bay just to tell me the fluid will mess up my transmission, I told him that it was compatible with Honda Z-1 ATF and needed something synthetic and sadly the Acura DW-1 was not cutting it. He said I wouldn't put in my Acura, but if you want it in your car okay with snarky attitude, that it was stupid, yes he used the word 'stupid' to put that fluid in. I said just change the transmission fluid, like I originally asked please. He just walked away, still saying it was a bad decision.

I was shocked that he acted this way towards me well I waited in the lounge area, I immediately spoke to the SA to make a complaint because the dude was rude to me. SA told me the SM was not there so I had to call in the following week which I did. Well I expected nothing would be done, I told them they need real professionals because he isn't one of them, I told them I would contact BBB and Honda corp. if that was how I was going to be treated for future services as an Acura owner.

I have had small issue with this senior Acura tech in the past also when I got my Valve adjustment when I first got the car at 98k and needed this service done at 105k there. I don't care if he worked on Acura/Honda motors for 20+ years, he needs to be polite and not have this attitude like you are young and no experience. So just do what I say on what needs to be changed.

So I have had my fair share of bad experiences with my local dealer, but I think a lot may have to do with my young age owning/driving such luxurious cars, compared to others in the same age group. I don't like to be those entitled 20 somethings gen. Y/millennial because I have respect for others who are older and can understand where they are coming from.

Sadly, this Acura dealer is 15min. drive away compared to the next one which is 40-50mins. away so it makes sense to get it done locally. This local has also done a lot of for my car, and I have been happy with their work. It's just that one Acura tech that really made past experiences less than enjoyable.

I'll have to just do a fluid change at the Honda or indie shop since the Acura dealer is slowly losing me as a customer.

Yeah, it wouldn't make sense economically to revert body mods, but I'm sure you could try the Blackmarket to sell it since the RJ kits are nice so it's special in that regard. The best of luck with your car!

 

Look like you need another dealer can do a better job. In houston there is four different Acura dealer lol.

 

Since you live near or close to a metro area the competition to keep customers coming back is priority for those dealers.

I live in county that has 2 dealers in the whole area. So my local being one and the next is 50mins away. So the incentive to compete in customer satisfaction and service gives them no incentive because acura owners will end up taking to the only dealer near by.

At least with the Honda dealers they compete for satisfaction since there is like 4-5 in the area. So I think this is the last straw and plan to take my X elsewhere.
Just took my X in for warranty work to replace the door checker on rear pass. Side and when I went to pick it up after work (had loaner) I find this long rub/scratch there.

I mean it was noticeable, went inside and sure enough told SA about it. He came out and said it was there already. I told him, I'm sorry but I am extremely meticulous about my X just as I was for my TL and that mark was not there.

He said take a seat inside I'll have the guys in the back fix it. 20mins later he fixed it sort of by buffing it out. Like 80% was removed but still there.

He said that we inspect before we work and the car was worked on outside for more room. So he said it was there, I wasnr about to get in an argument with him since he tried to help fix it but sucks it happened.

They were so much better like 7-8 years ago when I took my 91 integra there. Now its just getting worse. I will say their part dept staff are awesome to work with. So I'll still order parts there that I need in a hurry as opposed to the vendors here.

 

that suck, I though Cali might having better service than Houston since Acura doesn't even consider luxury dealer here. I am glad it work out for you and yes dealer will do some thing you can see right away after picking the car after service.