2008 Acura TL
07-24-2016, 08:57 PM
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2008 Acura TL
New owner of a slightly used (91000 miles) 2008 Royal Blue Pearl Acura TL. I've always liked the 3rd Gen TL's, and finally decided to get one. Been looking for about 3 months now between Craigslist and local dealers at both 07-08 TL's and 09-11 TSX's. The TSX's are just too expensive. Nice car, the 4 cylinder gets good gas mileage and they obviously hold their value. But I liked the styling of the TL and it's nice to have slightly more room inside the car.
Tell you one thing, there are a lot of scammers out there on Craigslist. From the "excellent condition" cars that are lucky to be in "okay" condition, to the "clean" title cars that really have salvage titles, you have to be careful. It's surprising how many sellers put the words "no scammers' in their listing, only to be scammers themselves. Granted there are some good sellers out there, but trying to sift through the bad ones to get to the good ones is definitely a chore.
The car is in pretty good condition. Before I purchased it I took it to a Honda dealer for a pre-purchase inspection, then to a transmission guy and lastly to a body shop guy I know. There are some issues which need to be addressed. No way to know if it has ever had the timing belt/water pump service, so I guess I'll be doing that soon. They said the "compliance bushings" (lower ball joints, right?) are cracked, recommended the power steering and brake fluids be replaced, throttle body service, replacing the serpentine belt and front and rear brakes. The previous owner put slotted rotors on the front brakes, which are giving me a lot of vibration. So those will be coming off in favor of going back to the stock rotors. The PO also had Amsoil in the engine. I changed that out tonight with Mobil 1 5W-20 full synthetic with a Honda filter. I know there's a lot of discussion on every car forum about oil change intervals and what type of oil to be using, etc. etc. But I don't mind changing the oil every 5000 miles and installing a new filter every time. It's just peace of mind, and I don't need to be leaving the oil in the engine for 15000 miles.
I noticed the fog lights weren't working, so I went out and bought a new pair of the factory H8 bulbs. Tonight I was able to pull away the fender splash shields and see what was going on back there. Seems the PO had switched out the factory bulbs with some odd type of bulb that had two wires coming out the back that were taped into the factory fog light connectors. Luckily he didn't cut the factory connectors off like I've seen some guys do, so I was able to install the new bulbs and get the lights working again.
It will need some body touch ups and some paintless dent removal. No rust. Interior is in good shape, everything is there. Wheels are in very good shape and the tires still have some life left in them. All in all I'm very happy and a proud new owner.
Looking forward to being a member here. I like finding websites like this that are very helpful with issues that pop up from time to time as well as do it yourself tips. I'm kind of handy with small things (brakes, oil changes, tune ups), but let the pros do the big jobs.
Thanks!
Tell you one thing, there are a lot of scammers out there on Craigslist. From the "excellent condition" cars that are lucky to be in "okay" condition, to the "clean" title cars that really have salvage titles, you have to be careful. It's surprising how many sellers put the words "no scammers' in their listing, only to be scammers themselves. Granted there are some good sellers out there, but trying to sift through the bad ones to get to the good ones is definitely a chore.
The car is in pretty good condition. Before I purchased it I took it to a Honda dealer for a pre-purchase inspection, then to a transmission guy and lastly to a body shop guy I know. There are some issues which need to be addressed. No way to know if it has ever had the timing belt/water pump service, so I guess I'll be doing that soon. They said the "compliance bushings" (lower ball joints, right?) are cracked, recommended the power steering and brake fluids be replaced, throttle body service, replacing the serpentine belt and front and rear brakes. The previous owner put slotted rotors on the front brakes, which are giving me a lot of vibration. So those will be coming off in favor of going back to the stock rotors. The PO also had Amsoil in the engine. I changed that out tonight with Mobil 1 5W-20 full synthetic with a Honda filter. I know there's a lot of discussion on every car forum about oil change intervals and what type of oil to be using, etc. etc. But I don't mind changing the oil every 5000 miles and installing a new filter every time. It's just peace of mind, and I don't need to be leaving the oil in the engine for 15000 miles.
I noticed the fog lights weren't working, so I went out and bought a new pair of the factory H8 bulbs. Tonight I was able to pull away the fender splash shields and see what was going on back there. Seems the PO had switched out the factory bulbs with some odd type of bulb that had two wires coming out the back that were taped into the factory fog light connectors. Luckily he didn't cut the factory connectors off like I've seen some guys do, so I was able to install the new bulbs and get the lights working again.
It will need some body touch ups and some paintless dent removal. No rust. Interior is in good shape, everything is there. Wheels are in very good shape and the tires still have some life left in them. All in all I'm very happy and a proud new owner.
Looking forward to being a member here. I like finding websites like this that are very helpful with issues that pop up from time to time as well as do it yourself tips. I'm kind of handy with small things (brakes, oil changes, tune ups), but let the pros do the big jobs.
Thanks!
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