STOKED to be here. Second car forum I've joined - I'm a member of the VW Samba forum from the days when my brother "drove" a '73 VW Ghia and I helped him do a bunch of wrenching.

I just purchased my Acura! It is a 2006 3.2 TL, 131k Miles, One owner. I paid $4700 in a private sale in the Washington, D.C. Area. I'm 27 years old and I'm insuring it for $1000 a year (comprehensive, no collision coverage) through Geico.

It's in pretty great condition considering the age. Timing belt done at 95k. There are a few scratches and dings on the exterior, very few actual dents though.

The leather is not ripped at all! I plan to restore and condition the seats using Lexol cleaner & conditioner.

The wheels have some dirt and brake dust, which I plan to clean off with Baking Soda paste.

The exhaust tips are a little blackened. I'd like to restore a bit of shine to these somehow. Need to look into an appropriate cleaning agent here.

I looked at Honda Dealership service and inspections from the past year, and they show that pretty much everything was checked in the "green" column apart from Transmission Fluid and Tire tread. I wasn't able to see any Transmission services in the past few years. Because this is an 06 and not an 07-08, I definitely want to be as careful as possible with the transmission. I think I may attempt to add some fresh Honda AT fluid without "flushing" the system. I've read about adding it "1x3" in increments. Need to look into this more!

I've heard about the bluetooth unit being a battery draw. The battery looks very healthy with very clean connections, but I plan to disable it.

Other than that, the TPMS light comes on occasionally. I didn't witness it myself but the guy just told me it had started to go on and then back off again recently. I don't think that presents an issue at inspection in DC, and I'm used to cars with no TPMS systems so it doesn't really bother me. I will look into either clearing the code, temporarily disabling the sensor, and/or replacing the sensor.

So all in all, she's not perfect, but I LOVE her already. I think I'm gonna call her Tina the TL. I'm also considering Tony, or a similar grandpa name. A Sportrack and perhaps some extremely tail light mods may be in its future.

Check it out:

 

Looks great! Congrats!

 

Welcome! I have a 2006 as well.

A few comments:

• I wouldn't worry about the HFL unless and until it starts causing a battery drain. I've had my car for 3 and a half years and the HFL is still rock solid.
• I don't believe there is a way to disable the TPMS system, your only real option is to have the sender fixed/replaced in one or more of the wheels.
• Regarding the transmission fluid (not something I need to mess with), your best bet is to drain the current ATF out and replace it with three fresh quarts at the very least. If you want to "rinse and repeat" two more times, that certainly won't hurt, and may well extend the life of your transmission.

 

Look for a product called "Barkeeper's Friend". It's a powder, comes in a cylindrical container. It'll shine your tips right up. It's what a lot of dirtbags use to keep their brub-brub Harley's all shiny chrome.

I've been dealing with a similar intermittent TPMS light for 4 or 5 years now. It always clears itself after a start or two. No clue what causes it, probably a low battery in the sensor or something. But it's a minor nuisance a couple times a year, and isn't worth dealing with. I can't speak for DC, but I'd think that as long as it isn't lit when you go for inspection, then you should be fine... I don't think they can fail it if it's just in the history list. Although a cheap OBDII dongle and a free phone app can get rid of that too.
​Anyway, welcome!

 

Well thanks, folks. So far my sense is that I probably overpaid given the lack of suspension maintenance, but then again once that is done the fact that it's still a two-owner car will hopefully add to the value a bit. If I'd bought one at 150k+ from a guy who'd replaced parts, chances are they woulda used some aftermarket stuff and in the long run I would feel less confident about the car's longevity than if I'd bought OEM parts and had them put in/put them in myself, which I'm now doing.

So I'm looking at LCA bushing replacements as the key piece of maintenance that was "neglected", and then easy stuff like spark plugs, pcv valve. There is a light oil leak, and one day I may do a head gasket replacement, but for now the fresh pcv valve and oil filter should be good.

 

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I would clean all the oil up to get a better idea of where its coming from, could just be valve cover gaskets or something like that.