Sight Unseen

I've owned this '97 3.2TL since February of this year and put approximately 5,000 miles on it since I got it. Mostly around town, earlier this week I took it on a 850 mile business trip and found the car to be a remarkably comfortable highway cruiser.

The car does not get the best mileage as many of us know. I kept the car at around 2,500 rpm (63 miles per hour average) and found that I got 29 miles to the gallon (premium), and the days I drove were cool enough I did not need the A/C. That's a fairly high rpm for the speed, and I think the less than stellar gas mileage on the highway attributable to the gearing of the car. But I'd not trade this transmission for the later TL's given all the trouble those transmissions seem to have.

When I bought the car, it needed a new battery and starter and I spent some additional money on the oil change, transmission and differential service and ferreting out noise from the rear end (total invested in the car, service and repairs, $2,200). I fixed the driver's side rear view mirror (had popped out of the transverse ball and socket) and the leaking into the trunk rear tail lights (fairly simple, remove and seal up with silicone).

The car performed flawlessly on the trip from Chicago, to Cleveland, to Detroit and back to Chicago. It has a very good center on the highway and handles and rides very well- a very easy car to drive on the long haul. The seats comfortable and the greenhouse spectacular giving the driver good views without any significant blind spots.

While driving into Cleveland I saw a car exactly like mine (missing the rear deck badges), a fairly rare sight I might add, having seen only one other on the road since I bought mine.

The car had always run well, but after the highway miles and 15 hours of running, it seems to run even better. The tires have plenty of tread, but have to be at least 5 years old, and given the expense and fact that most of my driving is around town and short trips, I think I will leave them on for another year, but suspect handling, ride and gas mileage would be improved significantly by replacing them.

In sum, I am very pleased with the car.

Here are some recent photos- the exterior a bit on the rough side given that the car has not spent a day of its life in a garage.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

neat!!!
thats way less miles than my '06 TL!
i'm sitting at 65k miles.
keep her in great shape and happy motoring!

terdonal

Nice, looks pretty clean for its age.

Sight Unseen

Thanks for the comments- agree, not bad for the age! I had posted bad links for the photos, ran out of time to edit my post, so here are the rest taken this morning.

morning-

Ken1997TL

Nice!

As you can see from my username, I once upon a time had a '97 TL. Black 3.2

And yeah, it's all about gearing with the motors. It really needs a taller 5th gear to get the RPM's down. Of course, gas was 1/3rd of the price back then..

main70072

Such a young engine. We just picked up an 05 TL several months ago and it's currently at 201k miles.

TLDavey

Nice! My 97 is at 77k at the moment.

MarcDavidoff

Nice- love the low mileage. Seeing it has a 3.2L, make sure you drain the cooling system and fill with Honda type2. These engines need close attention to the cooling system as they are prone to blowing head gaskets.

TLMichelle

Beautiful -- it looks just like my '98 3.2 TL! I wish I could say mine was doing as well as yours. I agree it is a lovely ride, could be better on gas mileage, but the experience driving it makes up for the spent gas. I was just driving my boyfriend's 2004 Volvo S80 and ugh, it felt like driving a big, clunky tank and it made me miss driving my Acura. I can speak for the head gasket problems because I have them, sadly. Mine also has just over 200,000 miles, plus a list of other issues, but it's still my favorite car. You're soooo lucky to have one with that low mileage. I think mine was around 140,000 when I got it a few years ago. Enjoy it and definitely keep the fluids topped off.