Passed up on a unicorn
 

https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/...734773058.html

I went to see this Acura TL Type-s in blue with a stick. I've seen people talk about them and knew how rare they were and was so excited to find one that was still available and talked him down to $8300.

Drove an hour after work to see it and it looked immaculate inside and out. No tears in the leather and no rust that I could see. It drove and felt great the shifter was very crisp but I noticed a noise. It was linked to the engine RPM's and sounded like a whistling noise. If it didn't go away when I pushed in the clutch I would've guessed it was wind noise. Like a blowing whistling noise. It was definitely noticeable but when I said something about it the owner claimed he couldn't hear it. I revved the engine while I was driving (and when parked) and it was absolutely there but he kept claiming it was the big 3.5 V6.

I was willing to pay to take it to a shop to get inspected but he refused claiming they'll find issues that aren't there. He also claimed he got the timing belt and clutch replaced and kept telling me he would show the receipts to me but he never came through so I think it's all a lie so he can try to push this car on somebody.

I'm assuming he knew what the issue was and didn't want me to take it to the shop because they would tell me what it was. Anybody have an idea what may have been wrong with the car?

It whines as you accelerate? That is pretty common for the J32, seen a bunch of threads on people saying its normal. Honda V6's have a natural whine to them, very obvious its a honda engine. Also another whining culprit could be alternator going bad or PS pump/PS O-ring. Also read a couple threads it could be the heat shield..but not so sure.

Hmmm, I've never heard my J32A3 whine; maybe I'm deaf in that frequency range. :tongue:

Given your age, I'm not surprised :tongue:

Mine does it a little too, it's not as bad as our 2011 Odyssey though. Don't worry, people bought the manuals, they still exist, another one will come around. The blue color is certainly more rare, but they look good in other colors too. I'm personally partial to the silver/ebony interior as well :)
If someone didn't let me have a car inspected before buying I'd walk away too.

You might have dodged a bullet. Any owner that doesn't allow potential buyers to get an independent inspection does not want to sell the car or doesn't want buyer to know what's wrong with the car.

Heard one buyer use the excuse he didnt want to know the defects from a PPI so he didnt have to disclose to the other buyer if I passed on the deal. Hmmm...PASS

Link/s to the "bunch of threads" you've seen on this?

Maybe you're deaf in that frequency range as well. :tongue:

definitely good call on passing...any owner that doesn't let you do an inspection is hiding something or is straight up dumb as a seller

"I noticed a noise. It was linked to the engine RPM's and sounded like a whistling noise. If it didn't go away when I pushed in the clutch"
Pilot Bearing

So, to change that you might as well change out the clutch and flywheel

Thanks for all the replies. I'll have to drive a few more to see if the sound is on other cars or maybe it was the pilot bearing (which I see with the clutch and flywheel is a $1500+ job)

Honestly I wasn't that worried about the noise until he wouldn't let me take it to a shop then it made me think he was trying to cover it up since he's been reluctant with other info. I got pretty angry on the drive home thinking that he's just trying to hide these issues from any potential buyers.

So the search continues...Luckily I've been looking closer and manuals aren't as rare as I thought so I'll keep looking. Like it in both Blue and Black and maybe I'll compromise on an automatic if the right one comes along.

Just one data point; I was looking for a clean 6MT last year and since I didn't need a car immediately, I took my time to find the right one. Over a period of five months I looked at nearly 100 cars from all over the country (I love a good road trip), and ended up finding a super clean one only 100 miles away. One other thing you'll find price wise is the 6MT cars fetch a premium over the automatic cars of at least a thousand or two.

Good luck and keep us posted on your search/purchase.

Honestly for the miles and the condition of that car I would've offered him like 500 less than his asking price and Im sure it would've checked out to be fine. The only reason is because it seems that every blue tls that comes to market I see the owner wants about 10k. Im not a huge fan of that interior but that color with a 6mt is awesome. Good luck with the search

Thanks horseshoez. I was thinking the manuals would be more good to know I should expect it to be 1-2k. I don't have the ability to be making crazy road trips all the time (unless it's the one I'd drive a few hours to go get it) so I'll be mostly looking within 100 miles.

I am lucky enough to have cars that work fine so I can take my time as long as I don't get too impatient. Driving a CX-5 now and I can't wait to get out of it.

Yeah just a combination of things gave me a bad feeling about it. I knew they were rare and the post was up for almost a week before I contacted him and at that price it should've been gone by then. Also he kept saying he would get me information, records, VIN and never did.

I was already a little suspicious going in but the noise combined with the fact he wouldn't let me get it checked out was it for me.

Did you happen to get the VIN? You can take the VIN to the Acura dealer and they can pull up a history of maintenance for that car.

He didn't let me take down the VIN number.

Wow, shady indeed. Might be time for a Craig's List add to be posted "Beware of blue 2007 TLS for sale here..." :teef:

:nod:

He sold it today. So hopefully the poor soul knew what he was getting into.

I mean, really...
I'm curious if it drove well and looked great, what was the exposure really? Even with an engine or clutch replacement that was a pretty good price.
I traded up from a blue base 6mt to a blue type s at one point and I wish mine had been that clean.

In all honesty it probably would've been worth it to the right person. I was already stretching my budget a bit and I'm using this a daily driver for a rather long commute so I need something turnkey and reliable.

I was close to saying fuck it and just buying it anyway at that price but without a mechanic looking at it and my lack of mechanical knowledge I didn't know if it was a $1500 clutch or a new engine for $5000.

I didn't have enough of a cushion to make that gamble.

@justnspace how much is a new engine, anyway? :tomato:
Yeah, I got you, man...for a daily commuter that is turnkey you're better off buying a well maintained lower model than a beat to shit upper one.
Plus, you won't let me know the VIN? Why? You afraid I'm gonna have a key made and come pick it up? GTFO...then you call Grand Theft on me dumbass...
I would have taken a pic of the VIN in front of his face and dared him to stop me.

I agree with you though, don't walk away from a car like that...you walk away from a seller like that.
Best of luck to the new owner and if he was hiding something I hope the seller's fingers poke through the toilet paper today.

Haha I should've just snapped a pic of the VIN anyway for making me drive 3 hours out of my way to be jerked around like that.

May he have stinky fingers one day.

3 hours!?!?!
Next time, up front...what's the VIN, are you willing to take to a mechanic to give it a clean bill of health.
More important than actually getting the car looked over is seeing how the seller responds to those requests.
What a sack of shit that guy is. I heard his wife is banging his brother too and the brother has a bigger peen. :O

I clicked the link... Thats a really nice car, minus the headlights... What a shame that awhole has to own it...

Waiting for the newest Azine member to post here about problems with the clutch in his 2007 TLS that he bought recently :teef:

I can't even talk shit about that...I sold my KBP to a friend and the tranny took a shit on him months later.
I did try and talk him out of buying it but he really wanted it. Learned a pretty valuable lesson on not selling to friends!

Always wondered what happened to that car...

I had a bad feeling about it and after the grounding issue I had with tuning and being stranded with a newborn baby ONE time...I decided it was time to move it.

Saw that video of when you sold it, that bendix gear in the starter was loud!


I really like your old black TL!!!

Thanks man...yeah, I never should have moved on from that.

If the car is fucked up; then it wouldn't be a unicorn. :co:

You don't love a hot chick with stretch marks and scars!?!?!
They are still unicorns!

So I haven't been able to find another TL-S 6MT in my budget/area etc so I looked at a 5AT and it was nice but I really missed that manual.

This week I'm looking at an 05 with the manual transmission. I figure it's 80% of the fun and it's less than 50% of the cost and I'l have some leftover for winter tires etc.

It has 100k miles with original owner, timing belt and clutch so I'm getting quotes for timing belt and clutch. I'm getting the impression he didn't drive it hard so clutch will probably be ok.

Any opinions on whether the timing belt or clutch could be done at a local shop or should it be an Acura dealership? I called a Honda Dealership but they sounded out of their element. Quoted $1900 for the timing belt and wouldn't give me a quote on the clutch without seeing it saying they don't know what else might be wrong with it.

type s < base
6mt > *

A few comments:

• I would argue the 2005 6MT is more like 95% of the fun (unless you equate the extra cosmetic items as "fun").
• I wouldn't even bother thinking about the clutch unless/until there is an issue with it; the clutch isn't suddenly going to fail leaving you stranded. I bought my car in May of 2017 and it had a weak clutch when I bought it, weak being defined as totally acceptable when driven normally, but it would slip when I started to romp on it. I finally had the clutch replaced in April of this year, roughly 20,000 miles later.
• Timing belt services on Honda V6 engines is a pretty common procedure, I wouldn't stress about having a dealer do the job, just find a shop familiar with Honda V6s and you'll be good to go.

ummm do you mean:
type s > base
6mt > *