JaeCebollero

Long story short, This dealership by me has an 07 (white) and 08 (black) with 65 and 75k respectively and they want 11ish for both. This would be my first "expensive" car purchase. My dad thanks I should get something newer because buy the time I finish paying it off it'll be 14 years old. He thinks I should get a 2011-13 tl, there are a whole bunch for about 14k not much more then what I'm about to pay for the 3g, but it just look as good as the 3g. I'd be going through my credit union and they finance 100% so I don't need a down payment per say but I'm gonna put 2k down.



What he's saying makes sense, but with such low miles I don't think it matters. I'd be going through my credit union and they finance 100% so I don't need a down payment per say but I'm gonna put 2k down. I'm bringing his here because no one would know the appeal of the 3G like you guys.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

This has the potential to generate a lot of response. There are many folks, myself included, who wouldn't be caught dead in a 2009 or later Acura TL (called the 4G); just too fugly from our perspective. Then there are other folks who think the 4G is a step up from the previous generation (2004-2008, called the 3G); in your case it's all in what you like. Can you live with the face of the 4G? If you can go for it; if you cannot, I'd recommend the 3G.

FWIW, I just bought a 2006 Acura TL 6MT with 114,000 miles on it; I plan on keeping the car for at least ten more years which would put it into the 20+ age rage when I finally move on to a new car.

GreenSpades

If you are willing to buy an older car with a little more miles and want to save money you can get a killer deal on a 04-06TL and if you get the 6speed model they are quite sporty for their age. Like $8000 for a really really nice one. If you are looking for auto I would honestly suggest buying a newer vehicle that still has a warranty like a 2013+ accord. That is simply my opinion. If you are die hard set on 3rd gen TL I do not want to talk you out of it. I love mine, but for $14,000 you can get a very low mileage V6 EX-L with navi accord that literally does everything a 3rd gen does and damn near close to a 4th gen. If you dont need "sporty" suspension and can live without the looks it would be a better daily driver IMHO. So many fish in the sea nowadays though that it's hard to choose just one!

nanxun

Of course, this all depends on the condition of the actual examples that are for sale, but $11k for an 07 w/65k miles or an 08 w/75k miles (I'm assuming these are the "base" TL w/3.2L engine and w/out navigation) seems a bit high.

Here are some results for a search for 2007-2008 TL's w/less than 80k miles on sites like Cars.com:

https://www.cars.com/for-sale/search...20200&zc=22152

Again, $11k seems high.

About 4 months ago, I purchased my 07 base TL w/60.5k miles for $10k from a dealer (cost incl. taxes, title, registration was about $11k out-the-door). I also had to spend about $2k to get the car to where I wanted it, but now it's running like a charm. As horseshoez noted, people are divided on the looks of the late 3G (2007-2008) and early 4G (2009-2011). I LOVE the way my 3G looks and plan on running it for another 8-10 years.

Good luck and keep us posted!

EDIT: Just FYI, later (2007-2008) 3G TL's have the transmission from the RL, which is supposedly more reliable that the previous trannies in the 04-06 TL's.

JaeCebollero

Here are some pics. They're both super clean in person.

JaeCebollero

I considered both of those ideas, but the 3g's sleekness just keeps calling me. I love the design of that car so much I want to own it as long as possible and I've never seen a tl with this low of miles. I feel like this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Plus the accord, v6 or not just seems like a boring sedan to me. The tl (while also a sedan) just has that sport sedan aggressiveness.

nanxun

$11,990 for the black 2008 is too high, imho. It's listed as having the navigation system, but in the interior photo it doesn't seem to have the navigation screen in the center stack.

How much are they asking for the white 2007 one?

truonghthe

price is a tad high, FYI I paid $8600 for my Base TL back in Feb this year. The car has 74k miles at the time, two owner however the first owner was his sister that lease the car and past it to him and the problem i seen are 1 line crack on dash (dash mat quickly fix that) and oil pump is leaking (105 service coming up anyway).

08KBP_VA

These are life long NJ cars, Id look for corrosion and expect to buy case of PB if you wrench on cars yourself. Theres records of oil changes but nothing else. Expect to drop approx $2k in baselining fluids etc including TB and water pump service. Course you could negotiate that service off the price.

Cant comment on price...others on here seem to have that covered.

GreenSpades

Excellent point. Living in the northeast sucks for car buying. And this should go without saying but get it inspected privately or if you know what you are looking for make sure it hasnt had any fender benders covered up.

Pricing aside that black one looks damn nice.

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

I find that dealers often don't know the equipment on cars and frequently add erroneous information. The 2012 TL I bought was stated as "Base" on the dealer page which indicates a non-tech package FWD TL. However, it was actually equipped with the tech package which I could tell from the photos. You'd think dealers would know vehicles better.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

shieet, they can employ me and I'll sit there and correct EVERY SINGLE ad

DesertMistTL

iTrader: (2)

too expensive, you can hold out for a type-s for that much

sackdz

I'll second that $11k is a bit high, but not surprising because dealerships commonly buy low and sell high. My advice would be to go in citing a better deal elsewhere, negotiate down, and buy the 3rd gen!
For reference, I just sold an immaculate 04 A-spec 6pd with $100k for $8500.

Either way props for you for being young with good taste

Steven Kenzou

I just bought a 2008 White Acura Tl w/navi a couple weeks ago for 9k in great condition and has about 93k miles on it and for safety and taxes about 10k, The 3g looks so much better than the 4g, just shop around and you will find the right one. The TL is running great but the steering is pretty heavy witch I don't really mind but the turning radius is bad, its like learning to park all over again, so I just back in to a spot witch is much easier.

YeuEmMaiMai

If you are going to spend money on a car that is 10 years old, you better get it cheap because you are going to spend it in repairs. There are TONS of age related issues you are going to have to deal with... Also with the pre mid 07 models the risk of auto trans failure is higher than it should be.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

What do you call cheap?

truonghthe

may be a 07-08 TL with 75k miles around $4500???? well you had your fun with search a 11 years old car and you know how many toad is out there.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, it took me months to find mine, the thing is, my brain automatically filtered out any car which wasn't a 6MT, so I literally have zero feel for what would be an appropriate price for a 3G TL with an automatic transmission.

jeffgt14

Bought an A/T ’05 TL w/ Navi about 2 months ago. Here’s the rundown of what I’ve experienced in just 2 months. With less miles you may be ok and part of my problems just comes down to bad luck but it’ll give you an estimate on costs coming soon. Mileage may be low but at 10 years is a while and I’m sure you’ll have to replace all these anyways.

Car: $5900 with 128k miles

Obviously someone selling a car with 128k miles hasn’t done any of the 105k services otherwise why sell it.

Timing belt/water pump replacement: $1100 - $1200

A/T Fluid 3x3 Drain and fill: $90 in fluid and about 3-4 hours of your time. A lot more if you take it somewhere and will most likely not be done correctly. Replaced my 3rd and 4th gear pressure switches as well for $90 in parts as well but you may be ok not doing that.

Power Steering Pump rebuild (mine was leaking a little): $50 in parts and 1-2 hours of your time.

Replace a rim due to crack: $110

Spark plugs: $80 and about an hour or 2 of your time. A lot more if you take it somewhere to get done. Now of course I also had the terrible luck of a spark plug blowing out of my engine while I was driving home to replace my spark plugs that night – Another $1300 to timesert a new thread.

Currently with a P0420 error for a catalytic deficiency. Still trying to diagnose the problem but very likely could be another $800 to replace the cat.

Age hurts. Now plenty of my issues are just breakdowns and not the standard preventative maintenance but it’s just to give you an idea of what you could be paying on a 10 year old car. You could easily have your own issues on top of the standard timing belt/spark plug/fluid replacements. I do agree the 3G destroys the 4G in aesthetics but just want you to know the potential downsides of getting an older TL.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

The flip side is I bought a beautifully maintained 2006 6MT for $10,000 with 114,000 miles on the clock; the full 105,000 service had been performed, timing belt and water pump included, the brakes had new rotors and pads at all four corners and the front two Brembo calipers had been reconditioned, and virtually everything else was in tip-top condition. All I have had to do was to replace the MTF with ACDelco Synchromesh Friction Modified ($33) and the driver's outside mirror glass ($50).

jeffgt14

Explains the $4000 difference in cost. I just end up paying the extra $4k getting it back up to speed. Mine is certainly in great shape appearance wise just needed some work. I think most of my problems stem from the spark plug issue which likely wouldn't have been an issue if the spark plug could've lasted 15 more miles.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Well sort of, the 6MT models are currently commanding at least a $2,000 to $2,500 premium over the AT models.

GreenSpades

I have not found that to be true. Not that I have a great knowledge of TL pricing but what Ive seen is about same pricing and actually less at dealers but yes quite a bit more private sale. Some people want them. Most dont.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

I shopped for five months and looked at many dozens of cars. Like for like, the cars with a manual transmission were always at least $2,000 more than cars with an automatic transmission. The thing is, less than 5% of the 3rd Generation TLs were made with a manual, but they are very much sought after in the used car market; so much so many folks want to convert their two-pedal version to a three-pedal version at great cost in terms of both time and money.

theCoffeeFiend

iTrader: (2)

Pretty much buying any car that's 10 years old will need some type of maintenance/repair. And I don't know about you, but I would definitely sink in a few hundred( maybe 1-3k) to have peace of mind that certain maintenance/preventative maintenance/repairs has been done. I bought a good ( not perfect) 06. Put in a few hundred(maybe more) to make it run perfect, even though it was running fine. That'ts just me. I do plan on keeping it for 5+ years. And i usually baby my cars, New or Old

nanxun

The current evidence from my local market (greater DC area) does not support the idea that there is a $2k premium for 6MT examples.

For instance,

2006 Acura TL 6 Speed Manual. - $5400 (20783)

2006 Acura TL-98K Miles only- All options with Excellent Condition - $7790 (Woodbridge)

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

It's very hard to tell from an ad on Craig's List (or any other online forum), when you look at the cars in person is when you start to be discriminating. That said, right off the bat I can see in the pictures the car with a manual transmission has a cracked dashboard over the passenger side airbag.

nanxun

Yeah, you're absolutely right, horseshoez. That same thought crossed my mind right after I posted. Point well-taken. The sample size is too small for the evidence to be valid beyond what I'm seeing on CL and the two examples are probably not truly comparable.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

No worries, when I started my search for a new car I had no idea I'd have to work so hard to find a keeper. Experience is the great teacher.

b15

I concur that $11k seems a bit high but I'm sure there's PLENTY of negotiation room. They look like clean cars though, I would opt for the white as it's just easier to care for. Also I wouldn't recommend financing any car at this age. Most banks don't like financing 10+ year old cars and it sounds like you're younger and most likely don't have an established credit history so you're probably going to be offered a really high interest rate. If you have to finance, I'm in agreement with your dad in getting something newer.

GreenSpades

Hey Im not saying you're wrong, just that my experience has been different. Which I also said is probably more limited than yours. Trust me, as someone who owns a 6 speed TL I want to believe you lol. Maybe my market is very different. Here in Philly people tend to view the 3G TL as a lower tier car nowadays and in real life I havent come across many people who value the 6 speed. On the internet I see it quite a bit, just not in my area. I personally paid slightly more, maybe $600 premium to an auto and that was 2.5 years ago.

Totally agree that craigslist pricing is far off from what cars actually sell for, but I think you can get a good picture of dealer, full retail pricing via online sites, but private sale prices are harder to guage without really going out there are seeing and buying them. And lots of TLs have cracked dashboards, that is very common and shouldn't cause for a huge price difference in my opinion.

GreenSpades

I love those posts where they specifically go out of the way to say they have all of the options when in reality they have the base car with not a single option.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Agreed.

For the 2006 model year, the only options, other than interior and exterior color of course, were the no-cost manual transmission and NAV. I believe there may also have been the ability to opt for summer rubber for the 6MT models, but after ten or more years, that option is moot as the tires have most likely been replace at least a few times. Said another way, the dealer who wrote "All the options" was dead wrong; that car does not have NAV (but the 6MT version does).

GreenSpades

Right, they assume because their car has lots of features that it must have lots of options checked off. "MY car is special, My car has more options than yours." Easy prey for the stealerships. Only other option I could think of is the a-spec kit. Was that available for 06 cars?

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Good call on the A-Spec kit; not sure about the answer. I know some of the sites I used for research when I was shopping mentioned some 2006s with the kit, so I'm guessing it was available.

YeuEmMaiMai

subtract for things like

timing belt and related parts
brakes
tires
fixing interior bits that may not work
worn suspension parts (10 year old rubber is not going to be in the best of shape even on low mileage cars)
HIDs again old bulbs are at the end of their life.

On my 15 year old CL type S there was work that needed to be done in the near future that was more age related than mileage (suspension work that would have cost some $$$) so before it got out of hand I sold it as is to a kid that wanted a car as a dd for a few years

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

crock of buRRshieeet.
you're supposed to keep up with maitenance. not let it all fester LOL

truonghthe

wait, wait you buy a 10 years old car and complaint? about all the item that worn over time? interesting may be new car will work out better for you.

YeuEmMaiMai

the car was well maintained and what not but it was time for it to move on....before I had to sink another few $$$$ into it for replacing major suspension pieces due to age/wear

and we all know the drill... my car is pristine and all of the major work was just done and I wanted to get rid of the car after doing the work....but no receipts are to be found loloolllolerskates.