Hi all,

I'm about to pull the trigger on a 2012 Acura TL SH-AWD, 110k KMS for around $15K CAD. The carfax of the vehicle shows no accidents and I went and test-drove the car, drives good and looks good on the exterior. No paint chipping/rock chips, dealer told me the car was clear coated.

My only issue is the interior has a few hiccups, the driver side interior door panel has chipping on the plastic and the driver side mirror has brown spots all over, I've attached pictures below.

Can anyone tell me if these are fixable/how I would go about fixing them?

Is there anything else I should be looking out for?

 

It looks like someone was just really hard on that drivers side door. That's not normal. It doesn't look like a defect as much as simple abuse. I have no idea how you'd fix it other than to replace the panel (expensive....) or just paint it somehow.

The mirror on the other hand is a common problem. There's no way to fix it. You have to replace the mirror. You can replace just the glass portion (not the whole side view mirror assembly). It's item #12 here:

https://www.acuraoemparts.com/auto-p...at/mirror-scat

There are several Acura OEM parts websites if you want to price it out. Depending on where you're located, shipping may be cheaper at other sites.

 

I also have a '12 TL AWD (6MT), in Canada as well. I can also see some minor wear on that same door panel handle thing. When I say minor, I mean its barely noticeable unless I look long and hard, its starting to flake on those panel edges but no where near the flaking on yours. Seems like the driver always had oily/sweaty/dirty hands?

By the way, is yours a 6MT?

 

Thats not a bad price for an auto, excellent price for a 6MT, So im sure its an auto. The door panel I guess you could touch it up with some paint for cheap. The mirror is easy you just need to replace the glass. I replaced my passenger side for $40.

You should look out for oil consumption, propeller shaft (if its making a whiney noise on the highway) and the airbag recall. Then of course just general maintenance history like tranny, transfer case, engine and rear diff fluid/oil.

 

My wife's '12 TL SH-AWD has small "nicks" on the plastic door handle in a similar place to the picture, but nowhere near as bad. I think the issue is that the handle is painted and not a solid black material, so you get wear depending on whether you have stuff on your hands, or something nicks it (I think my wife's rings did the damage on hers). In my case I just use a Sharpie to touch up the small nicks and it looks great. In your case you may want to find an interior flat black paint and mask off the area and repaint the small area (or have an interior shop do it). But if this (and the mirror) are the only issues, it wouldn't be a deal-breaker for me.

 

Mirror is an easy and cheap part that needs to be replaced. I hanged my at the 4 year mark.