I was considering buying my buddy's 2004 auto TL. The car has 36000 miles but after reading about all the transmission problems people are having its giving me second thoughts. Do a lot of the 2004 TL transmissions go bad, or is this a few?

 

The 04 trans is simply the continued production of the 03 model
Acura picked a mid 03 VIN to settle the court case and get extended warranty to the 99-03 cars. Read the gen2 thread Tranny Failure
In feb 05 the units being installed as warranty replacements in 99-03 undwerwent a major case design change and have been much better since.
That update made its way over to new trans production eventually.
I would not buy a gen3 car without 100k trans warranty on it.
You can buy from dealers on here for a good price.
Reading the gen3 trans threads- you guys are having probs at earlier miles than gen2 did!
And Acura is not being generous on warranty goodwill for the newer cars

 

I own an mid build 04 and its been fine for me. the transmission issues seem mostly related to people not liking the way the TL's Grade-Logic system is as it is way to sensitive. As for the failure issues, they haven't been hugely wide-spread to many people like the 2nd gen TL's. They have occured, but acura will take care of you. My advice to you would be to buy a factory extended warranty from honda if you want to buy the car.

 

The 04 model is the one that had a great deal of tranny problems. They had a fix for it, which was an oil jet that sprayed oil directly to the gears. More like a band-aid. Lean to an 05 or higher if possible.

But also there have been plenty of people who have not had problems, and they just don't voice their opinions. Kind of like the one person who has a bad experience tells 10 people, whereas one person who has a great experience tells 3 people type of thing...

If the deals right, score it!

 

Fulani
check the details of the trans failure thread in gen2
the oil spraybar for 2nd gears shaft and gear was the gen2 recall item
It is not the fix for the main problem- failure of the clutchpacks
IN 2005 they redesigned the case that holds all the parts, now featuring better oil flow to those areas and thus better cooling and lifespan----usually
BUT gen3 does have a failure issue
The spray bar is located inside the case now too.
Get that extended warranty for 1200 or so and be golden

 

the clutchpacks on some of the Early VIN 2004 TL's were a little bit dry, so acura had a recall and provided oil-jets to be installed to keep them properly lubricated. This was fixed after vin 12000 I believe.

also my recommendation would be to get an 2005TL, it should be in your budge and has some revised things such as the leather so it does not strech and form buttprints. BTW, what is the price for your friends 04? If its a steal, I would get it and get the extended warranty.

 

Thanks everyone for the responses. I think that he only has the original basic warranty (4 year 50,000 mi?). He said he would sell me the car for $17,400, which is a good price but with all your responses about the tranny it seems like trouble.