Used some of my bonus money to finally pay off my TL. I did it about 1.5 years early. Sucked, but it was the "responsible" thing to do. Looking into the future, I'm curious as to what my potential upcoming maintenance costs may be given that I am approaching 90k miles. I know that there is a lot of speculation as to if/when you should do timing belt/water pump. I will say that I don't trust my dealer (where I bought my car), and that for the most part, I will be defaulting to what my maintenance minder tells me to do. I also know that I'll have to throw on new tires, likely this summer or so... ugh...

Open to suggestions and thoughts otherwise as to helpful guidance and expectations on out of pocket costs for necessary and/or preventive maintenance to keep my TL running until the wheels fall off!

 

Congratulations on paying off your car! The best car is one that's paid for. As far as maintenance items go, consider your local Honda dealer over the Acura dealership. They typically provide the same services for less money and most of them employee Honda certified mechanics.

 

Timing belt is the most costly at 105K. Not sure about the speculation that you mentioned around the timing belt. For me personally, this is not speculation. REPLACE IT! If it breaks, you'll need another bonus check to repair the damage!

 

 

This is what I've done since 90K miles (@ nearly 150k now) Costs are parts only; assuming you do the work yourself:

Magnefine transmission fluid filter - $25

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x 3 (I change mine every 15K miles or so): $100. It's often cheaper to get this from the dealer than to pay for shipping. You can often get a discount if you buy a case.
Coolant flush - Two 5qt jugs of Typ2 "Blue" Honda Coolant - $40
Moog Tie Rod outer ends - Passenger side and Drivers side: $60 for both sides
Front Shock Absorbers - 51620-TK4-A04 and 51610-TK4-A04: $350 for both sides
Timing belt kit
- $200. Recommend purchasing OEM parts (not "OE") and replacing everything (belt, tensioner, water pump and gasket, idler pulley)
Brake rotors and pads - Centric Cryo-Treated rotors, Akebono Pads
Brake lines flush: 500mL Motul Dot 5.1 Brake Fluid
Cabin air filter - Fram $25

Air intake filter

Air intake filter

- Honda/Acura $25
Oil Changes - Every 8K miles or so. 7 changes in the last 60k miles @ $35 each ($250). Mobil 1 EP 5W-30 and Mobil 1 M1-104 filter. I use 5W-30 but the car calls for 5W-20. Also, I use the M1-104 while the car calls for the M1-101. The reason for this is the slightly better protection of 5W-30 and higher filter media capacity of the M1-104 filter.

That's about it. For now Also, some of those part numbers will be different for you since you have a SH-AWD. Mine is FWD. Shock absorbers I believe are different as well as Brake pads/rotors.

 

losiglow that is a great list. Thanks man.

 

Fantastic list! Looking to do much of this soon as well as I am at 95k.

Is there a specific reason you changed the tie rod ends? Just being pro-active or did yours fail? I hear an occasional clicking when turning sharp at low speeds and I am hoping these are the culprit.

 

Just pro-active. I only did the outer tie rods. The inners are more difficult and don't typically go bad. I got a set of MOOG tie rod ends for about $60 and figured I'd change them when I replaced the front shock assemblies. They're not too difficult to do and I didn't want to do an alignment twice in the case that they started to go bad (since I already had to do an alignment when I replaced the shock absorbers).

I probably didn't need to replace them though. The joints were still in great shape. I inspected all the other suspension components and everything looks good. Including the driveshafts. I've had a few Honda/Acura's with the CV joints going out but so far this one's been solid. Knock on wood.

 

Timing belt, water pump, tensioner ran me 1,000 before tax @ Acura. Did the spark plugs myself which ran me 70, I did all the fluids myself as well (rear diff, transfer case, and tranny) which was around 100 all together @ Acura. Next on the list is doing the valve lash adjustment. Currently at 116k on my 09 TL SH-AWD. Congrats on the payoff. I still have 10 left from buying used 2 years ago. I might just bite the bullet and take care of it this Summer.

 

My 2012 has 140K miles. You need to do the timing belt change at 105-110K miles. I paid $1100 dollars at a reputable non-dealer shop. But this included new spark plugs and water pump and coolant change out. It also included the timing chain tensioners and cam/crank shaft seals. I thought the seals was overkill but there are youtube videos on gen 3 TLs where folks were replacing the seals because they started leaking at ~ 150K miles. This problem is rare.

I drain and refill the auto trans fluid every other oil change starting at 80K miles..

The only other problem I have had is with the door lock actuators. I replaced all 4 as 2 had failed and the other two were making strange sounds when actuated at ~120k miles. I suggest you disable the auto door lock/unlock function for your car if not already done. Don't do that if you have safety concerns where you live. This will hopefully add some life to yours. This is a Honda/Acura problem with many youtube videos on how to do this.This cost ~$200 dollars in parts (4 actuators) and a lot of cussing for about 6-7 hours. Honda/Acura will charge you ~$200 dollars per actuator (parts and labor).

Really no other problems. Love the car. Will probably change out the radiator prior to 180 K as I have had the plastic radiators fail at ~200K miles for other cars I have owned.

 

While rare, it ain't that rare; my TL has only 133,000 miles on the clock and apparently the original owner didn't do the seals when the timing belt was done because the front cam seal is now leaking (very-very slowly; so slowly it doesn't even drip, but I'm sure that will change).

 

timing belt and water pump is at 90,000, and it is very expensive. After that, if you take care of the car, there shouldn't be too much problems til 140,000. Oil leak always happens. New tires take up money. Spots of Rust happens if you live in cold area where snow comes. Side Mirror power adjust can break. Also Blue tooth will go crazy and start to suck up battery and kill the battery. Just disconnect the blue tooth if that happens.

 

Is there a guide for that somewhere? I have no desire to use BT for anything, but I'm always bumping that goldurned button...

 

What about the battery? How long do the factory batteries usually last? Thank you

 

It often depends upon the health of the rest of the electronics in your car. Some cars seem to eat a battery every six months, other cars go a few years, still other cars like my 2001 Accord went, get this, 9 years and 10 months.

 

 

 

I'm curious why someone would spend two to three hundred dollars on an AGM battery when the Honda 100-Month battery (the one which went nearly ten years in my Accord) can often be had for less than $100.

 

I use OEM batteries for replacement and they have never lasted me longer than 2.5-3yrs, but I live in a city plagued with traffic where it is heavy stop and go all the time, plus I do a lot of short trip in-town commutes.