Sight Unseen

In response to a question about what we like about our 1st generation Acura TLs I came up with a significant list of things to like about this car.

In the event someone is considering purchasing a 1st generation TL and visiting this forum before buying one, I thought it might be a good idea to list some of the...well not so perfect things about it. I believe I can offer a unique perspective because my car, although 16 years old, is a very low mileage, one previous owner car (after 2 months of ownership, it still has under 50,000 honest to goodness miles).

So here is my list of things I wish were better:

1. Fuel economy- I drive mostly "mixed' and my mixed mpg is around 18 mpg and my single highway trip gave me 24.7mpg and this is using 93 octane.

2. Leaks- for years my car appears to have leaked water into the trunk through the passenger tail light.

3. Lacks a trip computer- this is a luxury car (years ago, I owned a Ford Scorpio much older than this car that had trip computer).

4. Lacks an outside temperature. True, my wife's 2011 Highlander does not have this, but most "luxury cars" even in 1997 would let you know how cold it was outside.

5. Steering wheel does not telescope (more on this below).

6. Horn- the two buttons at 3 and 9 O'clock are small and may have you in a futile effort pushing the air bag in the center of the wheel. It is also weak, sounding as if Honda may have borrowed the part from a motorcycle parts bin.

7. No remote trunk release (my old '97 Monte Carlo had a remote trunk release...so I'm not being picky here).

8. Interior lighting, turns off as soon as you shut the door--- not particularly helpful.

9. Cruise control buttons on steering wheel have no back lighting.

10. Front driver's and front passenger's seat belts do not have sufficient tension to fully retract- so they often get shut in the doors.

11. The variable assist steering by American standards is just about right, anyone used to a German car would find it over assisted at any speed.

12. Does anyone have a dash board light for the Drive (4) position that actually works?

13. New drivers to the car will struggle with the automatic transmission that requires the stick to be pushed down to navigate through some of the gates.

14. Cup holders, only two in the console and the lid on my car broken (seems to be common problem).

15. Power port (cigarette lighter), just one in the car (and this is fairly common for this vintage, so not so much a complaint as an observation)

16. Noise- while the powertrain (engine and transmission) are very quiet, there is wind noise at highway speed and road noise (I think isolating road noise may be a problem with older Hondas in general).

17. Security system- if you disconnect/replace the battery, you had better locate the radio's code sticker before hand. My car needed a new battery, it took me a while but I eventually found the sticker applied to the underside of the ash try. Other locations might be around or on the glove box.

18. Keyless entry (and that is all it is-- see #7) even with fresh batteries only works up close and there is really only a small clue from the car when you have unlocked the doors (interior light comes on-- no indication audibly or from the headlights). It also requires two quarter sized batteries to function-- on the plus side they are easy to replace.

19. The car apparently eats starters (my car needed one after only 48,000 miles) and this is not a cheap repair-- part and labor intensive.

20. Driving position- most likely due to lack of telescoping wheel, at 6' tall, I am not able to find a seating position that allows me to rest both elbows (I can't comfortably rest both my left elbow on the door arm rest, or right elbow on the center console at the same time).

So, there you have it. In the final analysis do these less than great things outweight the positives? In a word, no. I love my 1997 TL- and if I could find another just like it, I would buy it all over again!

Mandy

Truly the design on the door handles suck. I have lost 4. Currently have 1 that needs work still. Other than this my 1998 was designed very well and was the state of the art back then so to speak.

We cannot compare a 2010 car to our 1998. A lot of newer technologies, designs have evolved.

Love my TL (ok my son's TL).

HP11

Most of those things you mentioned I expected not to be up to the level of a more modern car. I actually fixed my cup holder by gluing the tab back on w/super glue gel. I really didn't have hold out hopes for that repair it has worked without any problems for over two months now! Wait until you have to change ball joints--you'll add that to the list! You have to remove the brackets from the vehicle and press the ball joints out and in. Luckily I have a small press that's perfect for that. It's just a lot of work. Certain repairs that would be easy on other vehicles are made more difficult by the longitudinal mounted engine and attending transmission/differential design because of that. Also the front axle nuts are difficult to remove even with a long breaker bar. Had to borrow my brother's $500 Ingersol-Rand impact wrench to remove them. That being said, I also love my TL (my wife's TL)

adventurecrv

Power steering is too light. Reminds me of my Dad's 69 Ford, 75 Merc, and 81 Buick. I think the Buick might have even had heavier steering than the TL...

fosmith

$1000 for a set of motor mounts!

+1 on poor fuel economy. With only 2.5 liters displacement the car uses more gas than my Mercedes E430 which has a V8!

The cupholder lid broke on mine too. Fortunately, I found a complete assembly in a junkyard but the action was very stiff - probably why they break... So before installing it, I oiled the hinges and latch and it is smooth and quick and hopefully will last.

Fred

omega1911

Huh, No outside temp, I would perfer a trip computer (I think the teeth on mine broke), remote trunk opener, at least one more electric output, at least 26 mpg hwy instead of the avg 24mpg hwy (2 more mpg does make a difference), more performance aftermarket parts.

HP11

Easy fix with a junkyard part. I recently repaired a non functioning trip computer in ours. That shaft that holds the gear that drives and resets it broke off.

omega1911

Really? you took it a the display apart?

HP11

Yes. I took the cluster out and removed the lens and the black piece behind the lens, took out the four screws that hold the speedo in place, lifted it out and, without removing the speedo face or hand, I replaced the broken part that is behind the trip meter. It's more or less self explanitory once you get it apart but I kind of practiced on a couple of junkyard cluters before I did the one in my car.

hinode

Wow not much to say after the OP did all that...but I have to agree with "eats starters" because I just got mine refurbished in 06/2010, and now when I turn the ignition there is no turn over. Just CLICK. Yeah I've tried hitting the starter a couple times and while that works, I'm not sure on how the solenoid thing works as I am no mechanic. That, and the fact that I believe the starter is hard to access to.

Hmm love my TL still even though I don't drive her 5 days a week due to job being downtown and commute now- but I guess if there was one gripe I had was the stock rims. Terrible for cleaning them. Now w/ my aftermarket ones, its a breeze. Oh and yeah 3 out of 4 door handles have lost a "spring"? They stick out and do not look aerodynamic with the car.

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

MPG is my biggest one... everything else i can deal with... it is a solid car...

TLBaller

bad door handles, frameless windows, cheap a/c vents, seal around windows are not completely sealed, no aftermarket parts, 2.5 are 4 lugs, um...

main70072

I took care of that!

HP11

And I took care of that.....if the seals are intact and in good condition, the you need to get inside the door panels and adjust the windows themselves.

Phillip Kress

The only thing i dont like about my TL is the trunk spring donts work. So i have to walk around and pop it with the key.

russell707

The gas

icewater

blower motor went out, $1000 just the labor...

HP11

I would either

A. Live without it
B. Do the work myself
C. Sell the car.

adventurecrv

For sure fix it yourself!

I don't like the cruise control very much...push the set button take your foot off the gas, the car slows down, and it takes three hours to get back up to speed...okay not three hours, but it seems like a long time!

Ken1997TL

Road noise and wind noise. Those were my main objections. Good tires did tremendously help though.

The smooth engine and excellent visibility easily made my '97 one of my favorite sedans ever.

HP11

You might have a problem there. Ours takes the set right away.

HP11

The TL is good but for favorite sedan, at least for me, I'd probably take my GTO, my wifes Benz, or the Infiniti J30 we once owned.

HP11

I just changed our starter today. We had reached the point where it did the 'click thing' every other time we tried to start it. Fortunately, when I bought the car, it came with a folder with maintainence records and receipts. It included a receipt for a lifetime warrantied starter from O'Reillys. It was purchased in 9/14/2010 which is in line with what I've heard and read about how long they last. Using the previous owners name/phone number I was able to get a 'free' replacement. Even so, it was a pain to say the least, to remove/install it. I had to remove the drivers side axle to gain access and it still wasn't easy.

SML Luo

When the dealer couldn't see a problem with the wind noise while still under waranty, I bought 1/4" vacuum hose, I think it was 1/4"(17 years ago) and put it behind the rubber the window was resting on. That pushed it tigher against the window. Nice and quite. Easy fix.

Have replaced the blower motor twice. All day job. Could probably do it quicker now but I don't think i'll do it again!

TLMichelle

Not taking into account all the things that have broken in my '98 TL and only judging on design, I would say that my list of cons are button location for the fog lights and the heated seats, no outside thermometer, and no gas mileage meter. I never use the heated seats because the button is out of sight out of mind and the fog light button is obstructed by the steering wheel. The lack of thermometer problem was fixed by slapping a window thermometer on the driver side rear window (it was a yankee swap gift I put there as a joke at first, but it is useful because I know when the leather seats will be really hot when I approach it in the parking lot on a really hot day). I used to drive a Chrysler with a broken gas gauge so I'm still in the habit of resetting the trip odometer at the pump. If I ever want to know my gas mileage, I can do the math. The car is just about perfect otherwise. My TL is the best car I've ever driven -- I love it.

TLDavey

Acura frameless glass is classy. However, I dislike that they didn't design the TL door so that it could roll down a little further like the 2nd generation Integra sedans. Not that i care, I am never the rear passenger seat, but that's really all I could come up with! Lol! I miss the older Acura/Honda lines.