tsuintx

Thought I'd register over here since I just acquired a 2004 TL from Copart. Haven't picked it up or seen in person yet, but obviously has some challenges, but doesn't look too bad. And for jsut over 500 bucks out the door, I think it's not too big of a gamble.

From what I can see so far, it needs passenger side rear door, passenger side mirror and front door lock cover. Dash is cracked (as usual) and the front seat bottoms have seen much better days. Body looks otherwise nice and straight and even the paint/clear coat seems to be in decent shape. Hopefully I can find the same color door and mirror, so wouldn't need to worry about paint. The door still works. Miles are 153K and some change, so we'll see how runs once I get it. Picking it up some time next week.

I'm more into GM trucks (have a 2007 Silverado Z71 CrewCab as my daily driver) and older MBs (mostly 80s to early 90s W126s and W124s) and this will be my second Acura. I had a 2005 6-speed TSX for a while a couple of years ago. Loved it with the manual tranny. I've always had a bit of reservation against Hondas/Acuras with auto tranny since to me they seem to be a bit problematic. Of course no auto tranny is going to last forever, just a personal observation of Hondas/Acuras, warrantied or not. But, I like to always have something to tinker with and hopefully the TL will not turn out to be too big of a headache.

90foxnotch

The 04-08 TL's are know for automatic transmission issues. If its a manual buy it asap. Hopefully it just needs a door-Good luck

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

Honda/Acura's DO have problems with their auto trannies.
if this one does display a slipping tranny, swap it with a Honda Accord V6, as it's a little bit better.

tsuintx

Picked the TL up this morning and so far haven’t found anything major. Obviously needs the door as well as the mirror. Going to pick those up to orrow. Found even in the same color and I think 140 bucks is pretty reasonable.

Front seat bottoms are trashed and the dash is cracked (not a surprise there...). Looks like there are some sellers on Ebay selling them for 300-some bucks for a pair. Need to look into those eventually. I’ve driven it about 100 miles now and so far so good. Tranny shifts nice and smooth and I haven’t noticed any slipping or any other issues with the tranny. No leaks from engine or tranny that I could see and no noises, either. Suspension could use some refreshing, of course.

Main concern is that the battery seems to be dead as a doornail. I get about 14.1V at idle, so it seems like the alternator might be okay. Battery shows just over 12V after shutting the car off, but it doesn’t have any power to start the engine. Looks like it’s lost all the cranking amps and needs a booster to start it up.

Wasn’t expecting perfection, of course, so I have some projects to do.

90foxnotch

Glad it worked out, sounds like you got lucky on that one, great car for what you paid for. The door seems like a great deal especially if the same color. I had one of my seat bottoms repaired for $200 at a local upholstery shop because the new covers can be expensive then you have to put them on. Good luck with the project

tsuintx

Yeah, off to somewhat of a good start, but let’s see how it develops.

Door and mirror are on and look like they’ve been there all along. Before and after pics attached. Needs tint to match the other doors and swap the gray door panel to the original camel one to match the rest of the interior. Also found out that there’s nothing wrong with the battery. Both terminals were just extremely loose, so tightened them up and it’s good to go. Still giving it a charge overnight, just in case.

90foxnotch

Id say that looks a hell of a lot better! Good match too. Upper 30s hahahahahhahaha here in Ohio its been -2 every morning almost for the past week