allen nguyen

I am looking to get back into a Acura. I had a 1997 Acura CL 2.2 5MT 8 years ago. Looking for a sporty and luxury (smooth) 4 door sedan to haul around the family and be my daily driver. I have narrowed it down to two cars: 2013 Lexus GS350 or 2012 Acura TL SH-AWD 6MT.

I live on Oahu so options and inventory is limited. Their is a 2012 Acura TL SH AWD 6MT that is on Kauai and being sold through a private seller. Here are the specs:

2012 Acura TL SH-AWD
6MT
Gray
32000 miles
A-Spec Kit
Short Ram Intake
Aftermarket shift knob
Tinted with ceramic tint
Tech Packaged

Condition: Overall it is a clean car but here are a few items that stood out: Passenger rear tires are different from the rest of the tires. Thread wear seems similar to the rest. That tire was replaced due to a pot hole. The front lip kit is coming off at one of the corners. Car smells like it has been smoke in (maybe vape).

Repairs: Warranty repair on 1st gear and 2nd gear, replaced starter,

The car is located in Kauai so I would need to ship it to Oahu for $300. The car was originally listed for $25k but bottom line pricing is $20k. According to KBB, the pricing is between $18k and $19k. Based on the description and breakdown of the current situation, is $20k a fair price or should I stick to $18k which is my current offer right now.

echodigital

This one would concern me. "Car smells like it has been smoke in (maybe vape).". As a non-smoker, if you have the embeded in the roof liner, it maybe hard to get out. The GS is a solid choice IMHO. If it's TECH packaged too, I would go for the GS. I am in Toronto and I was poking around in the Navigation and I was able to go to Hawaii in the maps. That was pretty cool,

dv-

"Sporty" and "smooth" tend to be at loggerheads, and the A-Spec is going to be more on the stiff side of things.

I'd be looking at the GS harder than the TL.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Geez, for those prices it might make sense to shop for a car on the mainland and have it shipped over to Hawaii. Greater selection and better prices, even if you have to spend a bit more to ship the car across.

allen nguyen

is a 6MT rare to find? He said he does not VAPE in the car but the car had some strong air freshener so it was hard to tell. The VAPE pen was sitting out in the open so it was quite obvious. It has the aspec kit but it is not aspec car from the factory so standard suspension.

At the end of the day, I am looking for the best of both worlds, a drivers car and smooth but I guess it does not exist. What is making me stick around is really the manual transmission and AWD. That is a rare combination I believe.

TLbullet

I do believe that particluar vehicle is a rare find.. i own a 13’ 6mt w/ 23k on it. Ive been shopping the idea of putting it on the market. Ive been following numerous websites like cargurus and car.com for over the past year.
A few months ago there were 3-4 6mt in the 13-14’ range for sale. The last month or so there have been none avail throughout the entire country (HI included!!).
So its tough to find a “fair” price for that car. $25k is obv too high.
Im sure im gonna get responses from others on here who feel the 6mt is not rare and not worth a little more. But i dont think $20k is out of the question especially with only 32k miles on it.
Good luck. The MT on this car is awsome, soooo much fun to drive.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

I don't think anybody here thinks the 6MT models are anything other than rare. Last year when I was shopping for my 6MT I spent five months shopping and can definitely say the manual transmission model are both rare (only something like 4% were built from the factory with the 6MT), and cost more than an otherwise comparable car with an automatic transmission.

csmeance

The smoke smell can be gotten rid of via an ozone machine and changing out the cabin filter. 1 mismatched tire would deduct some money in my book, plus you don't know if the rim is bent/damaged unless you go to a shop and have it checked.
A-Spec kit adds a little value, maybe $500 at the most since the whole kit is around $1400 installed.
Short ram intake also means that the guy liked to go fast and you may need a new clutch soon too. the 6SPD is self adjusting clutch so you won't know it's condition until its pretty much gone by engagement feel.
Any other service records?

If it were me, I wouldn't do anything over 20K. Even if he takes it to carmax or a dealer, they won't give more than 17K for the car as that's the dealer pricing (black book) above.

Plus the 3.7L's have oil burning issues so check the oil levels! Propeller shaft likes to whine and thats nearly 2K to replace (driveshaft running under car front to back). You can get a SUPER CLEAN TL for 22K from a dealer that'll also make sure the car is in good shape for the most part.

TLbullet

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Pretty funny, higher end cars with manual transmissions have fetched a premium for an easy fifteen to twenty years now. I turned in a leased 2002 530i SP 5-Speed back in 2005; the dealer put it on his lot for $3,000 more than an otherwise identical automatic equipped car sitting right next to it. My old car sold in three days, the car next to it was still on the lot three weeks later. Keep in mind, back in the E39 5-Series era, BMW was still charging a premium for the automatics when new, so the delta between the purchase and resale of the two cars was closer to $4,500.

TLbullet

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, pretty typical salesman B.S.; trust me, if he'd had one on the lot to sell he wouldn't have said that.

elspectro29

lji

Would stay away from the J37 engines (only one available in 6MT form) due to the overall issues with the car. The one you're looking at may be fine, but I'd question the seller a bit more to see why he or she is selling it.

JJH

iTrader: (1)

What is wrong with the J37 engines? I am also in the market for a 6MT 4G TL 2012+

dopeboy1

Some of them have excessive oil consumption.

dopeboy1

double post

allen nguyen

Thank you for all of your input and advice. I am going to keep on hunting and see what other options is out in the market.I might be leaning towards a Lexus GS if I can find one for around $20. By the way, they are looking to sell the Acura TL because it is too much car for Kauai. The entire island is fairly small and most of the roads has a maximum speed limit of 40.

shurik74

I went from 2011 TL 6MT to 2014 GS350 Fsport RWD... considering you live in HI, stop & go + slow speeds will make your GS averaging 14-17mpg. Just my 2c OP